S3 problems with graininess

[baseball23]

I am getting frustrated with my S3 because I keep getting grainy photos. If I take anything after about 5 in the evening it comes out grainy. If it is any distance away forget about it, it will be grainy. I will try to post an example. I have tried the different dial settings, but I am just not good enough with the camera to know what else to try. All ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks, John
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k167/johnsautographpage/IMG_2281.jpg

[S_p_i_d_e_r]

Could you please post the EXIF for that picture?

[baseball23]

Not sure what that is?

[David Metsky]

Short answer - it's not going to get better. The S3 isn't very good for low light photography. The EXIF information is included in the original image and would tell us the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO for that shot. But it'll probably show that the shot was at ISO 400 or greater.

At that setting the image will be grainy; it's a fact of life with this camera. Under late afternoon or stadium light, especially at full zoom, there's not enough light to shoot with a fast shutter speed without pushing the ISO.

Your best solution would be to set the ISO manually to 200, put it in burst mode, set the White Balance correctly, and shoot a lot of shots. After you are done, run your shots through Noise Ninja or some other noise reduction program.

[SpecialK]

The S3 (and even moreso the S5) is not good at higher ISO. "Higher ISO" is 400 or more, which will have noticeable grain. ISO 200 is so-so.

Noise Ninja will smooth out the grain as well as other features, which is not necessarily good.

There is a reason low-light photogs have the big/fast lenses - they allow a faster shutter or lower ISO.