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Recently my 4yr old digi camera has started playing up.The images aren't sharp and it delays when pressig the shutter,I could occasionally get a good pic but now they all seem rubbish. :'(Have SD cards got a "life" I thought it might be batteries but I keep charging them up fully (and they are fairly new)
Should I give up and buy new camera? ???
ps I reset all the default settings in case I'd twiddled the wrong setting.

Battery!

Yes sd cards do have a life, don't know what the symptons are for a dead one though.

Try copying all your pics off the SD and then reformatting it. I don't know if they can get fragmented, but its a cheap option.

Also new SD cards ain't very expensive these days. I just bought a micro 8gb, class 6 for £12, including a normal sized SD case if I needed it. Although the extra speed of a class 6 made no difference to the number of photos I could take in a minute, which was 10.

If you do end up buying a new camera, I'm sure you'll get a much better one for the same price you paid 4 years ago. Technology has moved on quit a bit. Whether you want/need that extra technology is a different matter.

I am with ace on this one.  Try using Duracell batteries instead of re-chargeable ones.

There is a voltage difference that could be having an effect.

Bill

Went out yesterday and bought Phillips lithium ultra and thought it was ok  but it's not  :'( :'( :'(

low battery levels are more likely to cause this symptom than an SD card.  if my battery in my compact is running low, focusing is affected (my SLR doesn't have this symptom; obviously more advanced technology!)

SD cards failing, usually causes photos to not be stored when taking photos & photos not being able to be retrieved from the card.

batteries don't tend to last overly long...  4 years is not bad.

Some cameras can be used without an SD card so if yours is one of them, you could take it out and see if it still works. 

What make of camera do you have?

The make is Caplio R1v Ricoh
The batteries are not the original rechargable I replaced them earlier this year.Strange but when I put the new ones in yesterday the first couple of shots seemed sharp ??but this morning out of focus again >:(

Seems the issue could be with the autofocus system - maybe not getting enough power or a faulty sensor.  I don't suppose it would be economical to fix though
There is a firware update http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/download/softmatch/win/r1.html but dont know if will help if the camera has been fine to date.

Perhaps a little touch up on the battery terminals might help. Nothing too drastic,  use a nail file lightly. Also did you give the new batteries at least a day on the charger before use, sometimes they need the extra when first charged. If you do need a new camera and it is not needed for really fine work try a mid ranch Nikon coolpix. The cheapies are reasonable but pay the extra and get a better one. The one my other half uses  knocks my canon into a cocked hat.

Nan , buy a cheepie. Buy an expensive one and it'll be out of date and half the price by Easter. Technology moves so fast with cameras.


Asda are selling a 5mp for £25. I think it was a Vivitar.

Hi macmac, Hi all :)

Buy a Canon camera from their Ixus range but not from the Canon UK website because they will take your money, do not send you a camera, then do not give your money back until you are endlessly threatening them.

Good cameras, terrible service. Go to the sales at Jessops after Christmas.

Col

get a FUJI they  only make cameras, nothing else.
jtw

Does sound to me like the sensor has a problem...  time to get a Canon!

Actually it depends on your budget & what you want it for, I think some of these recommendations are a bit hasty! I'm not too sure about things at the entry level, but in the middle (say G10/G11 area, around £400) & up they're amongst the strongest contenders. I love my G10 by the way!

One point on the number of pixels - Canon have finally noticed that we already have more than we need, & between the G10 & G11 (the G10 replacement) they have reduced the number of pixels but improved the sensor. Hopefully this is the shape of things to come & other manufacturers will follow. The number of pixels has been a fairly poor indicator of picture quality for a while now - I had a Sony with loads of pixels per £ but horrible firmware.

You can buy a new one for under £30.

http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/category/2006/Digital-Cameras

Did you put a new camera on your Santa list?

I would have said a dirty focusing sensor too.
The dirt would most likely be on the inside.
Get somebody with a bit of technical knowhow to remove the case and give it a clean.

