I use Google's Streetview often and I notice a big difference to the quality in the images. Since the earliest Streetview done in 2007 and 2008, are blurry with a haze and sometimes dark, it's hard to use for anything other than a general idea of the area. By 2009 it seems the images were much better and clearer, and 2012 they were quite sharp. However it did seem as if the colors on images around 2011-13 were more vibrant compare to the newest views done in last few years. Maybe had to do with sunlight or time of year.

Some areas had 2 or 3 Streetviews taken at different years yet my area only had around 2008 so those areas hard to see.

I wonder why the earlier Streetviews have a poor quality, I never seen any before 2009 with any clarity. Must have used a camera with poor focus, but would think technology in 2007 would be fairly clear.

I have seen the "higher definition" streetviews as early as late 2008 in some areas. Most were somewhere in Europe or Asia, though. The streetview in front of my house was first done in July 2007, then again in September 2013. I really wish they would update it because we happened to be re-doing the lawn at the time it was taken and so it looks really bad.

When they first launched Streetview here in Spring 2009, they had decent quality imagery although not as good as the modern ones. The Streetviews in my area are pretty recent too, I believe they were done in the summer of last year. Urban areas usually get a new Streetview every year, rural areas every couple to few years.

A set taken in Fall 2007 exists of my area but it's the old blurry and hazey kind. Interestingly the 2007 set was only made available in around 2012 when Google added the ability to toggle between the years. The initial launch used the 2009 set.