BJC-3000
The Canon BJC-3000 is a portable BubbleJet printer with a grown-up ink system: seven individual tanks, each replaceable on its own. The range starts with the BCI-3E Black at about 420 pages, joined by BCI-3E Cyan, BCI-3E Magenta and BCI-3E Yellow at roughly 340 pages apiece, plus a photo trio — Photo Black, Photo Cyan and Photo Magenta — for printers that spend their lives on pictures. Pigment black carries the documents while dye colors handle the graphics, which is why this little machine prints text like something far more serious.
What decides whether a BJC-3000 is still worth owning is not its engine but the price of feeding it, because ink accounts for nearly all of its running cost. The compatible tanks on this page are filled to the original specification, so the saving arrives through the price of each tank rather than through smaller fills or shortened yields — the printer keeps its factory appetite and its factory output, and the bill is what changes. Treat the hardware as worth feeding rather than replacing: a portable printer that still works, fed at compatible prices, undercuts a new machine's cost for years.
Ink Cartridges for BJC-3000
| Cartridge | Color | Page Yield |
|---|---|---|
| Canon BCI-3E Black | Black | About 420 pages |
| Canon BCI-3E Cyan | Cyan | About 340 pages |
| Canon BCI-3E Magenta | Magenta | About 340 pages |
| Canon BCI-3E Yellow | Yellow | About 340 pages |
| Canon BCI-3E Photo Black | Photo Black | About 340 pages |
| Canon BCI-3E Photo Cyan | Photo Cyan | About 340 pages |
| Canon BCI-3E Photo Magenta | Photo Magenta | About 340 pages |
| Canon BCI-3E — Set of 5 (2 Black, 1 Cyan, 1 Magenta, 1 Yellow) | Mixed | See product page |
| Canon BCI-3E — Set of 10 | Mixed | See product page |
| Canon BCI-3E — Set of 15 (6 Black, 3 Cyan, 3 Magenta, 3 Yellow) | Mixed | See product page |
Which cartridge should you buy?
Buy the tank that is actually empty — that is the whole strategy with an individual-tank printer. Document work lives and dies by the BCI-3E Black, so keep a spare black ahead of everything else. When skies wash out, the cyan tank is the one that has run dry; when reds go thin, it is the magenta; warm tones fading points at yellow. The three photo tanks earn their place only if you print photographs — they refine photo output and do nothing for a page of text. For owners who would rather stock the whole system at once, the Set of 5 covers the four everyday colors with a spare black, the Set of 10 deepens the shelf, and the Set of 15 is weighted toward black for document-heavy use.
Chip, ink and everyday use
The BJC-3000 watches its ink optically rather than electronically, so upkeep costs nothing in chips or reset tools — there is no chip on a BCI-3E tank for the printer to argue with. Swap a tank when its color genuinely thins, not by the calendar, and replace tanks one at a time; the rest of the set has no reason to come out. Keep unopened tanks sealed until their turn, since a tank that sits open dries at its outlet. And because the black is a pigment ink chosen for documents, give fresh prints a moment to set before stacking them — the payoff is text that stays crisp instead of feathering.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which black cartridge should I buy for documents?
The standard BCI-3E Black. It is the pigment-based tank rated at about 420 pages, and it is the one that carries letters, forms and everyday paperwork. The Photo Black tank is a photo-printing specialist; it is not the better document ink, just a different tool.
What are the Photo Black, Photo Cyan and Photo Magenta tanks for?
Photographs. The photo trio adds lighter, photo-oriented versions of black, cyan and magenta so that skin tones, skies and shadows graduate more smoothly than the standard colors can manage on their own. If your BJC-3000 prints mostly documents and web pages, the standard four tanks are all you need.
Can I replace just one color at a time?
Yes — that is the point of the BCI-3E design. Each of the seven tanks is an independent unit, so an empty yellow never forces you to discard a half-full cyan. Replace the single tank whose color is fading and leave the rest in place.
How many pages do BCI-3E tanks print in the BJC-3000?
About 420 pages from the black tank and roughly 340 pages from each color and photo tank, on the compatible cartridges sold here, which are filled to the original specification. Color-heavy printing — full-page graphics and photographs especially — draws the color tanks down faster than text work does.
More printers that use the same cartridges
The BCI-3E family serves a wide generation of Canon inkjets beyond this portable. The full list of models that take the same tanks: BJC-6000, BJC-6100, BJC-8200, MultiPass F50, MultiPass F60, MultiPass F80, MultiPass MP700, MultiPass MP730, Multipass C755, Multipass F30, PIXMA MP750, PIXMA MP760, PIXMA MP780, PIXMA iP3000, PIXMA iP4000, PIXMA iP4000R, PIXMA iP5000, PIXMA iP6000D, PIXMA iP8500, S400, S450, S500, S520, S530D, S600, S630, S750, S800, S820D, S830D, S900, S9000, i550, i560, i850, i860, i865, i900D, i950, i960, i9900.