Grainy Pics - Help please

[Supermomwannabe]

Hi! I have a D60 and I can't figure out why my pictures are coming out grainy when it thinks the lighting is not just right. They are in focus but they are grainy. There doesn't seem to be any particular time when it happens. Sometimes my photos come out amazing and sometimes they just suck. Any suggestions?

~Marcy

[inkista]

Get out of auto modes and start learning how to set the ISO for yourself?

When you're using an automatic ISO setting, the camera determines, by metering the light, what it thinks is going to be the best ISO setting to get you a fast enough shutter speed to freeze action or camera shake blur. The higher the ISO, the more noise you're going to see, but the faster your shutter speed can be. Getting a good exposure is often about compromises.

[firebox40dash5]

Originally Posted by inkista

Get out of auto modes and start learning how to set the ISO for yourself?

Yep. I also have a D60, and NEVER use the auto mode, for this exact reason- it seems to prefer cranking the ISO way up over using a slightly slower shutter speed. I use 'P' in place of 'auto', set the ISO to 100-200 (you can manually change it higher if you need to) and let the camera figure out the aperture/shutter speed from there... when not using full manual or one of the priority modes, which is half the fun anyway.