Product Reviews

Having re-entered the Mac inkjet market with the BJC-6100, Canon is now seeking to take the lead in the 'photo-quality' stakes with the BJC-8200 Photo.

The Canon printer uses the same method of producing photo-like images as Epson's Stylus Photo series: that is, it adds two colours to the standard cyan, magenta, yellow and black. In Canon's case, these are photo-cyan and photo-magenta. However, this is where similarities between the product lines end. The Canon device has an output resolution of 1200dpi x 1200dpi, as opposed to the more common 1440dpi x 720dpi. This, combined with Canon's inkjet technology, gives the BJC-8200 Photo a noticeable edge in terms of quality.

The BJC-8200, like the BJC-6100 (Reviews, Vol 15 No 24, p22), uses separate ink tanks for each colour, together with a detection device for monitoring ink levels. The advantage of this system is that you can simply replace one colour when necessary rather than the entire cartridge. And as the printer driver tells you when ink is low, you can replace a tank before starting a job.

Setting up the printer is simple. Once you've plugged it in, hooked it up to your Mac via a USB cable and installed the drivers, all that's left to do is install the ink tanks. Lifting the lid at the front of the printer brings the ink tank holder into view, and tanks are simply slotted into place. Each tank is clearly labelled and matched against the labels on the tank holder. A foolproof system - if you're paying attention.

The first thing we noticed when testing the 8200 Photo was the lack of noise: it's one of the quietest inkjet printers we've ever come across, matched only by the Hewlett

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Packard 970cxi (Reviews, Vol 15 No 20, p28) and Canon's BJC-6100. This is a boon if you're working at home or in an office environment where noise suppression is important. For the rest of us, it's just a pleasant change from the racket-making printers of previous years.

One of the most impressive aspects of the BJC-6100 was its printing speed, and this is equally true of the 8200 Photo. It's understandably slower than the 6100, and a shade slower than the HP 970cxi, but at eight minutes for an A4 colour print, it's a good 20% faster than the Epson Stylus Photo 750.

Once the printer has completed its job, what it leaves in the out tray is remarkable. Quite simply, we've never seen a desktop inkjet printer produce images of the quality output by the BJC-8200 Photo. Canon's explanation for such excellent print quality is its MicroFine Droplet Technology, whichcontrols the density and placement of dots and gives them sharper edges. Whatever the technology behind it, the images produced are closer to photographic quality than any inkjet. Even when inspected closely, dots are difficult to pick out. Colour gradations are subtle and the detail in dark, shadowy areas is superb.

There really is a noticeable difference between the quality of prints output by this device and those produced by other inkjet printers. Whereas in the last few months there has been little to choose between manufacturers in terms of output quality, the BJC-8200 now gives Canon the edge.

Text quality is also good. Although output is not as impressive as on the 6100, it produces a page of text in under 30 seconds.

Like other printers in Canon's range, the BJC-8200 supports a scanner cartridge. This means the printer cartridge can be replaced by a special scanning cartridge, enabling the device to act as a sheet-fed scanner.

The Canon BJC-8200 is a remarkable printer: it's quiet, fast, and produces excellent photographic prints. However, all this comes at a price - £299, to be precise, which is more than double the cost of some decent inkjets currently on the market. If you only require passable quality, the BJC-8200 probably isn't the printer for you. If, however, you're after the best-quality inkjet on the market, look no further.