Photography News Issue 40

Photography News | Issue 40 | absolutephoto.com

56 First tests

Canon PIXMA TS9050 £219.99

Unprofiled

Specs

Print resolution 9600x2400dpi Inks

Six individual ink tanks: pigment black PGBK, black BK, cyan C, magenta M, yellow Y, grey GY. Standard size and extra large inks available. ChromaLife100 inks Print speed 21cmborderless 10x15cm Scanner resolution (optical) 2400x4800dpi A4 scan speed 14 secs Copy speed 19secs A4 Interface USB 3.0, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, PIXMA NFC touch and print, Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, SDmemory card slot (microSDwith adapter) Compatibility

Profiled

Windows 10, 8.1, 7, Vista SP2 Mac OS X 10.8.5 and later Dimensions 37.2x32.4x14cm Weight 6.7kg Contact canon.co.uk

Colours looked nicely saturated, contrast levels seemed high, although tonal gradation was smooth

Canon is unique in being the only imaging brand offering capture and final output solutions, with a range of printers from consumer level models to huge, high-output pro models. The TS9050 is a leading model in Canon’s PIXMA range of all-in-one printers. It’s an A4 printer, copier and scanner that’s packed with features aimed at fun and enthusiast photographers. It puts ease of use as well as high-quality output at the top of its features list. You can print wirelessly, whether that is from your cloud, an SD memory card, your smart device or from your computer. The touchscreen and the Canon app make the TS9050 a user-friendly unit and for those of you who produce a lot of prints, there are individual inks with the option of standard (571 7ml, 570 15ml) or extra large (11 11ml, 570 22ml) tanks. The 571 photo inks are cyan, yellow, magenta, grey and black. The 570 ink is pigment black ink and would be used for printing documents. For this test, I took the standpoint of this unit’s suitability as a printer for the keen enthusiast photographer, as opposed to the smartphone or more casual photographer. Setting up is a quick and straightforward process and on- screen prompts guide you through the

Generally, though, my experience with the TS9050 was a good one. Being able to copy and scan as well as print are useful extra benefits too, and it has it lots of nice touches like the touchscreen, many connectivity options and it looks great in a domestic environment. WC

process loading the ink cartridges and connecting up to your devices. Within ten minutes of unpacking I was ready to connect the unit to the computer; then I went to a Canon website to download software and just minutes later the unit was ready to print. My own set-up is profiled and I use generic ICC profiles downloaded from the websites of the paper suppliers when printing. Searching around on the web it seems generic profiles for Canon’s A4 consumer printers are not generally available. This means for serious output with the TS9050 you’ll need to consider custom profiles, a service offered free by some paper suppliers including Fotospeed and Permajet. So for my review, I started by making a few custom profiles using the Datacolor SpyderPRINT so I could compare profiled and non-profiled output using Epson, Fotospeed and Permajet papers. My first prints using files I’ve used before for printer reviews were made allowing the printer to manage colours. The results were pretty good and viewed in isolation there is little to moan about. Colours looked nicely saturated, contrast levels seemed high, although tonal gradation was smooth. All told the non-profiled prints were perfectly acceptable.

However, the same files then printed with my home-produced profiles gave superior results. The contrast levels were slightly lower and the colours were more saturated and generally more accurate. The differences were clearly evident in side-by-side comparison, but it is worth stressing that the non-profiled files came out looking good, especially those on glossy/lustre papers. The matt/fine art finishes were less good. I had less success with printing black & white. Whether I used a monochrome RGB or a greyscale file, and with the black & white output box ticked in the printer interface, my mono images came out with a distinctive brown/sepia colour cast. I didn’t manage a truly neutral mono print on the papers I used. It took around two minutes to output an A4 print and the unit is quiet so no issues printing when the family is trying to watch the TV. In the printer interface there is the option of normal or best quality. I tried a couple of files at both settings and saw no discernible difference between the two so save time and probably ink with the normalmode. The other thing to remember in the printer interface is to select the paper rear-feed slot – thicker photo paper does not work through the main paper cassette.

Verdict

So will it suit the photographer who just wants brilliant output? As always, it depends. If you want to use fine art papers, have generic profile support and the option to make the occasional A3 or A3+ print then probably not. On the other hand, if you want a versatile home printer for family use that can also copy and scan and to produce high- quality A4 prints of your best shots with minimal fuss, then the Canon PIXMA TS9050 has a lot to commend it. Pros Multi-function, optional extra capacity ink tanks, straight of the box prints look good Cons Limited generic ICC profile support, mono prints come out sepia, less good with matt/fine art finishes

Above Above is with the printer’s colour management and below is with custom profile. There are differences and the profiled print is better – but the differences aren’t huge and need direct comparison to appreciate. Both prints were on Epson Value Glossy Photo paper.