Why do digital cameras never print pictures as good as disposables?

Question

It disappoints me to print out digital camera photos, because they LOOK like they were digital photos. Is there any way to get the same quality as if I had got a disposable camera developed?

Answer 1

I would recommend a better printer.

Answer 2

It may be that your camera model is not of good quality. It is also possible that you have not, yet, learned to use the digital camera to it's best advantages.

Still, I believe the most likely culprit is in the printing. Your disposable camera was processed in a lab, using equipment designed and perfected over many years, making genuine photographic prints on real, photosensitive photo paper. There are not many home, desktop photo printers that can produce the quality of lab processed photos.

If you want to test this out, take some of your digital photo files to a processing lab. Tell them you do NOT want inkjet prints, but, rather, have them printed on real photo paper.

THEN compare the qualtiy of the printed images with what you have previously seen from your digital camera. This should answer whether it is the printing process, or some part of the picture taking process, either you or your camera.

Answer 3

We need more info.

What camera are you using and how are you printing the digital images?

If you are using a cheap, low res P&S digital, don't expect anything great from it.
If you are printing at home and do not have your screen/colorspace/printer properly calibrated there is another problem. You could also be trying to print images bigger than the DPI/resolution recommendations and they look bad.

If you have not, I'd try having a proper photolab print the digital images and see if that doesn't do any better. If not, then it might be the camera, or it might be you. You may have the wrong settings on the camera or if it is still new to you, you may be doing something wrong.

Answer 4

There's a couple different factors for this. The main one is simply resolution quality. Film is naturally higher resolution--you need a good digital camera with high resolution on high image quality in order to replicate the same picture because digital is in pixels--individual color squares--where as film is one exposed whole, there aren't little data chunks.

The other main reason is that as good as consumer digital is the way the cameras react to light is profoundly different, standard cameras physically expose the film, while digital cameras digitally capture the light/color.

Expensive digital cameras will generally be pretty similar in quality and composition to standard cameras, because that's what they are styled to imitate. If you want regular digital photos to look more "natural" or "real" like a standard camera try using contrast/brightness and color balancing to create a more "natural" improved picture. Also, just using higher resolution images will also help, but obviously the mediums are different and their will be variations regardless of how hard you try.

Answer 5

Walmart sells these cameras & offers the processing as well. Are you even serious ? Hack these cameras ? You turn in the camera for processing & they keep it and send it in to be recycled. I really doubt if anyone would want to reuse one of these cheap plastic cameras. You don't need to "hack" a camera that already has machines to process them. Why does someone who claims to be in the business know nothing about it ??? BTW, there was no CVS 5 or 6 years ago.And expired film is processed in C-41 just like new film.

Answer 6

Offhand, I would say you should try getting the digital photos developed rather than printing them out yourself. There are several services that do this, such as SnapFish or, (if you have a mac) Iphoto.

Answer 7

maybe you just prefer the "look" of film??

i know my digital images are far superiour to disposable colour neg images

a

Answer 8

Nope. If you like the look of film, you'll have to shoot film.