What inkjet printer will match all our camera equipment?

[anonymous]

I will embark on a big adventure this year -- 5 weeks in the African bush come September. Our previous adventures include hiking, trekking, Alaska, the Australian outback (another 5 weeks), the Costa-Rican rain forests and such. Bottom line here - many opportunities to work on improving digital photography (video and still) and chances for artistic expression.

Camera(s):
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Sony Digital Still DSC-W7 Cyber Shot- 7MP 3x zoom, f=7.9-23.7mm (eq 35mm F2.8-5.2 /38-114mm) has all sorts of manual as well as automatic controls) – plus small carry in shirt pocket size (horse back riding, canoeing, art museums etc).
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Sony Digital Still DSC-H1 Cyber-Shot – 5MP 12x zoom, f=6.0-72mm (ea 35mm F2.8-3.7/36-432mm) wonderful steady shot function (great for quick hand held and optical zoom shots) plus lots of manual controls.
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All cameras were chosen for rugged quality, size, and multi-lens capability. I am still trying to learn the ins and outs of how to set and use them. These did require obtaining 40GB/60GB DM180 EZDigiMagic palm sized self contained hard drives to save digital images after each days shooting – BUT it seems really great not to have to pack dozens of rolls of film each trip.

We use Adobe PhotoShop 7, PIE Studio, PhotoELF, Nero 6 Ultra and IrfanView for processing digital images and video for slide shows and to share with family and friends.

Our current challenge is sorting out what photo-quality inkjet printer with a 13x19 inch capability is best for the “advanced” amateur -- any suggestions?

[McQ]

Wow! That's quite an array of trips. I am sure you will have great fun-- many great opportunities indeed.

As for an inkjet printer, this is usually between an Epson and Canon printer. The Canon printers are generally faster with (sometimes) more vibrant colors, while the Epson printers generally have longer lasting prints (due to the use of pigment inks instead of dye inks). On the other hand, the pigment inks in the Epson are more prone to clogging the print heads so this is not an east decision.

Whichever printer you do get though, be sure to have it custom color calibrated for your chosen paper type(s) by sending in a printed color chart to a calibration company. These typically cost $30-50, but are well worth it-- especially for b/w prints. Hope this helps get you started,.