Olympus Camedia P-400 Digital Color Photo Printer

Weighing over 30 pounds, constructed of heavy plastic, and accented with metal controls, the Camedia P-400 impressed us with its sturdy design right out of the box. To test the printer, we captured photos on a 16 MB CompactFlash card, placed the card in a CompactFlash-to-PCMCIA adapter (not included), and inserted the adapter in the printer. (Our evaluation model came with the P-RBN photo ink cartridge already installed, but it is easily replaced through the front access panel. Also, our unit did not include driver software, so we were unable to test PC functionality.) Using the menu-driven LCD, jog dial, and arrow keys, we specified our paper type (A4), input source (PC Card), and output photo size (8 by 10 inches). We pressed the Print button, and after 2 minutes and 58 seconds the P-400 rewarded us with a beautiful 8-by-10-inch photograph.

The Camedia P-400's color was very natural, not neon bright or oversaturated, and its tinting was slightly cool (more blue than red). Resolution was only 314 dpi, but the dye-sublimation technology showed no visible grain. The results were better than many we've seen from 1,200 dpi ink-jet printers. We also printed a slightly soft photograph and then used the printer's sharpening function in an attempt to improve it. Unfortunately, unwanted pixelation increased along with any positive sharpening affects. Printing speed was slow but steady at 2:58 for each 8-by-10 print. Several minutes were required to print one index/proof sheet of 20 photos, with nearly all of that time spent processing the CompactFlash card's data, not actually printing.

With only a casual glance, we could have easily mistaken the P-400's output as coming from a photo lab. Only close scrutiny revealed minor pixelation, which reflected the limit of our digital photo more than that of the printer. The initial cost is high, and the dye-sublimation ink cartridges and photo paper are expensive; but if you can afford it, the P-400 Camedia makes a fine companion for your digital camera. --Mike Brown

Pros:

• Easy walk-up printing of digital photos
• Prints have the look and feel of traditional photos

Cons:

• Substantial cost for consumables
• Not for general-purpose printing

The P-400 uses A4-size paper, so you can choose between a full-size image,single-sheet photo album, post card, or an index sheet with up to 260images. The high-speed printing process takes only 90 seconds, which isquite a bit faster than the typical output from an inkjet printer.

The P-400 has its own built-in LCD monochrome monitor so that you can checkimages and layout before printing, without a PC. (Of course, it can also beconnected to a PC.) The P-400 comes equipped with both USB and parallelports and can be used with Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000.It supports the Macintosh, too, through the USB port. The monitor is usefulfor specifying different processing looks, including sepia, monochromefilters, white frame, soft-focus background, wood-frame background, andvarious photo accents. The printer can also adjust tones, sharpness, gamma,brightness, and contrast of the images.

With the P-400, you can enjoy features previously available only oncommercial systems. You'll create professional-looking, photorealisticprints without a photo lab, for a reasonable price. --Linda Anderson

I originally purchased the P-400 for one simple reason; I wanted the highest quality prints possible of family members and for my wedding video service. The Olympus P-400 has never disappointed my highest expectations.

Most of us are familiar with how bubble-jet printers create dotted print-outs, which from a distance may look OK, but when viewed up-close the actual quality is not as good as hoped for. I have used a magnifying glass on print-outs from the P-400, and not only are there no dots, I actually do believe I prefer the P-400 print-outs over normal photographs. The P-400 print quality *is* that good. In my region of the world, film developing businesses on occasion ruin whole rolls of film, and so rather than my investing time and money into developing equipment to ensure quality photos, I can now get the prints I want, the size I want, and the quantity I want at any time I want.

The paper used in the P-400 is thick, very similar to normal photographs, and instead of the photographs having a brand name on the back side such as "Kodak", it reads "Olympus". The finished photograph also automatically receives a clear protective high gloss coating that does make the print feel and appear to be a developed photo. Unless a person has considerable experience with photography, they will not be able to tell the difference between a regular photo and one printed from the P-400. The actual cost per print-out is around $2.00 (paper and ribbon costs combined), which is not bad at all for an 8x10 or four 4x5 photographs. Advertised life of prints is about the same as regular photographs, around 50 years or more, which is far better than just a year or two with bubble-jet printers.

