Can dslr image quality wear out after some years of use?

I just got my nikon d3100 last week and wondering if the quality of the image taken with the camera can wear out after a long time of use…

Added (1). Sorry, i mean the camera sensor not the picture…

Nope. No didgital file can "wear out" in any way, unless the data device is destroyed.
Take care. Peace

If you look after it there will be no problem and will last a lifetime, if you damage the lens the the quality will drop.

Electronics can age if overheated over time, but then your more likely to get a total failure rather than a 'wearing out'. Once on your hard drive your images will last, unaltered, basically for ever.

The beauty of digital storage of data is they don't degrade, it will be exactly the same decades down the line as it was when it was first saved, no matter how many times it's been copied.

Data is kept, even on an unplugged hard drive, for at least 40 years (as long as hard drives have been around) it's been tested umpteen times, if the drive is plugged into your system then your images will last indefinitely without losing any quality as the data is constantly being 'refreshed'.

The only thing that can go wrong is the hard drive failing which can, and does, happen, hence the advice to save on two hard drives.

Don't use CD/DVD to save your images (or anything else) they will fail at some point, the discs are open to the atmosphere and will get contaminated over time and become unreadable - guaranteed.

Hard drives on the other hand have been known to survive fires, floods, air crashes, run over by tanks, it's a long list, in fact getting the data off a hard drive when your scrapping one is difficult, even formatting it doesn't work totally, the only safe way to destroy data on a hard drive is to take the discs out of them and physically smash them.

The only time you can degrade a data file is if you do it by overwriting the original data. If you open a Jpeg and manipulate it then save with the same file name then you overwrite the original data with your manipulations. This is where you use Save As and write a new file with different name.

If you shoot Raw you can't write to a Raw file so the original data is always there, any changes are held in a 'sidecar' file usually an.xmp file associated with that Raw file.

Everything wears out eventually - so the answer is YES…

BUT you might find that if you are expecting the camera to do EVERYTHING for you, then you will wear it out faster… Don't put everything on AUTO, try using the manual settings…

also, there tends to be about 100, 000 shot limits on some cameras before you notice problems - unless you drop it in the meantime…

the quality of shots come from the equipment AND the talent behind the equipment…

Yes, the sensor can degrade. For instance, pixels can get stuck. You can send the camera into Nikon to have them mapped out. Also, the sensor can be replaced. Relax and enjoy your quality camera.

Yes. The mechanical parts in the camera like the mirror and shutter can obviously wear out over time.

The sensor itself can develop bad or "hot" pixels. When this happens you can deal with it automatically in Lightroom, but eventually that camera will have to be replaced.

Generally speaking, professional DSLR cameras have a life expectancy of about 2-3 years with heavy use.

The buttons will stop working, the LCD will get cracked, the eyepiece on the viewfinder will get smashed, the casing will be cracked, moisture will get in the electronics or a good hard drop will kill it before the sensor or mirror show any fault. If looked after. Fitting a lens wrong, fiddling with the mirror, getting sand or dust on the sensor, trying to clean the sensor badly will ruin the camera if you don't look after it. If you only take the SLR out occasionally in an effort to look after it you've spent a lot of money not to have a SLR with you to take pictures at any time.