[irelandswind]

I have a Pentax K20d and I'm having issues. All of my images are turning out grainy! No, the ISO isn't up, the anti-blur is on, there's more than sufficient lighting at my shoots. Any suggestions?

[Lowell Goudge]

Yes

post an example so we can see the problem, otherwise risk the no trolling sign

Yes... please post an example... As the resident 'Know it all' I need to see the photo to be able to help!

[Ash]

With all due respect, the best way for someone to help you is to post photos that describe your problem. Your post simply does not give enough information to be of use.

What were the Av, Tv, ISO settings on the shots taken? Was there significant underexposure requiring correction in PP? Is AF calibrated - are images sharp?

The K20D is an excellent camera, and you'll need to examine the human factor before the camera can be blamed for the grainy/noisy images...

[KungPOW]

You have a faulty camera. Obviously.

[irelandswind]

I was unaware that posting an image was available, and I truly appreciate the cordial and genial manner with which you opted to notify me. It is always lovely to see those who take the time to help others. Afterall, I am new to this forum, but not to the Pentax Camera, so my intentions are to gather help from those who know more than I do.

*ISO - Auto which is 200 to 800
*Tv - at 125
*Av - 6.7 to 9.5
*No underexposure that I was aware of
*I am uncertain of what PP is
*AF calibration?

I briefly changed my shutter speed to 180, but the image came out completely black. I had to go create one of those Flicker accounts so that you could see it. I hope it works.

[irelandswind]

ROXY1891 web on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Here's the link because it didn't show up on my previous post.

[stevebrot]

I was unaware that posting an image was available, and I truly appreciate the cordial and genial manner with which you opted to notify me. It is always lovely to see those who take the time to help others. Afterall, I am new to this forum, but not to the Pentax Camera, so my intentions are to gather help from those who know more than I do.

*ISO - Auto which is 200 to 800
*Tv - at 125
*Av - 6.7 to 9.5
*No underexposure that I was aware of
*I am uncertain of what PP is
*AF calibration?

I briefly changed my shutter speed to 180, but the image came out completely black. I had to go create one of those Flicker accounts so that you could see it. I hope it works.

Flickr requires that you put the image inside a link. I tried to correct your post so that we can see it, but had no luck. I think the link might not be good as an image location. Lets see if this works:

[Marc Sabatella]

At the posted size, I don't see much grain. I do see that it's very blurry from being out of focus and/or camera shake and/or subject motion. Unfortunately, Flickr doesn't preserve the EXIF info so we can't see that, which might help. If you post a link to the Flickr page rather than to the image itself, then Flickr can show us the camera settings.

BTW, welcome to the forum! And "PP" means "post processing" - you know, anything you might do in Photoshop or a simialr program.

[stevebrot]

Now that we have the picture up...What is the problem again?

Since Flickr strips the exif data, it is a little difficult to tell what is going on, but this is what I see:

• No graininess from my perspective
• Fairly high contrast
• Fairly high color sats
• Everything is slightly blurry (camera motion? out of focus? post-processing?)

This would be easier if we had the following data:

• Shutter speed
• Aperture
• Captured as RAW or JPEG
• If JPEG, the in-camera JPEG settings would be nice
• What lens
• What post-processing (if any)
• Hand-held or tripod
• Shake reduction on/off

Edit
Thanks Marc. I found the exif data on Flickr. The doctors diagnosis?

Probably camera motion...SR turned off at 1/45s

I took a closer look at the in-camera JPEG settings and it is possible that they might be creating some artifact in the JPEG conversion or in post-processing. Here is a link to the exif at Flickr:

Flickr: More detail about ROXY1891 web

I generally shoot RAW and with a different camera so I am little help here. Anyone want to comment?

Oh, by the way...your photo hardly looks like the efforts of a beginner. You do know your way around a camera. Strangely, both the shot and the model looks strangely familiar. Have you posted something similar here or somewhere else before?

Steve

[Lowell Goudge]

if you are at 1/45th camera shake is a good bet.

Also be careful with auto iso, because it will track the highest possible solution

[stevebrot]

if you are at 1/45th camera shake is a good bet.

Also be careful with auto iso, because it will track the highest possible solution

Good point Lowell. The ISO for this picture was 400. Normally that should be fine on the K20D, but combined with high contrast and high in-camera sharpening the result of a slightly blurry image might result in the sort of gritty feel we see in this picture. There is no real grain or noise, but it almost looks as if there SHOULD be!

Suggestions to OP:

• Shoot with more neutral camera settings and apply changes (contrast/sharpening) later
• Use SR when not using a camera support
• Use a fixed ISO below 400 for critical work

There is another suggestion that should be on the list, but isn't cuz I don't want to sound like an elitist. That suggestion is to invest in good quality image processing software. In the digital world, software is your darkroom. The exif indicates that Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery was used. Probably adequate, but not optimal. You don't need Photoshop. Less expensive and/or free alternatives such as PaintShop Pro and The Gimp do a real good job. Even Picasa is pretty good (and free). Ditto for the software that came with your camera. If you can spring for it, Adobe Lightroom is an incredible tool at about $250 or less than $100 if a student.

Steve

[Wheatfield]

I dunno, I think it's a great shot.

[LeDave]

It don't seem grainy, maybe it might just be a bit out of focus. Or you forgot to turn on shake reduction.

[stevebrot]

I dunno, I think it's a great shot.

No argument there. It is a little soft, but overall I think that it is probably pretty close to the photographer's original intent.

Steve