Lake Success, N.Y. — Canon made sweeping updates to its photo printer and scanner line last week with three new scanners and four new printers.
Canon’s new CanoScan scanners include the 3000 ex, 8400F and LiDE 35. All offer USB 2.0 connectivity and will ship to dealers this month.
The 48-bit CanoScan 3000 ex features a maximum optical resolution of 1200 by 2400 dpi, with an enhanced resolution of 9600 dpi, and three automatic buttons for copying, scanning and e-mailing,
The 3000 also features the company’s “Z-Lid” expansion top for book and magazine scanning and a suggested retail price of $49.99.
The LiDE 35, which replaces the LiDE 30 as the entry model in the company’s line of slim form factor scanners, features the same optical resolution and color depth as the 3000. LiDE stands for LED InDirect Exposure, the technology by which the scanner, using a low powered LED light source and lens elements integrated onto the scanning sensor, achieves a lighter, slimmer footprint.
The LiDE 35, for a suggested $79.99, adds a fourth button for automatically scanning documents directly to a PDF file. The included USB cable also provides the unit’s power.
The LiDE 35 scanner also features dust, fading and grain correction for printed photos, which improves the quality of scanned images.
Finally, Canon will replace the CanoScan 8000F with the 8400F for a suggested $149.99. Featuring 3200 by 6400 dpi resolution and 48-bit color depth, the model includes a film adapter for 35mm to medium format film. In multi-scan mode the unit can scan up to 12 35mm negative frames and import each frame into an individual file.
Canon also updated its built-in hardware retouching technology with a new Film Automatic Retouching and Enhancement (FARE level 3) feature that scans film surfaces for dust and scratches and removes them in the final scan.
Canon’s four new inkjet photo printers will ship in August and feature a new brand, Pixma.
The new models —the iP1500, 2000, 3000 and 4000 — will feature the same photo print quality, using Canon’s FINE technology and differentiate up the line via added features and print speeds.
The entry model, for an estimated street price of $49.99, will be the Pixma iP1500, achieving print speeds of 18 pages per minute (ppm) in black and up to 13ppm in color. It can also print borderless photos up to 8.5-inches by 11-inches.
For an estimated selling price of $79.99, the iP2000 incorporates PictBridge compatibility and speeds up to 20ppm in black and up to 14 ppm in color. This model also adds a second front-feeding paper tray that accommodates letter-sized media in addition to the standard auto-sheet feeder located on top of the printer, which prints all sizes up to letter-sized media, allowing the printer to be loaded with both plain paper and photo paper simultaneously. A paper-feed selector on the front of the printer lets users select functions.
The iP3000 Photo Printer, for an estimated $99.99, prints at 22ppm in black and up to 15ppm in color and also adds a second independent paper source, a front-loading paper cassette tray for loading 4-inch by 6-inch, 5-inch by 7 inch and letter-sized media.
The iP3000 also features four individual ink tanks and an auto-duplex unit for two-sided printing. According to Canon, the iP3000 is the first photo printer to hit a $99.99 with an auto-duplexer included.
Finally, Canon will replace the i860 model with the new iP4000, which the company claims will be its fastest consumer inkjet printer to date with speeds of up to 25ppm in black and up to 17 ppm in color. It will feature the FINE print head, second paper tray and auto duplexer, in addition to Canon’s five-color ContrastPLUS ink system.
