Stock images, whats hot and whats not

Every graphic designer uses stock images at some point or another. Plain and simple, they are a necessity, there are so many times you will need images for things you are working on, it only makes sense to know where to get them. There are quite a few websites out there that have stock images, and I will go through ten of them, five free sites, and five pay sites, and I will order them according to my preference for each.
So lets start out with the easy category, since there's loads of pay sites out there for images.
1. Deposit Photos 
I absolutely love this site. Not only are their images very good, but their prices are too, and you can grab a free membership if your in a pinch and get 30 free high quality images or vector files over the course of the seven day membership.
2. Istock Photo
This is one of the big boys and their prices reflect it. Images can cost a lot, but if they don't have what you need then nobody does.
3. Shutterstock
Everybody knows shutterstock, they are about like Istock, with prices that will definitely leave a dent in your wallet. Membership to this site is 249.00 a month, and allow you to download 25 images a day.
4. Getty Images
I'm sure everybody knows about these folks too. Seen enough of their images in news stories on the web. They are famous and they know it. A single image from them can cost upwards of $555.00. Ouch
5. Big Stock
This one is a pay by image site. Personally I think subscription options are better, but I reckon if they have what you want then hey go for it. Large images on this site cost about 8 bucks.

Ok now that that's out of the way lets get on with the free stuff. I go to these sites first and foremost, then wind up at the guys who cost money if I can't find what I am looking for.

1.Stock Exchange
This is my first stop when I am looking for images, and always with the mentality "I might get lucky" This site is totally free with a registered account, and they have a lot of images. But like any free site, its hit or miss with finding what your looking for or something close.  Getty just bought them out, so I don't think this site is going to be free much longer, either that or they are going to pilfer the better images to their own collections and charge for them. I guess we will see.
2. Free Photos Bank
Nice site, decent photos, navigation is a bit odd with the search button at the bottom and pretty pictures at the top that link to pay sites. The images are decent size for web and standard print, but from what I saw they only offer the images in a medium sized format, so using them for large print would be out of the question .
3. Stock Vault
Ok, I think I love this site. Nice images, good categorization, large formats, and 100% free with no account needed. I grabbed this lovely while I was browsing.

4. Open Photo
Pretty basic site navigation and good quality images, just wish there was more of them.
5. Freestockphotos.biz
Decent site, find your category, click on an image you like, and download it. More medium sized images, I didn't see anything bigger than 1280, but also notice how your eyes are drawn to a great picture of just what your looking for, then feel the deflated disappointment when you read its a sponsored image from shutterstock.