Log in

View Full Version : Smugmug vs. Flickr?


Jason Dunn
01-16-2006, 05:00 PM
As I explained in an earlier post (http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/index.php?topic_id=9603), my method of sharing photos isn't exactly as streamlined as it could be. I spent a few minutes this morning looking at Smugmug, and was wondering what the community thought of the service as it compares to something like Flickr. My primary uses are to have password-protected albums for friends and family members, and to have the ability for them to order prints and have them shipped to Canada. How do Smugmug and Flickr compare to each other in this regard? Unless I'm missing something, you can't currently order prints from Flickr [update: you can't from Canada, you can from the US], so perhaps it's not the best point of comparison for Smugmug. I don't mind paying a yearly fee if it means getting good performance and service. What services would you recommend?

sdrosenthal
01-16-2006, 07:21 PM
I have SmugMug account. After reading many posts on various sites I decided to go with SmugMug. See http://rosenthal.smugmug.com Seems to me that many people prefer SmugMug; the only downside that I really found was that SmugMug doesn't have quite the traffic of the other sites, yet. So, if you are trying to generate $$ from your pictures by having random people trapse across your site, then SmugMug isn't necessairly the best for you.

As far as my happiness with SmugMug, well I am very happy. There are lots of options in the "control panel", and you can try SmugMug out for free for a week or so.

If you decide to go with SmugMug, you can enter a code that gives you some $$ off 8) and gives me a credit.

Stephen

01-16-2006, 08:33 PM
I read a comparison on Reeves Little's blog and it sold me on Smugmug.

http://www.little.org/blog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f132eca2-705e-4216-836e-09832dc00bb4

It compares Flickr, Phanfare and Smugmug.

I really can't recommend Smugmug enough. I can't remember ever spending a hundred bucks on anything and feeling less ripped off, it feels like I'm ripping them off. Unlimited upload, very customizable, excellent support.

Another thing I love is the familiar feel to the place. It's owned and operated by the MacAskill family, and guess who answers your email to support? Mom and Pop! Priceless.

marlof
01-16-2006, 09:01 PM
I'll third Smugmug.

Flickr looks cool from a community perspective, but doesn't have the customization thing going that you can go for with a Smugmug account (with full HTML customization for power and pro users). And dude, I know you're geek enough to enjoy really that. ;)

Another thing that you might really like is the sharegroups functionality (http://www.smugmug.com/help/share-groups). This allows you to share multiple private galleries among your friends.

Next to that, Smugmug is excellent when it comes to customer service, and they way they go out of their way to fix your things. And the uptimes are remarkable.

The prints come from EZPrints, and are pretty good.

Can you tell I'm a fan? You *know* I'm cheap, and I don't mind spending my money on smugmug. It just works for me.

dgage
01-17-2006, 12:13 AM
I just joined SmugMug last night after some research, primarily through the dpreview.com forum, where SmugMug has quite a good reputation. In mentioning Flickr, the forum members seemed to say that the two are somewhat different. Flickr seems to be more about sharing your photos with the general community and therefore lacks some finer control of who can view your photos. SmugMug on the other hand has quite a bit of control for who can access your photos as many of the users are family users. SmugMug also caters very well to professional photographers with the ability to completely customize a site as well as to sell photos.

Overall, I decided to go with SmugMug, mainly to share photos with family and friends, but haven't used it long enough to comment on the quality of service.

David

Jason Dunn
01-18-2006, 04:38 PM
Flickr seems to be more about sharing your photos with the general community...SmugMug on the other hand has quite a bit of control for who can access your photos as many of the users are family users.

Yes, that was my discovery as well - Flickr is a social photo service, Smugmug is a photo sharing/printing service. Smugmug it is! They've given me an account to play with, so I'll let everyone know what I think about it. :-)

msprague
01-19-2006, 05:07 PM
I guess I am one of the rare Flickr users here. As far as customizability, that is what the api is for. I have just one level of integration with my personal website (see http://www.sprg.net/photo-album ), but going to the full gallery integration into your home pages is also doable with some of the third-party api wrappers out there.

Anyway, I've been pleased with Flickr. With the hotlink and api support I can get away with a minimal hosting account (50MB) and still have all my photos online in full resolution. Now that they do offer printing (okay, just in US) it meets all my needs.