G550/640/650 vs PRO-200 Canon photo inkjet printer choice - which is best for your printing
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- Whilst for photo printing, the A3+/13" Canon PRO-200 might seem to be a clear choice, are there reasons you might want to consider the smaller G550 (G640/G650) style MegaTank printers?
Keith looks at what differences there are, and why knowing what you want to do and how much to spend really are the keys to deciding what best meets your printing needs.
Keith has detailed reviews and lots of usage videos for both printers:
www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...
www.northlight-images.co.uk/c...
00:00 Start
01:10 The obvious differences
01:43 The ink costs
02:37 Usability
03:27 Ink differences
04:11 Grey ink is not mainly about black and white
05:10 Chromalife 100 vs 100+ ink sets
06:02 Printing B&W
08:00 Do you need office printing
09:21 Profiles for your printer
10:00 G550 colour management
12:01 Media options
12:53 Cards and print quality
16:13 Print software
17:07 What matters for your use?
CORRECTION
Do note the minor correction (text) about the number of greys in the PRO-200 (2) which do contribute to the PRO-200 B&W print quality as well as smoothness of colour gradients
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As usual Keith, great and easily accessible information. Thanks for your efforts.
Thanks!
I'm completely satisfied with my G620 and glad I didn't yield to the temptation to spend much more on a "better" printer. I print photos of birds (mostly), usually on 4"x6" paper with an occasional 8x10 or 8 1/2x11. I don't have wallspace enough for large, framed images, but if I decide to get a big print, it would be bigger than A3+, so I couldn't use the Pro 200 for Instance and would have to get that sent out anyway. The small prints meet my desires and are just right for me. Also, most of us are not trained well enough to see the differences that you do. The people who look at my pictures would not, as you say, know good color if it fell on them (me).
Yes - it helps that I don't sell printers ;-) So, I can comfortably say "get what's best for you"
Permajet now have icc profiles for the g650 fir about 20 papers
Thank you for the video Keith. As you say, so much depends on your goal with the printer.
We bought the Canon Pro 300 in January for sale of art prints and photos and have been extremely satisfied with the quality. It has more than paid for itself.
We are getting into greeting cards and our research lead us to the Canon G620, as the 650 is called in the US. (I wish a version without the scanner was available here; we use a Epson V600 and are quite happy with that). The G620 quality is more than adequate for cards. Of course it won't match the Pro 300, especially when you get into finer details such as in shadows. But if you don't have that comparison in hand you just see a very good print. And I expect they will get better as we practice. With the G620, we are able to sell cards at a much more competitive price point and maintain profit (the difference per print adds up quickly when you sell sets of 8 or 10 cards).
And I'm glad you discussed the role of gray inks. We noticed early on with the Pro 300 that that's the ink that gets used up fastest, even with 95% of our prints being color. So when I saw the G620 had the gray (and red) I had a sense that that was a good thing. Your explanation helps me understand how.
Thanks for mentioning how you use things - I think quite a lot of people don't think it through as well as you have done.
In my office at home, I have a Canon pro 200, a Canon 3600 series printer and an Epson V600 scanner. Each has it's purpose and each is good value for the money
Yes - picking what works best is a good strategy.
Thank you for the very detailed review! I have watched the other videos on these printers as well, and read the articles.. I'm recreational photographer, I am not planning on selling my prints - I will however give some to my family as a gift. I believe the G550 series is enough for my skill level; absolute beginner at printing. I can experiment, print family pictures into my album, occasional bigger (below A4 of course) prints to put on the table/hang onto the wall. By the time I will see the limitations of this printer, I can always go for the bigger one - if that time ever comes.
Cheap running cost and good enough picture quality for home use is suitable for me, if I need larger prints, I can buy it thorough a lab.
Thank you once again!
Thanks - glad it helped!
Permajet now provide icc profiles for g650 on their websites. I have used them on my g60 for oyster 271 and matt plus 240 and they come out great
Thanks - Profiles for Windows use I'll assume?
Colour management is still broken for Macs, hence the workaround in my review.
Very informative video.
