Changing my hosting service: 500px vs Flickr

**dhodgeh** · 05-16-2016, 05:32 AM

I'm thinking about leaving pbase for another service. Don't really have a problem with pbase at the moment, but it seems to be withering on the vine and it's just a matter of time before something happens and there will be no recovery.

Looking at 500px and Flickr. I noticed a number of members here host on both, and it looks as if either would be suitable for what I need.

I'l soliciting opinions from users of both and to the pros and cons to help me decide which way to go.

Thanks in advance for any assistance and input.

victormeldrew · 05-16-2016, 05:56 AM

I have been on 500px for a while and I'm currently looking for something else. It used to be a good place for feedback and critique and to get exposure, but a raft of recent (unpopular) changes have made it very unrewarding to use, for me at least. Comments are now buried in the app and hard to see on the website and so are rarely used, and the 'pulse' system favours popularity over image quality, so unless you are ruthlessly good at social marketing, no matter how good your image it will go nowhere. Selling is a big draw, but royalties have recently been reduced and sales are extremely rare - you are better with an established stock agency if your images are sellable.

I use fotoblur too and although it is far better in respect to feedback and ratings, it feels very much a backwater and quite russia-centric.

Today someone contacted me through 500px to invite me to join a new closed community called 'million eyez' - I haven't looked into it yet but their sales patter is good, even if their name is awful.

Sandy Hancock · 05-16-2016, 06:19 AM - **1 Like**

For a shit-kicking amateur like me, flickr is a winner.
Sharing is easy, picture quality is excellent, $20 a year for an unlimited account is a bargain.

severalsnakes · 05-16-2016, 06:26 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Sandy Hancock

For a shit-kicking amateur like me, flickr is a winner.
Sharing is easy, picture quality is excellent, $20 a year for an unlimited account is a bargain.

Flickr is the bomb. But, my yearly unlimited subscription is $50/year. Did you get grandfathered in at that price, Sandy, or is that a US/Australia difference?

gorme · 05-16-2016, 06:28 AM

I tend to prefer 500px compared to Flickr because on average the pictures are of better quality which is good for inspiration. That beeing said, I agree with victormeldrew about the fact that feedback and exposure are going low on the website. The pulse system sometimes favor very bad pictures made by active members against good pictures. Well, as we all know, whatever social website, marketing and networking are a part of the game.

I personnaly use both for different kinds of pictures. I noticed that Macro was an active and friendly section of 500px (I tried Portraits with a lot less success because the section is really crowded which makes it difficult to get exposure) and thus I only put Macro on 500px. My Flickr contains mostly portraits and landscapes...

Hope this helps, and I am interested too in other users feedbacks

Imp · 05-16-2016, 06:33 AM

I use 500px as sorta my "Portfolio" - whereas I use Flickr for the ease of sharing onto PentaxForums, usually for things like the SingleIn Group Challenge. 500px has better photo security, as in it isn't as easy for someone to copy your image. If you're into it, its also got a marketplace option where they say you can get 60% of the proceeds, but I'm not certain how well that works.

**Madaboutpix** · 05-16-2016, 06:48 AM

I have uploaded to 500px for more than three years now, and have come to feel more or less at home there. The web design is uncluttered, clean, and gives the prominence to images that they deserve. I don't bother all that much about the easy-to-manipulate rating system: When I see someone with astronomical pulse/affection ratings and legions of likely solicited followers, I certainly know how to read it. I tend to use it more as an image stream rather than a strict best-of-the-best portfolio, but even that yields a reasonable amount of feedback. The majority of 500px users seem to lean towards a heavier style of post processing than I personally find appealing, but that said, inspiration from other users is rarely more than a few clicks away.

As for flickr, I tried it a couple of years ago, but found it a bit too anything-goes and unnecessarily complicated in its myriad of settings (at the time). I appreciate various changes made to the site in recent years, but would be reluctant to entrust them with my photos due to their struggling mother company and their uncertain chances of even mid-term survival. Of course, no one will guarantee me that 500px will not fold tomorrow either.

Just my two bits anyway. People will differ to an extreme degree about the merits of both.

Last edited by Madaboutpix; 05-16-2016 at 06:54 AM.

