# Problems with Nikon D5000 Grainy Pictures



## kbcpilates (May 7, 2014)

Does anyone have a Nikon D5000 and have problems with poor picture quality even on totally automatic?


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## robbins.photo (May 7, 2014)

kbcpilates said:


> Does anyone have a Nikon D5000 and have problems with poor picture quality even on totally automatic?



Well if the pictures look "grainy" my first suspect would be that they were shot at too high of an ISO.  Have you checked the EXIF data?


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## KmH (May 7, 2014)

Set to the green Auto mode I would not expect much as far as image quality.
The camera is just a machine and a not very smart machine at that.

Image quality mostly results from photographer knowledge and skill.
So you'll get the most consistent and best results by learning how to control the camera settings yourself instead of hoping the programming some committee of camera engineers wrote several years ago. 

What many call 'grain' is electronic image noise, and there are several kinds - Digital Camera Image Noise: Concept and Types


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## DarkShadow (May 7, 2014)

A picture with some exif data will help others help you.Automatic means nothing in terms of noise.


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## bigal1000 (May 12, 2014)

The first step in right direction is take the camera off of full auto.


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## D300Rob (May 17, 2014)

Try setting your camera to A (aperture priority), setting to F11, insure ISO is set to lowest, probably 200, and not auto select, but 200.  Make sure shutter speed is basically a higher number than your focal length, remove UV filter if you are using one, and try a set of photos.  Anything will do.  Digital is cheap!  No need to wait and get it developed!  My understanding is that digital sensors have a "built in" uv filter, so not really any need to add another.  I do not use any uv filters on any of my lenses.


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## KmH (May 17, 2014)

Depending on the lens, f/11 may cause some loss of focus sharpness due to diffraction - Diffraction Limited Photography: Pixel Size, Aperture and Airy Disks


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## D300Rob (May 18, 2014)

My thoughts were to only have one variable across more than one shutter speed.  See if the grainy pictures are not there on some shutter speeds.  Or appear at all speeds.  Might have been a place to start checking the images.


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## KmH (May 18, 2014)

It's a digital camera. No grain. The OP is seeing image noise.

But high ISO settings and under exposure make image noise more visible.
To combat under exposure we expose for the highlights in a scene. More specifically we _*e*_xpose _*t*_o _*t*_he _*r*_ight of the histogram - ETTR.

Tones & Contrast

Understanding Histograms, Part 1: Tones & Contrast
Understanding Histograms, Part 2: Luminosity & Color
Optimizing Exposure
Exposing to the right - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ETTR


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## D300Rob (May 18, 2014)

Oops.  My bad.  I meant noise not grain.


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## TheFantasticG (May 19, 2014)

Under exposing or using an ISO over 800 with make very very ugly image noise on the D5000/D90 sensor.


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