Coolpix S630 Blurry/Noisy

[zenithangunn]

I just got a new Nikon Coolpix S630. I was really excited to have a pocket sized digital cam for and events.

Problem is, all the pictures it takes are blurry on the edges and noisy as hell. I attached one I took in the middle of the day. It's the best looking of the batch and nothing in it is clear. There's so much noise in the pics you can see it very much so on the LCD before you even take the pic.

Is this normal? It doesn't seem right to me. I have a 10y/o digital cam which takes 128mb smart media carda and it takes sharper and clearer images then this thing.

Any advice? Do all the small digitals look like this?

Full Wall Demo shot with noise

[Photo-John]

I took a hard look at that photo and I think I have some answers for you. First of all, the conditions you shot in are not going to give you the best results. Shooting outdoors in better light will definitely deliver better image quality. There wasn't a ton of light here so the camera shot at ISO 400 with an aperture of f/3.5. That's a wide open aperture, which is likely to give you images that are soft around the edges. You were using the Program auto mode where the camera makes the exposure decisions for you and most point-and-shoot cameras will open up the lens so they can achieve a faster shutter speed and freeze action. That often results in less than wonderful image quality, though - especially if you're zoomed wide, as you were with this photo.

I'm more concerned about the noise, though. I might be wrong, but I don't think a current point-and-shoot camera should have this much noise at ISO 400. Check your JPEG settings and make sure you're using the least compression possible. That would probably be "Fine" in the JPEG menu. If you've got it set for more compression, you will be compromising image quality.

You asked if "all the small digitals look like this?" The answer is - generally, yes. There are exceptions, but super compact cameras are often more about size and style than quality. I don't have any experience with your camera model. But it might be one of those cameras.

[zenithangunn]

Any recommendations for one with less noise? I have a nice Olympus E510 which I love but it's not practical to take to a social event or something. This things pics look nearly identical to my ten year old Olympus D-520 Zoom 2mp which is really disappointing. I may just return it.

[Frog]

Make sure you are shooting jpeg fine as PJ said. If you can lower the iso and still maintain a decent shutter speed and aperture, it can't hurt.

[zenithangunn]

Sadly this cam doesn't have seem to have a setting for the jpgs, that was the first thing I looked for.

[Bretm1]

I had a Nikon S630 for about a week and returned it. I impulsively bought it at Staples for about 160 dollars because it was a good deal. My first post on this forum was due to an issue with my pictures shifting. I do not want to knock it, but after doing some searching here (once I returned it) I do not miss it at all.

I ended up with a Canon SX 200 IS, which I kept. I also was hot on the Panasonic ZS3. These are both compact superzooms and each one is pretty incredible in their own right (do some searching here).Versus the SX200 IS, ZS3 is fully automatic only with a bunch of modes,(canon can go manual) has a higher resolution lcd screen,(460 vs 230) , is a 25-300 (canon is 28-336)shoots video in HD stereo (canon is mono), can optically zoom in video (canon only does digital zoom in video)has fixed flush flash (canon is pop-up)

There are some fairly recent threads also about other cameras in the "pocket category" you should check out also, depending on considerations you have with low light capability, image quality etcetera, but I will say that for a non slr digital, these two superzoomers I mentioned here are pretty incredible for their all around versatility.

Search on and good luck. There is a lot of good information on this site and links to buy as well( make sure you check out the vendor feedback forum also)

[aditya169]

Even i get blurred Images.How can i improve it ?

[Photo-John]

Even i get blurred Images.How can i improve it ?

We'll need to see some sample photos in order to see why they're blurry. It could be the camera and it could be technique. Post an example and I'll try to give you some advice.