Out of Ink? Buy a New Printer

A couple of years ago, I bought a Canon Pixma IP4500 printer for approx. €80. The reason for buying was that I was able to print documents (concert tickets, etc) and the occasional photo. Generally, I send my photos to a lab, so I don't need an expensive state-of-the-art photo printer.​

Recently, I ran out of ink for the printer. The third time in three or four years. The IP4500 holds separate cartridges ​for each color. This means that I need to invest around €15 for each cartridge. Total costs: >€60.

While I was standing in the store, I saw a new Canon (color) printer for less than €50. This included the ink (for that model). Well, that was an easy decision. Out the 'old' printer and in a new multifunctional printer (Canon MG2250). It prints, scans and copies, while the old printer could only do one thing; print.

There are probably several persons out there that would recommend off-brand inks. Sure, it's possible to buy off-brand, but that introduces the hassle of:

• removing of chips, and taping them to new containers, and/or
• drilling holes to inject new ink into the container.
• Resetting software by pressing 5 buttons with three fingers for 20 seconds to lure the printer into thinking that everything is alright.​ And this can (and will) re-occur very once in a while.
  

All that to save a couple of bucks.​ No thank you.

Anyway, I have a new printer (with ink), and the old one is heading for the garbage dump.
"Why not sell it", you ask? Well, no person will ever want to buy it (with no ink in it), since they can get a new printer WITH ink for less money. How fucked up is that?

I wonder if we will ever throw away a car, just because it ran out of petrol and buying a new car (with petrol) is cheaper.​

NYC in Prime

In a couple of weeks I'm off to New York for a couple of days. This time I'm packing a DSLR instead of the old Canon IXUS V. And to save my back (and neck), I'm not taking any of the regular zoom lenses with me. It's just gonna be me and a couple of prime lenses. These lenses aren't as flexible as a zoom lens, but they weigh a lot less Three primes approx. equals 1 nice zoom lens (nearly 2 pounds), but you mount only 1 lens at a time on the camera.

Currently I've got a 35mm f/2D and a 50mm f/1.8D prime for my D300. The lack of zoom capabilities will force me to be a little more creative while strolling the streets of NYC.

It would be nice to have a 24mm f/2.8 (or 20mm f/2.8) as well for a little more wide angle. Downside is that those are relatively pricey, or not available. the biggest photo/video store in NYC sell those at low prices, but they're out of stock.....

UPDATE: first images of the Nikon 35mm f/2D looks promising. The lens is a bit larger than the 50mm f/1.8, but image quality looks better (contrast, colors).