Prints from Digital Camera - WOW!

[Olaf]

I just wanted to share with all you other phototogs and scrapbookers my experiences with our new digital camera. I've waited a long time for this camera. I'm very picky about my pictures and I was more than a little leery about what the quality of my prints.

Getting to the point. I bought an Olympus 3040 a week before our recent trip to WDW. This is a 3.3 pixel camera and a pricey one. I'm still trying to learn all of its bells and whistles. We used Adobe Elements for our photo editing. I sent off photo orders to dotphoto.com and shutterfly.com. I choose these two because they used Fuji crystal archive paper. I received the photos from shutterfly today and I am just astounded at the quality. They are absolutely beautiful! Still waiting on my order from dotphoto and I have my fingers crossed with them. Dotphoto's prices are considerably lower than shutterfly.

I'll keep you posted on the dotphoto pictures.

Here's a picture of took of DS with Minnie.

 

[Olaf]

I don't know where all the replies to this message went, but I'm wondering if these photo files contributed to the crash. Lisa?

Anyway, I wanted to give you guys an update. The photos I received from Shutterfly were awesome. The pics from Dotphoto were awful--on top of that, it took them almost 2 1/2 weeks to get them to me. I guess you get what you pay for. Shutterfly was .49 cents a print and Dotphoto was .29 cents. I've ordered prints from Sam's Club too, and I'm still waiting on those.

I'm going to try and post scans of the prints from Shutterfly and Dotphoto. This picture was printed from the same file. I couldn't believe the difference. I hope you'll be able to see it on the screen.

Dotphoto

Shutterfly

 

[shelbyjosh]

Hello again, Olaf!! A few more questions for you. I take my pictures in 3.1 compressed format. Technically I believe the images are really big (1270x??). Do you have to resize them yourself or can you send them out (retouched--tint, contrast all fixed) and the printing company will resize as needed? This is where I get confused. Another question..what do you set your camera at to take firework photos? Would love to get some great shots of them while we are down there, but don't know whre to begin! I did call Kodak, and I can upload to their site and they can also print them off at .49/each. Would love any tips and input you have regarding these issues.

54 days and counting............

 

[BevS97]

you send the files in to be printed in the largest size you can - every extra pixel contributes to a clearer shot!

Have you guys tried Walmart? I get mine digital prints printed in bulk (i'm in the UK) - I just take the card to the photo shop and they print the whole card, just as if it were a film -I usually get 100 prints for about £20 - which is much more reasonable that 50p a print which the online places want.

I've heard that Walmart will do this - I was hoping to use them the next time we are in WDW - has anyone tried it?

Bev

 

[Olaf]

Hi Shelby & Bev,

I'm still learning about this digital thing myself, so I hate to give advice and then find out later that I was wrong. I have found that the Help Center at Shutterfly.com is very good. When I sent pictures to that site, I had already cropped and tweaked them myself. I'm going to order some today, where I send the original file to them and then crop at the site. I want to see if it makes a difference.

I took some really good firework photos in Dec and I had it set on Auto. If I had had a tripod, I would have turned off the flash, but I just wasn't able to keep it still enough.

I believe Kodak uses/owns Ofoto.com and I'm waiting on some prints from them too.

Bev, our Wal-mart prints digital photos on a Kodak Picture Maker. The Picture Maker is a neat machine but it's not for printing photos that you really want to last for a long time. I use that machine when I don't have a negative. Also, I really like the Fuji paper and they aren't going to use that in a Kodak Picture Maker.

I'll keep you guys posted on the results.

 

[shelbyjosh]

So when you say "tweaked" do you mean you have already resized them? So if I just touched them up (color, red-eye, tint, etc. no sizing though) they would print out just like a regular 4x6??? For our everyday pics I use my printer, but I think I may try Shutterfly for our Disney pics. Several family members have cable internet so the upload would be a lot quicker than our modem. I think on my 64 card I can hold 124 (??) pics on the 3.1 compressed. I have been very happy with my camera.

 

[Olaf]

Yeah, that's right, that is what I meant by tweaked it up. Although I did crop them to 4x6 before I sent them. When you order them from Shutterfly, they will ask you what size you want and then it will highlight that area--so you do the cropping there (at the Shutterfly site). I just got finished ordering some prints, which I cropped at their site this time. I want to see if I can detect a difference.

I'll let you know how they come out. I took my WDW photos at 3.1 or HQ mode. Unless you're going to crop the you what out of them, that should be fine.

I'm really trying to get smart on this topic.

 

[shelbyjosh]

So even though I would be sending some huge files, they will do the dirty work and fit them into a 4x6? Sounds like this might be the way to go. How would you compare the quality of digital processing vs. 35mm processing?

 

[Olaf]

So even though I would be sending some huge files, they will do the dirty work and fit them into a 4x6?

You actually decide what's cropped. It lets you click and drag until you like it. You go through picture by picture. It's very easy.

Shutterfly's prints are just as good as my SLR 35 mm camera. I'm glad I received those photos first. Had Dotphotos been first, I would have been tempted to return the camera.

 

[MerryPoppins]

Glad to see your results from Dotphoto. I now know not to give them a try. I have been very happy with Shutterfly and Ofoto. I have also asked my scrapping friends if they can tell which shots came from my 35mm and which came from my digital camera. They were shocked that they couldn't guess.

 

[BevS97]

No, I didn't mean the Kodak Picture Maker, that's more for one-off special prints.
My store can run my smart-media card through the standard printer (I assume that's what they use) and they charge me about the same as a normal roll of film (£4.99 for 40 prints) - it is on Kodak paper, but then it is a Kodak shop that I go into. For an extra £5 they will also copy the pictures onto a CD which is a bonus as my hard drive is getting very full.

I was hoping to find a similiar service in Orlando as my Smartcard will only hold 120 top quality images and I will take a lot more than that!

Bev

 

[Olaf]

Bev, our Wal-mart only has printing for digital on the picture maker. We live in the sticks.