robbie_caswell Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Are there any articles or websites that rate Smugmug, Pictage, Shutterfly etc... I've used shutterfly with no complaints for some personal stuff but I was wondering how some of you would rate the online labs. Quality of prints, cost (hidden or otherwise), profession aupport, availability of online proofing and album design... etc One big annoyance would be those sites that call the customer directly and try to push other products... any do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedding-photography-denver Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 I like the smugmug for proofing and online viewing. NO to pictage IMO, and Sutterfly too. Not fotki either, :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_dutchman1 Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 I second Smugmug for online guest ordering. I also use WHCC.com for album and wall prints. An ideal site would offer a full professional lab, online guest ordering, and a variety of high-end albums that the client could layout online and have shipped to them directly. Alas, this company doesn't exist yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenm Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 any thoughts on candid2000? I have barely used them and have not used any others, but they do offer, online proofing, a lab and albums and prints. Robbie, looks like you're gearing up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wedding-photography-denver Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Mpix.com is another good one but it's not so friendly for the galleries, IMO. Printroom.com are also good, but again, not as good for the galleries. I hope for the same company that Rich D. mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Smugmug is working well for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austinphoto Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 The best lab is Austin Photo in Rockville Centre, NY, Long Island. http://www.greatlab.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich_dutchman1 Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I saw the Candid2000 albums at WPPI -- They look pretty cheap but cost as much as some of the nicer albums. Their online print orders also seem expensive: I was quoted $.06 for each preview image plus a processing fee per order. Smugmug is $149 per year plus 15% per order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenm Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Thanks Rich, unfortunately as a not yet official pro, I didn't think other sites would let me use their services occassionally. Unfortunately after quoting the couple $5 for a 4x6, I have just figured out that with that "per order fee" and credit card processing fee and the octs of the print, if anyone orders less than like 10 pictures, I will lose money. I may offer them a discount to order through me instead of online, which eliminates the whole convenience of the online ordering system :( Good to know about the album quality too. Thanks Hoping you get some more answers on here Robbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbie_caswell Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 Sometimes it's bad enough that the economics of weddings baffle me. But I looked and looked at smugmug and pictage for their bottom line on their fee structure to determine what it would cost me from a picture and even album design... but that info is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. In my area we get 13million tourists visiting a year for destination portraits and people make a killing using students to shoot and the pro sells the packaged images. One pro needs 15 interns for the summer. After the three weddings I'm scheduled to second shoot I may look seriously into medium format destination/environmental portraits, sell the nikon and leave the weddings to the pro's. Digital and online proofing still seems like the way to go (my d200 would do nicely), but I had an offer to trade one of my d70 for an minty F5, and I've contemplated buying a pair of SQAI's or a blad. My calculations are twenty plus hours of work for net $1500 tops (full day coverage)... vs $300-600 for two or three hours work where you have more control over the client and the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrin ballman www.crossl Posted May 10, 2006 Share Posted May 10, 2006 I've been very happy with digilabs.biz for about a year now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanda_m1 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 I've only tried Pictage and Mpix, but I'll definately spend my dollar at Mpix. Quality Control at Pictage was just a nighmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now