New Look at the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-500 Professional Printer (A2)

[Clown]

Ok, So I had the pivilege of testing out the new Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-500 (PRO-1000 in the US) A2 Professional Photo Printer


It arrived on wednesday afternoon carried by 2 courier guys (cuz my office is on a 4th level of a walk-up building).
The whole box weights about 35kg with the printer itself taking up 32kg.


Opening the box and removing the top layer of styrofoam which also contained some ink cartridges, I can see that somebody had thought about how to safely (and conveniently) take the relatively heavy printer out of the box.
The printer is pre-wrapped in a large plastic bag with handles designed to take the weight so I could hoist it up onto my table without haveing to feel around the bottom for hand-holds.


As you can see here, everything is meticulously taped down to prevent parts from moving during shipment


I really like how the paper feeder centers the paper, and it's a surprise that it can print namecard-sized paper too.

 

[Clown]

Here's the ink bay at the bottom of the printer. A very smart design if you ask me, as normally I'd find the inks taking up precious space on the sides of the printer and thus creating a larger footprint on the table.


Loading up the 80ml ink tanks


Another nice design touch here, having a handle on the printhead, which saves me from touching places I shouldnt touch when trying to install it.
It's a very simple drop-in and secure system.

 

[Clown]

Here's when I'm greeted with a message saying my table isn't level. Probably there's some digital spirit-level inside the printer.
A slight shift of position and the message goes away. I guess Canon is leaving nothing to chance.


After this step, the printer will require you to insert a piece of blank A4 paper into the feed tray and it'll start its automated setup and printhead alignment process, which took about 15-20mins.
Afterwhich it'll instruct you how to connect itself to the computer or the network.

I'm very happy it retained the full wifi wireless printing feature I had in the Pixma Pro-10.
And I was able to set it up painlessly without even needing to connect it by wire to any computer. Awesome!


After the setup, you'll be able to play around the menu function buttons. I like it that I can customize how the printer handles 3rd party papers.


Here it shows how much ink the initial charging consumed. About 45ml from each tank I think.

 

[Clown]

Lastly I did a test print using a reference image I had from the very talented fashion photographer Ukay Cheung. I've printed this image many times as test, on many types of papers and printers and I must say I really like how it turned out here even tho I was using a very basic matte Rag paper.

I hope you guys like this short informal writeup, and do look forward to this printer coming to the stores very soon.

Cheers~

James

 

[heheapa]

View attachment 10867
Lastly I did a test print using a reference image I had from the very talented fashion photographer Ukay Cheung. I've printed this image many times as test, on many types of papers and printers and I must say I really like how it turned out here even tho I was using a very basic matte Rag paper.

I hope you guys like this short informal writeup, and do look forward to this printer coming to the stores very soon.

Cheers~

James

Hi James,

Thanks for your short review. The 12 inks system is made up of 11 color + Chroma Optimizer. It's great for glossy media but I am wonder if there is any impact of the color gamut compared with the previous 12 colors system in ipf5100. Seeing news that the new imagePROGRAF PRO series also using the similar ink set (11 colors + CO). Just curious if Pro-500 a good gauge how the print quality look like, especially on the matte media.

 

[Clown]

The matte paper output is actually pretty impressive.

 

[lightning]

Hey James, thank you for the review. roughly how many A3 prints can the ink cartridge handle? (Assuming 90% coverage).

 

[astroboy]

Many years ago I bought the Pro9000 when it was first launched amid much hoo-ha. Today, I am finding it increasingly difficult to find replacement ink carts from Canon. A few more years, when Canon stops selling the ink carts altogether, I will be screwed. I think the same applies to this model. If you can justify ROI within a few years of owning this, then by all means, go ahead and buy it.

 

[1Ds]

My Epson 4900 is giving me problems after warranty,thinking of buying the Canon Pro-500 to replace but my main supplier in Funan also a best friend advice me not to due to +++++ reasons , so decide not to get it.

 

[Clown]

Yea it's a pretty serious printer. But ease of use wise it's pretty impressive. If you're talking about ROI does it mean you print to generate income? I'll check with canon regarding the pro9000 ink carts if you want?

 

[Clown]

My Epson 4900 is giving me problems after warranty,thinking of buying the Canon Pro-500 to replace but my main supplier in Funan also a best friend advice me not to due to +++++ reasons , so decide not to get it.

What reasons may I ask? I'm horrified with the 4000 series to be honest. If I had a choice I'll avoid that printer like plague. The larger ones are much more useable.

 

[Clown]

Hey James, thank you for the review. roughly how many A3 prints can the ink cartridge handle? (Assuming 90% coverage).

I haven't really changed the initial cartridges yet but from my agaration, probably more than 70 prints.

 

[astroboy]

Yes, I had bought the printer for casual use and that was my mistake. If I were using it to generate income I can write it off after X number of years and not worry about whether ink carts will be produced any more. Yes, if you are in contact with Canon, pls do ask where I can buy the complete set of ink carts, also will they discontinue the supply of inks for old models? Much appreciated. Thanks.

Yea it's a pretty serious printer. But ease of use wise it's pretty impressive. If you're talking about ROI does it mean you print to generate income? I'll check with canon regarding the pro9000 ink carts if you want?

 

[Clown]

Yes, I had bought the printer for casual use and that was my mistake. If I were using it to generate income I can write it off after X number of years and not worry about whether ink carts will be produced any more. Yes, if you are in contact with Canon, pls do ask where I can buy the complete set of ink carts, also will they discontinue the supply of inks for old models? Much appreciated. Thanks.

They just confirmed with me that Cathay or challenger have full sets of pro9000 inks ah...

 

[astroboy]

Okay thanks for the update. Will go check it out.

They just confirmed with me that Cathay or challenger have full sets of pro9000 inks ah...

 

[FLiNcHY]

Are there any promotions for this printer or is $1899 the best and only price for it?