Flickr Alternatives

I think its time to start a thread relating to Flickr alternatives, given that many of us (though not all) are less than chuffed at the changes.

1. iPernity has already been suggested as a suitable alternative. I don't like it. Its far too restrictive in what you can do with a photograph once it has been uploaded. Sharing in forums is restricted to a link to the entire page, you can't get a proper forum link, nor can you right click. Theres a 200Mb limit. Its slow as a wet week (for me, anyway, YMMV). If you should happen to lose your own copy of the photograph you uploaded, bad luck, you can't download it again. All of this would likely change with a paid account but so far I don't find the service compelling enough to pay for it.. again, YMMV

2. Smugmug and Zenfolio are paid alternatives. I had Zenfolio for a year, it cost me $25 and I didnt really appreciate how useful it might become. Now, when I go to re-register, I find its gone up to AU$40 (I paid in USD last time) and I don't know if thats what everyone is paying but I was a bit miffed... At least Smugmug gives you unlimited space for the $40 base cost.

3. Picasaweb... dead in the water for sharing outside Google+ (unless someone else has found a way of linking and sharing that doesnt immediately open a G+ share box)

4. Mejuba: upload and store as many photos and videos as you want: no restrictions on monthly traffic or quotas: always have access to your uploaded originals: uploaded photos and videos are saved in the original form: upload folders while retaining your PC / Mac folder structure: upload up to 1GB per upload: Transfer of files from other services (I tried this from flickr, and although it appeared to happen - 200 at once - I could not actually see the photographs after the transfer. Anyway... its a possibility.

5. Wix Don't know much about this, seems to be a website thing... free or premium... no social aspects. Probably good for portfolios

Please add anything you have found. My conclusion right now is that we will all still be with Flickr, this time next year, because its still best for what we do.
 
I'm going to give ipernity a good try. £20 a year for a "Club" account gets around the negatives you have listed (I understand) and is not exactly expensive. It is the most "Flickr-like" of the alternatives and I expect to see it grow exponentially if they can get a slick bulk transfer process to work.

There's 500px which is pricey, and dominated by Russian macro, HDR and skinny girl snappers.

There is 1x but that is largely commercial - and clunky.

Finally, I'd mention DeviantArt... I have an account there but it is not a pureplay photography site.

Sent from another Galaxy
 
I did a Google search last night for Flickr alternatives. There really are none. Flickr is unique in what it does. I also use Zenfolio for sharing photos with family and friends, but I can't discover content there and have interesting conversations about it. I also have my own blog, but that's like an island in the middle of nowhere. I might start a portfolio site someday, but that's not a community.

For the time being we're stuck with Flickr.
 
I'm going to give ipernity a good try. £20 a year for a "Club" account gets around the negatives you have listed (I understand) and is not exactly expensive. It is the most "Flickr-like" of the alternatives and I expect to see it grow exponentially if they can get a slick bulk transfer process to work.

There's 500px which is pricey, and dominated by Russian macro, HDR and skinny girl snappers.

There is 1x but that is largely commercial - and clunky.

Finally, I'd mention DeviantArt... I have an account there but it is not a pureplay photography site.

Sent from another Galaxy

Yah.. I got over 500px fairly quickly, never tried 1x because they are precious about what they will accept, I gather, and I'm not yet prepared to pay for iPernity. I've been with Devart for about 12 years since my days of "skinning" Windows apps which could be skinned (I was a skinz.org refugee) but once they had a server crash and lost my stuff, I haven't been that keen. It seems all a bit of a mishmash these days... a bit like Redbubble has become.

For now, its Flickr for me, and perhaps a revival of my Photobucket account... but I'll watch with interest here...
 
G+ has a lot of photographers. Some of the communities are huge (50k+ members) which end up being photo dumps without a lot of interaction. There are plenty more intimate communities where the interaction is more...interactive. I've got a "Photo Critique" community of a modest 250 or so members. It's growing organically, and I like it that way. The rule is simple - post one, critique one - and gear talk is not allowed, so there's some good conversations about actual photos.

G+ lets you upload full size photos and it can also sync with photos you take on your android phone. The interface is clean and simple.

If all you are looking for is cloud storage/backup, I'm happy with Dropbox for that.
 
You could upload to We Heart It. If your photo is good then people "heart it" and give you "love". Its full of girls who blog photos of pretty fluffy pink things, cup cakes (usually pink), kittens (not pink), tea cups (usually pink) and bedrooms (always pink).
 
I would be quite happy to use G+ if I could work out how to share to a forum (a la flickr or just with a direct link)... but it seems to me that any sharing must be done within the G+ community... am I wrong?

That's a good point. G+ could attract a lot of new users with that feature. G+, are you listening?
 
I have a pink one on We Hear It
8595090227_f49fef102b_b.jpg
 
That's a good point. G+ could attract a lot of new users with that feature. G+, are you listening?

The thing is, *prior* to G+, you *could* share to other places... I think they made a conscious decision to shut it off from outside... perhaps as a way of having people join up to see their friends shots ... I dunno... but I like picasaweb much less now than I did before. (never let it be said that G+ is becoming the walled garden Apple is accused of being)
 
IMO the larger travesty is the new interface. I used Flickr for the first time since the redesign, and I feel it's just terrible. Time to re-scope my Photobucket account...

Agreed on the interface. Its for lookers, not users. I rejoined Photobucket some months back, and am now looking at that as a serious option. Must see what paying for it will get... In the meantime I have taken a leaf from Will's book, and changed my flickr link in my sig.
 
I will have to retract the evil things I said about Google.

I *is* possible to share outside the Googleverse... provided you make certain you are accessing your photographs via Picasaweb.google.com and not anywhere else. Today a little popup showed itself on my ipad and it said "click here if you want to go to picasaweb" YES! and there in all their glory are the photographs I have previously uploaded, along with those I have posted in various photography communities or in my own stream.

This may well be *my* option.
 
Back
Top