Digital Photographers: Where do you get your prints done?

[GTaudiophile]

If you wanted to print out a picture or two, where would you get it done?

 

[Sketcher]

Most of my local film shops also do digital now. I've used Proex, and there is also Ritz and Wolf among others. Some department stores now do digital; Target and Walmart. Some of those locations have digital kiosks which read memory cards/CD's and you can perform basic crop, color and format editing via touch screen.

If interested in online processing (upload images & receive them via mail) do a search for online printing in either of these forums and you will find some good recommendations; I haven't printed online yet.

Pekka's Canon Forum

Fred Miranda

-Edit: A friend of mine has a Canon i960 which produces prints that are near impossible to distinguish from a photo lab (has some incredible 8 x 10's on the wall). I'll be getting one of those soon. Then, only my bulk printing will be sent to the lab.

 

[aphex]

In my Canon S900 Photo Printer

F-in Beautiful pix

 

[waggy]

I have a HP 2110xi that prints out nice 5x7's.

 

[ClueLis]

If I need a bunch of prints, I use Photoaccess.

 

[radioouman]

On my Canon i850 printer. I've had them professionally printed, and I can't tell the difference between those and my printer, so I just stick with my printer.

 

[thomsbrain]

i've had them done at ofoto and shutterfly, both had good quality.

 

[crab]

Walmart... Fuji Frontier printers = good

 

[guyver01]

I use my HP PhotoSmart 7660 Color Photo Printer to Print 'em. Looks nice too.. can't tell the difference.

 

[adlep]

Good thread, good thread, keep the ideas comming...
(I got my first digital camera, a canon a70 two days ago )

 

[DurocShark]

Epson Photo Stylus 780, 875EX, and most recently, c64.

 

[mdbound]

Sam's Club or Costco for cheap 4x6's in bulk. They are like 18 cents per print = regular film costs essentially.

MD.

 

[m2kewl]

/adds above mentioned photo printers to santa wishlist

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: m2kewl
/adds above mentioned photo printers to santa wishlist

From what I've seen, the Epson Photo printers have the best output and best durability. Canons are close second, with HP's a distant third.

My dream printer is an Epson 2200.

But the printers I have now serve nicely. I do 8x22" panoramic prints that are simply amazing.

 

[RossMAN]

1) Online but they're all too expensive.
2) Walmart or CostCo B&M, just bring your media with you or burn them to CD. Usually 1 hour turn around time.
3) The best solution buy a Canon i560 (CostCo $99), i860 or i960 paper with some photo premium paper.

The 4x6's I printed out are ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS.

Getting your own printer, ink and paper costs more upfront but you have more control and convenience. Overall I'm sure the total cost of ownership is lower.

 

[ThePresence]

snapfish.com

 

[Night201]

ofoto.com (Kodak's Online Photo Processing Center)

 

[jaydee]

Is a photo printer really worth it? I mean even a $100 printer, it would take about 350 on-line prints (4 x 6") just to match the initial cost. And then cartridges? How many prints before you change the cartridge? How much do they cost?

 

[LordJezo]

Walmart online thing. Very cheap and I just pick them up in the store.

Or, go into Walmart, if your store has it, and use their in store digital media thingy to submit your pics.

 

[Sketcher]

I just bought a i960 last night and out of the box I'm very impressed with my out of camera images. I mixed a few photos up with identical one's printed from Proex and left them on the counter for my wife to find this morning (she and the kids were sleeping when I got home last night). She just called (sounding a little intrigued) asking me if I'd finally bought a photo printer. I told her it depended on what she thought of the pictures. Well, she said three of the five I printed were better than the ones she'd gotten back from Proex, the other two just as good. So, I said "Why yes dear, I did get a photo printer!". Mind you, this was out of the box/default settings printing out of camera images, no editing, no photoshop or custom profiles.

Now, my only hesitation on the i960 is max print size of 8.5" x 11.00". It'd be nice to get up to 13" x 19", but I don't know if that kind of "nice" is worth another $250.00 for the i9100 (the s9000 is the same price as the i960 and does do 13"x19" but its max resolution is lower than the i960 so I'm not sold on that option). Considering ROI on how many prints I'll produce vs lab costs doesn't quite answer my curiousity either. I'm thinking that if I CAN print that large I WILL. So, I guess the real question is convenience... being able to print up to 13"x19" at will. Then there's the 2 picoliter spec of the i960 and the 4 picoliter spec of the i9100. Is there an appreciatively noticeable difference in ink dispersion!? Argghhhhhhhhh!!! Oh the tragedy of it all .

 

[spacejamz]

as stated above, the pix from my sony f707 look kick a$$ on the canon i850...

have always used canon photo paper and canon ink though...

 

[Sketcher]

Originally posted by: jaydee
Is a photo printer really worth it? I mean even a $100 printer, it would take about 350 on-line prints (4 x 6") just to match the initial cost. And then cartridges? How many prints before you change the cartridge? How much do they cost?

~Convenience~

I currently have over 7,000 images on my HD and can print at will. I can have a photo quality print ready for framing, mailing, crafts or whatever in less than or near one minute. I don't have to wait for online processing and shipping or driving to the local 1-hour (and paying for 1-hour processing). I immediately see how my prints come out and I don't have to wait another day or few if I or they didn't process them right. How important is that? To me, mucho importante. I have two young kids and one on the way. Family always wants photo's for this or that. And it's nice that if you look at a 4x6 and think it'd look good as a 5x7, 8x10 etc. you can just print it on the spot rather than go through ordering again.

Further, I take pictures of the vintage and hot rod cars that frequent my father-in-laws Drive-in burger joint. I've been asked to make a calender and sell photos of the cars and their owners. Being able to print on the spot tends to free people of their money a little easier than having to wait a few days or a week to pick up their prints. I happened on this sort of by accident. Last summer I just spent an afternoon/evening taking pictures of the cars and the people. With my 10D/BatteryGrip/550EX Flash and various lenses everybody thought I was a professional and said they'd gladly pay me if I'd get them pictures of their car. I told them I'd see about it once I figured out how to actually use the camera! Well, now I have some images that are worth printing. And someone even mentioned they'd buy a Calender if I printed one up - but that I'd have a lab do for me.

Anyway, making money aside (because most people won't make money at it) it's a 'relative' issue of whether the expense is worth it. It is Sooooooooo nice to print photo quality images at will. AND, if it's just one or two here and there... sure beats having to order or drive to get the deed done. But, YMMV.

 

[bandana163]

At home.

 

[Richdog]

Originally posted by: crab
Walmart... Fuji Frontier printers = good

We use those at work, I do all my prints for free, no matter how many I have and however big I want em. Love it. :beer:

 

[DaWhim]

clubphoto.com
still waiting for the photo to come
first 20 prints are free, $2 shipping. so $.1 each for me