camera question

I have a canon A520…typical point and shoot camera it maxes at 4mega pixels…for some odd reason my pictures are coming out grainy…im thinking it could be because i used it at the beach and maybe sand got on the lense but im not sure…if thats the case what kind of things can do to make it better?i have a example below…the camera sat on a tri-pod i didnt move it at all and the resolution was at the highest…so im not sure whats wrong…
![http://www.pittspeed.com/uploaded/9-15-07 Chads Sentra 001.jpg](http://www.pittspeed.com/uploaded/9-15-07 Chads Sentra 001.jpg)

Looking at the lens, are there any smudges on it? If so, use a microfiber cloth to wipe them off. There could very well be sand inside, but you want to rule other things out first.

Also, check your ISO settings, they appear to be set at 800+. You don’t need them that high. That could be contributing to your “grainy-ness.”

Keep your ISO’s as low as possible and keep your resolution/picture quality in the middle setting. See if that helps at all. It definitely appears to be an ISO problem, I would probably rule out the sand, if sand got into your camera, you would know it.

in my manual setting my ISO was at 200…so ur thinkin 4 night shots drop to 50 which is my lowest???o ya and what is the reason for keepin the resolution in the middle rather then high??and also i didnt see a smudge on the lense

download a free program called noiseware, it removes all of that shit.

I bought a new fuji f45fd the other week and every pic was like this. No matter what the iso setting, so I took it back and am now looking for another camera that actually takes nice pictures.

The thing I noticed is, the more megapixels, the worse the image quality (unless you go dslr). P&S camera’s suck higher than 7mp.

resolution and image quality have nothing to do with eachother.

well i no from my best buy days if u wanted to go higher then like 7mp on a point and shoot the lense it self had to be bigger or like u said the picture quality actually went down.i would d/l that program but my hard drive is filled…so i dont have any space…my camera is also i think 4 years old so it could be its time to go 2…ill try lowering the iso first if that doesnt work it gives me a reason to go get a canon S3 IS…i dont have the money to get a digital SLR plus as most of you can tell my camera knowledge isnt really that high and unless i new the manual settings better then i do now it would be a waste of my money i woud think

Hit me up on aim. I’ll send you noise ninja.

Like everyone said use your lowest iso because your using a tripod.

The mp and lens size has nothing to do with image quality. Its the sensor size that’s why dslr’s can handle high iso better than p&s because they have a larger sensor.

Getting a dslr is a big step not settings wise because there are high end p&s that have manual controls. It comes down to the cost of lenses, flashes, tripods, extra bodies and more. You can get the camera body used pretty cheap but your going to be spending atleast $600 on good lenses.

If you have any questions I’ll be glad to help you out.

what’s your opinion on a good p&s camera on the market today? I need a new one ASAP. I tried the fuji, but it sucked. I do not need any more than 7mp.

I have a Fuji V90… it’s not bad but the ISO Settings have to be down or else I get a shit ton of grain… It’s def. picky when ti comes to night shots too, if it’s not on a tripod forget it.

How much are you looking at spending? Do you want to be able to grow and learn manual controls?

my personal preference is any of the canon powershots

I would like to get a bigger camera with manual controls, but the wife wants a compact camera that is just a auto P&S, she doesn’t want to do anything except push the button. So yea, “we” are looking at a compact camera that takes decent indoor shots for ~300, give or take a few.

i like my Sony CyberShot 8.1mp…it does everything i need & some, theres still a bunch of features and controls i need to figure out yet

no sony products - sony can lick my left nut

we have a canon 5.0 mp. I think it was the powershot sd500. It is pretty compact, like fits in a jeans pocket compact and takes great pictures outdoors, or indoors when you are closer than 10 feet from the subject. The problem we have seen recently is that in low light the thing is nearly useless. The flash just isn’t enough to properly light the subject from anything over that 8-10 foot range. Kind of annoying in a wedding reception type of environment.

If you want samples of the pictures we have taken with it I can post them. none of the pictures have undergone any post processing.