What's wrong with my photos?

[BrknFngrs]

Since I know next to nothing about photography I figured I'd raise a few questions to people who do know something about it. I've been trying to snag night shots of my car and various of things but they always seem to come out grainy (see pictures below). These shots were taken with a Canon Powershot S5, no tripod (but the camera was always resting on something solid when the shot was taken).

The first shot is taken using the "night" setting on the camera and it appears less grainy but darker then I wanted.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z274/BrknFngrs/IMG_1083.jpg

These shots are taken using the manual settings. 1600ISO, F3.2 and 1/5 (not sure what this means). Way more grainy, but the light in the picture is more like what it actually was outside at the time.

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z274/BrknFngrs/IMG_1087.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z274/BrknFngrs/IMG_1110.jpg

What am I doing wrong that is stopping me from getting crisp night shots?

[962 kid]

ISO1600 is your film sensitivity, F3.2 is your aperture and 1/5 is your shutter speed. In short, your lack of knowledge is what is stopping you from getting crisp night shots. I don't use anything higher than ISO400 on my S5, the shots are just too grainy. You really should read and understand all the setting in the manual mode before you expect to take some crisp shots.

This was taken with my S5, ISO200 and a 15 second shutter speed iirc. First time taking pics at night, so it's definitely not prime but it's what your pictures should be looking more like.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g105/csmalem/photoshoot/IMG_0728.jpg

[SeanDon]

nice pond.

[BrknFngrs]

^^ It's not actually my camera, was just playing with it a few times. So I take it the grainy image is mostly because of the really high ISO setting? The reason that I made it so high is it seemed to brighten the images significantly.

[Melinda]

Originally posted by BrknFngrs
^^ It's not actually my camera, was just playing with it a few times. So I take it the grainy image is mostly because of the really high ISO setting? The reason that I made it so high is it seemed to brighten the images significantly.
Longer shutter speed/smaller apperture number (wider apperture) will help produce a more quality image with out as much grain. ISO should be the last thing you increase because as you see, it makes your photos look grainy, especially on P&S cameras.

As the previous poster said, your lack of knowledge is what is wrong with your photos. Do a little bit of reading and you'll get it figured out.

[Gibson]

Rest your camera on something that won't move and take a picture for every increment of ISO you can. You'll notice a huge difference of noise especially around the 400-800 mark in point and shoots like your S5.

Also, I don't know if you can but if you're using a tripod or a surface for a long exposure you'll want to switch off the image stabilization (IS) because it will try and compensate for something that doesn't exist.

[-QA-]

I would invest in a tripod for night shots...also in your pics above, the light source is coming from behind the car...try setting it up so the light is coming from behind the camera. And experiment with longer exposures...post up some pics after you get the hang of it :thumbsup:

[ExtraSlow]

I don't know about the settings on the S5, but I'm guessing that it's metering an "average" exposure over the entire frame. The fact that you have lights behind the car is making the sensor think that it's got enough light, when in fact your subject is very dark.
As stated above, get some light on the subject from behind the camera, and you'll start to be able to see some detail.
A tripod and log exposures with low ISO setting will help a lot.

Night shots like some of the guys have posted up are pretty difficult from a technical standpoint. We have some very good photographers here on Beyond, the average beginner will take a long time to get up to thier level.

[SpoonEK9@STRD]

What about timers(or a remote) and heavier tripods, to get a more crisp image?

[eb0i]

Why would you need a heavy tripod?

[Melinda]

Originally posted by SpoonEK9@STRD
What about timers(or a remote) and heavier tripods, to get a more crisp image?
The remote or shutter release cable helps. As for tripod, as long as it's rated to hold the weight of your gear, you should be good to go. Getting one that's too heavy will just become a royal PITA.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by eb0i
Why would you need a heavy tripod?

I like heavy tripods because they provide greater stability in windy conditions without needing to attach an external weight.

[UndrgroundRider]

lol, a heavy tripod is not about supporting your gear. It's about stabilizing the tripod. Lots of tripods have hooks at the bottom so you can attach weights. I've never seen anyone use it... but I suppose it could be useful on a windy day.

edit: he posted while I was typing... but yea, what he said :P

I personally have attached dinky little tripods smaller than my camera for the purpose of getting a really sharp shot. IMHO get a lighter tripod and just be aware you may need to brace it in the wind. Even a tiny one designed for little digicams can be useful on vacation where you don't feel like carrying around an extra bag on your shoulder.

If you want to take nice night shots, you need to a 1.5-2 stop bracketed photo at F8, ISO 100 on a tripod. A polarizer helps with ambient light that will make most city shots turn out orange. Almost all modern digital cameras have a countdown timer option, which is a good idea and better than a remote shutter (IR or cable).

Here are some of my night shots that I've taken over the past few years.

Tokyo:
http://www.mrkowasaki.com/cpgallery/albums/upload/photography/New/normal_Tokyo_Downtown_2.jpg

Bow river just south of Calgary: (this shot was 35mm and then scanned)
http://www.mrkowasaki.com/cpgallery/albums/upload/photography/BridgeLongExposure.jpg

Downtown calgary (from memorial drive, also 35mm):
http://www.mrkowasaki.com/cpgallery/albums/upload/photography/DowntownRiverReflection3.jpg

Tokyo tower:
http://www.mrkowasaki.com/cpgallery/albums/upload/photography/New/normal_Tokyo_Tower_Beneith.jpg

[qrankz]

Awesome shot there on the last one.

But to the OP....if you have a tripod, you can shoot at a lower ISO so that your pics won't come out noisy.

Long shutter speed
Low ISO
Tripod

You should see a big improvement.