Amazing Prime members are getting an extra little perk in their accounts today, free unlimited photo storage. In the service Amazon is calling Prime Photos, users of the Amazon Prime membership program are now able to store images in their original resolutions to Amazon Cloud Drive - available for any device, mobile or otherwise. Pairing this with their free 2 day shipping, Amazon Prime has become an absolute must for photographers everywhere.
To give Prime Photos a test run, you're able to do that now by visiting the Amazon Prime homepage for the new service by clicking here, and downloading the Cloud Drive Photos application for iOS or Android. You're also able to download the Cloud Drive Windows upload application or use the web browser version if you're on Apple (Amazon promises a Mac version is in the works). You're also able to access your photo galleries at any time using Amazon Fire TV, the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, and select LG and Samsung smart TVs.
While the app itself is nothing new, the new unlimited storage system is. And this all comes for an Amazon Prime price of $99 annually. However, a Prime membership also gives you access to free two-day shipping (and only $3.99 one-day shipping) on millions of items on Amazon, as well as nearly 100,000 TV episodes and movies to stream for free, a million popular songs to stream, and over 600,000 books to borrow for the Kindle through the Kinder Owners' Lending Library.
While Amazon says there are no file restrictions of upload size limits, it's unsure if you're able to upload a massive .PSD file with ease. However, I was able to add a .CR2 (Canon native RAW) and an .IIQ (Phase One native RAW) file without any issues. The ability to back up your images to a cloud service is an absolute must to ensure safety of your files and work. For comparison, Flickr only offers 1TB of free storage, and Apple's largest cloud plan is - 1TB, at $20 a month.
While you're able to share your images from the Cloud Drive to social media, the service itself is secure, and designed as storage, and not as a way to show off your images to the public.
Seems like .nef, .cr2, .crw, and .psd are not included in the file formats allowed. Has anyone uploaded these with their service?
I was able to upload a .CR2 Canon file and an .IIQ PhaseOne raw file without any issues.
I have not had an issue uploading Canon Raw or .DNG files.
Yep, I can confirm .PSD, .DNG, and also .ARW (Sony's raw files). All seem to count under the "unlimited" photo/video bucket with my Prime account. .PSD and .DNG can also render the previews of the files (but not the raws). Upload does seem to be relatively slow, but considering the reliability of of Amazon servers, this might not be a bad idea if you don't have any other cloud backup option.
I haven't had any problems uploading or previewing RAW formats. My only quibble is that Prime Photos doesn't recognize when a RAW file was taken and clumps it into a 'No Date' section of the grid.
Can confirm, .Nef is supported
Nice idea but the same problem with all cloud based services. Professionals have tens of thousands of images backed up to local network drives; to upload these to a cloud service would take what ..years? Even if you have a T1 line, I'm sure we are still talking months. Someone do the math yet?
I use CrashPlan for my data backup service. I was able to upload multiple TBs of data in about a month of letting the system run. They also give you the option of mailing them a copy of the data, and they'll get it on their servers and mail back the drives.
It's not terribly unreasonable to assume you could get your data backed up in a reasonable time using today's modern internet speeds.
I wold backup current jobs in RAW and all older complete jobs in print quality jpeg.
I can't see anything of "unlimited". I only have 5GB for free. I have a Prime account, but I'm from Germany. Perhaps they don't have it unlimited in germany (yet?!)? When I take a look into my amazon cloud drive settings, I can see that I have 5GB.
Same here (only see 5Gb) but am in the UK - perhaps it is like auto-rip and most features that get pushed out to the US first and everyone else has to wait? No indication on-line that i can find if it is a global or US only perk. perhaps fstoppers can reach out to Amazon for clarification?
I asked the Amazon Facebook Team.... Let's see if they answer ;)
Edit: They responded. Service is not yet available outside US and they can't say if or when the service will be available.
Yeah, it seems that it's only US for now. I do use Amazon Ice, the long term storage. Very cheap for thousands of DNG and CR2 files that don't need to be accessed all the time.
NOT FOR PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
Zach, you say a must for photographers everywhere but according to Amazon we are not allowed..
From the Amazon T&Cs
"Prime Photos is for your personal, non-commercial use only. You may not use it in connection with a professional photography business or other commercial service."