Originally posted on my blog, I thought I'd share it here: After reading a great review of the online photo lab Mpix.com I was eager to try them out. Well about a week ago a friend of mine asked if he could buy a print of one of my photos, so I figured it would be a great time to test them out. In the past I have used Apple’s print service and was always very happy with them, but they do have their limitations. So I ordered the print he wanted in 16″x24″ and also tacked on a few prints of photos in my portfolio at various sizes and paper options to compare. Here’s a rundown of my experience: PROS: - Prints are very high quality. Their lustre coating looks great and their metallic paper is outstanding. I really recommend the metallic paper if you really want a print to pop off the wall. - Fast shipping to Canada. My order took less than a week to arrive. - Prints are shipped flat (not rolled). This is a huge thing for me. Large prints I’ve ordered in the past have been rolled and it seems impossible to get them totally flat. - Prints are well packaged and separated. - Website works great and has tons of features for uploading you photos for prints - They offer a lot of different print sizes. I ordered several 6×9 images which are just great. A much better option than 8×10 prints for me since I hate cropping my photos to a 4:5 aspect ratio. CONS: - Not sure if this is really a con, or a side effect of having so many “pros”, but prints are a little pricey. - A flat shipping rate of $15 to Canada makes it hard to justify smaller orders. So the bottom line is Mpix.com is now my number one goto print shop. You pay a bit more, but you are getting great products and service in return. The prints looks great (especially the metallic paper) , the packaging is outstanding and the size options are great.
If the metallic is the thing you like, check out cameracanada's print lab - they provide almost all the same services as mpix, on our side of the border. They have been great to me in the past, both for prints and gear
hmm i dunno - i have only ran a few print through them when i was testing the look of metallic for a few makeup shots i did, i just got them loose.. give them a call - they are probably the most phone-helpful company i have ever ordered from, both retail and print!
