Photographers - I need help - grainy pictures when taken without flash

[chlobo]

Hi,

I'm sure I have a setting wrong. I got the Canon S3 camera. It takes great pictures except if I take indoor pictures without a flash. Those pictures look very grainy, even if there is enough light in the room. What am I doing wrong?

[brittone2]

I am sooooo not a photographer, but I was having a similar problem w/ our several-year-old Fuji Finepix and DH had me put it in macro mode which helped.

NOt sure if that works for all cameras? I'm really, really not a great photographer at all but I thought i'd toss that out there.

[ellies mom]

Probably nothing. I have the S2 and they just aren't that good in low light situations but most digital cameras aren't.

The graininess comes from the ISO setting. The bigger the number, the grainer the film. You could try shooting in Aperture Priority Mode. Just set it to the smallest number. That way the opening will be big and it will take less time to gather light. You might be able to lower the ISO setting then. I want to say that portrait mode will accomplish the same thing but you may need to tell the flash to stay off.

Another thing to try is to turn the flash down a bit, step back as far as you can and then zoom in. I get a fair bit of luck that way.

And finally, sometimes it is just OK to use the flash. If you have the choice between missing the shot and using the flash, use the flash. Sure, pictures come out better without a flash but sometimes a snapshot is good enough.

[chlobo]

It's weird because the predecessor was the Canon S40 & it took pretty good low light pictures. That's why I figured there was a setting that was off a bit. How do I get to Aperture Priority Mode (I know, read the manual, lol).

I'm not opposed to the flash, its just that sometimes I forget. Also, I have defaulted to having the camera in "action" mode but I suppose I could retrain myself to switch to portrait inside sometimes. I am, after all, shooting mostly portraits.

[chlobo]

It's weird because the predecessor was the Canon S40 & it took pretty good low light pictures. That's why I figured there was a setting that was off a bit. How do I get to Aperture Priority Mode (I know, read the manual, lol).

I'm not opposed to the flash, its just that sometimes I forget. Also, I have defaulted to having the camera in "action" mode but I suppose I could retrain myself to switch to portrait inside sometimes. I am, after all, shooting mostly portraits.

[BillK]

Most plain old Point and Shoot digital cameras are poor in low light conditions. If you're looking for a p & s digital camera that is good in low light w/o using a flash look at the Fuji F30/F31d and F40 finepix cameras.

If you're trying to take indoor pics in "action" mode - you're choosing a setting that goes totally against what you need to do for indoor shots. The "action" mode is for sports etc (mostly outdoors) - and what it does is reduces your shutter speed (to "freeze" the action) - thereby not letting in much light - what your camera is doing to counteract this is bumping up your ISO to some crazy high number (probably 800 or 1600) - which will make your shots incredibly "noisy".

Higher ISO settings will help you in low light w/o flash - but will add noise - and most p & s cameras get really noisy above ISO 400 (the Fuji f30/f31d/f40's being exceptions).

Wider (lower #) Aperture settings will help let in more light (but will also increase your shutter time which will also increase the likeliehood of the shakies and blurred shots).

Longer shutter times will allow more light in - but again - shakies.

If you're taking lots of indoor shots with a p & s - be sure your dial is set to the "flash" setting so your camera can correct the ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance etc to the best combo for indoor flash photography. The other option is to learn how all the manual settings interact with each other and do it all manually - but that sort of defeats the purpose of having a small compact point & shoot camera - imo.

[BillK]

Most plain old Point and Shoot digital cameras are poor in low light conditions. If you're looking for a p & s digital camera that is good in low light w/o using a flash look at the Fuji F30/F31d and F40 finepix cameras.

If you're trying to take indoor pics in "action" mode - you're choosing a setting that goes totally against what you need to do for indoor shots. The "action" mode is for sports etc (mostly outdoors) - and what it does is reduces your shutter speed (to "freeze" the action) - thereby not letting in much light - what your camera is doing to counteract this is bumping up your ISO to some crazy high number (probably 800 or 1600) - which will make your shots incredibly "noisy".

