Hi...I'm new to the site. looking for some help.
I have a Sony F717 and I'm just an average user not a professional by any means. I can not figure out why my photos come out so grainy..not crisp at all.
I only use the auto mode on the camera, is there some other setting that would be better to use?
The OEV displays F2.0 ...no clue what that is, see how bad I am.

If anyone has some suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks! JAJ

Hey JAJ, I have the same camera so I'll do my best to help. Just wan't to know what kind of pictures are you taking when they come out grainy? ie indoor, outdoor, macro, sports etc

Originally Posted by JAJ Hi...I'm new to the site. looking for some help. I have a Sony F717 and I'm just an average user not a professional by any means. I can not figure out why my photos come out so grainy..not crisp at all. I only use the auto mode on the camera, is there some other setting that would be better to use? The OEV displays F2.0 ...no clue what that is, see how bad I am. If anyone has some suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks! JAJ

When you use auto mode on most point and shoot digital cameras ( which includes the F717) the camera software gets to choose aperature, shutter speed, and ISO setting. When the ISO setting is used at the faster ISOs, the images get digital 'noisy' very quickly. There is a much higher noise level in consumer digicams at the higher ISOs, because the sensor chip is much smaller than in the digital SLRs. F2.0 suggests yoiu are shooting at the maximum aperature of your lens and that the light is pretty dim.
If you learn to use your camera in the Av ( aperature preferred) mode at ISOs of 50 or 100, most of the noise you are describing will disappear. The camera should take very nice images at ISOs less than 200.

Consult your manual on aperature preferred or manul setting of the ISO speed.

Thanks for the fast responses.

Brett..I'm taking mostly indoor pics. Have a new little girl and taking many candid type pics so basically she's my main subject. Unfortunately all grainy....perhaps I'll try using the AV mode as 'pathfinder' suggested.

Pathfinder ...Thanks I will look into and try this out. Your explanation of the F2.0 and low light makes sense. I usually shoot indoors and try to use room light rather than having the flash on...maybe this is a big part of my problem?
Sometimes I just think the flash makes me loose some detail. I guess my room lighting is not good enough to support my photos though.

Originally Posted by JAJ Thanks for the fast responses. Brett..I'm taking mostly indoor pics. Have a new little girl and taking many candid type pics so basically she's my main subject. Unfortunately all grainy....perhaps I'll try using the AV mode as 'pathfinder' suggested. Pathfinder ...Thanks I will look into and try this out. Your explanation of the F2.0 and low light makes sense. I usually shoot indoors and try to use room light rather than having the flash on...maybe this is a big part of my problem? Sometimes I just think the flash makes me loose some detail. I guess my room lighting is not good enough to support my photos though.

If you are shooting indoors without flash, I can almost guarentee that you are shooting at ISO 200, or 400 or possibly 800 and the images will be noisy.

Look into more lighting - whether with flash or studio type tungsten lighting or softboxes. Or just try window light from outside - that can be very nice sometimes. But read your manual and try to stay with ISO 100 and the noise should be less noticeable in your images.