ESSERRE · 05-16-2016, 06:48 AM

I find Flickr more complete , 500px is great at the visual impact is WOW but at the end I'm just doing great with flickr. Had even some on Instagram but closed account both there and on 500px and concentrating only on flickr. Your is the choice both 500px and flickr are great but still I prefer flickr. Sorry not a great explanation why but I just have the feel for flickr.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/pentax-k-5.html

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanorugolo/

Murfy · 05-16-2016, 06:59 AM

I don't like flickr because I was getting a lot of comments "you won xxx award, please join our group and post three comments" I stopped posting there maybe 2 years ago. Then I started up again and just forgot about it, so I removed all my photos and just stopped using it. They have a lot of groups to join, but some haven't been active for years.

If it is just to put your pictures somewhere to show someone, or for linking, then it's probably fine.

victormeldrew · 05-16-2016, 07:06 AM

I think there is a big gap for a sharing service for photographers to share with photographers to gain critique and inspiration and to share ideas and techniques. This was once what 500px did, but it has moved quickly towards being a social network photo sharing site more like flickr. But as said if you just want a host to show images and make links, flickr is probably best now.

**boriscleto** · 05-16-2016, 07:07 AM

Originally posted by severalsnakes

Flickr is the bomb. But, my yearly unlimited subscription is $50/year. Did you get grandfathered in at that price, Sandy, or is that a US/Australia difference?

The $20/year is a grandfathered price. I think it goes away after this year. Flickr won't be in Yahoo's hands much longer, so who knows what the future price will be.

**Rondec** · 05-16-2016, 07:15 AM

I prefer Flickr over 500 px, but it certainly isn't hard to try both of them and see which fits with your style better.

Kaitlyn · 05-16-2016, 07:16 AM

Originally posted by victormeldrew

I think there is a big gap for a sharing service for photographers to share with photographers to gain critique and inspiration and to share ideas and techniques. This was once what 500px did, but it has moved quickly towards being a social network photo sharing site more like flickr. But as said if you just want a host to show images and make links, flickr is probably best now.

Hey! I work at 500px. We're a community of photographers first, and that's what we have always been. Now, we don't want every single snapshot you ever took (there are other... places for that...) but we want to allow you to share your best work, get inspired, and learn and grow to take better photos. In what ways do you think that has changed over time? In what ways (features/functionality/experience) would you like to see it better support the idea of supporting the sharing of techniques, critique, etc.?

victormeldrew · 05-16-2016, 07:35 AM

Originally posted by Kaitlyn

Hey! I work at 500px. We're a community of photographers first, and that's what we have always been. Now, we don't want every single snapshot you ever took (there are other... places for that...) but we want to allow you to share your best work, get inspired, and learn and grow to take better photos. In what ways do you think that has changed over time? In what ways (features/functionality/experience) would you like to see it better support the idea of supporting the sharing of techniques, critique, etc.?

You only need to look at the 500px group discussions to see what issues photographers have with the recent changes. This probably isn't the place to discuss it...but in my mind the issues I mention above are my biggest problems - comments are hidden, infinite scroll means images fall off the earth once they reach 'popular', the ratings system is easily manipulated and depend on user popularity more than image quality, the app has many issues, marketplace approvals take months or just fall into the ether with no feedback, royalties have been cut for those lucky enough to get approved... These issues have been raised many times in the group but with no response let alone change, so members feel ignored.

Topsy · 05-16-2016, 08:00 AM

I started off with deviantart, which isn't great for photos.. I do still however use their sta.sh uploader for forum- & private sharing.

Then I did a facebook page which is probably even worse.

My 500px account then got created shortly afterwards which works reasonably well. I have observed that getting into 'popular' is easy depending on the time you upload the photo..
I get near 0 feedback though and sometime notice that I 'hold back' on nice photos because 'no one' would see it anyways.

I've never tried flickr since I didn't create an account before yahoo bought them, and I feel like they want WAY too much info upon sign up.

Last december I thought I'd give instagram a go for fun and actually am positively surprised. Sure I hardly gain any followers due to not sticking to a certain theme (that's one reason at least

) but I got more feedback there than on 500px actually.
With the changes they announced recently I cannot tell how well that will work in the future though..

Do we actually have a thread here where we can share our accounts instead of just a link in our sigs? Might be fun to try and atleast get us seeing more of our photos inside the community.

Anyways, something fresh would be cool!

05-16-2016, 05:32 AM	#1
dhodgeh Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FLA-USA Photos: Albums Posts: 214	Changing my hosting service: 500px vs Flickr I'm thinking about leaving pbase for another service. Don't really have a problem with pbase at the moment, but it seems to be withering on the vine and it's just a matter of time before something happens and there will be no recovery. Looking at 500px and Flickr. I noticed a number of members here host on both, and it looks as if either would be suitable for what I need. I'l soliciting opinions from users of both and to the pros and cons to help me decide which way to go. Thanks in advance for any assistance and input.