Thanks
Really like your videos and appreciate the work you put in. I know you don’t like to do comparisons but am curious how you’d compare the canon to the epson 8550 tank printer? Looking for more of a home printer that does decent photos but can also print the occasional document.
From my POV, the G550 (et al ) rule themselves out, by dint of their lack of functional colour management (on the Mac)
Any of these can do the occasional document...
I'd suggest you read the actual [written] reviews - they always have more detail. The videos are mainly just quick overviews
Great video!
Thanks!
Thanks for the video. I have the massive pro-1000 and my old officeprrinter just gave up after almost 10 years.... Gues i will grab the 550 for 10x15cm cards and small stuff like old school 36 pictures "analog" print
It's not bad with proper colour management - otherwise you might re-live the randomness of cheaply processed colour print film ;-)
Hi Kevin, this was extremely useful for me.
I am still struggling to understand what the difference is between the G550 and the Epson ET 2850?
I am only starting my digital art journey and my budget isn’t as high to get the canon 200.
Thank you very much
Sorry, but I've never seen an ET 2850... (I very rarely cover any printers below A3+)
Be sure to see my full [written] G550 review
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-g550-printer-review/
The 2850 is a 4 colour printer (with Pigment black) compared to the 6 dyes of the G550
Both are primarily 'home office' printers.
The small Canon printers have broken colour management on Macs [not tested on PCs] - but they are aimed at a market using phones and iPads where colour accuracy is more of a vague desire, rather than anything you do something about ;-)
Thank you very much for your informative video. I would like to start out small by printing quality photos on 10 X 15 photo quality paper. Would the G550 suffice? Thank you for your kind input
it depends on the level of print quality you want.
Good photo quality needs ICC profiles and these are thin on the ground for PCs and non-existent for Macs for the 550 (see my actual G550 [written] review for lots more info.)
To me, there is no real comparison between these two printers, but the 550 is cheaper and the ink is cheaper - that matters more to some people...
Your videos are excellent and very comprehensive, however there is a user base that prints on OHP acetate material. Alternative printmakers use this media for making negatives in the production of Oil and Bromoil printing, gel transfer, cyanotypes etc. Also photo positives are used in the production of photogravure bitmap images. I obviously wouldn't expect you to go into any depth, as these are very specialised areas. It would however be very useful to simply know if the acetate will go through the printer without adjustment, or whether a "fudge it" approach is necessary, i.e. if stick on strips of paper are needed on the reverse side. Thanks.
Thanks - I did have some acetate here and experimented with the 8550
czcams.com/video/pTnQQdBj_WQ/video.html
However I didn't have much of it, so unless a supplier sends me some to test, I won't generally be including it in other printer tests, such as the Epson P5000 videos I hope to be making in the near future - I simply can't afford it I'm afraid
I'm always pleased when I see you've uploaded another video. It's rare now to find an honest and impartial review based on accurate information and facts.
I was excited when the G550 was released, and am disappointed that Canon have restricted the printer so much in terms of colour management. Having watched most of your videos I'm feeling more and more inspired to aim to print bigger. Based on that, conclusions I can make from the written reviews you have done and other limitations that have been brought up such as colour management, I'm swaying very much towards the ET-8550. Largely because, while I learn I'm realistic that the Epson will exceed my ability and give room to grow while the lower ink cost means I can afford to experiment more and print more.
When I've reached a level that justifies owning a top line printer, I'd like to treat myself to a Canon Pro 1000, or perhaps an Epson P900 - or whatever the equivalent printer on the market is at the time. I'd be interested if you were to do a video similar to this between the Epson ET-8550 and Canon G550/G650. I know you won't give a "this is best" answer but highlighting differences that are relevant from your experience would be most useful to someone who's current printing experience is a HP Envy Photo printer, or others at that sort of level.
Glad it is of help and interest!
I don't really do comparisons between brands, but the 8550 crosses my 13" boundary with ease and is far closer to the PRO-200 in this video
What I will probably do (if I can get the printer for it) is an ET-8550/P700 video since the differences are much more subtle and include the dye (mostly) vs pigment question.
