Pictures are grainy??

[Stobber]

Hello, this last week on vacation I first started taking pictures in manual mode. I have only had my D3100 for a few weeks, and finally started playing around. I had allot of fun, and took allot of great shots. My only concern or problem I really had was that many of the shots seemed grainy. I am not sure what caused this, but am hoping the masses can help me out. Many pictures were fine, but many had the problem. Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.

Here is one of the "affected" shots.

 

[RubyGloom]

What settings did you use?

 

[Lens Lenders]

That's likely pixelation "noise" caused by high ISO. I suspect your Nikon D3100 automatically raised it's ISO (a term carried-over from film; in a digital camera it relates to the amplification of the image sensor to get images in low light) in order to expose the image.

Look at the EXIF info of this image and post what the ISO was. That will likely be a clue behind the grainy appearance.

 

[Stobber]

I knew I would be asked that question, and to be honest I do not remember. It was pretty dark inside with only the natural light coming through the window. Probably had around F5.6 and a shutter speed around 1/250(totally guessing). That's why I am asking...what setting(s) should I use, or not use to avoid grainy shots like this. Not sure what even causes this?

 

[Stobber]

I think you might have nailed it there Lens Lenders. Early in the vacation I had my ISO pinned at HI2, and later in the trip (another chapter into Understanding Exposure) I started playing with my ISO settings to take pictures of waterfalls. I never thought of that, was wondering why all of a sudden my pictures cleared up.

When taking "fluffy" waterfall pictures, or just waterfall pictures in general, I started lowering my ISO to either 400 or 800 and they seemed much crisper, and I was very satisfied with my results.

 

[Lens Lenders]

I knew I would be asked that question, and to be honest I do not remember. It was pretty dark inside with only the natural light coming through the window. Probably had around F5.6 and a shutter speed around 1/250(totally guessing). That's why I am asking...what setting(s) should I use, or not use to avoid grainy shots like this. Not sure what even causes this?

You should be able to find it by looking at the EXIF data in the photo. Your photo software should be able to show you this.

There are three components to exposing an image: shutter speed, lens aperture and film/sensor ISO. The balance of these three things creates the exposure.

If the combination of aperture and shutter speed is too dark for the light of the subject, you can (or a digital camera automatically can) raise ISO to compensate. The trade for ISO is, at high settings, it can result in pixelation noise which appears like the grain you see.

You likely either have the camera ISO manually set high or the camera automatically adjusted it high in order to make the correct exposure with the aperture and shutter speed settings you told it to use. The automatic adjustment of ISO is something you can turn on and off.

 

[Stobber]

File Info 1
File: DSC_0895.NEF
Date Created: 9/25/2011 1:56:55 PM
Date Modified: 9/19/2011 9:19:28 PM
File Size: 15.4 MB
Image Size: L (4608 x 3072)
File Info 2
Date Shot: 9/19/2011 21:19:25.90
Time Zone and Date: UTC-6, DST:ON
Image Quality: Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Artist:
Copyright:
Image Comment:
Camera Info
Device: Nikon D3100
Lens: VR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 18mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Auto
VR: ON
AF Fine Tune:
Exposure
Aperture: F/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/125s
Exposure Mode: Manual
Exposure Comp.: +1.0EV
Exposure Tuning:
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: 2EV over 3200
Flash
Flash Sync Mode:
Flash Mode:
Flash Exposure Comp.:
Colored Filter:
Image Settings
White Balance: Shade, 0, 0
Color Space: sRGB
High ISO NR: ON (Low)
Long Exposure NR: OFF
Active D-Lighting: Auto
Image Authentication:
Vignette Control:
Auto Distortion Control: OFF
Picture Control
Picture Control: [VI] VIVID
Base: [VI] VIVID
Quick Adjust: 0
Sharpening: 4
Contrast: Active D-Lighting
Brightness: Active D-Lighting
Saturation: 0
Hue: 0
Filter Effects:
Toning:
GPS
Latitude:
Longitude:
Altitude:
Altitude Reference:
Heading:
UTC:
Map Datum:

 

[adversus]

ISO Sensitivity: 2EV over 3200

Well there's yer problem.

