Review based on a production Canon Pixma Pro-1

The Pixma Pro-1 is Canon’s latest addition to its A3+ (13-inch) pigment ink printer lineup. Intended to sit a category above, rather than replace either the Pixma Pro9000 Mark II or Pro9500 Mark II models, the Pro-1 sets its sights on a more discriminating and demanding user. As Canon described to us in an interview at the printer’s launch, ‘This is a top-of-the-line product…geared towards a 5D or 7D customer’.

With the relative maturity of today’s fine art inkjet printer market, Canon seems to realize that its success in going up against market leader Epson is likely to be depend on issues that extend beyond out-of-the-box image quality. Make no mistake, as the most expensive A3+ printer currently on the market (US$999/£799/€749), the Pro-1 will have to deliver great-looking prints. Yet that alone may not be enough. In an effort to distinguish the Pro-1 from its competiton, Canon has also focused on changes that revolve around usability, convenience and most notably, cooperation with third party paper manufacturers.

While Epson has taken pains to emphasize its own fine art paper offerings, Canon provides easy access to ICC paper profiles for the Pro-1 from paper manufacturers such as Canson, Hahnemühle, Ilford and Moab, among others. For those who prefer to take matters into their own hands, Canon has released as a free download, Color Management Tool Pro. This software allows users to both calibrate the printer and/or create high quality ICC profiles, provided they have access to an X-Rite spectrophotometer. In addition, the Pro-1 comfortably handles thick heavy papers such as Hahnemühle’s Photorag Baryta, even in its standard rear feed tray, with a separate manual feed slot designed for even thicker media.

For all of these features, however, the most immediately noticeable trait upon unpacking the Pro-1 is its sheer size and heft. Weighing in at just over 27 kg (60 pounds), its footprint nearly matches that of the 17-inch Epson Stylus Pro 3880. Aimed squarely at the enthusiast who prints regularly, the Pixma Pro-1 uses large capacity ink cartridges, with each one holding 36ml of ink. This is a significantly higher capacity than previous Pixma Pro models and even trumps the Epson Stylus Photo R3000. Larger ink cartridges of course offer the convenience of extended periods of printing. And they typically represent a better value, costing US$1 or less per ml. By comparison, you can pay as much as US$1.30 per ml for many A3+ pigment ink printers.

Canon’s 12-ink LUCIA inkset – reformulated for the Pixma Pro-1 – includes three gray ink dilutions for smooth tonal transitions in monochrome output and a chroma (gloss) optimizer for use on glossy media.
The Pro-1′s large capacity ink cartridges (36ml) are made possible by the fact that the cartridges themselves are housed separately from the print head. They are divided between two covered compartments at the front of the printer. A tube-delivery feed is used to send ink to the print head. This is a common design in large format printers, but one we’ve only recently begun to see in 13-inch desktop models.

The Pixma Pro-1 comes with a full set of ink cartridges. Each ink slot is clearly labeled and a button resting above each slot is used to release the cartridge when replacement becomes necessary. When the printer detects a cartridge ready for replacement, a red light at the top edge of the cartridge will begin flashing, making it easy to determine which one to replace.

Upon initial installation, a significant amount of ink is pulled through the ink lines, in order to provide a continuous flow of ink to the print head. While a check of the ink levels at this point will show noticeably depleted levels, the good news is that only a fraction of the loss you see has been actually discharged through the print head. The rest is simply occupying the ink tubing. Subsequent replacements of individual cartridges will maintain their ‘full’ ink level status much longer.

Pixma Pro-1 specification highlights

• 12 color LUCIA pigment inkset includes 5 monocrhome inks and a chroma optimizer
• Large capacity 36ml ink cartridges
• 4800 x 2400dpi print head resolution
• Manual paper feed for thick media
• Built-in Ethernet port

What’s in the box?

• Pixma Pro-1 printer
• CD/DVD printing tray
• PGI-29 ink cartridges (12)
• Power cable
• Print head
• Installation CD
• Warranty card

March 2012 | By Amadou Diallo

At 36.3MP the D800 offers a pixel count that rivals medium format on paper, but its sister model the D800E presents a much more serious challenge, boasting the same pixel count but without the stock D800′s optical low-pass filter (otherwise known as an ‘anti-aliasing’ filter).

