Yesterday, Canon announced a new Selphy printer. For those of you not familiar with the Selphy range, I grant you they are more used by compact camera photographers than SLR photographers, but discount them as 'basic' at your peril. 

While you may feel it's not for you, a little question: How many images do you currently print? I guess the answer for most is "Not many". Now, if you shot film, you probably have shoe-boxes full of prints lying under the bed. It's a fact of digital life that images these days usually end up on a computer never seeing the light of day (well, that is unless you use our photo gallery!) and a Selphy dye-sublimation printer is a good way to avoid this sad state of affairs.

For the last two years I've had a Selphy ES-1 which I use to print out 6x4" pictures that I can keep in a frame for those 'memory' pictures. They're not the cheapest to run, but it's not expensive either and it's a good, quick way to output small images to give to family and friends to remind them of happy times. 

Output is very fast, with a print coming out in around 1minute and the quality is great - and you can touch them without smudging as they have a coating applied to protect them. This latest CP780 even has an optional battery pack so you can print images wherever you are with no fuss. They're even small enough to take with you to family get-togethers if you wanted to. 

So, although we're more concerned with the SLR world of EOS, it's always worth keeping an eye on what the consumers are doing as they sometimes have some good products at their disposal that we ignore for being too simple. 

Canon Press Release follows:

Introducing the SELPHY CP780: the ultra-compact, ultra-easy photo lab

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, 10 June 2009.  Canon today

refreshes its SELPHY compact photo printer line-up with the launch of the

SELPHY CP780. Replacing the SELPHY CP760, the new ultra-compact printer

significantly improves on the printing speeds of its predecessor.

Designed for fun, affordable family printing, it provides a user-friendly

way to produce superb, lab-quality photo prints in under a minute.

Available in pink, blue, silver or white – the SELPHY CP780 also offers

fully portable printing with an optional battery pack.

Easier than ever

For ultimate ease of use, the SELPHY CP780 incorporates a user-friendly

interface, plus large buttons with a straightforward layout – allowing

anyone to start making prints effortlessly.  The large 2.5” TFT colour LCD

screen offers detailed image preview when printing straight from memory

card, with easy-to-understand instructions and menu support for 7

languages.

The SELPHY CP780 incorporates three memory card slots.  These allow direct,

computer-free printing from a wide variety of popular memory cards (The

following cards can be used without an adaptor: CompactFlash, Microdrive,

SD, miniSD, SDHC, miniSDHC, MMC, MMCplus,HD MMCplus, MMCmobile, RS-MMC,

Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo).

PictBridge compatibility means users can also print directly from most

models of digital camera. With an optional Bluetooth adaptor, prints can be

made from mobile phones and other wireless devices.

The SELPHY CP780 includes updated, easy-to-use software – SELPHY Photo

Print – which now includes audio guidance, so when users are printing from

a computer a voice provides spoken instructions.  This is particularly

ideal for children, or those new to printing.

Fast lab-quality prints that last

In as little as 47 seconds, the SELPHY CP780 prints to

a variety of different sized media, including standard postcard size or

wide photo prints, credit cards or miniature stickers.  Plus, with its fast

boot-up, there’s no waiting around for the printer to warm up – so your

photos are in your hand in seconds.

Dye sublimation technology delivers smooth, glossy results, giving finished

prints the quality, look and feel of traditional lab prints.  A special

over-coating covers the prints to protect them from spills and splashes.

Prints will retain their quality for up to 100 years  (100 year figure

based on accelerated tests. For further information see specifications)

when stored in an album.

The SELPHY CP780’s range of clever image enhancement technologies ensures

photos look their best - features such as Auto Image Correction and Auto

Red-Eye Correction automatically optimising every image.

Pricing and availability:

The SELPHY CP780 is available from mid June 2009 priced at £129.00 /

€149.00 RRP inc. VAT.