From what you say I'm minded to think that the 8550 is much closer to what you need ;-)
@@KeithCooper I'm glad your perception is similar to mine. With a bit of luck I'll have improved enough to warrant a further investment in a few years or so.
Are you likely to ever do a video on the Pro 1000? I've seen the written review you have done but the videos do help :)
Unlikely for the pro-1000, since the review is from when it first came out, and it's years ago that I had one here.
Of course, when a replacement for the 1000 comes out, I should have a review (oh, and a few videos as well ;-) )
The only printer from my earlier reviews I hope to look at covering, at some point, is the Epson P5000, since I have one here.
Excellent video!! Would you please make a video for printing on panoramic roll paper on Canon Prograf 1000.. That would be amazing!
Send me a pro-1000 and it's no problem ;-)
See my original PRO-1000 review for info (it long predates me making videos)
@@KeithCooper fair enough.. I am sorry I thought you might have access to it since you some videos about it before.. I can’t find any single video online talking about using rolls to print panos on that model
Sorry - my detailed review was from May 2016
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-pro-1000-printer-review/
I have no videos about it at all - I started adding videos to complement the main reviews last summer (2020)
This one is firmly in the 'if you want a review - read it' category :-)
@@KeithCooper much appreciated Keith!!
Hi Keith! Thanks for the informative video! I currently have EPSON XP 15000 and while I’m super happy with the quality of color art prints, it’s extremely expensive to run long term. I was wondering if you’d say the quality of canon g550 would be comparable or much different? I know they both have the same number of inks and as for a3 printing Option with 15000, it’s not really important to me, I mostly print a4 and smaller.
First up, ink numbers means far less than people tend to think in 'comparing' printers [I have a videos about this] ;-)
Secondly Mac or PC? - colour management is effectively broken on Macs - There are no paper profiles for the G series. iPads and the like are just incapable of accurate colour reproduction/printing
BUT... if you're happy with the 15000 without a fully managed workflow, then perhaps it will do?
All depends on the quality/accuracy you are aiming for and what you're doing with the prints...
@@KeithCooper thanks so much, I’m going to watch that video on inks! I work from PC and mostly use matte “fine art” papers. The prints I make with 15000 are surprisingly good for my eye without in depth color managing, although I do sometimes adjust illustrations in photoshop before printing if I’m not happy with the result. I also occasionally print booklets and cards as well as smaller art prints and currently it seems to not be worth it for my business to run 15000 because of the ink costs, so I was curious if this canon tank printer that’s also marketed as a photo printer might also deliver good results with lower running costs. Thanks so much for all the videos and information!
Thanks - If you've not seen it, have a look at the main [written] G550 review - it has links to all my related articles and videos
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-g550-printer-review/
Hello Keith, thank you for your good videos. I want to start a small business for greeting cards and stickers. What gives me headache is the number of recommended prints per month. For the g550 it is a maximum of 250 prints. That is too little to run a business. What would you recommend? Thank you very much. Peter
The G550 is a cheap home office printer [that's its market positioning - hence the 'hint' in the form of the 'monthly' figure]
Using it for volume printing is going to be mainly hassle from speed and inability to stack input cards.
See this recent video about just the question you are asking and why it's possibly the wrong question ;-)
czcams.com/video/QE6yWZzzKAk/video.html
hi Keith
I bought the Cannon G650 I see you printed onto thick card I make greeting cards and am struggling to find Matte card to print onto instead of printing onto matte photo paper which then i have to glue to front of card can you recommend a good cardstock i don't want glossy.
thanks
Yes - see any of the cards in my other articles/videos about card printing
www.northlight-images.co.uk/greeting-card-paper-and-printing/
Ordinary card stock is generally useless with this type of inkjet printer.
See this - it applies to all the printers I've tested for some time
czcams.com/video/ezQzC1JZPT0/video.html
Just one caveat - I'm in the UK so only test stuff I get here
Hello. How is the ink of the canon g640? I want to use it to print 10x15 cm photos and to make passport photos in my studio. I would like to ask you how the resistance of the inks is against fading. Will I have a problem? I thought a lot about the pro printing device, but the cartridges run out very quickly and the cost is too much. If it was a tank system, I would definitely buy it from the pro series (pro-200, 300- 1000 etc.). I wonder if there will be a tanked version of these mods in the future. Shall I wait.
