BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Anne Cahalane

Why do some photos come out all grainy

Miss NJ and my daughters chorus perform

Miss NJ and my daughters chorus perform
no flash, aperature priority setting,focal length 23.2mm
f/3.5

Although this picture was set to aperature priority - it happens to me on other settings as well.

Anne Cahalane

I have a canon powershot S3IS. I am trying to teach myself photography. One problem I seem to encounter often is really grainy or noisy pictures. it doesn't happen all the time...and I am not sure what I am doing wrong - when it does happen - its bad and I can't seem to correct it with editing.

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October 16, 2007

W.

At what iso setting were those photos taken, Anne?

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October 16, 2007

Anne Cahalane

I am not sure...i usually leave it at "auto iso" I do not see ISO setting on the photo's stored data....exposure time is 1/100,

Is there an iso I should use?

this was taken in the evening inside a white tent with overhead flood lights and no flash.

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October 16, 2007

W.

Grain is usually a consequence of high iso, Anne. You can see in the photos' EXIF data what iso was set by the auto iso feature.

Check it with an EXIF viewer. Like uAlbum for MacOSX (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/23200), or Exif Pilot for Windows (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/34645).

Want low grain photos? Set 100 or 200 iso. Your shutter speeds will probably get slower, though.

Graininess – 'noise' – can be minimized with denoising apps. Find some at http://www.versiontracker.com/php/qs.php?mode=basic&action=search&str=denoise&srchArea=windows&submit=Go for Windows
(Couldn't find any for MacOSX on versiontracker.com today).

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October 16, 2007

Anne Cahalane

Thank you so much - I will make sure I lower the iso. of course, I usually can not see the noise on the led screen when I take the picture - it always looks fine until I get home and download the pictures....so maybe adjust the iso a couple times for certain pics just to be sure?

Thanks for the links too - they are great!

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October 16, 2007

W.

"maybe adjust the iso a couple times for certain pics just to be sure?"

If you want control, you ALWAYS set the iso manually. Leaving it on Auto means you relinquish control.

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October 16, 2007

Anne Cahalane

Very true - sometime I guess I am not confident enough in my own judgement and think "I better just leave this on auto so I don't mess things up" but your are right - I need to take control of that.

Thank you

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October 16, 2007

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