Off-topic: Best online digital photo developer?

[Hugh Nano]

OK, totally off-topic, I know, but I know a fair number of digital-photo lovers hang out here! What is the best online digital photo developer? I've tried Shutterfly, but their prints came out rather too orange. I've got the same set of prints coming from DotPhoto—much cheaper, but they don't specify what paper they use. Others I've heard of are Ofoto and Snapfish, but I haven't tried either. Based on your experience, what is the best online retailer of prints from digital cameras?

[luebster]

Try Sam's Photo Club (http://www.samsphotoclub.com)(yes, that Sam's). 4x6 prints are only $0.24 (USD) each and shipping is $1.99 regardless of the number of prints you order.

Better yet, just go to Wal-Mart. They have a kiosk there where you put in your memory card (they even take the brand new xD-Picture Card) or CD and it auto loads all images on the card/disc (regardless of directory structure). You can zoom, crop, reduce red-eye, apply effects, etc. right there. It's only $0.19 each (for 4x6), takes them about an hour to develop, and NO SHIPPING!!! My wife and I did our baby announcements at Wal-Mart. 100 anouncements (4x8) including envelopes for $40! Try finding that kind of deal ANYWHERE!

Online or in store, they print on Fuji paper and the quality is VERY GOOD. I'm not a professional photographer, but I am very satisfied with the results.

As someone else once said, "God Bless Wal-Mart." Unless you are a mom and pop...

[Jason Dunn]

I usually alternate between Ofoto and Shutterfly. I normally use Ofoto (great print quality), but I haven't noticed any orange tint from Shutterfly. DotPhoto is decent - I haven't used them lately. I did a test print from Ofoto and from DotPhoto, and the DotPhoto one was pretty bad in terms of being off-colour. I sent them both pictures, and they said they'd recalibrate their printers. I used them again and was happy with the results.

That's probably the best thing to do if you're serious about the quality - get the same sample pic printed from each one.

Last week I bought a Canon i950 (http://pocketpcthoughts.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=691822&ut=4493b2c32f0069c0&found=2&search=Canon%20i950) which has utterly jaw-dropping print quality...I doubt I'll use an online server again, unless I'm doing 100+ prints. This printer is that good. 8O

[Pony99CA]

Last week I bought a Canon i950 (http://pocketpcthoughts.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php?masterid=691822&ut=4493b2c32f0069c0&found=2&search=Canon%20i950) which has utterly jaw-dropping print quality...I doubt I'll use an online server again, unless I'm doing 100+ prints. This printer is that good. 8O
I use a Kodak Personal Picture Maker 200 and have been fairly happy. It can print up to 1200x1200 dpi using two ink cartridges (a color cartridge and a photo cartridge). It has built-in CF and SmartMedia slots and a small color LCD so you don't even need to hook this up to a computer to print pictures (although you only can get 600x600 dpi without a computer).

The only things I haven't liked are the ink cartridges -- the color and photo cartridges each have three colors in them, so if one color runs out, you have to replace all the ink. The Canon printers I've seen have one cartridge per color, which is a better system, I think.

Also, finding ink for the PPM 200 has been tricky. I haven't been able to find it at a brick-and-mortar store (not even the Staples where I bought the printer). I've had to order online, which is not as appealing if you're trying to print, run out of ink and need a new cartridge now

Steve

P.S. I wouldn't call people who print digital pictures "developers". Developing is the chemical process used in old-school photography. Call them "photo printers" or even "photo processors" if they do some color correction or improvements on your photos.

It's like saying you're "filming" an event with your camcorder, even though it doesn't use film. You're "taping" the event. :-D