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Fortunately the Canon MP150 does indeed print very good photographs. Glossy prints are impressive. The Canon MP150 is slower than my other Canon printers, but that just means it’s about the same speed as the Epson or hp equivalent, and the technical quality of the prints is excellent. The Canon MP150 results are warmer and more saturated than reality, which for most people, most of the time will be a plus - results will look great. All Canon inkjet photo printers tend to do this and it’s only a problem when the subjects in your photograph really are wearing bright red and pictured against a bright blue sky when results can be a bit too vivid, and in common with all Canon printer drivers, there a “vivid” option which makes the colour even brighter, but no “natural” option, like hp or Epson, to turn the colour saturation down. The sliders in the driver’s advanced settings have an “intensity” control, but that lightens the print and reduces the saturation together. Compared to other photo printers I’ve tested the Canon MP150 is an excellent buy for the printer alone.
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There is only one other factor that you should consider before rushing out to buy a Canon Pixma MP150 - Ink Costs. Canon can’t possibly be making any money selling this at such a low price, so, in common with most printer manufacturers, they expect to make lots of money out of selling you ink cartridges.
Cheaper printers all seem to have ink cartridges that only last for a handful of prints and although the Canon MP150 is better than most, ink costs will still be high. During testing I’d say the MP150 ink cartridges will give you about half as many inkjet photos as I’d expect from my Canon Pixma iP5200 which on average will produce about 60 A4 prints from a set of ink, so 30 A4’s or 60 6x4’s roughly from the Canon MP150. The MP150 sells for about £ 50 ($ 85) so even the discount price of £ 33 for a set of ink may come as an unpleasant surprise. (US price $ 50 for ink) A set of ink cartridges for the more expensive Canon Pixma iP5200 costs about £ 40 for 5 individual tanks, which is more efficient. Both use Canon’s Chromalife 100 inks so results should last equally well with either printer.
Conclusion
The Canon MP150 is a great buy if you only print very occasionally and space is at a premium. It performs amazingly well as a printer, less so as a scanner.
However, if you plan on making many inkjet photo prints you may be better off spending more on the printer to reduce long term ink cartridge costs. The 5 ink Canon Pixma photo printers like the new Pixma iP4600 or iP3600 or their multifunction equivalents the Canon MP610 and MP630 would be much cheaper in the long run.
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