Higher ISO settings will help you in low light w/o flash - but will add noise - and most p & s cameras get really noisy above ISO 400 (the Fuji f30/f31d/f40's being exceptions).

Wider (lower #) Aperture settings will help let in more light (but will also increase your shutter time which will also increase the likeliehood of the shakies and blurred shots).

Longer shutter times will allow more light in - but again - shakies.

If you're taking lots of indoor shots with a p & s - be sure your dial is set to the "flash" setting so your camera can correct the ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance etc to the best combo for indoor flash photography. The other option is to learn how all the manual settings interact with each other and do it all manually - but that sort of defeats the purpose of having a small compact point & shoot camera - imo.

[ellies mom]

Aperture mode is the A on the dial. You select the aperture and then it sets the rest.

I usually keep mine on program mode and then I switch to other things as needed.

Bill is right about the Fuji FinePix 20/30. We bought DH one for Christmas and the reason we chose it was because of its excellent low-light capability. Plus sometimes it is nice to have something you can just stick in your pocket. It definitely doesn't have the zoom and advanced features of the S2 and S3 but it nice to have.

[ellies mom]

Aperture mode is the A on the dial. You select the aperture and then it sets the rest.

I usually keep mine on program mode and then I switch to other things as needed.

Bill is right about the Fuji FinePix 20/30. We bought DH one for Christmas and the reason we chose it was because of its excellent low-light capability. Plus sometimes it is nice to have something you can just stick in your pocket. It definitely doesn't have the zoom and advanced features of the S2 and S3 but it nice to have.

[californiagirl]

>Wider (lower #) Aperture settings will help let in more light
>(but will also increase your shutter time which will also
>increase the likeliehood of the shakies and blurred shots).

You're right about everything except this -- bigger aperture, decreased shutter speed, fewer problems with motion blur and shakies. What you lose is depth-of-field which is not as big of a problem when you're taking pictures of people from a couple yards away.

Think of water as light for a moment. To get a picture, you need to fill a bucket. Higher ISO = smaller bucket. Bigger aperture (smaller number) = bigger hose. Increased shutter speed = water turned on longer. So you can trade off aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
The trick is that each one has a downside. High ISO = grainy. Long shutter speed = something, either the subject or you, moved and the picture is blurry. Wide aperture = only a small part of the picture is in focus, so if your focusing isn't perfect, the parts you care about are fuzzy and something irrelevant is sharp.

Of these, wide aperture tends to be the easiest to deal with, because at normal shooting ranges you probably still get 6" to a foot worth of stuff in focus. Just be real sure you're not focusing on something behind the face you care about! You get more sharp space behind the focus point than in front of it.

Most fully automated settings tend to prioritize aperture more than I would, leaning to grainy and fuzzy. I prefer to force a wider aperture.

Most cameras also need way more light than you think, particularly with those lovely do-everything lenses we tend to put on them.

[californiagirl]

>Wider (lower #) Aperture settings will help let in more light
>(but will also increase your shutter time which will also
>increase the likeliehood of the shakies and blurred shots).

You're right about everything except this -- bigger aperture, decreased shutter speed, fewer problems with motion blur and shakies. What you lose is depth-of-field which is not as big of a problem when you're taking pictures of people from a couple yards away.

Think of water as light for a moment. To get a picture, you need to fill a bucket. Higher ISO = smaller bucket. Bigger aperture (smaller number) = bigger hose. Increased shutter speed = water turned on longer. So you can trade off aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
The trick is that each one has a downside. High ISO = grainy. Long shutter speed = something, either the subject or you, moved and the picture is blurry. Wide aperture = only a small part of the picture is in focus, so if your focusing isn't perfect, the parts you care about are fuzzy and something irrelevant is sharp.

Of these, wide aperture tends to be the easiest to deal with, because at normal shooting ranges you probably still get 6" to a foot worth of stuff in focus. Just be real sure you're not focusing on something behind the face you care about! You get more sharp space behind the focus point than in front of it.

Most fully automated settings tend to prioritize aperture more than I would, leaning to grainy and fuzzy. I prefer to force a wider aperture.

Most cameras also need way more light than you think, particularly with those lovely do-everything lenses we tend to put on them.