First off, ALL 3D UV resin printers leak light. ALL of them...to one degree or another.
Second off, so far, I haven't changed types of resin in any of my printers. I always have purchased extra resin vats. The Anycubic ABS-Like Pro2 Grey resin is ideal for ALL of my printing needs so far...and I've printed tens of thousands of small detail parts so far. The only other resin I've used so far is the same resin, but Clear...with dye in it to get an amber top for the beacons I produce.
Third, I don't put my resin back in the bottle when I'm done...it stays in the vat, still attached to the machine. The tank on my 10" Anycubic Photon M3 8K Premium Printer is one of the largest ever made in the industry, and this is a big PLUS, since when I'm printing large jobs...or just jobs where I can fill up the build plate with extras, I don't have to add additional resin over several runs...and having excess resin in the vat doesn't affect a small, "one-off" run at all.
On my big 13.6" Anycubic Photon Mono M7 Max, the tank is actually smaller in volume than on my M3 Premium 10" printer, BUT, my 13.6" Mono M7 Max has automatic resin fill, automatically keeping enough resin in the vat for my large G-scale projects, so I am not constantly checking over 10+ hours of printing time to make sure I'm not running out of resin.
So, I am not constantly pouring resin out of my resin vat back into its bottle every time I'm done with a run...in fact, I've only done that once when I needed to change the NFEP...so, I don't have much drippage or spillage of resin. Because of my work-flow in my printing room...which was determined by me over several months of production printing...I have a specific place for everything I'll need, readily available, and procedures to ensure I don't drip resin either on my printing table nor on my printer and wash & cure. The same goes for IPA usage.
I have yet to find a need to filter any resin, cleaning my resin while it's in the tank by doing the 30 second, full-screen burn trick then peeling a layer of cured resin off of the entire exposure area...thus cleaning my NFEP and capturing any resin bits that may have settled onto it in one swell foop...without any funnels, pouring, spilling, or filters.
As for the fumes. There are going to be fumes, from both the resin and the IPA. The trick is not to eliminate them, but to minimize them...then wear an appropriate respirator if you're worried about future consequences. I ventilate my print room with my home-made spray booth...which has an industrial blower that's rated for continuous running. It stays ON 99% of the time, sucking fumes out through a 4" dryer hose setup mounted in my single window. My Anycubic machines have activated charcoal filters in them, which cuts down on the smell...and my resin is advertised as being "low-odor" which also helps. Frankly, the IPA smells more than the resin, but my nose has never been very good in the smeller dept so your experience may vary.
Although I agree that several of the bells & whistles on the Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 16K aren't something I would use, I would purchase it because of the handy heated resin vat, the tilt release technology, its build quality and the Elegoo customer support, but, I am sure there are others out there who would use every one of the bells and whistles and consider them irreplaceable.
As far as I'm concerned, I prefer LaycheeSlicer over the supplied Anycubic Workshop slicer, although Anycubic Workshop slicer is okay for most basic slicing needs. and much better than it was a year or so ago. I use LycheeSlicer and my friend Gregg uses Chitubox, both slicers more capable than either the Anycubic or the Elegoo slicers.
Additionally, my good friend Gregg Cudworth, is quite happy with his Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra and his Saturn 4 Ultra 16K, both of which he uses to produce the vast majority of his N-scale structures that are populating his basement-filling Nn3 RGS double-decked layout with hand-laid Code30 ribbon-rail trackage. Gregg is an ultra-experienced N-scale modeler, marketing LASER-cut/brass investment-cast/etched metal Nn3 locomotive and car kits to the Nn3 faction, and has a world-wide reputation for excellence. His present project is the Durango turntable and roundhouse, and improving his locomotive kits by producing more exact-fitting part masters with 3D castable resin for his investment caster to tree up and produce.
Personally, I have no brand-loyalty, and all of my printers since I started doing this have been Anycubics, all of which I have been extremely happy with. What I haven't been happy with is Anycubic's total abandonment of the finest 3D printer ever built for the consumer market...my 10" Anycubic Photon M3 8K Premium printer. It had a very short production run, and consumable parts for it are long sold out. I've been lucky to find what I need by searching the web since Anycubic just abandoned any support whatsoever for it. My fear is that they'll do the same for their newer printers.
You might also take into consideration what awards the Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 16K machine has garnered, vs what the Anycubic machine has (nothing). However, neither machine is perfect with each having its advantages over the other, but, with some massaging on either machine, the final print quality is perceptively equal. The Elegoo is probably the more refined of the two, and easier for a rank beginner to get usable prints out of because of the much less complicated slicer inputs needed because of the tilt-release technology. I also find the tilt-back cover much more convenient than the removable cover of the Anycubic...but, it's just a matter of convenience, not print quality.
Anycubic is pushing speed over quality and uses frosted ACF release film, which increases print bloating (elephant's foot) and gives strange cross-hatchings on every print, which isn't good for tiny N-scale details. The solution is to change the release film to clear PFA film before you even put resin in the vat...which isn't a beginner's job, especially on this machine's integral, vat-mounted, bulky resin heater.
Finally, go on YouTube and look for reviews and see what the reviewers have to say about both of these 10" printers. The one I trust the most is "Fauxhammer", and I've used his reviews several times as the final determiner as to what printer I'd spend my money on. Also, he has several really good videos explaining the basics of 3D printing and what a rank beginner needs to know to have print success. Here's a link to his review of the Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra 16K:
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Here's a link to his review of the Anycubic Photon Mono M7 Pro 14K:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB4I3z5vMnI
In the end, if end results are your only goal, either of these machines will work...as will several others at a lower cost with fewer bells & whistles...but, they will not be as easy to use, won't have vat/resin heaters, their OS's won't be as good nor will their build quality be as robust...but, they'll print N-scale details.
Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore
