Shameless plug, but I have written my own downloader that works on a lot of the links this site uses. Imgur being one of them. The focus is on downloading content around specific creators. If you want to take a look here is a link to the thread
It doesnt compress that bad, side by side comparisons - you wont notice it drastically, plus I dont think one will be zooming in to where you need quality to stay at that level. You also didnt need to worry about your albums getting removed, I have albums since like when they started and they are all intact - I cant think of a more stable host which is kinda funny. The other big perk was that they had an app which is actually usable and not infested with ads.
but yeah videos drop in quality like crazy, and gifs to some degree