Almost all digital cameras employ an optical low-pass filter over their sensors to slightly blur the image at a pixel level in order to avoid moiré patterning. This gives more usable images for general photography (moiré is annoying and can be time-consuming to correct) but comes at the expense of a slight decrease in critical sharpness. Removing the effect of this filter, as Nikon has done in the D800E, should result in higher resolution. Although the difference might not be critical to the average enthusiast, it could be of major importance to studio and landscape professionals (many of whom will be used to working with medium format cameras, which likewise don’t use OLPFs).

We haven’t had the opportunity to examine any samples in detail, but the comparisons that we’ve been shown certainly suggest that the D800E will deliver a significant boost in pixel-level detail compared to the ‘stock’ D800.

The D800E will become available in April, around a month after the D800 and at a slightly higher price of $3300 (TBC) at selected outlets. It will be accompanied by an updated version of Nikon’s Capture NX software, which will include a moiré reduction tool.

It may be more like my parents old Malmö, but the feeling and images brings memories and visions of my childhood hometown.

     By The Associated Press      ♦       Photography by Lars Lonninge

DALLAS — As the Dallas Museum of Art prepares to open an exhibit of Jean Paul Gaultier’s sometimes outrageous, always head-turning fashion designs, the city’s well-heeled residents are mobilizing.

Dallas is one of just three North American cities — along with Montreal and San Francisco — hosting the exhibit of works by the French designer. And while Dallas is not a fashion industry center like New York, Paris or Milan, designers and retailers know very well that some of their most devoted and fashion-conscious clientele can be found in Texas — both in Dallas and farther south in Houston.

“People take fashion here very seriously. It’s not exactly the same as it’s going to be in L.A. and New York … but it’s a much more exuberant style. I don’t think anyone ever comes to Dallas and comes to an event and are ever underwhelmed,” said Brian Bolke, owner of upscale Dallas boutique Forty Five Ten, which currently has a prominent display of Gaultier’s designs for customers to choose from.

Gaultier said he has been impressed with the style of the women he’d seen since his arrival to kick off the Dallas show. “I saw some women that were very elegant, super elegant. And that were even more Parisian than some Parisians,” he said.

New York City-based designer Elie Tahari, who this fall opened a store-in-a store in the Neiman Marcus at Dallas’ NorthPark Center along with his own freestanding boutique at the upscale mall, called the turnout for the openings “amazing.”

“It’s a big market for us and it’s a growing market. It’s a glamorous city and that’s the clothes I make,” said Tahari, who added that the line’s runway collection — its most expensive — is selling well in Dallas, which doesn’t happen in all cities.

Retailers say their customers in Dallas and Houston are sophisticated consumers who follow current fashion, have the money to spend on designer wares and are frequent travelers.

“I don’t know any designers that don’t like to come to Texas. It’s because they do so well here,” said Neal Hamil, who worked in New York City as executive vice president of Ford Models and director of Elite Model Management North America before returning to his hometown of Houston two years ago.

Hamil serves as creative director for Fashion Houston, which brings together designers to show their collections in Houston. New York City-based designer Bibhu Mohapatra, who was among those showing collections at the event, said that during his first visit to the state he noticed residents have “a natural flair and passion for fashion.”

The event honored Houston’s Becca Cason Thrash as its style icon and included a show of her designer collection, which included pieces by Alexander McQueen and Christian Dior.

Cason Thrash, an international philanthropist who has organized fundraising galas for the Louvre at the Paris museum and who shops across the globe, said that women in Dallas and Houston “are really chic and they really care about how they walk out the door.”

“They really turn themselves out. I have a great, great many fashion designer friends … and they all come here and say this is the greatest market concentration and research for us to see how these women put themselves together,” she said.

It’s customers like Cason Thrash whom Bolke thinks of when he’s searching for items that can’t just be found everywhere.

“Our customers travel so much. They see everything and they have access to everything, which is actually a nice challenge,” said Bolke, who added, “Women here are not scared of fashion with a capital ‘F.’ Here it’s a kind of sport.”

Ken Downing, the senior vice president and fashion director of Neiman Marcus, said these well-traveled Texans “become really great style ambassadors to this state.”

