New York — Canon made two additions to its photo printer line stressing print longevity when used in conjunction with its own paper.
The company also announced that it would eschew, in its photo printer products, clocking print speeds in the traditional page per minute rating, choosing instead to time how long it takes the units to produce a “photo lab quality 4 –inch by 6-inch borderless print using default settings and printing on Canon’s Photo Paper Plus Glossy, PP-101,” the company said.
The new printers, the Pixma iP1600 and iP4200, are the first Canon products billed under the new ChromaLife100 system — a combination of printer and paper technology which, when used in conjunction, can produce prints with a longevity of up to 100 years when stored in archival quality photo albums.
The iP4200 printer replaces two models, the iP3000 and iP4000, and features one picoliter ink droplets for prints up to 9,600 by 2,400 dpi resolution. It can crank out a 4-inch by 6-inch photo in approximately 51 seconds. It will retail for an estimated $129.99 and is PictBridge-enabled.
The printer employs five individual ChromaLife100 ink tanks and a new ink status detection system which uses LEDs to alert customers to low ink levels. The feature, which Canon will integrate in all its forthcoming individual ink tank products, also lets users know when the ink tanks are installed and working properly.
The iP4200 supports USB 2.0 high speed and features built-in dual paper trays for two-way feeding and automatic duplex printing for two-sided text and photo prints.
The iP1600, for an estimated $49.99, replaces the iP1500. It offers a resolution of 4,800 by 1,200 and inkjet droplets sizes as small as two picoliters. The four color printer can produce a 4 by 6-inch photo print in 70 seconds.
The unit features a new cartridge system which reduces the overall size of the printer compared with its predecessor. It also uses a new pigment-based black ink.
