Its good to be a member of the press at shows like Printex, apart from the hard graft, one is often invited to the most lavish of functions. May 24th at Printex was just such an occasion with Canon hosting an extravagant stand and an even more extravagant evening.
Their stand was a hive of activity, due in large part to the unveiling of the imagePRESS C7000VP in Australia as well as a fantastic line up of print solutions for every possible sector.
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| Canon musicians beckoning the crowds |
Several years ago, Canon was perhaps the worlds largest supplier to the office equipment industry, that may still be the case. However due to some very clever R&D, planning, manufacture and marketing, Canon are now a very serious force in the world of commercial print and as we all know a very serious player in the wide format market as well.
The imagePRESS, both the basic model and the extended high volume production model (the C7000VP) are producing print that Canon claim is the closest that any toner based manufacturer has come to equalling offset ink produced quality. All it needs is that wonderful smell of offset ink and you would never know that it is not offset print that emerges in the delivery pile.
Canon spent many hours at the show (with the help of GBC in the bindery department) in producing a beautifully illustrated perfect bound magazine on the imagePRESS C7000VP, the May edition of Sydneyside which contained heavy solids that would test the limits of the offset industry.
On the wide format side, Canon showed off, for the second time the imagePROGRAF iPF6100 and 5100 which contains Canon's unique calibration unit. These machines were on show at the Photo Imaging show in Melbourne a few weeks earlier. Canon have promised to detail this calibration device in more detail so that this WFOL magazine and Digital Reproduction subscribers have a better understanding of how this compares to the automatic profiling that is built into a competitor's machine.
But then getting back to the entertainment side, Canon had free coffee, jugglers, musicians on huge stilts and even a lovely Genie to beckon the crowds. Then the media and other selected guests were invited to a wine tasting at Darling Harbour's Maritime Museum on the evening of the 24th that comprised a range of Penfold wines and even included famous Penfold's Grange (both 2002 and 1982 vintages). At approximately $6500 a case, the 1982 Grange tasting was a rare occasion indeed and cherished by those wine lovers in attendance.
Canon claim the show was a good investment and made mention that the imagePRESS C7000VP as well as a large portfolio of other products were sold off the stand.
Canon Australia Pty Ltd
www.canon.com.au
