It's decision time for me. Are clogs still an issue with the Epson? I might go as long as a week and then print several photos, based on my time in the field with a camera. What about any issues with the Canon?
The two printers are within $200 of each other right now, but the Canon seems to offer the more robust printing options for me, especially if I intend to start selling prints. Initial costs are cheaper for the Epson (I think!), but long term, I think the Canon would be slightly less expensive.
Anyone care to share real world experiences on costs and ink usage with the two? What about settings for sale prints? Do you REALLY need to lay down ink at the highest setting to get quality (sellable) prints from either, or will a lower setting work as well?
Rob

These printers are different enough that I don't think this question is hard to answer.

You just have to as yourself what you need. The ipf5100 is much more of a production or higher volume printer. It prints rolls where the Epson only prints cut sheets. The ipf is much larger and will need more room. It prints much faster. The image and color quality is very similar. Both print black and white well. For very small prints that will be closely inspected the resolution edge (5%) will go to the Epson. I can now say that Canon's support has approached the best in the business as I had a problem with a huge 60 inch version (ipf9100) of this printer and they sent me a whole new one. The Canon will most likely use less ink in cleanings and you don't swap any blacks (of course this Epson is much better about swaps than other Epson models.) The Canon has a vacuum suction that sucks the paper down where the Epson has star wheels that can leave marks on your paper. The Canon has a rotary cutter that will cut most all media.

The Canon is not on par with the 3800 it's more similar to the 4880, but with advantages over even that model in my opinion.

For me the Canon is clearly the more versatile printer and the easy choice, but that's for the printing that I do. What are your needs?

Here is an excellent comparison from a guy who switched from the 3800 to the ipf5100. Keep in mind he is new at using the ipf5100 as he writes this and I believe many of the issues he is having are related to a short experience with the printer. The Canon wiki will answer many of your quesitons. He also comments on the much better ink usage of the Canon vs. the Epson.

http://www.andybiggs.com/blog/the-canon-ipf5100-journal/

Thanks for the response! It took awhile to get here, but I decided to purchase the Canon iPF5100. Originally, I was going to go with the Canon 9500 or HP B9180 (See my previous post (which had NO responses, alas!) but decided to push the budget to the max and go with a more professional quality printer, as I'm going to attempt to sell my photos at various events this year and start making my passionate hobby pay for itself. (That will make the Mrs. happy if I can.)
So the printer is on its way from ColorHQ and I have to sort through the 30,000+ photos I've taken and start deciding which ones might be "keepers" to print and which ones to toss back into the dust bin for later consideration.
I would STILL like feedback from a current Canon iPF5100 owner about known issues or other information regarding the printer. I've joined the Canon Wiki and scoured the web for more data, but it is sparse, to say the least!
Rob

Congrats. You will be very happy with your purchase I'm sure you can find answers to all your questions with searches on the wiki.

Probably the best thing to do is ask a question about the 5100 on the Wiki. I have an IPF5000 and it has been a good, relatively trouble free printer. Quite is sometimes a good thing.

Tom