05-16-2016, 06:48 AM	#8
ESSERRE New Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Photos: Albums Posts: 13	I find Flickr more complete , 500px is great at the visual impact is WOW but at the end I'm just doing great with flickr. Had even some on Instagram but closed account both there and on 500px and concentrating only on flickr. Your is the choice both 500px and flickr are great but still I prefer flickr. Sorry not a great explanation why but I just have the feel for flickr. https://www.pentaxforums.com/camerareviews/pentax-k-5.html https://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanorugolo/ Last edited by ESSERRE; 05-17-2016 at 01:04 AM.

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05-16-2016, 05:56 AM	#2
victormeldrew Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: South West UK Photos: Albums Posts: 1,493	I have been on 500px for a while and I'm currently looking for something else. It used to be a good place for feedback and critique and to get exposure, but a raft of recent (unpopular) changes have made it very unrewarding to use, for me at least. Comments are now buried in the app and hard to see on the website and so are rarely used, and the 'pulse' system favours popularity over image quality, so unless you are ruthlessly good at social marketing, no matter how good your image it will go nowhere. Selling is a big draw, but royalties have recently been reduced and sales are extremely rare - you are better with an established stock agency if your images are sellable. I use fotoblur too and although it is far better in respect to feedback and ratings, it feels very much a backwater and quite russia-centric. Today someone contacted me through 500px to invite me to join a new closed community called 'million eyez' - I haven't looked into it yet but their sales patter is good, even if their name is awful.

05-16-2016, 06:19 AM - 1 Like	#3
Sandy Hancock Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Adelaide Hills, South Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,275	For a shit-kicking amateur like me, flickr is a winner. Sharing is easy, picture quality is excellent, $20 a year for an unlimited account is a bargain.

05-16-2016, 06:26 AM - 1 Like	#4
severalsnakes Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Kansas City, KS Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,612	Originally posted by Sandy Hancock For a shit-kicking amateur like me, flickr is a winner. Sharing is easy, picture quality is excellent, $20 a year for an unlimited account is a bargain. Flickr is the bomb. But, my yearly unlimited subscription is $50/year. Did you get grandfathered in at that price, Sandy, or is that a US/Australia difference?

05-16-2016, 06:28 AM	#5
gorme Senior Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Galway - Ireland Posts: 213	I tend to prefer 500px compared to Flickr because on average the pictures are of better quality which is good for inspiration. That beeing said, I agree with victormeldrew about the fact that feedback and exposure are going low on the website. The pulse system sometimes favor very bad pictures made by active members against good pictures. Well, as we all know, whatever social website, marketing and networking are a part of the game. I personnaly use both for different kinds of pictures. I noticed that Macro was an active and friendly section of 500px (I tried Portraits with a lot less success because the section is really crowded which makes it difficult to get exposure) and thus I only put Macro on 500px. My Flickr contains mostly portraits and landscapes... Hope this helps, and I am interested too in other users feedbacks

05-16-2016, 06:33 AM	#6
Imp Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Washington, DC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,749	I use 500px as sorta my "Portfolio" - whereas I use Flickr for the ease of sharing onto PentaxForums, usually for things like the SingleIn Group Challenge. 500px has better photo security, as in it isn't as easy for someone to copy your image. If you're into it, its also got a marketplace option where they say you can get 60% of the proceeds, but I'm not certain how well that works.

05-16-2016, 06:48 AM	#7
Madaboutpix Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: North Rhine-Westphalia Posts: 1,443	I have uploaded to 500px for more than three years now, and have come to feel more or less at home there. The web design is uncluttered, clean, and gives the prominence to images that they deserve. I don't bother all that much about the easy-to-manipulate rating system: When I see someone with astronomical pulse/affection ratings and legions of likely solicited followers, I certainly know how to read it. I tend to use it more as an image stream rather than a strict best-of-the-best portfolio, but even that yields a reasonable amount of feedback. The majority of 500px users seem to lean towards a heavier style of post processing than I personally find appealing, but that said, inspiration from other users is rarely more than a few clicks away. As for flickr, I tried it a couple of years ago, but found it a bit too anything-goes and unnecessarily complicated in its myriad of settings (at the time). I appreciate various changes made to the site in recent years, but would be reluctant to entrust them with my photos due to their struggling mother company and their uncertain chances of even mid-term survival. Of course, no one will guarantee me that 500px will not fold tomorrow either. Just my two bits anyway. People will differ to an extreme degree about the merits of both. Last edited by Madaboutpix; 05-16-2016 at 06:54 AM.

