Is there a particular setting on my S950 that is better than another for taking indoor pictures?

I took a bunch at a conference, and they all came out grainy.

Any help, tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated !!!

jimboinaz-

Welcome to the Forum. We're pleased that you dropped by.

Concerning your conference photos. A camera like the S950 uses a very small (in physical size) CCD imager, one of the characteristics of a CCD imager is this: as the ISO setting is numerically increased electrontic noise is likewise increased. The visual indication of electronic noise is "graininess" in your photo.

Unfortunately there is no setting available on your camera that will totally eliminate the effects of electronic noise or the "graininess."

It is the DSLR cameras that are free from that electronic noise or "graininess" due to the fact that the CMOS imager used on even entry level DSLR cameras is approximately 15 time larger in physical size.

Have a great day.

Sarah Joyce

Sarah,

Than for the great help !!!
This made a lot of sense to me, so Thank You very much for the explanation (in English !!!)

One final question - would there be a setting on my camera that would be better than the other (i.e. Portrait, Twilight, or ISO)?

Thanx,

jimboinaz-

If you just stay with these guidelines:

(1) keep the ISO as low as possible as long as you have at least 1/100 on the shutter.
(2) remember that increasing your ISO has a cost to it. More ISO=More Noise.
(3) no one handed shooting. A two handed grip will alway produce better images.

Sarah Joyce

Good points from Joyce. I'd expand them a bit by saying that shooting handholded can get better with practice. Two handed is better than one handed: doing it while leaning on a post is better yet; and even better is resting your elbows on a table-top/chair-back/...

As you get better handholding, or when the circumstances are such that you can rest your elbows, you can shoot at lower shutter speeds.

Glance through some beginning books on archery for some tips on being steady when you shoot.

Do some practicing and find out what the slowes shutter speed you can get away with while in various handholding situations. Keep in mind how slow you can go will also depend on what you are going to do with the photo: one that is on the web at 300x200 pixels can stand a lot more imperfections than one printed at 16x20"