I have finally resolved this problem albeit after changing my approach and saving pictures as files rather than blob field. The resolution has the same effect either way I believe..... Taking a picture and then immediately saving it seems to result in an empty file, but moving the same to a later point, when exiting the view for example, seems to work. It would suggest that taking the picture needs time to fill the "buffer" before it can be used. Would welcome an answer to this if anyone knows. Mahares many thanks for your help.