Kodak photo printing kiosk

These Kodak printing machines have been popping up recently -- one in
my local drugstore, and another at the nearby (35 miles away) Wal-Mart
Super Center. I haven't seen anything else written about them, so I
thought I'd share my experiences.

First, where am I coming from? For a few years I've used a Canon i560
inkjet printer which was inexpensive when new and is now becoming
rather dated. I used it mainly for printing text and web pages, rarely
for prints. The few prints I ever made using generic paper and
third-party (cheap) inks seemed okay, but I wasn't looking at them
critically -- just once in a blue moon printing up a snapshot or two
for the relatives.

Recently I got my new DSLR and started thinking more seriously about
prints. I printed a 8x10 test photo using the generic ink and paper,
but I was disgusted by the poor color rendition. I then sprung for
some genuine Canon paper and inks and tried again with the same image.
The result was considerably better, but still considerably different
from what I saw on my computer monitor.

Buying a newer and better printer was an option, but realistically. . .
How many prints do I expect to make?

I decided to give the Kodak machine a test. I picked out 11 nice
photos from my library and stored them on a USB flash drive, and today
I took them back to the drug store. The kiosk has slots where you can
insert just about any kind of media: 3.5" floppy disks, CD-Rs, many
different kinds of flash cards, and USB drives. (It even has a
scanner, so you can scan prints and make new prints from them.)

My first attempt to use the machine was a failure -- it refused to read
my flash drive, even though it works perfectly on all my computers
here. I went home and copied all the images onto a SD card and then
went back to give it another try. This time it was able to read my
images, and I was in business. The touch screen interfacce is easy to
use, though a bit slow. Soon I had the machine churning out 4x6
prints. It also is able to make 5x7 and 8x10 prints, which is probably
the next thing I'll try.

I'm very happy with the results. The prints look sharp, and the colors
are much more accurate than my inkjet printer. On my reference photo
the colors are close to what I see on my monitor. Even with a
magnifying glass I can't see any problems worthy of mention, as
contrasted against the grainy texture and occasional "banding" effects
from my i560.

An important point to make is that I live in a small town which has
*never* had any kind of film processing lab. Film always had to be
shipped out for processing, then wait a week or more for prints to come
back. From a convenience standpoint, this digital kiosk puts us a huge
leap beyond where we were before.

--
Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas

Tony Belding wrote:
The touch screen interfacce is easy to
use, though a bit slow.

Once I was going to use one, but the person in front of me was loading
photos from a 1GB memory card, and they said that it was about 50%
through, and they had already been waiting 15 minutes or so. That was
ridiculous.

An important point to make is that I live in a small town which has
*never* had any kind of film processing lab. Film always had to be
shipped out for processing, then wait a week or more for prints to come
back. From a convenience standpoint, this digital kiosk puts us a huge
leap beyond where we were before.

many places have automated 1 hr lab prints, where you upload the files
on the internet, and they print them in an hour. But I guess if your
small town doesn't have those, then the photo kiosk is the next best.

i went to three of those machines. none of them would read my usb
drive. everything else reads it. the ritz system sitting next to the
kodak did.

i want to ask kodak about it, but the links for email on their website
loop back around to each other or come up with page not found. did not
see any appropriate phone nums.


Tony Belding wrote:
These Kodak printing machines have been popping up recently -- one in
my local drugstore, and another at the nearby (35 miles away) Wal-Mart
Super Center. I haven't seen anything else written about them, so I
thought I'd share my experiences.

First, where am I coming from? For a few years I've used a Canon i560
inkjet printer which was inexpensive when new and is now becoming
rather dated. I used it mainly for printing text and web pages, rarely
for prints. The few prints I ever made using generic paper and
third-party (cheap) inks seemed okay, but I wasn't looking at them
critically -- just once in a blue moon printing up a snapshot or two
for the relatives.

Recently I got my new DSLR and started thinking more seriously about
prints. I printed a 8x10 test photo using the generic ink and paper,
but I was disgusted by the poor color rendition. I then sprung for
some genuine Canon paper and inks and tried again with the same image.
The result was considerably better, but still considerably different
from what I saw on my computer monitor.

Buying a newer and better printer was an option, but realistically. . .
How many prints do I expect to make?

I decided to give the Kodak machine a test. I picked out 11 nice
photos from my library and stored them on a USB flash drive, and today
I took them back to the drug store. The kiosk has slots where you can
insert just about any kind of media: 3.5" floppy disks, CD-Rs, many
different kinds of flash cards, and USB drives. (It even has a
scanner, so you can scan prints and make new prints from them.)

