Deleted, formatted, or a ‘card error’ — lost photos are nearly always still on the card until something overwrites them. We recover photos and video from memory cards, cameras, phones, USB sticks and drives, in-house — JPEG, HEIC and every major RAW format.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/sdb → Device: SanDisk Extreme SD (256 GB) · camera → Status: FORMATTED — photos intact, file system reset → Client: confidential · Jesmond NE1 3DY $ bdr engineer-working → Forensic image: taken · originals untouched → Carve: JPEG + CR3 RAW signatures → Found: 4,820 photos · 180 video clips $ bdr verify → ✓ raw_photos — 2,140 files → ✓ jpeg_photos — 2,680 files → ✓ every shot recovered — intact
Every new photo you take can overwrite the deleted or lost ones, and reformatting the card again only makes recovery harder. Take the card out of the camera or phone, don’t save anything else to it, and don’t let the device ‘repair’ or reformat it. Set it aside and talk to us — the sooner you stop, the more comes back.
Most lost photos are still sitting on the card or drive — it’s just the link to them that’s gone. These are the situations we recover from most, memory cards especially.
We recover photos from memory cards of every type and brand, plus phones, USB sticks and drives. If it stores photos, the odds are we can help.
SD, microSD, CFexpress and CompactFlash cards · cameras, phones, drones and action cams · USB sticks, hard drives, SSDs and external drives · JPEG, HEIC, RAW and video.
Photo recovery is a careful, copy-first job. We never work on your original card — we image it, then scan and carve your photos and video from that copy, in the right order.
Tell us the device and what happened. We judge whether your photos are still recoverable and send a written quote — usually within 48 hours.
We take a forensic image of your card or drive and work only from that copy, so nothing is changed or overwritten.
We recover photos still referenced in the file system — usually the fastest wins, with folders and file names intact.
For formatted or corrupt cards, we carve photos and video out of the raw data by their JPEG, HEIC, RAW and video signatures.
We check the recovered images open correctly and aren’t corrupt before any of it comes back to you.
We return your photos and videos on fresh media, organised and ready to use.
We copy your data onto an external drive and post it back, or offer it as a free download for anything up to 75GB.
We recover photos and video from memory cards, cameras, phones, USB sticks and drives — JPEG, HEIC and every major RAW format — carving them back even from formatted or corrupt cards, always from a forensic copy.
Tell us what you’ve lost and we’ll get back to you, usually within half an hour during the working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0191 406 1051.
No hidden charges and no hard sell — just a free diagnostic and a quote in writing before any work begins.
A handful of recent photo recoveries, mostly from memory cards. Identifying details removed, every result verified.
A camera quick format, so the data was intact. We imaged the card and carved the JPEG and Canon RAW files back out, recovering almost every shot.
The card had corrupted after being pulled mid-write. We rebuilt its file system and recovered the HEIC photos and video the phone couldn’t read.
The card hadn’t been reused. We carved the Nikon NEF RAW files out by signature and recovered the entire shoot intact.
Real client stories from our two-decade testimonial archive.
Two months ago I my Canon 2d Digital Camera fell and broke. The camera card seemed intact but when I connected it to my Macbook it did not read it. I took card into the Cribbs Causeway Jessops to get them to try and read pictures from card but they are could not read it on their photo machine. I was recommended to Newcastle Data Recovery by Jessops. They got the data back of all photos on card, many thanks for your speedy service.
I needed some help with a sd card recovery after our camera got knocked into a stream by the kids. While the camera was insured, I was devastated to think we had lost all of the holiday pictures and of our wedding. I tried some data recovery software but it didn’t really work so I took the plunge to find a file recovery expert. I am so lucky I found Newcastle Data Recovery, who restored pretty much all of it to a USB stick for me.
Send the device in for its free diagnostic and tell us briefly what happened; an engineer reviews it and confirms your exact quote in writing before anything starts.
Getting your data back begins with getting the device to us. Pack it up safely, pop your contact details inside, and send it over — once we’ve run the free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Want a bit more detail first? Fill in the form with more about your issue and an engineer will review it and send you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 0191 406 1051.
The things people most often ask us about recovering lost photos, memory cards especially.
Yes — it’s one of the most common recoveries we do. Deleting a photo doesn’t erase it; the image stays on the card until a new photo overwrites it. As long as you stop using the card straight away, we can usually recover it.
Usually not. Cameras use a quick format, which only resets the index and leaves your photos in place on the card. We rebuild the card and carve the photos and video back out, even after a format.
Yes — corrupt cards are very common, usually from the card being removed while it’s writing, or the battery dying mid-shot. We rebuild the card’s file system and recover the photos, even when the camera or phone can no longer read it.
Yes — we recover JPEG, HEIC and every major RAW format, including Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF and DNG, along with the video files alongside them.
SD, microSD, CompactFlash (CF), CFexpress, XQD and Memory Stick — from cameras, phones, drones, action cameras and dash cams. If it holds photos, the odds are we can help.
Often, yes. A snapped, bent or water-damaged card is more serious, but we can frequently recover the photos at chip level. We’ll confirm exactly what’s recoverable at the diagnostic stage.
Yes — from the phone’s memory card, and in many cases from the phone’s internal storage or a backup. Tell us the make and model and what happened, and we’ll let you know what’s possible.
Photo recovery is £250 + VAT for memory cards and USB sticks, and £300 + VAT for hard drives, with a free diagnostic first and no fix, no fee on most jobs. A physically damaged card that needs chip-level work may be quoted higher, always confirmed in writing before any work begins.
Most photo recoveries are done inside 1 to 3 working days, often sooner, with the diagnostic usually finished within 48 hours. Urgent jobs can often be pushed to the front — just say so.
Drop it at our Newcastle location Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, or post it to us fully insured — a memory card posts easily in a padded envelope. Put your full contact details inside — name, address, phone number and email — so we can book it in. Once it’s with us we run the free diagnostic and send a written quote before any work begins.
A free diagnostic, no fix no fee on most jobs, and photo recovery from any card, camera, phone or drive. The sooner you stop, the more we get back — begin today.