Thanks for all the help.
I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a new one in the sales.
I'm loathe to just discard the old one and dtw yor advice is interesting  :)

I've been trying to find another camera BUTcrikey there are soooo many.
I think I want
8 mpix
4-5 optical zoom
able to plug in to my computer (via a lead not just card)
simple to use
pref under £100
any suggestions ?
p.s keep em clean ;D

http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=ELEC&searchstring=didital+cameras&page=search&pa=search&go.x=31&go.y=9

macmac   could be something on here you like

jim

Quote from: macmac on December 28, 2009, 17:40:58

able to plug in to my computer (via a lead not just card)

dont understand what you mean

Quote from: macmac on December 28, 2009, 17:40:58
I've been trying to find another camera BUTcrikey there are soooo many.
I think I want
8 mpix
4-5 optical zoom
able to plug in to my computer (via a lead not just card)
simple to use
pref under £100
any suggestions ?
p.s keep em clean ;D

8mpix is old hat now, you might be able to get a cheapie. 10-12mpix is now standard

Optical Zoom. 3x is the norm, a few do 5x, but not many.
Lead/card.  All cameras use USB to connect to the PC these days. Its rare to need to change to memory
card/ insert the memory card into a (USB) reader.

Simple to use - (I think) there all pretty much all the same in functionality, two buttons for zoom in/out, some kind of function (program/manual/auto/bulb) button, a menu button (for quality/iso/set up etc)  a gallery button to  view pictures and a self timer.

Pref under £100. There are many good ones £50-100, just take your pick. Under £50 are still good and will still have all the functionality, but will be less Mpix.

The main differences are

Batteries/rechargeable. If your rechargeable is empty, your stuffed, if they're AA/AAA you can buy more World Wide. Rechargeable are thinner = camera is thinner = smaller and will fit in your pocket/handbag.
Rechargeable AA/AAA are about £10 for 4 (ie two sets)

Memory cards. Olympus, Fuji and Sony use XD/M2 cards, everybody else uses SD. therefor SD are cheaper, much cheaper. Although these days there are XD/M2 card holders that take Micro SD.
I recently bought an 8Gb Micro SD (class 6) for £12 on Ebay. Smaller (2Gb/4Gb) and slower (class 2/4) will be cheaper.

Screen size. A larger one will give a better view of your pictures but will make the whole camera larger. Exact opposite for a smaller screen.

Other differences do exist, like quality of the case and lens, brand image, style, etc - it just depends if you care or not, and what your going to use it for.

For beaches/parties etc I use an old 5mpix cheapie that I dont care if it gets damaged. For better pictures I have a Olympus X-42 12MP Camera with 5x zoom from Argos (£61).

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5593000/c_1/1|category_root|Photography|14419436/c_2/3|cat_15701379|Digital+cameras+and+packages|14419441.htm

(you need the whole link, not just the highlighted bit)

The only thing I don't like is the sound settings. I like a camera to "click" of some sort when I take a photo.  

I used to have a Samsung 8Mpix, but the zoom bit broke after 13 months, ie just out of warrentee, so this time I went for a slightly more up-market brand.

Wow a lot of info to digest but exactly what I was looking for .Thankyou both for your help.P.S.is it too early to wish you both

I've been what your going through twice in the last 15 months, so any questions just ask away.

(before that my previous camera was purchased in 1999, one of the very first  digitals, so 15 months ago it was all double-dutch to me.)

Oh by the way, if you havn't yet realised, no matter what make you buy, or where from, you'll need to buy a memory card. Shops  trim the camera price down by not including them and then give a hard sell on overpriced memory and pouches to keep the camera all in. :(

I went straight to the Argos link found the one and a special 1/2 price deal on the memory card. 30 mins later I was snapping the grandson 14 today.
I would have still been trawling through websites and jargon on his 15th without your help.
About needing other things eg memory cards I bought my original from QVC and it came with everything and was a smashing little camera unfortunately I couldn't find what I wanted from them, this time so thanks again ;D ;D ;D

No worries. Its what A4A is about - helping each other.

PW.