As the home of Neiman Marcus, Dallas began its flirtation with fashion early. The luxury retailer founded in 1907 has over the decades has brought famous faces including Coco Chanel and Grace Kelly to Dallas to receive fashion awards.

“Certainly, Neiman Marcus has had an enormous impact on the style knowledge that Dallas alone has had,” Downing said.

He noted that Neiman Marcus’ Fortnights, two-week celebrations of the culture of foreign countries which began in the 1950s, attracted attention partly because they were held in an era when there was less international travel.

“The great thing about Dallas women is they love to experiment. They’re not afraid to try the latest, the greatest, the newest and always look spectacular. How lucky to live in a city with so many gorgeous women wearing beautiful clothes,” Downing said.

With a thriving arts scene and a bevy of charity events to choose from, Texas women are often searching for gowns.

“They’re very chic, ladylike, feminine with an edge,” said Fady Armanious, store director for the Houston location of Tootsies.

Retailers say that women in Texas like to wear colors and also like to have fun with their fashion. For instance, says NorthPark fashion expert Victoria Snee, they might pair a sequined mini-dress with cowboy boots.

“Every vendor will tell you that they sell more color and more bold accessories here than anywhere in the country,” said Robbin Wells, executive vice president of the Dallas Market Center, which holds more than 50 markets each year attended by more than 200,000 buyers.

Designer Rafaella Curiel was among those from Italy who came to show her work in Dallas this fall as part of the Italian Fashion Expo at the Dallas Market Center.

“I think that women in Texas are very beautiful. They still dress in an elegant way and they like quality,” Curiel said.The Gaultier exhibit opened earlier this year at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The show opens in Dallas on Sunday and runs through Feb. 12 before going to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and then moving on to Europe.

Olivier Meslay, interim director of the Dallas museum, said that the museum is already seeing visitor numbers well beyond the usual — the day museum members can get a sneak peak of the exhibit usually attracts around 300 people, but for this one they expect about 1,200.

Among those with plans to attend the exhibit are Dallas designer Prashi Shah, who after studying at New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology and working for Bill Blass returned to Texas to launch her own lines.

“Every socialite in Dallas right now has their calendar marked for that event,” said Shah, adding that the exhibit has “been pretty much the talk of the town.”

Warren Haynes’ long-anticipated solo album, Man In Motion (Concord Records), is a timeless collection of songs that crackle with modern vitality yet draw on his deepest roots as an artist. The disc pumps fresh blood into the heart of soul and blues, stoked by Haynes’s Herculean prowess as both a powerhouse singer and guitarist — a reputation he’s earned as a member of three of the greatest live groups in rock history: The Allman Brothers Band, The Dead and his own Gov’t Mule.In a sense, the vocal-driven Man In Motion is an album he’s been aching to make since he first dreamed of becoming a musician.“Before I started playing guitar, I wanted to be a singer, right from the age of five or six,” the rock ‘n’ roll legend regales. “And what I wanted to sing was soul music. My brothers and I had just a handful of albums. First they were the ‘Best of’ collections by Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, the Temptations, Aretha Franklin…and eventually albums by the three Kings of the blues, Freddie King, B.B. King and Albert King. In fact, it was hearing B.B. and Freddie that made me realize you could be a great singer and a great guitar player. So I decided to model myself after them.”For Man In Motion, Haynes draws on his dynamic gravel-and-honey voice and stunning six-string syntax to create melodies that frame the past with the present, fusing enduring themes of love, desire and loss with bristling undeniably contemporary energy.

Here is Warren last year at HOB…

Nick Brandts images include intimate portraits of African animals. They are simply extraordinary images.

Nick is also very involved with Big Life Foundation and the preservation of African nature.

This article is in Swedish.

Nick Brandt

Lion Before Storm II

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After Steve Jobs anointed Walter Isaacson as his authorized biographer in 2009, he took Mr. Isaacson to see the Mountain View, Calif., house in which he had lived as a boy. He pointed out its “clean design” and “awesome little features.” He praised the developer, Joseph Eichler, who built more than 11,000 homes in California subdivisions, for making an affordable product on a mass-market scale. And he showed Mr. Isaacson the stockade fence built 50 years earlier by his father, Paul Jobs.

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I guess I was busy trying to make my way uptown to Grand Central to escape the island by train.

This is an outstanding 10 minute documentary about the largest marine rescue ever…