[delia todd]

When I downloaded a set of pictures the other day, all looked fine on the screen, but when I clicked through them, very briefly one showed the complete image but immediately the bottom half went black.

Does anyone know what causes this?

It was image number 10 of that batch, and the same happened to #10 of the next lot, but not the latest ones.

[GraemeS]

My guess is that what you saw on the screen was the preview image, but then you were downloading the full size one and the transfer was interrupted halfway.
Have you tried downloading the image again?

For a better response, let me know where you were downloading from (eg camera or a website) and what software you were using. Also if it was the camera, was jpg or raw and did you connect the camera directly or use a card reader.

[delia todd]

Hi Graeme, thanks for responding.

I took the card out of the camera and put it into a card reader to download to my laptop; using the Nikon Browser program. They're jpegs.

No, I can't download again, as I delete the pictures from the card once they're transferred. That one wouldn't have been a keeper anyway, I was just wondering what was causing it.

Of the last 7 batches downloaded, I've two pictures affected like this, both at position #10 all the pictures before and after are unaffected.

Is it more likely to be the camera, the card, card reader or my aging laptop I wonder?

[njlarsen]

Next time don't delete until you have checked the pictures on the laptop

I do not think it can be the card reader, but quite possibly the card (a faulty spot on the card would affect the same picture of a series every time)

Niels

[GraemeS]

Originally Posted by delia todd

.

Is it more likely to be the camera, the card, card reader or my aging laptop I wonder?

I don't know, really.
I'd say the camera is unlikely (but get out of the habit of deleting photos from the card automatically - always check you have the images then format the card in the camera).
The age of the laptop is also unlikely, although there may be a software glitch either in the drivers, the OS or the download software. I periodically reinstall my operating system to clear any glitches.
The card reader is a likely suspect, especially if it was cheap, but really we can't tell without troubleshooting (i.e. changing one factor at a time and seeing what fixes it).

But never automatically delete a photo until you've seen it in the new location :)

[GraemeS]

Note: I was not trying to be contrary, I was typing at the same time!

I recall now I had an issue with a USB cable that wasn't good enough, then the card reader itself died. Basically, any physical connector is subject to wear and tear, and corrosion.

[delia todd]

Thanks both. If there's a faulty spot on the card, would formatting it be likely to help?

As I'd never had this happen before, and I could see the thumbnails OK I didn't realise there was a problem.

[GraemeS]

If you haven't been formatting, image 10 on the two occasions is extremely unlikely to have been on the same spot on the card. I don't think that's how partition tables work.
But I do believe that formatting can allow the camera to ignore bad spots and so is good practice, I just don't think that is the issue here.

But I don't know, I'm just giving my thoughts on it all.

[GrahameNZ]

Hi Delia,
I had a card reader do this a couple of years ago.
Though it was more random than the same image in a series every time.
In my case it would also randomly introduce coloured bands into the images as well as randomly chopping the images up.
Theres a good chance the images will still be on the card if you havnt used it too much, this applies even if you have formatted it, you said they wern't keepers so I guess no problem.
All good fun.

[delia todd]

OK thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will format the card I think and see if the problem recurs. It's not been done before, so probably long overdue anyway!

[kitefarrago]

It certainly is a good idea to periodically format memory cards. I usually download all the images from a card, the copy them to an external hard drive (or let some auto-backup procedure take care of that), and then format the card. In my case that's easy because I never keep separate sets of images on the same card - I do appreciate that other people may operate differently.

I do like to start a holiday/day out/new project with a card that's just been newly formatted, but it erally is a good idea to do this periodically and I'd encourage a work-flow that makes it part of the routine.

I do agree that the card is the most likely suspect. Usb connections (and card readers) are fairly simple gadgets, and the copying process tends to be really reliable (although, anything can go wrong sometimes). I'm a bit surprised that the computer didn't notice an issue - I'd have expected the end-of-file mark to also be messed up.

It certainly is worth noting again that the computer will show thumbnail images when viewing the directory in question, so strictly speaking the only way of checking whether all images have been downloaded is to look at the full-sized copies. Still, this seems a fairly unusual fault to me.

Andrea

[delia todd]

Thanks Andrea.

It does seem strange it happened to two pictures a few days apart. I've now formatted the card and will see what happens next.

[kennethwfd]

I've had the same issue when saving pics to a CD/DVD and either the disk is dodgy or there has been an error in the write process

[Robert L Jarvis]

Delia I think I have seen this before but it was not the transfer or card reader but rather the camera had not operated correctly, the shutter was not fully opened. I am not saying this is your problem but one never knows.

Format the memory card , go and take some 20 pics, review them on the camera and download via camera, check photos, then repeat download using the card reader and check photos. Let us know what happens.

Then format card again before re use.