sudamar Loc: Southern Indiana

Some of the pictures on the memory card come out fine, but others have this colored shield over them. Just a small area on some and others on most of the photo. I'm thinking this is a memory card problem. Does anyone know for sure? I had this happen a few years ago with a Nikon. The camera I was using here is just a point and shoot Lumix. I did format the camera after inserting this card.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Do you have an example image?

What brand of card?

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

Usually occurs if camera is still writing a shot to memory when it's shut off.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

Don’t know for sure, but CPR’s suggestion is a good one - either that or it’s the work of gnomes of the Dubhglen clan....??

Dave

R.G. Loc: Scotland

If you see exactly the same problem every time you view the files then the files themselves have been corrupted. If it changes then it's an intermittent fault in the data transfer between the card and the computer. If it's the files themselves, the chances are it's the card, although it's possible (but less likely) it may be the data transfer between the camera and the card. If it's the data transfer between the card and the computer it's most likely to be a bad contact, but there may be an intermittent fault in the electronics. Try a new card. If the fault's still there you know it's not the card. Cards aren't expensive these days.

Plieku69 Loc: The Gopher State, south end

The OP has a great question. I see this happening on my Samsung phone to often.
I have not defined a pattern to phone operation that could be a cause.
Assuming the card is the issue?

jlg1000 Loc: Uruguay / South America

I'd like to see an example...
Memory card corruption is out of tune question, each time a file is read into memory (for viewing, copying, etc.) it's CRC is checked, if it doesn't match, then you get a "file error" (windows) or "I/O error" (Linux, Mac)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Providing power is not removed prior to the file write completion...

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

It's caused by data corruption. Try a new card. If it still happens, it's not the card. Are you sometimes taking photos and turning off the camera to quick to move on?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Please attach an example in reply to my post. Click [Choose File], find a file, click [Choose for Upload], click the [Store Original] box, then click [Add Attachment]. Finally, click [Send] to post the Reply with Attachment. It's a convoluted process, but it works great.

Using [Store Original] is very important when tracing a problem, because we can read the metadata (EXIF table) in the JPEG.

There is little point in asking about an issue without providing an example. Otherwise, you'll get 50 to 100 guesses, most of which are not helpful.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

That sounds like "truncated JPEGs".... basically some of the data has been corrupted or lost, so the image cannot be completely formed by your computer.

The only times I've ever seen that personally.... First time it was a connectivity problem. I had a card reader plugged into a USB socket of my computer that was working fine. I added something that needed another USB socket, but all were full. So I added a USB hub to serve two or three peripherals, including the card reader. I immediately started seeing problem with truncated image files. I did a little re-configuring so the card reader was again directly connected to a USB socket of its own... problem solved.

I also had a "bad disk" in a computer that ended up corrupting some images (thus the importance of having backups).

It also can happen in the camera....

But it's probably not related to formatting (BTW, you format the memory card, not "the camera"). The most common type of format-related problem will be that the camera simply won't work with the memory card. Maybe it was used in a different camera. I've had some small "issues" with cards in my Canon cameras, after lending them to friends who used them in Nikon or other brands. Worst case, my camera wouldn't recognize the card at all and I couldn't format it in-camera. I first had to format it my computer, then again in my camera. Worked fine after that.

More likely in-camera data corruption would be due to a faulty memory card... And that in turn is more likely with cheap knock-off or fake cards bought from who know who, less likely with better quality cards from major manufacturers and reliable sources. (Out of well over 100 memory cards I've used over the years, I've only had two "real" failures. And both of those failed immediately. One wouldn't work in camera or computer, right out of the package. The other worked in camera once, then locked up after we'd downloaded about half the data on it. Both were a top brand and were replaced under warranty.)

The card can be tested by doing some test shots with it in a different camera and seeing if the problem still occurs. If so, it's the card and the best solution is just to replace it. If not, if the card works fine in a 2nd camera, then you have to consider there may be a fault in the 1st camera writing to the memory card. To test this, try a different memory card in it and see if the problem still occurs. If it does, if the problem persists in the 1st camera with different memory cards, you know it's the some fault in the camera. That can be several different things, most of which will require a trip to the repair service. About all you can do is inspect the memory card socket looking for any damage or anything loose in there blocking some of the connectors. Aside from blowing out any loose fluff, any damage you see still will probably require professional repair.

P.S. Just to be clear, it's a good idea to always format a card in-camera before using it. I do it every time I pop a fresh card in my camera, which is sometimes several times a day. Just keep in mind that formatting will "erase" any old images on the cards, so be sure you've downloaded any you want to keep. (I always "play back" one or two of the images on the card to check the date they were taken, to be sure I've downloaded them.... Only then do I format the card. I also use a simple process sorting my memory cards in their storage cases.... face up cards have been downloaded and are ready to use... face down cards are full of new images that haven't been downloaded yet. So the process of playing back an image to check the date is just a double check.)

b top gun

I have seen a few instances over the years where images in folders look like they are partially masked; yet, when I go to open the image file it displays fine. Go figure!!!

uhaas2009

Make sure you “eject” the memory card every time. If not this distract your memory and losses you pics.
For me this sounds like your memory card is broken or your camera life is on the end

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

Though I don't know without seeing your pics if they are like mine were, but I had a problem where there were colored stripes and areas on several, but not the majority of my pics. I brought the problem here and someone suggested that it could just be a read error from the card to the computer. They suggested that I delete the bad pics (in LR) and try downloading only those pictures again. I did and they were fine. So, if possible, cleaning contacts could solve the problem, or it did for me.