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Customer reviews for Kodak 6850 Photo Printer

Average Customer Review (3.3 Stars / 5.0): Number of Reviews: 3
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Event Photography with the Kodak 6850, Sep 17, 2007

reviewer: Andrew Ross (Eternal Portraits) from Falkirk

When I started using this printer I was very impressed with the very high speed of print and the beautiful finish of the lamination. 6x8 and 4x6 prints are a breeze. I was also quite startled by the 25Kg mass especially with no handles which really means you require two people to be within safe lifting ranges. My first event was a disaster!I had little space allocated to me in a hotel room at a function and my 4 monoblocs were in close proximity to the 6850.It just would not function properly with repeated paper jam warnings. Time after time we reloaded but after a few prints the machine would stop.My second event,in a large school hall, went like clockwork and the 6850 worked flawlessly. This same event with the same setup was revisited for a second run just lately and this was another failure for the 6850! Again the 6850 would not print.On this occassion I used a 9810 as backup and we survived but only just.Having performed a post mortem on these events it now appears that this unit does not tolerate local high intensity flash or electrical noise as is so common at events. I have stopped blaming and doubting myself and say that this printer is fine in the office but not suitable for eventing.I would love to sell this machine for something more reliable but I am honest and could not put anyone through what I have just suffered.I have been a Kodak fan for over 30 years but no longer. Despite desperate repeated pleas for support none has been offered and to me this is worse than the unreliability of this machine.I know Kodak has gone through some rough times of late but they need to be more honourable and responsible than this. When comparing printers of this type remember the hare and the tortoise story. Reliability is everything.

6850 Review, Jan 07, 2007

reviewer: Castle Portraits from CHEPSTOW

I have been participating into event photography for around 2 years and started off with a Kodak 6800. With an opportunity earlier last year to take photographs at a Record Breaking event I decided to invest in a second printer in case of breakdown. After a lot of thought I decided to go for the Kodak 6850 because I had a number of media packs and I did not feel that a second printer using different media was the best way forward. (System Insight advised me to go for the Mitsubishi 9550 for quality, cost and after sales reasons) The Kodak 6850 is lightning fast although takes some time to achieve acceptable results. I did not feel that you could set this printer up and achieve sellable prints out of the box. Once set up I was happy and content. The main event came and went and I went back to doing evening Black Tie Events. On the last event I had to work in a very confined space which meant that the lights and printer were around 6 foot apart. After each shot was fired the printer immediately came up with a jam error and no print could be made. This went on all night and slowed down the photographic process dramatically. The next working day I rang Kodak and informed them of the problem. It turns out that Kodak do not have a first line support and the printer needed to go out to another company to look at. This was done within a couple of days and after about a week I rang to see how things were going. The repair company informed me that they had found some paper clippings inside the main compartment but could not find any reason why the jam error was coming up. I asked the company if they had tried a studio flash unit near the printer and was informed that they were unable to do this so there was no way of confirming the problem. 10 day’s into the problem I then get a call from Kodak who arranges for a second machine to be sent to me to see if the same problem occurs. This was sent out within 24hrs and the same problem occurred. It also occurred with my 6800 indicating a problem with all Kodak 6800 / 6850 printers. I then did not here anything from Kodak for about two weeks until I chased then up for a third time. Their technical advisors advised me to use the printer further away from the Flash units and cover up the vents on top of the printer where the light was getting into the casing and causing the system to jam. I informed them that this was not always possible and that I had purchased this printer as an event printer and one that it was not fit for purpose. The response I got back was that there were plenty of satisfied Kodak customers and take the problem up with customer services even though they admit that it it a printer problem. I then rang and spoke with Stuart at System Insight. Stuart resolved the situation within 48hrs and was willing to open on a Saturday and provide me with a stand in printer to cover an event which I had at the weekend. I am now the proud owner of a Mitsubishi 9550 which all I can say is fantastic and the prints without any tweaking are without doubt in my opinion much better than the Kodak and are sellable out of the box. (In particular the B&W prints) I can assure anyone that for an extra 15-20 seconds the prints are worth waiting for not to mention larger and cheaper. Finally I would like to say is a big thanks to Stuart and his team at System Insight for their unbiased opinion and the service they have provided me over the last year has been first class - Thank You. Anyone want to buy a Kodak 6800 ?

Event Photography with the Kodak 6850, May 10, 2006

reviewer: Mark Giles Photography from Melksham, Wiltshire

I have recently purchased a Kodak 6850 to be used at my medium to large Event bookings (200 plus people). In a word WOW! This printer has revolutionised my Event Setup, speed, quality and ease of setting up, in my opinion, make the 6850 second to none. My only comment is that there was no 'one click to print' event software bundled with the printer. I have recently purchased PC Pro by PDI/IWS - this is the best software package to compliment the 6850 - come on Kodak bring out a suitable bundled software programme with this printer.