What is the best photosite?

[jaapv]

I'm wondering... I want to start my own gallery on a photo-sharing site.( besides RFF I mean) I don't want to "do"my own website, because I fear it will drown in the overabundance of Photoblogs, sites with fuzzy holidaysnaps of the kids etc, so I'm looking for a group-site of (hopefully I'll qualify) advanced amateurs and some semi-pro's.
Any recommendations?

 

[pvdhaar]

You could look at http://www.pbase.com

 

[Frank Granovski]

pbase seems to be the most popular.

 

[anandi]

I like flickr - few restrictions when you pay the yearly fee.

 

[iDude]

My vote goes to flickr.

 

[o0dano0o]

It depends on what you are looking for. I used pbase for months, and then switched to using flickr.

I think pbase is more suited to people who want to put together an online portfolio, because it has a very clean interface, and everything is customizable through css (you can even hide all the pbase menu stuff.) Flickr on the otherhand, is not customizable in that way - you always have the white background, etc.

However, I found pbase to be VERY limiting. If you want pictures to show up in multiple folders it uses more diskspace, which is STUPID (dont even get me started). Flickr is amazing in this aspect. Not only can you put images in whatever folder you want, but TAGS ARE THE BEST THING EVER! They are easy to manage and easy to browse. I throw tags on for the camera i used, the lens i used, subjects in the pictures, whatever.

Another big difference is that pbase gives you a disk quota, while flickr gives you unlimited space, but a bandwidth quota. For example: on Pbase, I can have 300 mb of storage for my pictures. On flickr, I have unlimited space, but I can only upload 2gig per month. (keyword: only - heh)

One other big point for me is the groups on flickr. You can post your pictures to different groups to get feedback, etc. Pbase forums don't even come close to doing what flickr groups accomplish.

Ok I'll finish with what I thought was a big deal in the begining, but not so much anymore. On pbase, you can upload a zipfile of images. Through the flickr website, you can only upload 6 images at one time. BUT - they do provide uploading tools where you can upload a bootload at once, so it's not that big a deal.

Hope this helps,
Dan

 

[sfb_dot_com]

I'd go with Flickr too at the moment. It feels a bit more chilled than some other sites out there, and the tags/groups feature is awesome. I'm not keen on PBase for some reason, and other sites seems to insert a lot of clutter which detract from the images. I would always maintain my own galleries however though, although this is personal preference.

Andy

 

[Byuphoto]

Give a look at www.photostor.com

 

[Poptart]

I just go to the developing kiosk and look through everybody else's prints.

 

[Bertram2]

It depends on what you are looking for. I used pbase for months, and then switched to using flickr.

There is one thing which wasn't mentioned yet but what I find important for me:
What site has the better image quality and file size limit, Flickr or Pbase ?
Some galleries do bad things to your images by resizing them to the given limit, some reduce obviously the jpeg quality even if no resizing is needed, probably becauase of storage space.

bertram

 

[sockeyed]

Flickr.

Great interface, clean design, fun groups if you want to join them.

& developed in Vancouver.

 

[o0dano0o]

What site has the better image quality and file size limit, Flickr or Pbase ?

From http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/#18

"Flickr officially supports JPEGs, non-animated GIFs and PNGs. If you have free account, each photo you upload must be less than 5MB in size. If you have a pro account, each file must be less than 10MB.

Each photo is compressed and re-sized by Flickr (if necessary), and is available in the following sizes:

* 75x75 pixels
* 120 pixels (on the longest side)
* 240 pixels
* 500 pixels
* Large
* And the original size (if you hold a pro account)"

from http://www.pbase.com/help/file_formats
"Image Formats
The recommended image format is JPEG which is the best format for photographs on the web. Almost all digital cameras and scanning and editing software will save JPEG files.
GIF and PNG are also supported and will be unmodified. Other image formats are not handled by most web browsers and will be automatically converted to JPEG after you upload them. These include TIFF, BMP and the PBM family. Many other formats probably work. You can either just try them, or use some utility to convert them to JPEG before uploading. "

Pbase provides 'small, medium, large and original' links below the image. Flickr gives you a "see all sizes" link, with the above choices.

Hope this helps. Maybe someone else knows more about the max file size on pbase.

Dan

 

[Bertram2]

From http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/#18

"Flickr officially supports JPEGs, non-animated GIFs and PNGs. If you have free account, each photo you upload must be less than 5MB in size. If you have a pro account, each file must be less than 10MB.

Dan

I had read this once and understood it as resizing happens only to files larger than 10MB, which would be a crazy size for a jpeg?? 😕

You had pics on both galleries, where did you personally like their presentation most ?

Thany,
bertram

 

[ivzhao]

these are my stereotypical impressions:

pbase.com ----- mostly older people, and people who like camera more than photography
flicker.com ----- younger people, indie teenagers, people who always take a camera around
deviantart.com ----- younger people mostly, a VERY strong community, many illustrators

 

[MP Guy]

just make sure you get a place that does not have a million popups. Man I hate those things 🙁

As far as the best photosite goes, I dontr think you need to look much further than here. 😀

 

[alliv]

I like pbase. It is very easy to create nice looking galleries and it is very FAST (usually).
Both for browsing and for editing. Also I like simple and uncombered design of pbase. Highly recommended

 

[jaapv]

Thanks for the input,friends. I decided to try and do something different, and will opt for a selling site.I think I'll try fotolibra, and hope to recoup the cost of my subscription. I'll post the link when I have found the time get it working 🙂

 

[o0dano0o]

You had pics on both galleries, where did you personally like their presentation most ?

Idealy, I would want a gallery in both places, each with their own audiences. Pbase I would use for a portfolio of a small amount of images. Flickr I would use to share photos, origanize them easily, and get decent feedback quickly. This is basically what I am doing now, except I haven't cleaned out Pbase to the portfolio level, and it is not that high on my list of priorities to do so.

One other thing that I just remembered. Back around the beginning of the year pbase went flaky - images disappeared, original size images wouldnt work, but the resizes would. The site was just slow in general and pages wouldn't load. In the forums, everyone was like "WHATSSS GOING ON!!???!" and, as far as I can tell, there was little word from the admins about what was going on. ( http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?t=9348&highlight= ) To contrast, I signed onto Flickr once and it said that the servers were running hot, and that silly things might happen, but it would all be okay - images would take a little time to show up, things like that - it was the equivalent of having 'Don't Panic' on the cover.

In the end, I did get 2 months credits free from pbase for their blunders, but during those two months, it was ridiculous.

If Pbase had tags, groups, and news from the top when stuff goes pear-shaped, it would be better.
If Flickr had CSS control, it would be unstoppable.

 

[Frank Granovski]

My vote is still on pbase. It's much nicer looking and not as flashy, but then I'm rather crusty and pushing 52. 🙄

 

[Bertram2]

Idealy, I would want a gallery in both places, each with their own audiences.
If Pbase had tags, groups, and news from the top when stuff goes pear-shaped, it would be better.
If Flickr had CSS control, it would be unstoppable.

Thanks for takin the time to explain!! 🙂 Interesting informations !
bertram