05-16-2016, 06:59 AM	#9
Murfy Veteran Member Join Date: May 2014 Photos: Gallery Posts: 803	I don't like flickr because I was getting a lot of comments "you won xxx award, please join our group and post three comments" I stopped posting there maybe 2 years ago. Then I started up again and just forgot about it, so I removed all my photos and just stopped using it. They have a lot of groups to join, but some haven't been active for years. If it is just to put your pictures somewhere to show someone, or for linking, then it's probably fine.

05-16-2016, 07:06 AM	#10
victormeldrew Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: South West UK Photos: Albums Posts: 1,493	I think there is a big gap for a sharing service for photographers to share with photographers to gain critique and inspiration and to share ideas and techniques. This was once what 500px did, but it has moved quickly towards being a social network photo sharing site more like flickr. But as said if you just want a host to show images and make links, flickr is probably best now.

05-16-2016, 07:07 AM	#11
boriscleto Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: North Syracuse, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,475	Originally posted by severalsnakes Flickr is the bomb. But, my yearly unlimited subscription is $50/year. Did you get grandfathered in at that price, Sandy, or is that a US/Australia difference? The $20/year is a grandfathered price. I think it goes away after this year. Flickr won't be in Yahoo's hands much longer, so who knows what the future price will be.

05-16-2016, 07:15 AM	#12
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,663	I prefer Flickr over 500 px, but it certainly isn't hard to try both of them and see which fits with your style better.

05-16-2016, 07:16 AM	#13
Kaitlyn New Member Join Date: May 2016 Posts: 1	Originally posted by victormeldrew I think there is a big gap for a sharing service for photographers to share with photographers to gain critique and inspiration and to share ideas and techniques. This was once what 500px did, but it has moved quickly towards being a social network photo sharing site more like flickr. But as said if you just want a host to show images and make links, flickr is probably best now. Hey! I work at 500px. We're a community of photographers first, and that's what we have always been. Now, we don't want every single snapshot you ever took (there are other... places for that...) but we want to allow you to share your best work, get inspired, and learn and grow to take better photos. In what ways do you think that has changed over time? In what ways (features/functionality/experience) would you like to see it better support the idea of supporting the sharing of techniques, critique, etc.?

05-16-2016, 07:35 AM	#14
victormeldrew Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: South West UK Photos: Albums Posts: 1,493	Originally posted by Kaitlyn Hey! I work at 500px. We're a community of photographers first, and that's what we have always been. Now, we don't want every single snapshot you ever took (there are other... places for that...) but we want to allow you to share your best work, get inspired, and learn and grow to take better photos. In what ways do you think that has changed over time? In what ways (features/functionality/experience) would you like to see it better support the idea of supporting the sharing of techniques, critique, etc.? You only need to look at the 500px group discussions to see what issues photographers have with the recent changes. This probably isn't the place to discuss it...but in my mind the issues I mention above are my biggest problems - comments are hidden, infinite scroll means images fall off the earth once they reach 'popular', the ratings system is easily manipulated and depend on user popularity more than image quality, the app has many issues, marketplace approvals take months or just fall into the ether with no feedback, royalties have been cut for those lucky enough to get approved... These issues have been raised many times in the group but with no response let alone change, so members feel ignored.

05-16-2016, 08:00 AM	#15
Topsy Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 625	I started off with deviantart, which isn't great for photos.. I do still however use their sta.sh uploader for forum- & private sharing. Then I did a facebook page which is probably even worse. My 500px account then got created shortly afterwards which works reasonably well. I have observed that getting into 'popular' is easy depending on the time you upload the photo.. I get near 0 feedback though and sometime notice that I 'hold back' on nice photos because 'no one' would see it anyways. I've never tried flickr since I didn't create an account before yahoo bought them, and I feel like they want WAY too much info upon sign up. Last december I thought I'd give instagram a go for fun and actually am positively surprised. Sure I hardly gain any followers due to not sticking to a certain theme (that's one reason at least ) but I got more feedback there than on 500px actually. With the changes they announced recently I cannot tell how well that will work in the future though.. Do we actually have a thread here where we can share our accounts instead of just a link in our sigs? Might be fun to try and atleast get us seeing more of our photos inside the community. Anyways, something fresh would be cool!