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RitzPix Needs Work
When I got a new digital camera just over a year ago (a very generous gift from L.), I started taking lots of pictures, some of which I post, but most of which I don't. The great thing about digital pics is you can take as many as you want for virtually no cost; however, the drawback can come when you want to share a photo with someone in real life, someone who is not online or who would like their own copy of a picture. You can always print your own photos on an inkjet printer, but I've never been thrilled with the result/cost ratio there, so I've turned to different online services for prints of digital pics. I've had good luck with Shutterfly, and I just put in an order with Snapfish, which is a little cheaper. With both services, you upload your photos, order prints or enlargements or other items (i.e., coffee mugs, mousepads, and calendars with your photos on them), then they ship the results to you in a few days. But I recently learned of a new service through Fuji Film. It involves Ritz Camera stores and lets you upload your pictures and then choose a local camera store to print them so that you can go pick them up in just a few hours. They call it Ritz Pix, and for a handful of photos, it works great. I uploaded just a couple of photos the other day, then picked up great prints a couple of hours later. Very cool. So I thought I'd try a few more photos, like 70. Bad idea. The RitzPix site just couldn't handle it. It took forever to upload the photos in the first place, and then, no matter what I did, I couldn't get it to complete an order. On Safari, the browser would time out, on Mozilla, I got a little farther, but still reached a point where the website would no longer respond. Maybe the site really isn't compatible with the Mac. I dunno. What I do know is that if you only want to print a couple of photos and you want the prints quickly, RitzPix works well. For larger orders, I'll stick with one of the larger online services.Posted October 24, 2004 01:05 PM | life generally
You know, I was at a camera store getting photos taken for my student file. The camera store (I believe it was part of the Ritz family) had a kiosk where you could bring your digital camera in.
Perhaps not as convenient as uploading to a website, but perhaps less frustrating than timeouts, and you do have to go to the store eventually...
Posted by: quasi in r.e.m. at October 24, 2004 07:48 PM
And it's not just camera stores that have those sorts of kiosks now, either. E. actually has his prints developed at Costco, and they're of very good quality (don't need to bring the whole camera in, either--you can bring the files in on CD or the camera's data card of choice). Fast and cheap, too.
(Don't get me wrong--it's good to support your local camera store. But there are other places out there you may want to investigate.)
Posted by: raquel at October 24, 2004 11:46 PM
Ah, very good points, both. I might try the walk-in developing sometime. So far I've only wanted to get real prints of pics that are no longer on my camera's memory card so I never really think about the in-store option b/c it seems like a hassle to transfer the files to a CD (or maybe back to the camera's data card?) to get them to the store. It couldn't be more of a hassle than the uploading nightmare I had the other day, though...
So when are we going to see some photos from you two knowledgeable digital photo peeps?
Posted by: ambimb at October 25, 2004 07:37 AM
That question must mean you've not seen my (badly in need of updating once I get a free second) web site. :) Of course, most pictures of recent events have been taken by E., as he's taking a photography class, just bought a manual film camera, and is thus a maniac.
I so need to email you guys, I 'spose. :)
Posted by: raquel at October 25, 2004 05:24 PM
errr, I'm a luddite (read: I don't own a digital camera yet). So the answer is probably, after someone gives me one.
-qir
Posted by: quasi in r.e.m. at October 28, 2004 11:00 PM
