I recently purchased an Olympus Stylus 400.
So far I'm just reading manuals, etc., and trying to get acclimated.
I wanted a small camera to travel with; I'm tired of the one that always has been attached to my neck! (Now, of course, I'm worrying about losing this new tiny one.)
What I want advice on is printers.
I like the idea/looks of/info on the Olympus P-400, a dye sublimation machine.
However, I seem to find it priced, online, for prices varying from just under $400 up to nearly $1000 and I don't get it!
Does anyone know anything about this printer, the weird pricing fluctuations, and how it works?
I'd appreciate any input.

When I travel I take a portable hard drive with me, and if I want a proof while on travel I just find a photo store (Digital Service) and get them printed. Most of the time they can evan put them on cd for you. As for traveling with a printer - Just another item to pack and charge. I just got back from Ireland (2.5-weeks) and shot well over 2000 digital photos and printed none of them while over there. I found a place here where I live to get the photos printed for $0.20 per photo. I printed 1200 of them for a total cost of under $250.00 - so you see a portable hard drive would be a better by and it is very handy when traveling. Sorry I didn't answer your question, just tried to give you an alternative to a Printer.

Jerry

Wow--2000 photos? I'm impressed.
We usually take about 700 between the 2 of us for a 9-10 day tour and figure that's high.
I really have no intention of taking a printer with me on trips--I just want one for printing copies at home. I'm looking for opinions about which type, etc., is best.
Who did you find to make prints for only 20 cents each for heaven's sake?

DianeKG,

There seems to have two "versions" of the printer you mentioned, P-400 Printer and P-400 Printer Business Edition Package:

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_pp_printers.asp

For the Business Edition Package, you get supplies and 1-year priority service in addition to the printer. See:

http://store.yahoo.com/global-gps/201-103.html

This might explain why you found a wide range of prices for this printer.

For digital image printing, there's an article on the September issue of "Popular Photography & Imaging" where they compare prices for three sizes (4x6, 5x7, 8x10) for six different types of digital printing solutions (see their Digital Print Options Chart).

http://tinyurl.com/pdw6

Wal-Mart charges 29 cents for 4x6 prints. I think you can get 19 cents per print at Costco.

Diane,

My understanding is that the dye sublimation printers deliver simply gorgeous prints, but obviously at a pretty steep price. The color is transferred from a ribbon by heat. Try using Google & doing a search for Olympus P-400. You'll find a number of excellent reviews. For a much lesser price the photo quality ink jet printers do a superb job. You've got to ask yourself what you want a printer for. If it is to print 4x6 pictures for a photo album, you'll find the price per picture to be very high. Additionally my understanding is that the longevity of ink-jet prints is not nearly as long as prints made by a photo lab (whether Wal-Mart, Costco, one of the on-line outfits, or your local full-service camera store) from your digital pictures. I believe dye-sub prints last as long as conventional (chemically processed) photos, but again the price per print is very steep. The Canon i950 is a highly regarded moderately priced (under $250, found at both Sam's and Best Buy in my area) photo quality printer. One could use such a printer for larger prints (8x10 max?) to be displayed. You can, of course, also use it as a conventional printer for word processing (or kids' school projects that would benefit from color printing).

Mike

Diane:

Most amateurs do not use dye-sub prints or printers because they are too expensive. Unless you plan to sell your work (usually 11X14 or larger), I suggest you consider today's inkjet photo printers.]

I use the Canon i950 mentioned by Michael. It produces spectacular 81/2X11 borderless prints using 6 color inks. It is available on the Web for $200. A larger version, the i9000, prints up to 13X19 prints: it's available on the Web for about $425. Canon paper is expensive so I use Epson and Office Depot glossy photo paper.

If you wish to print 4X6 for your album or to share with friends, use Walmart or some online processor. Most charge the same (19-29 cents) a print.

A good source of information is the printing forum at http://www.dpreview.com. />
Glenn
pbase supporter
www.pbase.com/gsrunyan

Two "tips" for printing.

1. Try to get a printer which has a separate ink cartridge for each colour, rather than one with just black and a combined colour cartridge. Although printers with separate cartridges are more expensive, the printing costs are dramatically cheaper. With the combined cartridge, you always find that one colour runs out while others are still almost full!

I have a Canon S820, which is an older version of the i950 which Glenn mentions. As Glenn says, Canon printers produce excellent results.

2. Use the best quality paper you can find. Paper quality is the number 1 factor in print quality. Cheap paper will give poor results on even the best printer, and good paper will give excellent results on even a cheap printer!

I'd also second Glenn's comment that if you only want a small number of prints, using a commercial printing service is a lot cheaper than buying your own printer!

Regards,

Chris

Glenn,
I have a Canon S820, but because I read somewhere that the prints are much better when you use Canon paper, I have been sticking to their photo papers. Have you done a side by side comparison between Canon and the other photo papers you use? I'm just curious. I guess I could try this experiment myself and see if there is any difference. Also, Canon says that if you use their paper the prints should resist fading for x number of years (can't remember the precise number) if they are properly stored. Most of the prints I've made myself (and this includes ones done on my old HP) are mounted behind glass and hanging on my office wall. They are out of direct sunlight and none of them have faded yet, though some are almost five years old.

Also, those of you who have mentioned getting prints done at Walmart, are you talking about using the Kiosks where you put in a memory card or a CD and do it yourself? Are prints done that way as good as if you had them do it behind the counter, so to speak? I am seriously thinking about trying the Kiosk thing for 4x6 prints as I do think it would be a big money saver over printing my own. But will the quality be as good as my Canon? Thanks for any info you can give me.

Thanks for all the advice/info, etc.
I feel confident I'm not up for dye sublimation; we figured out last evening that for paper and ink, each would run close to $2. I'm not brilliant, but I'm not that dumb either!
No one mentioned if they thought I purchased a good/bad camera--guess it doesn't matter because I'm not sending it back...

RaroGirl,

>>getting prints done at Walmart, are you talking about using the Kiosks where you put in a memory card or a CD and do it yourself?<<

No, you let them do it for you. Wal-Mart photo center uses the Fuji Frontier digital minilab. That's the same system they use to process 1-hour photo from film. You use their kiosk to transfer your image files from memory cards or CDs to their system. You then select images you want to print, size of print, and number of prints. Grab the receipt for your order and your prints will be ready in an hour.

The Frontier prints on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, glossy or matte. I've only got prints on matte papers from local Wal-Mart though. Prints will last a long time, according to Fuji. IMO, Wal-Mart's print quality is quite good. Haven't tried the service at Costco as Wal-Mart is convenient and I know what to expect.

There's an article which gives you good info about printing from digital images on the Frontier. Follow their guidelines can reduce the "unexpected."

http://www.sbphotonews.com/File2Pri.htm

Good luck!

Ok, guys. I'm now just about all set. (And pretty nearly broke, too!)
Have my little stylus, 2 or 3 different sized cards, some kind of adapter, an internal CD-RW thingamerbob, a camera case, and who knows what else--I've lost track.
Now if I'm not too geriatric to actually take pictures, I should be on my way.
Thanks for all your help and advice.