Let’s Cut to the Chase – Which is Best?
If you want to short version, it’s this:
If price and/or speed a major factor, go for the Canon Pixma 100.
If you long lasting quality is a major factor, go for the Canon Pixma 10.
The differences in the print quality is slight, if any. Probably, only professionals would notice and that might or might not be a big deal.
Choose accordingly!
Now, for the long version!
See below:
Introduction
Canon is a household name and the industry leader in information systems and imaging industries. They have been known to create some pretty dope printers including the Canon Pixma Pro 100 and Pro 10. These two printers are frequently compared. The debate of which one of the two is the better photo printer is one that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. The fuss surrounding the printers is in our opinion justifiable as they share quite a bit of similarities including the following: a Black & White specific system, CD printing capabilities, borderless printing capabilities, two paper feed paths including a rear feed tray for standard media, and a manual feed tray for specialty and heavy media.
Even after using both printers for several weeks, we still could not conclusively decide on which of the two printers is the better one. We decided to leave that decision to you the users. If the price is a big factor for you, then we would recommend the Canon Pixma 100, which is cheaper on all fronts than the Pro 10. After all, unless you are sharing your images with a professional, it is almost impossible to know the difference between prints that have been produced by both. However, if you are not limited by your budget, then, by all means, you should acquire the Pro-10 if for nothing else than the 100-plus year lifetime of your photos. Regardless of the printer you settle for, we hope that you found this article to be helpful as you try and make your decision.
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Canon Pixma-10 |
Canon Pixma-100 |
|
|
Ink System |
10 Pigments |
8 Dyes |
|
Ink Appearance |
Less Vivid, Longer Lasting |
More Vivid, Fades Quicker |
|
Printing Speed |
~150 seconds per color sheet |
~50 seconds per color sheet |
|
Price |
Upwards of $700 |
Upwards of $500 |
Key Differences Between the Pro 100 and Pro 10
Ink System
At first glance, these two printers may appear to be one and the same thing with a few slight differences in physical shape, but they are nothing alike. The biggest difference between the Pro 100 and the Pro 10 would be their ink systems. The Pro 100 is an eight-dye-based printer while the Pro 10 is a ten pigment-based printer. The two ink types differ in their composition and how they are rendered on paper. This means that the appearance of the ink will differ. The dye ink from the Pro 100 is more vivid but fades much quicker than the pigment ink from the Pro 10, which is less vivid but is fade-resistant.
Winner (our preference): Canon Pixma 10
Printing Speed
For some users, the printing speeds of a printer are a very crucial factor to consider when purchasing printers. Various printing speeds tests conducted on different media types revealed that the Canon Pro 100 was much faster than the Pro 10. Where the Pro 100 took 50 seconds to print on a standard quality level 3 luster paper, the Pro 10 took 2.29 minutes to print the exact 8” x 10” print on the same paper. We tested the two printers using the same 8” x 10” print on a couple more papers, and the result was pretty much the same.
Winner: Canon Pixma Pro 100
Price
The cost of the printers varies with the buying price of the Pro 10 being upwards of ~$700 (although you can usually find them cheaper) which is higher than that of the Pro 100 at ~$500. Equally, when it comes to operating costs, the Pro 10 has a higher per-print cost simply because it has more ink tanks which take quite a bit of time before they need replacement. Nevertheless, the cost per milliliters of ink is still extremely high as users have to constantly replace the ink cartridges of the printers, which are relatively small.
- Canon Pixma Pro 10: ~$700 (See link for most current price)
- Canon Pixma Pro 100: ~$500 (See link for most current price)
Impressions of the Pro 100 and Pro 10
We used both printers for a couple of weeks and printed over 200 photos. With the exception of a few issues here and there we were pleasantly surprised by the printers.
Our impressions of the printers were as follows. Anyone who previously owned the Canon Pro 9000 MKII will appreciate the Pro 100. The Pro 100 makes for an excellent replacement for the printing speeds and output quality that comes close to those of the Pro 9000 MKII. The Pro 100 included a feed path for specialty media which was previously lacking in the Pro 9000 MKII. This is proof that Canon recognizes the evolving printing needs of photo enthusiasts.
The photo quality of the Pro-100 was incredible, but as one closely inspects the prints using a magnifying glass, you begin to notice tiny dots that are not visible to the naked eye. In comparison to printers that used the ChromaLife 100+ inks, the dye inks in the Pro 100 had better fade-resistance but they still did not come close to the resistance of the pigment-based ink of the Pro 10.
Similarly, after spending several weeks using the Pro 10, we were delighted in realizing that it was the perfect replacement for Canon’s Pro 9500 MKII. However, we felt that the printer’s color quality and gamut could use some improvement as they are not as vivid as we would have preferred them to be. But just like in the Pro 100 we did appreciate the inclusion of a specialty media feed path that accommodates thick papers and manages to handle them robustly. The color reproduction on the prints was really good, and it got even better once we fidgeted around with it and selected our own color profile. Finally, the pigment-based inks in the Pro Ten had remarkable, long-term resistance to fading that was even way better and long-lasting than Lucia pigment-based inks.
The Pro 100 and the Pro 10 have the same physical dimensions with a slight difference in weight. The Pro 10 weighs about 40 pounds while the Pro 100 weigh slightly more at 43 pounds. Both machines are pretty big and heavy, but that does not mean that they are impossible to move around and set up. You will, however, require some assistance from other people near you if you are anything like me and cannot manage to move around 40 pounds.
Conclusion
Whichever you decide, you’ll have a quality printer on your hands. The decision probably comes down to your specific needs.
Take your pick!