Canon PIXMA Pro-200 Review

The distinguishing characteristic is this model's price relative to other top-tier photo printers with comparable output quality. Few machines match this unit for color and grayscale and print dimensions, print medium, and cost per print. Of the printers that meet these standards, this unit has more issues with setup and limitations in print size and material. However, minor shortfalls of this kind are to be expected with the cost savings compared to other high-end models.

Color Prints

The Canon PIXMA Pro-200 lives up to its name with color renderings that will please all but the most discerning professional. This printer does quite well without altering settings, as contrast and saturation are tuned to make images “pop.” Nonetheless, these settings are easy enough to change to meet the user's preferences, so long as the user is willing to experiment a bit.

Black and White Prints

The Canon PIXMA Pro-200 scored quite high in our black and white print assessment. We use stock images that allow for direct comparisons amongst these printers, focusing on resolution and overall impression, though border and tonal transitions are also central to the analysis. The Pro-200 has crisp borders and smooth gradients through darks, which is a challenge for most printers. However, the colors run a little warm, which was not to our liking.

Print Capabilities

The main gripe we have with the Pro-200 is that it doesn't accommodate a paper roll, so the print dimensions are limited to 13 x 39 inches. This won't be a deal-breaker for many consumers as the max dimensions still give a lot of room for creative expression.

While the paper roll issue is our main concern, the Pro-200's other printing limitations focus on what mediums it will accept. The unit certainly covers a wide range of paper types, from matte to glossy and fine art to card stock. But it cannot print on canvas and similarly thick materials.

The tray only holds 20 4" x 6"-inch photo paper sheets, but it prints reasonably fast at just over a minute per 4" x 6"-inch color photo. Also, it prints from 8 separate ink cartridges, which contribute mightily to the vibrant colors discussed above.

Operating Cost

The long-term costs of a new purchase are often overlooked when shopping and are thus a hidden cost only seen later. However, sometimes the long-term cost works in the consumer's favor. Such is the case with the Canon PIXMA Pro-200. We have calculated that this printer produces 4" x 6"-inch color prints for just $0.38 each. To put that into context, a national retail chain that we used for comparison produced the same size image for $0.33, and we found the quality to be noticeably lower.

Set-up

The Canon printers we've tested over the years have consistently been unnecessarily difficult to get up and running. We think the cost savings and performance of the operational Canon PIXMA Pro-200 will mitigate the frustrations of the setup process, but it may be hard to keep that in mind while you're in the trenches.

We spent a while trying to get our computer to recognize the Pro-200 despite the printer receiving the WiFi password through the laptop. You might be thinking, maybe it was your computer. Nope, we tried multiple computers with both PC and Mac operating systems, and the problem falls squarely on the printer. Finally, we gave up and reset everything, resorting to a manual setup. After getting the printer connected, we were able to set the features on the printer that were supposed to be done via on-screen prompts. Though it is frustrating, it only has to be done once.

Should You Buy the Canon PIXMA Pro-200?

The Canon PIXMA Pro-200 performs at a very high level, yet it is significantly less expensive than other directly comparable models. We calculate the value as a ratio of cost to performance. And in this light, this printer offers consumers an incredible value for a professional-grade photo printer. It produces high-quality photographs in multiple mediums at a low cost per print. While the setup was supremely frustrating, once up and running, very few prints outstrip the quality prints of the PIXMA Pro-200.

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