The ink is fairly good if not printed on cheap paper - I'd use Canon paper.
That said, it's a cheap consumer printer - not one I'd chose to use in a business... I wouldn't want _my_ passport photos printed on it. That however is purely a marketing choice ;-)
The likelihood of 'pro' level tank printers any time soon is slight
Hi Keith. Ref. the prints from the 550; you mention fading. Approximately how long would prints last before fading starts, for example, a framed print hung up in an average living room setting? Also, what's you're opinion on 3rd party inks for a printer like this?
Well, paper choice is a big factor too... Don't see why they couldn't last for a good few years. Probably better than many film prints made by stores in the past.
As for 3rd party ink - just how cheap do you want to go? All bets off from my own POV ;-)
@@KeithCooper Thanks for the reply and info.
Hello Keith,
I usually print my photos in the shop laboratory. I bought a Canon Pixma G540, I assume it is very similar to the G550 and I have to admit that I am not satisfied with the quality of the photos it produces. I'm probably used to professional lab photos so that's why I'm being too picky.
In my opinion, the G Series is exclusively for amateur photographers or people who simply want to print their photos from mobile phones. For a professional look, you need something better.
My question is, which printer should I choose for professional look printing at home to get excellent results like from a photo lab?
I was thinking of buying a Pro 200, but unfortunately I can't find an example of a print anywhere.
Would you recommend the Pro 200?
Let me mention that I do professional photography, non-commercial, and I know everything about photo papers for printing, I need details in the photo, not a "grainy" photo that's why I'm asking for advice.
I would only add that the G Series prints great colors. All my photos are exactly as they are on the monitor, not like the ones from the photo lab, but very very good. The quality of the print itself, more precisely the details, are quite bad, not for professionals.
For photo printing - gloss/lustre/colour, the ET18100 is well worth a look
The PRO-200 is very good quality on similar photo papers
See
www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-et-18100-printer-review/
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-pro-200-printer-review/
Question for Canon G650. If I'm away for a long time and don't print even once a week, when I come back will there be a problem with printing?
Depends on how long and the conditions the printer is kept in - I have a video later today about just this...
Smaller printers are usually much more tolerant of this
Thanks. This is a great one. I am deciding for a used pro-100 ora new Canon 550. My main usage will be family 4r photo.
Guess I will choose the G550 as the running cost is lower and the people that see my photo won't notice the difference between the output of Pro-100 and G650
Thanks - you make a very valid point.
For such events the G550 would likely suit me as well ;-)
Hello Keith. I own a G640 printer + and EFI ES-2000 spectrophotometer, which I've used to create a color profile. It greatly reduced the ultra contrast/saturation issue I had with the auto color management turned on. There is one issue that still bugs me a lot though: the blacks are not black enough! They look just dark gray. I'm using 10x15 Glossy Epson value paper most of the time using the "High" quality preset. The blacks have this very faded, gray look to them, that I would normally expect when printing on a regular, matte office paper, not on a glossy photo paper :|
Is it to be expected? Are my expectations towards G640 too high?
Mac or win? Colour management is broken on Macs on these printers due to the enforced use of airprint.
What profiling software? It sounds like a media settings/compatibility issue.
I've far more about the capabilities [or otherwise ;-) ] of the G550 in my main [written] review at:
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-g550-printer-review/
Thank you for your response@@KeithCooper! I'm on Win 11. Yesterday I've created a 2nd profile for HP a4 glossy paper and the black levels are certainly lower on this one (both visually and on histogram, compared to Epson paper I've mentioned before)! Seems I need to experiment more with different types of papers :)
G550/640/650 seems to be the only entry level "photo" printer available now.
My question is which printer currently on the market is a natural step forward from this? PRO-200?
Or spend extra bucks to something else (I mean acceptable every aspect of printing, from price to color and detail quality in BW and rest)?
I don't know of anything in the Canon range which really fits in this 'gap' The 200 is in a different league, but obviously with the smaller ink carts, more expensive to run.
