I got a digi-cam for my b-day.. My mom got it for me as surprise, but she didn't really know which one to pick out (I hinted that I wanted one, just something simple and not too expensive).. So anyways, it's a Vivitar Digi-Cam with 3.0MP..

Now, my question is, are all 2-3MP digi-cams this grainy and hard to get a good shot of? It's like every factor has to be just right for me to get a good shot, which is almost impossible in real life situations..

So basically, everything just looks so much darker than reality when I take a normal pic indoors (and the bulk of my pic taking will be indoors in natural light or in low-light situations) that was my first observation.. No problem.. I just turned the flash on.. but with the flash, it's so strong that the picture is too light (kinda like a white light around the image).. So I basically had 2 extremes going.. At other times the pic would turn out to be kinda grainy like a camera phone.. but with 3MP, I didn't think that it would be the case (This is on high resolution as well)..

I have taken some good shots here and there.. but when something is happening on the spot and I need to take a pic, I don't have the time/energy to worry about every single detail, I'd like to just point and click to get a good, crisp picture most of the time.

I was thinking of exchanging it for something like a powershot A60 (1 less MP, but I heard it was a good camera, and has the optical zoom), and the difference will not come up to that much.. So is it worth it or do all cams under this category/price range suffer the same problems?

 

I get grainy shots if I set the auto settings. I have a Fuji Fine Pix A330. Works great except for the lack of good digital zoom and night shots. Other than that, have had no complaints.

 

The issue isn't about how many megapixels the camera has, but the quality of the CCD sensor the camera comes with. You're having a hard time with indoor pictures because there isn't enough light, and the onboard-computer i your camera is trying to brighten it (assuming the sensor doesn't stay exposed to light for long). You are most likely going to get clearer pictures with more better-known-named brands like Sony and HP. If I were you, I would definitely sell it off and go for the powershot A60. My sister-in-law has one and the pictures are definitely clear (expected from all Canon cameras). If your a camera freak, you can also consider the powershot S70.

 

your grainy problem is most likely due to your lack of optical zoom. you should definitely have at least 3x optical zoom on your camera. when you take pictures indoors regardless if it's day or night, you will most likely need to either use a flash or a tripod (when not using flash). given that you are not getting the result you like with the flash, you might want to make sure that your setting is on "auto". despite all that, i would definitely get rid of that camera, if for no other reason than for the fact that it has no optical zoom. you mentioned, the canon a60. i don't know what your budget is, but cannon just dropped their price on the a75 to $199. the a75 has 3.2megapixs and 3x optical zoom. if you are looking for a simple point & shoot camera, the a60/a75 will probably have more features than you need. you can probably find 3.2megapix/3x optical zoom without all the extra features made by kodak for $50-$70 less. kodak cameras are quite popular, so i'm sure their picture qualities are at least satisfactory to most of the buyers out there.

 

There are settings on your camera that allow you to adjust the quality of your pictures. You can take low quality, of high quality - high quality uses all the pixels, low quality takes smaller file sizes, but degrades the quality of the image. Any 3 megapixel camera will take excellent pictures, but you need to have enough light and know how to take a decent picture. The only difference between 1 megapixel and 3 megapixel images is the amount of detail captured. More detail means potentially sharper images, which people see as "better." But any camera can take grainy, blurred, under-exposed images.

The limiting factor in any camera is the amount of light present. Cameras take more light to take a quality picture than your eyes require. Use the flash indoors, or you will not have enough light. Using the flash indoors can create some unnatural looking pictures, but with some experiementation, you should be able to get decent inddor shots.

Learn to use the settings on your camera, or it won't matter what camera you have - all your pictures are gonna be crap. If you plan on taking most of your pictures indoors, a zoom feature would be a waste of money, IMHO.

 

Check out www.stevesdigicams.com and see how your camera did. If it's not there, at least you can figure out which one to get.

I have a Canon Powershot A30, and my family just bought two Powershot A75s. They're good cameras for the price.

 

I've got a 5mpixel camera and i found that as long as I let the auto focus do it's job and have good light then I'm fine but it getts grainy in low light situations. This is confusing I guess it lowers it's ISO? I know the old style and i don't get this new fangeled digital shitzels.

 

Sounds like the camera has a cheap light-meter. Exhange it for a camera that gives you more control. ISO settings, apature, and shutter-speed is something you should learn to understand and use.

Sam

 

bingo

The lower the ISO, the less grainy it will be. For example, 50 will be more crisp while 400 will be very grainy (depending on the camera and the amount of electrical noise).