I startet a new game (PC - no mods).
My Packs: EP: 01-16 // GP: 01-08,10,12 // SP: 01-03,05-09,11,13-18,26,29,35,38,46,48,49
Edit: Also Photos on the wall getting black after restarting game.
I...
Ideas
I ran a test and found similar results, but my test was focused around deleting screenshots. Did you do any tidying of your screenshots while testing? (Because I only noticed issues when I either deleted screenshots OR used Save And Exit.)
Note: all my testing was done by light "playing" (only taking photos, nothing else but making a sim and buying cameras), pressing save once, then exiting separately.
I found that deleting overexposed/mostly white screenshots was USUALLY safe (except for with the Crystal Clear camera - which seems to work oppositely from the rest, oddly enough).
When I deleted normal-looking screenshots, these cameras' in-game equivalent pictures were safe: cell phone, Barely Better Digital Camera, the Cozy Gamer kit's Insta Simsta camera - that's it! The Appreciably Average and all the high-end cameras I have installed were NOT safe (including the long green one and Moschino's camera).
I have no other cameras installed, so I cannot test them.
My test was ran on a NEW save game in a CLEAN/new Sims 4 folder. I haven't yet tested in my ongoing save from way before this month's patch (the one with a partial fix). That testing might be much worse, to my later dismay. We'll see.
My testing is very confusing, but after a WHILE, whether it be game sessions, in-game days - WHO KNOWS - photos eventually get "baked in" to the save. Before then, they might get lost if we exit the game "too soon" (at least in ongoing saves) OR delete screenshots (even new saves).
Cameras seem to matter until photos have become "old" in our save games. How old? I hope to find out, but that might take a LOT of IRL time!
Other things I've learned: rotation is NOT required for photos to get baked in. (I don't know if going to manage worlds and/or build mode is a factor.)
Featured Places
