Camera app intermittently uses internal memory instead of SD card?

[daveziffer]

I have an LG Phoenix 2 phone running Marshmallow. The camera app is set up to use the SD card, which has plenty of space. The camera puts most pix on the SD card but occasionally puts a few in internal memory. I am not switching the camera app's storage option - it's doing this by itself. I can only imagine that somehow it cannot access the card sometimes, and so rather than lose the picture it uses internal memory, but that doesn't make much sense because there aren't a lot of busy apps running. It occurred to me that the camera might do this when taking the picture without signing in, but that doesn't make much sense either, and the phone is not available to me at this moment so I can't test that theory. Any ideas?

 

[SpookDroid]

Hi there! Your issue is not an uncommon one, and most of the time, it's because of the SD card (and the very reason why I STRONGLY recommend you NEVER save your picture originals to SD Card and only move them after you've backed them up elsewhere). SD Cards are just not reliable. That's just how it is. And if your phone is switching its setting back and forth it might be because your card is unmounting/re-mounting itself, which also will have an impact on your battery life. When the card unmounts, the camera reverts to internal memory saves. Any apps that you have on SD Card will also start failing/disappearing (shortcuts, though) from your homescreen.

The reason might be that the card is starting to fail, some file has gotten corrupted (which, again, is why your original, un-backed up pictures are at risk on an SD card), or the card reader on your phone is going bad.

Another thing that might be causing it is RAW and fast-shutter pictures. Those save directly at internal memory.

 

[daveziffer]

I appreciate your response but it seems at odds with industry usage of SD cards. I intentionally bought a Class 10 card, so that it would be fast enough. Class 10 cards are used in semi-pro digital recorders, where they must function essentially 100% of the time else spoil an entire recording; how could they be so unreliable that they cannot reliably accept an image from a camera? Are you saying that I have a bum card here (and should replace it), or are you suggesting that ALL SD cards are inherently this unreliable, and that I could expect the same problem even if I replace the card?

 

[daveziffer]

As another example, my daughter has a rather expensive Sony digital camera. Like many digital cameras, its ONLY storage option is an SD card; there is no "internal" memory on which to store images. I have a Garmin GPS on which the installed SD card is an intrinsic part of the file system; if it were to fail, the entire unit would fail. How can SD cards be so unreliable while at the same time being essential, non-substitutable components of entire product lines?

 

[SpookDroid]

I don't know if it's the cards themselves or the way they work with mobile devices VS dedicated devices (like a camera or a GPS), or even if it's the file system. All I know is that the forums are FULL of 'OMG my SD card failed and I've lost all my pictures' threads, myself included once after a trip with no network with a Note 2 (after that, never again have I used SD card as primary storage for my pictures), in 2011 (I think) SanDisk was even replacing your card if you just mentioned you were using it with a Samsung phone and the card was made prior to December that year no questions asked.

I don't know if your card is already damaged or just got a corrupted file that is driving the phone nuts. But from experience, especially Samsung phones don't seem to be very good at keeping SD Cards intact.

 

[daveziffer]

I figured it out myself, or rather my wife provided the answer. The phone is actually my wife's phone. She finally realized and told me that sometimes she takes photos by first going to the texting app, opening a new text message, clicking the paper clip (attachment), and selecting the camera as the source of the photo she wants to attach; then she takes the photo, which is immediately attached to the new text message. The texting app has no option to store its data on the SD card, so everything from that app is on internal storage. Apparently the texting app overrides the camera's default setting and forces the camera to store the picture on internal storage. I tried it, and yes ... when we invoke the camera from the texting app, the camera stores its photos on internal storage even if the camera's default location is the SD card. Who knew?

 

[ManiacJoe]

Good catch on the texting app usage.
I am not surprised that it is overriding the camera app settings for where to store the image.