Shopping for photo printer

[paulinator]

Hi all, I'm new here and have all kind of questions I would like to ask, but will take it one step at a time. I'm looking to buy a photo printer. I haven't owned anything but a document printer in the past. All my prints came from the photo store. I've used film until a year and a half ago. I'm on a learning curve with digital. Just started using elements 8. I have a sony DSLR.
Any advice on a photo printer? $500.00 is my limit, but like everbody I wouldn't mind spending less. Someone I know suggested Canon PIXMA 9000. I see HP is selling a wide format Photosmart for about $200.00. $100.00 off because of a rebate. I do want to be able to print over 8x10 once in a while. My OS is Windows 7 64bit.

Thanks
Paul

[Geoff F]

Firstly, you may find this recent similar question useful Become a printer .... or not?

And secondly, Canon, Epson and HP all produce good photo printers.

Now, whether going up to A3 (European size) is going to be economic for you is debatable. It may be cheaper to get an A4 printer and go to a printing service for those few larger prints. Although if you enjoy producing your own prints and want the convenience of instant results, that is a different matter.

I had a Canon 9000 but it 'died' after a couple of years so I now use an Epson R1900 which works fine.

I'm not sure there is an easy answer here. I read a lot of reviews before buying and there wasn't really much difference between them. Which is probably how the answers to this question will pan out.

To some extent, HP may tend to concentrate more on business use printers but one of their range (I can't remember the model) scored highly in all the reviews I found.

[paulinator]

Thanks Geoff,
Question, if using a 1.6 crop sensor, is it hard to get a good resalution (low noise) print over 8x10?

[Colin Southern]

Thanks Geoff,
Question, if using a 1.6 crop sensor, is it hard to get a good resalution (low noise) print over 8x10?

Hi Paul,

Short answer: "No" - it's not hard.

At low ISO settings - with correct exposure - noise isn't really an issue for any modern DSLR. The size of the print really doesn't enter into it either; as a rule of thumb, the bigger the print, the greater the viewing distance, and the less our eyes can resolve detail (I regularly print up to 44 inches wide).