Inkjet or Dye-Sub? A couple of questions

[triphead]

Which produces the better image?

Which works out cheaper per print?

Would you take an inkjet on location?

Dye-Subs seem to leap from around £100 to £1000 - are there no mid-range ones?

[Garry Spight]

Would like to know this answer

[EOS_JD]

Hopefully I can help.


Which produces the better image?

Depends what you are looking for. A Dye Sub produces nice glossy prints like that which you get from a consumer lab. Some more expensive ones can use different papers but the choice is normally limited to one type made by the manufacturer.

An inkjet can print far better quality prints on a variety of papers though - But if all you want to print is nice glossy prints the dye sub would do just as good a job.


Which works out cheaper per print?
The dye-sub is cheaper per print. You buy a roll of paper and ink and that will give you a fixed number of mages at a fixed price. If you buy a machine that does 9x6 cost would likely be about 35p or thereabouts. An inkjet will use ink and paper that will likely cost a bit more - really depends on the paper you buy and the inkset you use. Ink is very expensive. You may need to get the proper profiles too.


Would you take an inkjet on location? Have done and would never do so again - they are not designed to be carted around. Also inkjets are slower in comparison to a good dye-sub.


Dye-Subs seem to leap from around £100 to £1000 - are there no mid-range ones?

I bought one for £20 on ebay and works great attached to my camera - Basically it's a 6x4 printer that costs I think about 35p per print but is very slow. Bigger ones print 8x6 or 9x6 and possibly larger and and are designed for speed at events.

Hope that helps a little. If you are doing events there is no choice but a dye-sub. Look for a second hand one. Some good deals on Hi-Ti and Mitsubishi older models.