For B&W it's even more of a jump - maybe to the pro-300
@@KeithCooper Thanks.
good morning where can I find the color profile of my g550 printer? especially for the b&w. Thanks for your very professional videos.
There are no profiles as far as I know.
I made some Mac specific ones during my review, see:
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-g550-printer-review/
@@KeithCooper Thank you! I've already seen most of your videos, but I can't find your profile. I've tried several but nothing.
See the WRITTEN review - remember that my videos are mainly supplements to the main written review.
Merci beaucoup pour ces explications très claires !🙂
Thanks!
I'm curious if anybody has had experience with the InkOwl refillable cartridges and ink and curious how they compare to Canon's Ink. It's for the Pro 300. I most likely will just buy Canon's but curious of opinions before.
They are different and hence effectively void any ICC paper profiles. Unless you make your own profiles or the print quality is not so important, then I'd avoid third party inks.
I'm not a fan, but others may differ.
@@KeithCooper thanks for your input. I'll keep that in mind.
Hello. Do you think epson l8050 or canon g640 is better?
Sorry - I've never seen an I8050
Is there a equivalent tank printer to the 200?
Not unless you count the Epson ET-8550 ;-)
All of Canon's offerings are a step down from the 200
I have the epson et-8500 and I am disappointed and looking for a better alternative. Is the et-8550 so much different from the 8500? And thank you SO MUCH for all your efforts ❤.
Don't know the 8500 - here's my thoughts on the 8550
www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-et-8550-printer-review/
The 8550 is however less well supported with profiles than the pro-200
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-pro-200-printer-review/
Thank you so much!!
What is the difference please between Canon G540 and G550? Does can both print panorama?
Model numbers vary by region - you'll have to look at the specs on different Canon web sites to be sure. If it's similar to the 550 I tested then it should be able to print longer sheets - see the max page length in the specs.
@@KeithCooper Thank you for your response, yes i checked it and it can print panorama, it looks like proper printer, i am looking for something for printing callendars, i hope this will suit on that purpose. 👍
It's a cheap basic consumer level printer... I'd say do your homework if you want it for a business.
Read my full review, for all I've done covering it...
www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-g550-printer-review/
@@KeithCooper Thank you. 👍👍
we can print canvas on the pro-200 ?
Yes
czcams.com/video/VfvsRH5Wgno/video.html
@@KeithCooper tks Sir Keith
What is difference between g640 and g650?
Probably just different model numbers for different regions - you'll have to check the specs though
do epson et8550 vs canon g650 pls 😃😃😃😃😃😃
Sorry - but no, I don't compare between brands
They are vastly different - two very different products aimed at two different markets.
Read my main (written) reviews to see the details
@@KeithCooper ok alright 😀
What printer you would buy to get the near quality as digital photo labs prints?
Difficult to say - I don't use digital photo labs...
In general I'd want to exceed the quality I see from most labs. They are not a difficult bar to surpass...
Of these two, the 200 is by far the easiest to get good results from (with good paper and profiles)
I got myself an HP SmartTank Plus 559 and it produces my kind of images with satured colours, when using good quality papers and printing from the commandline.
I considered the Epson XP8600 and the Canon G1520 but there are issues with availability on the Continent. The HP is a good compromise. And it is easy to install in Wndows AND Linux. One of the advantages of HP: they do not shy away from Linux.
Yes, printers for what you need.
Not ones I'd really look at, but of course, I'm coming to it from a different angle.
The running cost is the deciding point for most of us. Maybe that is the best big tank photo printer.
Sorry - you can't assume that as a generalisation...
I get many people asking about quality before basic costs...
It can be cheap, but if the prints are poor and not big enough, it's not the best choice for you.
Cheap can come at too high a price...
@@KeithCooper I meant people who just want to print some family photo or using it for SOHO tasks but with low cost. Which big tank printer would be the best for photo printing at the A4 and A3 segment?
Can't say - cost is well down the list of things I look at in reviews (partly because I have a worldwide audience) but currently the ET-8550 is well ahead in many respects.
That said, I've not looked at many cheap printers - I may well return to this in 2023, but all my reviews are primarily aimed at people wanting quality in printing.