Any digital camera experts??

[ddavis1979]

Question:

The memory that is used in my camera is a little SD Memory Card. Over time with lots of writing and deleting images on a single card, will that activity eventually cause the quality of the photos and videos to become worse, or more grainy?

[Cliff]

I'm no digital camera expect, but my understanding of the memory cards is that they are basically the same thing as a memory stick (USB jump drive). As with all other electronic components, I would think they do not slowly wear out over time. They work, or they don't. I have one 8 year old memory stick in a digital camera that I have not seen any changes in all of those 8 years

That's my understanding of them anyway

[Aeonflame]

The data is stored digitally. Digital memory cards experience no loss of fidelity over the course of their lifetime.

[ddavis1979]

Hmm...then I wonder if its something with the optic sensor in my camera.

I have the Canon Powershot SX 150 IS and the Kodak EasyShare Z740, and both of them seem to lose their sharpness and color balancing abilities over time.

There is increased grain in the photos as well as poor performance in low light settings, but did not act like that fresh out the box.

Any ideas?

[Aeonflame]

What mode do you shoot in?

[Surfdog]

Absolutely no loss possible in your media devices, be it a flash, SD or microSD. I use a Nikon D7000 and that was one of the 1st questions I asked. I use a 16G SD in slot 1 and a 32G SD in slot two as the video function is in slot 2. I don't know what software you are using to look/edit your photos. You can get a free Elements or Photoshop trial and have a look using either one, both are outstanding. I also suggest you check your settings on the cameras 1st. Ensure they are set to the highest quality. Try taking a photo and if dissatisfied with the quality, as in not as good as it used to be, get them serviced. I believe Canon, like Nikon has a very small fee that includes the reverse shipping and Insurance. I had a Fuji that had the same issue, sent it in, worked like brand new using original media capture cards, my son has it now 3 years later and still great. Good luck!

[~firefly~]

It's probably dust on your sensor. If you're using a compact camera (i.e. not a DSLR) then you might be stuck with it as I'm not sure you can clean it - unless you send it to a specialist to do (which may not be worth it).

The disadvantage to digital cameras is they use the same sensor for every photo. If you have dust on the sensor it will affect every photo - unlike with film where every "wind on" provides a fresh new frame [sensor].

Modern DSLRs, and I believe some bridging cameras, have automatic sensor cleaning each time you switch it on. My old DSLR used to get spots every so often and that was the indicator for a nerve-wracking cleaning session. Delicate business.

[talldutchie]

Any serious photographer will sooner or later get into the habit of some card discipline. You offload the entire card onto a computer for editing. You backup your pictures onto an external disk.
When you go out shooting you format the card in the camera. Failure to do this will result in writing times getting slower and slower and eventually you will end up tkaing pictures that cannot be read by the camera or a computer.

Loss of quality could be a result of dust. Old age could be a factor with the Kodka Z740, never one of the best cameras, but the SX should last 6-7 years easily.

Perhaps do a factory reset of the camera in case you adjusted some setting? Alternatively, let us take a look. Create a flickr account, set Exif to visible in the privacy options and upload a few problem shots and a few good ones.