Photo hosting sites.

[jcroach]

Hey all!  I need advice on photo hosting sites.  Anyone have any recommendations?  I'd love to use a free site, but I would be willing to pay a nominal amount (<$30 a year) for service.

I'm looking for the "perfect" site.  I would like one that allows direct linking to images, easy blog posting, web based uploading and cheep prints! 

I've looked at Yahoo Photos, Flickr, Photobucket, Shutterfly, Kodak Photo Gallery(formerly ofoto), DotPhoto, Club Photo and Snapfish.

I love Flickr, but they don't have a print service. Kodak has cheep prints, but their sharing is limited.  I like DotPhoto also, it seems to have everything. 

Any opinions out there?

[ChadTower]

I wrote some of the stuff for Kodak.

The code is good, but the business rules are dumber than Bush during a paint peeler brain fart.

[Stingray]

Now that's dumb.

-S

[ChadTower]

It really is, they are basically designed so that people can take the images off the camera via their expensive camera dock, to the PC, use their custom client (EasyShare) that routes them directly to their online site (which was a separate entity, a partner, but now appears to not be), which would then offer print services.  It is designed for the folks who will never be able to do more than press a single button for it all to happen, with no real versatility for the folks who may be able to do more.

Of course, only those same idiots would ever buy the Kodak digital cameras with their flimsy lens motors, plastic lenses, and extraordinarily high prices... nevermind that camera dock that does nothing more than give you a pretty place to sit the camera and provide that UPLOAD YOU DUMBASS button.

[jcroach]

Of course, only those same idiots would ever buy the Kodak digital cameras with their flimsy lens motors, plastic lenses, and extraordinarily high prices... nevermind that camera dock that does nothing more than give you a pretty place to sit the camera and provide that UPLOAD YOU DUMBASS button.

Hey!  I bought one of those camera!  Of course, without one of the docks and I bought it referbished for about 2/3rds of the list price..........

What do people think about the others? Especailly Flickr and DotPhoto?

[ChadTower]

Which model did you get?

[jcroach]

Which model did you get?

I got the DX7440.

[ChadTower]

A newer model than they had out when I was working for them, but probably still racked with the same quality issues.

I used to have to do benchmarks... I'd take the newest, best Kodak consumer level digital camera and take a picture.  I'd take a picture of the same item with several 3 year old digital cameras from other manufacturers.

Nearly 100% of the time, the Kodak image was the worst of the lot.

[jcroach]

Well, I like it for the price I paid.

Anyhoo, getting back to the question at hand..

Anyone have photo hosting site recommendations?

[ChadTower]

Yeah, just get some webspace for yourself and put the photos there.  Easiest, most reliable.

[Sephroth57]

what is the point, what exactly are you looking for from this service. hosting so you can post them on the web? storage? you seem to be interested in prints also.

my suggestion, store all your pics on your HD, maybe back them up to CD every so often just incase. if you need to send them to someone, upload to some free site or just attach.

if you want actual printed photos, bring them on a CD to walmart or anywhere with those photocenters, and get them printed

[SirPoonga]

I'm looking for the "perfect" site.  I would like one that allows direct linking to images, easy blog posting, web based uploading and cheep prints! 

I've looked at Yahoo Photos, Flickr, Photobucket, Shutterfly, Kodak Photo Gallery(formerly ofoto), DotPhoto, Club Photo and Snapfish.

And you didn't like photobucket?

I'm not sure you will find a place that does prints along with blogging.  other than the prints, photobucket does all of that.

[ChadTower]

if you want actual printed photos, bring them on a CD to walmart or anywhere with those photocenters, and get them printed

Just don't use the Kodak ones, those are ass too.  I dealt with those at Kodak and I deal with them now, at least the ones in CVS stores.  They're constantly broken and no one on site is trained to even turn them off or on.

[jcroach]

what is the point, what exactly are you looking for from this service. hosting so you can post them on the web? storage? you seem to be interested in prints also.

my suggestion, store all your pics on your HD, maybe back them up to CD every so often just incase. if you need to send them to someone, upload to some free site or just attach.

if you want actual printed photos, bring them on a CD to walmart or anywhere with those photocenters, and get them printed

I guess I want an all inclusive service.

Photo hosting
easy linking for blogging
albums for images
a print service
easy sharing including e-mail lists
free or reasonable cost

You know, everything.   

Personally, I will likely buy my prints locally, but I'd like to use a service where my friends and family can buy prints on-line.  My parents don't have a computer at home, but they have web service at their work. Instead of mailing them a CD full of pictures or e-mailing them pictures, I'd like to be able to give them the option of looking at images all they want and ordering prints without filling up their in-box with a bunch of large attachments.

Plus I'd like to have the abilityto use direct URL linking so I can post images on my blog or one messege boards on on eBay.

So far, the only service I've found with all of this is DotPhoto.com.  I wil likely use them.

I've heard that Yahoo! bought out Flickr.  If they merge Flickr with Yahoo! Photos (which offers prints) I'll probbaly use them, but they haven't merged yet.

[shmokes]

Check out Yahoo and Ofoto if you want printing services in addition to web storage.  I remember reading a review of six online sites and Yahoo won for features, but Ofoto came in second and was best in at least one category....ease of use or quality of prints or something.  Oh yeah....Yahoo won the overall best in show, FWIW.

Yikes....there's memory playing tricks on me.  Looks like Smugmug took best in show.  Click here for the quick and dirty comparison of five online photo hosting services.

[jcroach]

Thanks shmokes.  Ofoto is now Kodak Gallery.  That was an interesting review from Maximum PC.  SmugMug looks good, except for the print costs.  $.29 each.  Kodak is $.15 and DotPhoto is $.19

[ChadTower]

THAT is the domain I couldn't remember, all our stuff was written specifically to funnel users into Ofoto.com.

[Setabs]

I use Kodak Photo gallery because it free,  private, and offers unlimited storage.  I have a 7 MP Canon  that makes every picture 3 or 4 megs a peice.  The unlimited storage is good because of that.  I don't care to (maybe by some long stretch) see one of my photo's on the net somewhere so I like the private sharing features.  I don't use the priniting service because its cheaper to get them printed locally.  but its a nice option to have for some one I shared the album w/.  Then I use my ISP's provided webspace to load photo's I want to share on a site.


That Maximum PC review helped me decide.  If you want I can upload it so you can look at it.