My first attempt to use the machine was a failure -- it refused to read
my flash drive, even though it works perfectly on all my computers
here. I went home and copied all the images onto a SD card and then
went back to give it another try. This time it was able to read my
images, and I was in business. The touch screen interfacce is easy to
use, though a bit slow. Soon I had the machine churning out 4x6
prints. It also is able to make 5x7 and 8x10 prints, which is probably
the next thing I'll try.

I'm very happy with the results. The prints look sharp, and the colors
are much more accurate than my inkjet printer. On my reference photo
the colors are close to what I see on my monitor. Even with a
magnifying glass I can't see any problems worthy of mention, as
contrasted against the grainy texture and occasional "banding" effects
from my i560.

An important point to make is that I live in a small town which has
*never* had any kind of film processing lab. Film always had to be
shipped out for processing, then wait a week or more for prints to come
back. From a convenience standpoint, this digital kiosk puts us a huge
leap beyond where we were before.

--
Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas

On 2007-01-03 15:39:51 -0600, "Bucky" said:

Once I was going to use one, but the person in front of me was loading
photos from a 1GB memory card, and they said that it was about 50%
through, and they had already been waiting 15 minutes or so. That was
ridiculous.

When I wrote that it was slow, I was referring to the user interface.
Going through the various options, selecting photos and setting
enlargement sizes can take a while. The time it took to read images
from my SD card was not an issue, I don't think it was more than a few
seconds. (But as noted before, I only had 11 photos on it today, so it
wasn't much of a test in that regard.)

--
Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas

Tony Belding wrote:
These Kodak printing machines have been popping up recently -- one in my
local drugstore, and another at the nearby (35 miles away) Wal-Mart
Super Center. I haven't seen anything else written about them, so I
thought I'd share my experiences.

First, where am I coming from? For a few years I've used a Canon i560
inkjet printer which was inexpensive when new and is now becoming rather
dated. I used it mainly for printing text and web pages, rarely for
prints. The few prints I ever made using generic paper and third-party
(cheap) inks seemed okay, but I wasn't looking at them critically --
just once in a blue moon printing up a snapshot or two for the relatives.

Recently I got my new DSLR and started thinking more seriously about
prints. I printed a 8x10 test photo using the generic ink and paper,
but I was disgusted by the poor color rendition. I then sprung for some
genuine Canon paper and inks and tried again with the same image. The
result was considerably better, but still considerably different from
what I saw on my computer monitor.

Buying a newer and better printer was an option, but realistically. . .
How many prints do I expect to make?

I decided to give the Kodak machine a test. I picked out 11 nice photos
from my library and stored them on a USB flash drive, and today I took
them back to the drug store. The kiosk has slots where you can insert
just about any kind of media: 3.5" floppy disks, CD-Rs, many different
kinds of flash cards, and USB drives. (It even has a scanner, so you
can scan prints and make new prints from them.)

My first attempt to use the machine was a failure -- it refused to read
my flash drive, even though it works perfectly on all my computers
here. I went home and copied all the images onto a SD card and then
went back to give it another try. This time it was able to read my
images, and I was in business. The touch screen interfacce is easy to
use, though a bit slow. Soon I had the machine churning out 4x6
prints. It also is able to make 5x7 and 8x10 prints, which is probably
the next thing I'll try.

I'm very happy with the results. The prints look sharp, and the colors
are much more accurate than my inkjet printer. On my reference photo
the colors are close to what I see on my monitor. Even with a
magnifying glass I can't see any problems worthy of mention, as
contrasted against the grainy texture and occasional "banding" effects
from my i560.

An important point to make is that I live in a small town which has
*never* had any kind of film processing lab. Film always had to be
shipped out for processing, then wait a week or more for prints to come
back. From a convenience standpoint, this digital kiosk puts us a huge
leap beyond where we were before.

I've tended to use the kiosk that just does a 4x6 for 29c. The one I use
doesn't have a usb, I use cf card I have as a spare. Quality is only
slightly less the www.yorkphoto.com. I was looking at some prints from
an hp photo printer which makes 4x6 or 5x7. Very nice but price per
print is higher than 29c. As far as I can tell, quality from Walgreen
over the counter (while you wait for a single 8x10), 4x6 kiosk or the
one you are talking about are very similar. My break even on price vs
yorkphoto is if greater than 20 prints.
Dave Cohen
Dave Cohen

nlehrer wrote:
i want to ask kodak about it, but the links for email on their website
loop back around to each other or come up with page not found. did not
see any appropriate phone nums.

don't know if these phone numbers are relevant for the kiosk, but here
are some Kodak #s:

Kodak 800-235-6325 Press #.
Kodak Gallery (Ofoto) 800-360-9098 Say "agent."

http://www.gethuman.com/us/

On January 03 2007, "Bucky" wrote:
many places have automated 1 hr lab prints, where you upload the files
on the internet, and they print them in an hour. But I guess if your
small town doesn't have those, then the photo kiosk is the next best.

