Epson 4800 vs. Canon 5000 print quality

[cameraboy]

Any reviews comparing Epson Stylus Pro 4800 head to head with the new Canon Imageprograf ipf5000?
-gloss quality on luster / gloss stock (gloss differential / bronzing)
- matte quality
- continuous tone appearance
- color gamut
- dmax
- paper handling
- operating cost

 

[Color Printing Forum Admin]

As far as continous tone appearance, to my eye:
- in red-yellow transitions, both appear equal
- in magenta areas, the 4800 is more continuous tone
- in a variety of blues, surprisingly, the 4800 is also more continous tone, where the iPF5000's error diffusion pattern is a bit visible to me on inspection.

The canon seems a bit sharper, and from a viewing distance I really like the sharpness, but from close up I'm bit concerned by the visibility of the diffusion pattern and tend to prefer my 314 dpi dyesub where no dots are visible.

 

[Color Printing Forum Admin]

The real test is how the print looks to a real viewer, but let me post some scans anyway.

Here are scans of the iPF5000 on luster at 600 dpi, 1200 dpi, and 3600 dpi from a microtek scanmaker i900.
​

 

[Color Printing Forum Admin]

Here are scans from the sample printed on kodak luster on an epson stylus pro 4800, again at 600, 1200, and 3600 dpi.
​

 

[Color Printing Forum Admin]

And to give a sense of scale, here is the same sample printed on a 600 dpi canon color imagerunner IRC3220.

 

[cameraboy]

Here is a nice wiki comparison of the Canon imageprograf 5000, the benchmark Epson 4800, and the new "more plastic box" cheaper Epson 3800.
http://canonipf5000.wikispaces.com/FAQ#Pros