Dye Sub Printers

[Rob.Martin]

I've been looking around at Dye Sub (and in Asia apart from the proliferation of 6x4's there's nothing) and was wondering what anyone would recommend in this area. Looking for 8x10 max. But ability to do smaller if necessary. Not a lot of chatter about these printers exists. I know about the Olympus and Kodaks but there's a dearth of info about any of them
Thoughts??
Rob

 

[Gary C-G]

Hi Rob.

I am the main distributor of Hi Touch dye subs in Canada www.hitouchimaging.com and I hope I can give you some info that will help. I have no interest in selling anyone a printer here so I want to put that forward first. If you live in England or the USA I can point you to another seller. However as far as I know I am the only HiTi dealer who actively participates in forums. I've posted lots of info on dye subs on dpr before but I'd be willing to answer any specific questions for you.

As for me, I tend to use the dye subs for local events and personal stuff but my big jobs get farmed out to a pro lab in Vancouver as most of my orders are 8x10 or larger.

The HiTi dye subs do 4x6, 5x7 and 6x8 currently.

 

[Sid Jervis]

I don't know the market in Asia, but in the UK the Kodak 1400 is used quite a bit. I am in the US at present, and the biggest difference here is the price of consumables is much lower than the UK. I have found that you do need to keep dust out of the unit, and clean it properly between media changes. the specification says 90 second per print, but that doesn't include spooling time on the computer. On my Macs I guess that a single print takes just over two minutes. There are three big plus points with dye sub (that you may well know), 1) speed, 2) a dry, water resistant print and 3) a known cost per page.
In the UK many event togs use Kodak 1400's but if you need bigger volumes you have to move up Kodaks range.

These guys are in the UK but have some useful information:
http://www.systeminsight.co.uk/Kodak-ModelRange.html

Any more info required please ask.

 

[danielsan]

If you want 8x10 then your options become much more limited. For lower budgets and volume, you have Kodak, Mitsubishi, Olympus and Sony.

I have heard that Olympus has discontinued their 8x10 dyesub (p-440). Sony has the UPD70A and Mitusbishi has the 3020DU both of which run for close to a $1000. The most popular option in the US is the Kodak 1400. It is much cheaper than the Sony and Mitsubishi and the support is excellent (in the US at least). One area of complain that I hear of with the Kodak dye subs is that they are weaker in the reds than the other dye sub manufacturers. I believe it is stronger in yellows though.

None of the dye subs above though directly support smaller sizes. You have to print on a 8x10 or 8x12 sheet of paper and then trin the prints. So for example you could print 4 4x6s on a 8x12 sheet and then trim. Obviously this is a bit of a problem if you just want 1 4x6.

If you are looking for high voulme then you need a roll type dye sub which are much more expensive. Kodak has the 9810 and there is the Shinko S1245 oth of which run in the $3000+ range. There is also the Kodak ML-500 which is $10,000+. These are the only dye subs that I know of that support 8x10.

I personally use a Mitsubishi CP9000DW. It is only for 4x6s and 3.5x5s. The 9550 only goes to 6x9. Most roll type dye subs max out at 6x8 or 6x9 with the 4 listed above as the only ones supporting 8x10.

I've been looking around at Dye Sub (and in Asia apart from the proliferation of 6x4's there's nothing) and was wondering what anyone would recommend in this area. Looking for 8x10 max. But ability to do smaller if necessary. Not a lot of chatter about these printers exists. I know about the Olympus and Kodaks but there's a dearth of info about any of them
Thoughts??
Rob