DIGITAL IMAGE LIFE?

alexam

alexam

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Malcolm
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Hi Peeps,

Someone asked me a question yesterday that I did not know the answer to (there are so many) and not sure if this has already been asked.

Is there a 'life' of the original digital image before it degrades, wherever it is stored?

Secondly, is there a 'best' way to save the images other than on PC hard disk?

Thanks

Malcolm :thinking:
 
alexam said:
Hi Peeps,

Someone asked me a question yesterday that I did not know the answer to (there are so many) and not sure if this has already been asked.

Is there a 'life' of the original digital image before it degrades, wherever it is stored?

Secondly, is there a 'best' way to save the images other than on PC hard disk?

Thanks

Malcolm :thinking:
Click to expand...

As long as the file doesn't get corrupted it will quite happily last forever as 0s and 1s
A hard copy on disc is safer than stored on a single hard disc however writable discs only have a supposed life of a few years so it is best to store in more than one place. Some photographers have 2 backups of everything. It does depend how important your images are to you. But certainly if keeping them on hard disc I would make sure you have it connected to a surge protector.
 
Digital images do not degrade. However the media that it is stored on degrades.
Hard drives have moving parts and therefore wear out, CDs and DVDs can obviously be scratched or degrade (although this can take around 100 years), flash drives have a maximum number of reads and writes before they wear out.

If you're worried about keeping everything safe i'd suggest keeping two or three backups on the media thats most convenient for you.
There are also devices that keep data on two hard drives and alert you when one fails so that you can replace it. Such as these...

http://www.ebuyer.com/search?sort=pricelow&q=raid+nas&limit=10&page=1

I'd say thats a little overkill for what you need but i suppose it would give you peace of mind knowing that your photos are safe.
 
After a few disasters with DVDs and CDs, I now back all of my work onto three seperate hard drives.
I've got DVDs and CDs that are partially corrupted after only five years and some from 2002-2004 that are totally gone.

I use the laptop's hard drive as a 'work area' for the month in hand. At the end of the month I transfer inages to three other drives that run as backup, one drive which is permanently switched on and the other two which are switched on once a month for the backup process.
 
Andy, Matthew & Rob,

thanks for your prompt replies to satisfy my curiosity - much appreciated.

Malcolm
 
I 2 recently have been going through family photos that have been on disc for around 10 years since my eldest was born, apart from scratches on the discs I found a few files that were not opening. I try and keep my working hard drive free and put everything on my spare hard drive. I also have a load on photobucket, but I keep wondering what happens if their servers go down or the site closes etc.
 
The fact is that nobody knows for certain how long optical disks will last for. The manufacturers have all done accelerated aging tests but they're just simulations. Keep CDs and DVDs in a cool, dry, dark place and check them every so often - if they start failing, do new copies as a backup. HDDs should last longer but are susceptible to magnetic fields and mechanical shocks.

With the cost of memory cards falling almost daily, is it nearly time to keep the original images on the cards they were shot? I suppose we could keep large prints as backups as well as electronic copies but that ain't a cheap option! Home brewed inkjet prints can last well under good storage conditions but the ideal would be traditional type lab prints on "real" photographic paper rather than inkjets.
 
If you want to keep hard copies it seems that according to the Wilhelm institute, Who've done lots of tests on image permanence, That Archival Ink jet media and inks are the best option. Even conventional ink jet prints can last in excess of 200years. uner the correct storage conditions. OK nobody knows exactly how long they will last but these are accelerated ageing tests.
 
Julian-0 Nod & John,

thanks for your input and all noted. I have already started to store on my PC and to backup on that and also to a WD 500GB separate disk, so hopefully I am OK. The info was just to satisfy myself when someone asked me the question.

All the best
Malcolm
 
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