Canon PGI-9 Grey Ink Cartridge - Compatible with PRO-9500 & PRO9500 MKII Printers - High-Quality Photo Printing for Home & Office Use

The product itself is five-star. The service brought the rating to one-star as there were no zeros. The item was backordered and I was running out of ink. My printer won't print at all if a cartridge is empty.After waiting a week with no indication of a shipping date, I ordered a cartridge from the photo shop in New York where I should have ordered it to start with. I got their shipment in about 3 days. It was over a week later before I received the Amazon shipment (2-1/2 weeks after ordering the cartridge). By that time, I had run out of ink and was lucky to have the cartridge from the other supplier.Now for the review of the cartridge itself: Although the genuine Canon Inks cost double what "compatible" inks cost, I would not take the risk of making a print that is not the best I can make in both color and permanence. So I use the genuine inks. They are permanent pigment inks and are as archival as I can get - unlikely to fade in my lifetime! I've only had one leak out of about thirty, so I will stick with the genuine Canon inks.The Lucia Ink Canon makes for it's Pro Pixma printers is outstanding, the fine art prints I can produce on my Pro9500 MKII printer are no short of stunning. For whatever reason, the Gray cartridge empties quickest of most so buying extra of these along with the full 10-cartridge ink pack is not uncommon. It's 5-star ink that can never get 5 stars because of the PRICE. If you do the math on these 17ml cartridges you'll discover that inkjet ink costs $3100 per gallon. I suppose I can't complain at the pump any more! Anyway, it's an industry thing, there are products that can and will be a good profit margin. I will say, however, that the research into getting excellent ink can't be cheap. Third party inks don't come nearly as close in quality or accurate color reproduction, so I will still buy the real thing (I've argued with enough third-party ink and carts in my life, lol). I just wouldn't mind if the cartridges were more like $8-9, especially in the cartridge packs.Just got the Pixma Pro 9500 Mark II and began printing moderately . After some pain in the butt I.C.C file(these are digital fingerprints to identify paper characteristics TO the printer plus a bunch more technical stuff!) installation I am now seeing some WONDROUS results ! YES, I did goof up a few prints in the beginning as I learn this new printer !NOW : The ink review Blah,Blah expensive,Blah,Blah ink runs out to fast ! You know the drill. I find it reasonable but I did find that the gray gets wiped out the fastest(maybe it is my print selection). So I recommend getting an additional grey tank(at least) plus the value pricedAs all Genuine Canon Oem Inkjet Cartridges, they rank as the top of the line in Printer Ink Cartridges. I own 2 Canon computers & printers. As long as I continue to use Genuine Canon Ink, I have absolutely no problems whatsoever. Years ago, not being an authority on the difference between The Genuine Product & generic ink; I totally ruined my New Printer at the time, about 10 years ago, as the Generic Ink gummed up my Printhead & ink leaked all over the place.Plain & Simple, Stay with OEM replacements only!!The ink is great-the only improvement would be to increase the capacity of the cartridge.Canon inks are the best for Canon printers. However the price their inks have gone way up since I bought the printer.Ink is ink. I don't know how much more I can say about my ink purchase. It is for my 9500 MK II canon printer. I will not recommend any other ink for that printer.If you priced this stuff out by the gallon, it would likely be more expensive than uranium juice, though I do appreciate that it helps me print large-format prints of my photographs of goats.