Upload to mpix.com and they deliver to your door. Excellent quality
prints no matter what size town you live in.

--
Carl Miller

www.carlmillerphotos.com

Tony Belding wrote:
These Kodak printing machines have been popping up recently -- one in my
local drugstore, and another at the nearby (35 miles away) Wal-Mart
Super Center. I haven't seen anything else written about them, so I
thought I'd share my experiences.

First, where am I coming from? For a few years I've used a Canon i560
inkjet printer which was inexpensive when new and is now becoming rather
dated. I used it mainly for printing text and web pages, rarely for
prints. The few prints I ever made using generic paper and third-party
(cheap) inks seemed okay, but I wasn't looking at them critically --
just once in a blue moon printing up a snapshot or two for the relatives.

Recently I got my new DSLR and started thinking more seriously about
prints. I printed a 8x10 test photo using the generic ink and paper,
but I was disgusted by the poor color rendition. I then sprung for some
genuine Canon paper and inks and tried again with the same image. The
result was considerably better, but still considerably different from
what I saw on my computer monitor.

Buying a newer and better printer was an option, but realistically. . .
How many prints do I expect to make?

I decided to give the Kodak machine a test. I picked out 11 nice photos
from my library and stored them on a USB flash drive, and today I took
them back to the drug store. The kiosk has slots where you can insert
just about any kind of media: 3.5" floppy disks, CD-Rs, many different
kinds of flash cards, and USB drives. (It even has a scanner, so you
can scan prints and make new prints from them.)

My first attempt to use the machine was a failure -- it refused to read
my flash drive, even though it works perfectly on all my computers
here. I went home and copied all the images onto a SD card and then
went back to give it another try. This time it was able to read my
images, and I was in business. The touch screen interfacce is easy to
use, though a bit slow. Soon I had the machine churning out 4x6
prints. It also is able to make 5x7 and 8x10 prints, which is probably
the next thing I'll try.

I'm very happy with the results. The prints look sharp, and the colors
are much more accurate than my inkjet printer. On my reference photo
the colors are close to what I see on my monitor. Even with a
magnifying glass I can't see any problems worthy of mention, as
contrasted against the grainy texture and occasional "banding" effects
from my i560.

An important point to make is that I live in a small town which has
*never* had any kind of film processing lab. Film always had to be
shipped out for processing, then wait a week or more for prints to come
back. From a convenience standpoint, this digital kiosk puts us a huge
leap beyond where we were before.

You mentioned a Wal-Mart. Have you tried printing the pictures on their
1hr machine? Some stores produce excellent results, others not so good.
Also, some of the online places produce excellent prints up to poster
size for reasonable prices.

Tony Belding wrote:

edited, for brevity

I decided to give the Kodak machine a test. I picked out 11 nice
photos from my library and stored them on a USB flash drive, and today
I took them back to the drug store. The kiosk has slots where you can
insert just about any kind of media: 3.5" floppy disks, CD-Rs, many
different kinds of flash cards, and USB drives. (It even has a
scanner, so you can scan prints and make new prints from them.)

My first attempt to use the machine was a failure -- it refused to read
my flash drive, even though it works perfectly on all my computers
here. I went home and copied all the images onto a SD card and then
went back to give it another try. This time it was able to read my
images, and I was in business. The touch screen interfacce is easy to
use, though a bit slow. Soon I had the machine churning out 4x6
prints. It also is able to make 5x7 and 8x10 prints, which is probably
the next thing I'll try.

I'm very happy with the results. The prints look sharp, and the colors
are much more accurate than my inkjet printer. On my reference photo
the colors are close to what I see on my monitor. Even with a
magnifying glass I can't see any problems worthy of mention, as
contrasted against the grainy texture and occasional "banding" effects
from my i560.

edited

Hello, Tony:

I've used a Kodak kiosk (at Wal-Mart), occasionally, also; it did
an excellent job, every time.

Still, my humble Epson "Stylus Photo 825" inkjet can match Kodak's
commercial contraption. Its 4"x6" glossy prints are superbly sharp
and awfully attractive, with vibrant and accurate colors.

Not bad, at all, for a $70 device!


Cordially,
John Turco