Grainy pictures

flashlady · Oct 26, 2009

Hello I'm new to photography and I'm working with a Nikon D40 which is a great camera and the results are very clear accept for when I'm shooting subjects from a long distance, especially indoors. The pictures are not clear, are dark and are very grainy.

These are the tools i'm working with:

Nikon D40
Nikon VR Zoom Lense 35 - 135mm
SB600 Flash

Which is causing the problem (I want to say the lense, but I could be wrong).

Please help, so I can know what to purchase.

Thank you so much

Rekd · Oct 26, 2009

Post some examples.

Overread · Oct 26, 2009

Have a quick read here: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...e-your-posts-get-critiques-your-work-c-c.html

and then give us a few example shots - following the advice in that thread (espceaily with regard to technical details of the shots). There is a range of factors which could be affecting your shots so without some details we really can't narrow it down to what could be causing the problem.

Felix0890 · Oct 26, 2009

From what you're saying I'm gonna have to guess that the camera is set to auto ISO. If that's the case, the camera is probably setting the ISO to 1600ish, introducing a lot of noise (graininess) into the exposure. If the picture is dark, you might just not be taking a correct exposure.

Like the above posters said, we can't fully help you without seeing some sample images. Include the EXIF data as well.

flashlady · Oct 26, 2009

About ATVs said:
Post some examples.

ok cool, I'll post a few of my pictures when I get home. I don't have access to them right now, but here is an example as to what some of them come out like.

Imagin darker and more grainy http://navitsky.org/photos/pn58b860/090615/DSC_4804-1024x768.jpg
http://bose.infopop.cc/groupee_file...lineimg/Y/08-09-09_IOC-Bechtel_5_7_011_cr.jpg

I have a few of a celebrity basketball game I took last year that I'll post when I get home at an indoor basketball game. A few came out aweful. It was as if the there was minimal light, a lot of redeye and very grainy.

If I take pictures outdoors they are very clear.

Now could it be that I'm shooting in "Auto" mode?

Be back later with my pictures

flashlady · Oct 26, 2009

Overread said:
Have a quick read here: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...e-your-posts-get-critiques-your-work-c-c.html

and then give us a few example shots - following the advice in that thread (espceaily with regard to technical details of the shots). There is a range of factors which could be affecting your shots so without some details we really can't narrow it down to what could be causing the problem.

ok cool. I'll post some when I get home. I'm at work and I don't have access to my photography here.

Looking forward to chatting!!!!!!!!!!

flashlady · Oct 26, 2009

Felix0890 said:
From what you're saying I'm gonna have to guess that the camera is set to auto ISO. If that's the case, the camera is probably setting the ISO to 1600ish, introducing a lot of noise (graininess) into the exposure. If the picture is dark, you might just not be taking a correct exposure.

Like the above posters said, we can't fully help you without seeing some sample images. Include the EXIF data as well.

Yes! Sweet! Very close to what I'm talking about!

Can't wait to get home LOL

Felix0890 · Oct 26, 2009

Another thing . . . did you just get the camera? I remember not knowing how to set the settings correctly when I first got mine and thought that there was something wrong with the lens. I highly recommend reading Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson a couple of times (it's a short read) to fully understand your camera's settings. If you want to make sure that it's not the camera's fault, set it to full automatic and take some shots in different lighting conditions, not just indoors.

Now run home and get us those samples.

Goontz · Oct 26, 2009

Like others have said, examples will certainly help. If the above picture is what yours are looking like, AND you're shooting in auto, it sounds like what you're seeing is "noise." In auto mode, the camera will select the ISO automatically. If it's dark, it will use a higher ISO. The D40 isn't very good for much above ISO 400 without getting "noisy." Welcome, and I'm sure more help is on the way when you have examples

syphlix · Oct 26, 2009

Camera Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Image Date: 2009:06:16 00:33:45
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm)
Exposure Time: 0.050 s (1/20)
Aperture: f/2.0
White Balance: Auto
Metering Mode: Matrix

doesn't say the iso... but i assumed it's high cuz of all the noise... though really how high does it need to me at f2 1/20

Plato · Oct 26, 2009

syphlix said:
Camera Make: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D40X
Image Date: 2009:06:16 00:33:45
Flash Used: No
Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm)
Exposure Time: 0.050 s (1/20)
Aperture: f/2.0
White Balance: Auto
Metering Mode: Matrix

doesn't say the iso... but i assumed it's high cuz of all the noise... though really how high does it need to me at f2 1/20

Noise, what noise?

flashlady · Oct 26, 2009

ok here we go. Here's an example of what I was referring to above:

http://ksard.com/DSC_0802.JPG

http://ksard.com/DSC_0833.JPG

fokker · Oct 26, 2009

They don't look overly noisy/grainy to my eye, just underexposed. Could be that if you're attempting to up the brightness on the computer with software that then they will become grainy, but your best bet is to get the exposure right first time around.

fokker · Oct 26, 2009

Also, Plato; what noise reduction did you use on that picture above? I can't get anywhere near as good a result as that in CS3.

Dominantly · Oct 26, 2009

Under exposed....

With the D40, to shoot indoors with a darker room at a decent distance from your subject, you are probably up for a tough challenge if you're looking for no noise.
I would say a tripod and longer shutter, less limited ISO, but then you have motion blur.