Changing the ribbon and paper is fast, clean, and very easy. Software installation is also quick and uncomplicated. The user friendly printer actually is a `plug and play'.

Though the P-400 has a normal printer parallel port, I highly recommend only using the USB port. The time required to transfer data from the computer to the printer usually only takes several seconds per photograph while using the USB, but it may take minutes through the LPT1 cable. With about two minutes from clicking "print" to receiving a finished 8x10 photograph, the speed is more than pleasing. The printer is fast enough and simple enough that I have not yet found a need to use the Smart Card slot nor even any of the other console controls. Through use of most any photo or graphics program, print-outs are as easy as `view and print'.

The only problem I have encountered was when the printer was new and the plastic ribbon roll rod would occasionally bind in the ribbon holder slot (caused by too tight of tolerances). I was able to trim off the holder's excess plastic to allow the ribbon to turn more freely, and after speaking to the Olympus technical support describing the problem and remedy (of which they were appreciative for the information), surely the new models will no longer have similar minor problems.

Three years ago I paid over one thousand dollars for the P-400 on sale, and I have never regretted the cost. Recently I was able to print-out numerous specially-formatted 8x10 copies of my daughter's college graduation, which if done through a photographer would have cost me more than the price of the printer. Today's prices are very reasonable, enough that my wife has begun saying she wants one for herself. In our high-tech low-cost society, not many items produce true quality results, but the Olympus P-400 is one product that actually does live up to our best expectations. Highly recommended, I know of no better desk-top photo printer than the Olympus P series.


Great photo printer for the commited digital photographer   March 30, 2004
W. Bexton (San Francisco)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

I've been printing 3.2 megapixel images on this and they're virtually indistinguishable from a "real" photo, even at the 7.64x10" full size (7.7 megapixel as advertised in the printer information) resolution. Don't believe the inkjet monkeys who tell you that an inkjet can produce comparable prints - they can't.

I chose this printer over the others available because of the size it is capable of printing, the better color-handling (for instance, the sony dye-subs tend to skew towards overly bright and red tones), and the recommendations of hard-core photo people.

Things you should know about this printer: when all is said and done, you can find this printer for under three hundred, and 100 prints are going to run you about a buck sixty five each (for a single 8x10) if you shop around. If you want smaller, cheaper photos, just print two or four up on a sheet, get 4 prints out of it on a sheet for about 40 cents each. Get out the scissors, and enjoy. Horray.

The printer has been having EXTREME difficulty printing directly from a smart media card - I don't like printing two-dollar blank pages - I've only had consistent success printing via USB connection to my 'puter, but it's a lot faster than printing from the smart media card anyway, so no real loss there - just something to keep in mind.

Reviewers have noted that the ink ribbon can be difficult to install. I don't really agree - olumpus' packaging makes this a straight forward procedure - it's just a little more work than the plug-in-the-inkjet-cartridge laziness we've all become accustomed to.

The printer is rather large and heavy, but you have to understand this was really initially intended as a professional's printer. It is solidly built, has a real feeling of quality construction. Just make sure if your living space is small that you've hollowed out a suitably sized location - think of it like a 16" monitor and you're working along the right lines size and space-wise.

For those with a mac (like me - running OS X 10.3), Olympus is seriously lagging on making a compatible driver. I wrote them and got a swift but lackluster response (no deadline for producing a driver). After printing several blank pages directly from my memory card and freaking out, I found the solution: do a google search for "Gimp-print," an open source & free driver bundle for the mac that runs under 10.3, and powers this printer just fine (so far - haven't tested with photoshop yet - only iPhoto, but I suspect it'll do just fine). It's free. Yay. Problem solved, no thanks to Olympus.

For those of you looking at this printer vs the P-440, the newer version of this printer, the differences are relatively minor (though the 440 does do TRUE 8x10 prints). They use the same paper and ink ribbons, so presumably olympus has a vested interest in continuing to make consumeables for this hardware.

Driver bitterness aside, the quality coming out of this printer had me jumping up & down once the photos started coming out. I'm really pleased, and the overall quality of the prints is enough to let me overlook the negatives, which have all been temporary.