Digital Prints - Costco & Future Shop

[Timon]

Okay, since I bought my camera 2 months ago, I decided to do some test shots and have them printed at Future Shop (www.futurephoto.com) and at Costco.

Here's my findings:


Future Shop.

I was NOT impressed! It was super easy to do however, since you don't even have to go to the store, you just upload them onto their server and then they send the order to your store of choice. They were ready the next day, which was nice but the quality of the paper they used was so poor! It had these divots all over the photograph...hard to describe and I don't think that a picture would do it justice but it was almost as if I took a knife or fork or something and just poked at the picture. It's not noticeable when you look directly over the photo but on any kind of angle you can totally see it!

There was however, surprisingly, quite a bit of difference in the photos as far as the size of the picture that I used. I took the same picture 4 times on 4 different size settings. The smallest 640 x 480(SMALL) pixels came out quite blurry. I would never have used it in a scrapbook. The second size 1024 x 768 (M1)pixels was a lot clearer! And the next two sizes 1600 x 1200(M2) and 2272 x 1704(L) pixels came out great, the larger one being the best quality but not too much of a difference between the two.

I took two sets of photos

A- hubby and dog in bright sunshine with bright green grass in the background. There was a HUGE difference between SMALL and M1 and the next two. The M2 size was great when viewed on it's own but when compared to L, you could tell that it wasn't perfect quality.

B - close-up of hubby, just face and shoulders in the shade with grey/white background. S was the same, not as blurry as first set of photos but still not great quality. M1 and M2 were pretty good quality. M2 had great quality for his face but his sweater and the background, when compared to L was noticeably not as sharp and vivid as the L.


So, I guess basically what I am saying is that I will keep my settings on L. I was VERY impressed with the quality of the photo, even though the paper they used was not great.

Each print was $ .50


Costco

I just returned home with my prints that I got done at the 1-hr photo stop inside of Costco. While the photo paper they used was much much better than Future Shop's, the quality of the print was NOT very good! Hubby's face is slightly orangey and the colours are just not as crisp and vivid as those done at FS. The white and grey in the background looks slightly grey and brown and not very sharp.

It was quick and easy to do as they have a little computer terminal set up where you insert your digital media and just choose your photos and then it prints out a receipt and you take the receipt to the photo counter.

I also took 3 pics of the same subject with different compression settings and the superfine is the ONLY way to go! It was a picture of my dog and his fur on the fine and normal settings looked terrible!

Each print was $.29

Well, since I was not satisfied with either of those printing options, I guess I will also take my pics to London Drugs and to Wal Mart to see how they size up! Wish me luck!


I also printed some photos out on my HP Deskjet 960 C printer and was very impressed with the results!

 

[lilsonicfan]

I've had prints done at Sony's Imagestation - through www.imagestation.com - the best part is that you can upload an unlimited number of pics, and people who have accounts can view your pictures. The prints aren't that cheap - around 39 cents US, plus of course there is a shipping charge to Canada. But the quality was excellent on every one of my pictures (my camera is set to "Best - 1800 X 1200".

Timon, I've heard good things about London Drugs' photofinishing on digital prints - let us know!

 

[epicureangirl]

Small note. You don't mention what type of camera you have and some have different technologies for focussing the lens. Mine has a 9 point system (Cannon Power Shot S230) and a great lense (which some other brands do not). All the pictures we took with a high resolution setting and auto focus turned out superb and the colour at our Costco was amazing and crisp. One evening my husband took the setting off auto to try some night shots and forgot about it the next day. Those daytime photos were grainy as if it was on a lower resolution setting.

There are many factors which influence how a photo turns out and I'm hardly the expert. I think the true test would be to have the same picture developed at the different photofinishing places but I won't be doing it since I was happy with my prints at Costco. I sure haven't found a better price.

Good luck on the quest and thanks for your post -- I was considering going to Future Shop for my prints.

 

[Timon]

Actually, I had posted on TimNDansMom's post about her digital camera and gave all the info about my camera on that post. I also said I was getting was some test shots done and they had asked to post the results.

Sorry, I guess I should have repeated that info:

I have a Canon Digital Elph PowerShot S400 4 MegaPixel Camera.

Also just to mention that I did take the SAME pictures to both places so I can compare exactly, as taking different pics to each place would be pointless.

Costco does have the best price, and I was fully prepared to have my pictures from my trip in October printed at Costco since I am a scrapbooker and will be printing TONS of pictures. However, after comparing the quality to that of Future Shop's, I don't plan on taking them to Costco any more.

I just dropped off the SAME pictures today at Wal Mart ($.42) and at London Drugs ($.69) and will be picking them up tomorrow.

I have no intention of telling people where to get their photos developed nor did I conclude that all cameras are the same therefore the prints will all be the same. I only posted my results because someone had asked me to. I fully expect people to go and do their own tests with their own camera.

My expectations are probably much higher because I am a scrapbooker so I only want the best quality print. I am glad you are happy with your Costco prints.

 

[epicureangirl]

Thanks Timon.

I scrapbook too so really do hope these hold up in the long run! I wish I knew more about what technologies and methods they use to get their prints and if it varies from location to location. The machine they use in Vancouver could possibly be different from Calgary, couldn't it?

Anyhow, thanks for your info. I'm really happy with my Cannon and the video mode has been alot of fun too!

Cheers.

 

[Limmer]

Try Black's. You can get a declining balance digital print card for $34.99 for 100 prints or $19.99 for 50 prints (these prices are going up soon). You can use the card 1 at a time or all at once or anything in between. It is printed on the same quality paper and on the same printer that their neg prints are. They are also archival which Wal-Mart and Costco aren't.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Hey Cass! I was just wondering if you do the colour and brightness/contrast corrections yourself? I do them for some of my pictures and I find that it helps because the lab technicians usually just do a general correction (if at all) on your pictures... I usually tell them when I drop off my pictures to process them "as is", that they shouldn't do any corrections. Of course sometimes, they still don't listen

 

[Timon]

Limmer,
I am guessing that card deal is in-store only? I tried their website and it's $.80 per print.

bunnyfoo,
These are the very first prints that I have done from my digital. I've only had it for about 2 months now, so I haven't done any corrections. When I get more printed I will do some correcting in Photoshop but for now I just wanted to see the quality of untouched prints. When I get prints done from the digital from our fall trip to WDW, I will retouch them up for sure! Looking forward to our first digital Disney trip

 

[Limmer]

Hi Timon, if you buy the card in the store you can then use it on the website but you do have to purchase the card first. You can use some prints off the card on the website and others in the store. It is pretty versatile. If you choose to use it on the website you have to send them the number on the back of the card. It takes about 24 hours to set up. I think you email it to them but I am not really sure as I have not done this. It takes longer that way and I am too impatient to wait more than the hour!