Nobody really can compete with epson printers for the semi-professional photography market. Canon is trying but sadly their inks/papers just do not meet the criteria that epson has created for itself over the years.
I highly recommend their higher end printers and have the 3880 myself. Inks are a little pricey but if you want you can buy 3rd party inks or papers but IMO those are not as good as the epson originals. I will say do not buy the inks here, but instead do a bing search for epson inks and get it cheaper. I would recommend buying the printers here because they will offer you a warranty and for printers I think that is essential as the drum or something is always going to break if you use it enough.