Canon - PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II

I've got its pre-predecessor, the pro 9500 mark ii, and just paid about the same for one of the last brand new print heads in existence for it

I had several Canon Pixma 9500/Pro-100s and used them for years, but I feel both Canon and Epson are great at the prosumer/professional end of things. Just do your research and figure out which looks the best for your situation! Just note these printers can be finicky as heck! LOTS of troubleshooting and nonsense — and if you don’t print for a while, that can also cause issues with the print head. You learn how to fix most of these issues as they come up, but boy can they be annoying. Don’t be discouraged; they’re great tools! Slightly related — I recommend you check out Precision Colors to “jailbreak” your printer carts and refill with cheaper ink. I used them heavily from 2009 to 2016 (which is when I stopped needing to print, haha), but it made my cost per cart go from $24 per refill (OEM) to about $2-3.  (I recommend buying/using/refurbishing OEM ink carts when a particular color is giving you issues. If it still looks bad, it’s likely the print head — and if it looks good, the cart was just worn out.) It doesn’t void your warranty to use third party ink, and it’s completely legal. Sometimes a bit messy, though!  Errors/troubleshooting happens with or without OEM ink, btw! At least with non-OEM ink you’re only spending a couple dollars max when you burn through a cart trying to figure out why lines are appearing. 🤪

Different kinds of print mechanisms totally. Selphys ise a film cartridge not ink. Like the Sony passport photo style printers. They are not very cheap to use compared especially to a ecotank or megatank type printer that use ink. High end photos you would want something like a Epson stylus photo model which there are a bunch or a high end Canon. Like an older mp990 or a lore modern 9000 pro 9500 mark 2 or like a pro 10 or similar. Depends on how often you will print and how much printing vs cost and quality

Nah this person is so wrong lmao. You can get a Canon Pixma that does 12x18 prints starting at $200 then a separate scanner or use your phone for scans.

Canon Pixma line for printing and get a separate scanner. Also you might not need a scanner anymore as your phone camera can handle scanning quite well - especially if you’re just using the image to trace into vector etc.

Roller marks problem how to fix: Get better quality paper (also some printers if you select thick paper on configurations, also make it leave less roller marks, don't know if this is the case). Or Get a printer that is more focused for photos. (right now the cheapest are the canon G5/6XX series). If you don't find them, then the Epson ET8500/8550 (they do still leave some roller marks but with better quality paper they are fine). Or the epson ET 8100/18100 (it's ink does not have lightfastness). I only recommend ink tank printers for most uses cases. If you are going for pro level printing and going to sell them for high price then there are the Canon Pixma Pro Line, and Epson Surecolor p700/900. About your brother, well i don't recommend because it's a cartridge printer(seriously this black that you used could easily be like 3-5% of all of it's black ink). I would return if still possible. And purchase any ink tank.(If you won't print like 40+ documents pages or 5+ photos a month then it's a fine printer, more than this only if you convert it for ciss or use somekind of compatible cartridge). Edit: Ohh and about consumer level printer that you want mostly for documents, and then some photos. Canon Megatank GXXXX series. And Epson ET 2/4XXX series, then you will compare price and what they offer, like duplex, in case of epson a4 borderless as well. IF you want fewer features but better photos, some epson have 4 dye ink that are better for printing on cheaper glossy ink (you can check if their black tank is the same size as the colored tanks, if it is the same size then it's ink is dye).