 

[ann]

and plus another stop with exposure compensation

 

[Lens Lenders]

I think you might have nailed it there Lens Lenders. Early in the vacation I had my ISO pinned at HI2, and later in the trip (another chapter into Understanding Exposure) I started playing with my ISO settings to take pictures of waterfalls. I never thought of that, was wondering why all of a sudden my pictures cleared up.

When taking "fluffy" waterfall pictures, or just waterfall pictures in general, I started lowering my ISO to either 400 or 800 and they seemed much crisper, and I was very satisfied with my results.

That's it. The "HI2" setting is the maximum setting. Nikon doesn't even give it an ISO equivalent rating (like 6400) because it's beyond the camera's ability to keep clean of noise.

If you still feel you're learning about exposure, I recommend fixing your ISO at one setting and keeping it there. Try 100 or 200 for outdoors and 400 or 800 for inside. Then learn to adjust shutter speed and aperture for exposure while also learning what adjusting shutter speed and aperture can do for your photos.

You say you like making photos of waterfalls. Get a tripod (or steady your camera on a rock / tree) and frame a nice waterfall picture in the camera viewfinder. Then make several images at different shutter speeds, starting at 500 and working backwards to 15. (You may wish to use the "S" Shutter Priority mode so you set the shutter and the camera adjusts aperture automatically.) Look at the results and see what higher / lower shutter speeds do for a moving subject like a waterfall.

 

[jake337]

Shot at the lowest ISO possible unless otherwise needed. Make sure your ISO is not set to auto.

 

[Stobber]

Once I started messing around with the ISO, I started having better results(just learned that, thank you). I did get some pretty decent waterfall shots. I did use a tripod, and I do have a cordless release, but did not use it for these pictures.

Here is one example.

File Info 1
File: DSC_1585.NEF
Date Created: 9/25/2011 2:56:21 PM
Date Modified: 9/23/2011 3:10:18 AM
File Size: 13.0 MB
Image Size: L (4608 x 3072)
File Info 2
Date Shot: 9/23/2011 03:10:16.70
Time Zone and Date: UTC-6, DST:ON
Image Quality: Compressed RAW (12-bit)
Artist:
Copyright:
Image Comment:
Camera Info
Device: Nikon D3100
Lens: VR 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 40mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Auto
VR: ON
AF Fine Tune:
Exposure
Aperture: F/29
Shutter Speed: 1/2s
Exposure Mode: Manual
Exposure Comp.: +1.0EV
Exposure Tuning:
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100
Flash
Flash Sync Mode:
Flash Mode:
Flash Exposure Comp.:
Colored Filter:
Image Settings
White Balance: Cloudy, 0, 0
Color Space: sRGB
High ISO NR: OFF
Long Exposure NR: OFF
Active D-Lighting: Auto
Image Authentication:
Vignette Control:
Auto Distortion Control: OFF
Picture Control
Picture Control: [VI] VIVID
Base: [VI] VIVID
Quick Adjust: 0
Sharpening: 4
Contrast: Active D-Lighting
Brightness: Active D-Lighting
Saturation: 0
Hue: 0
Filter Effects:
Toning:
GPS
Latitude:
Longitude:
Altitude:
Altitude Reference:
Heading:
UTC:
Map Datum:

 

[KmH]

Set these to Standard or zero, not Vivid:

Picture Control: [VI] VIVID
Base: [VI] VIVID
Sharpening: 4

 

[Stobber]

Done KMH..thank you. What about noise reduction...on or off?

 

[Hickeydog]

On will reduce the noise somewhat (I'm comparing this to a T2i. I have no experience with Nikon, sorry), but it eats up the the buffer FAST! I wound up turning it off because I could only take 2-3 shots continuously before the buffer filled.