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does anyone know a good amount about digital cameras? specifically a panasonic lumix?

my camera....definitely wasnt cheap. it takes amazing pictures outside and in well lit situations. the details in pictures taken in the macro setting zoomed in on stuff really closely is nice too. But inside...i cannot get it to focus at all, and the pictures are always really grainy, and usually crappy. and the flash...is really unnecessary sometimes.
can someone help me? i liked my film camera so much better. this one is just confusing.

Public Comments

1. It sounds like your ASA settings have gotten off, I would try and change those and see if you can improve the image quality. I would move it to a ASA200 to start with. It is under the settings. There should be a way to reset all the settings to the default if nothing works, that should fix the problem easily.

2. Unfortunately, Panasonic cameras are renown for their noisy sensors, even when using the lowest ISO available. Noise is another name for the grain or speckles you get in your photos when shooting in lower light.
When your camera is set to auto or a night scene mode in low lighting conditions, it will select a higher ISO number, which is why you will get very grainy photos.
There's not much you can do to improve photos shot in low light, other than setting your ISO to the lowest available (probably 80 or so)...but then that's really much too low for shooting in low light. You would also have to mount the camera on a tripod, and preferably use a delayed shutter to minimise movement of the camera...which is hardly practical in social situations.
The higher you raise the ISO, the more pronounced the grain will be.
Also, some cameras have a difficult time focusing in very low light. Just make sure you have the focus assist lamp turned on.
my advice...shoot outdoors only (or get another brand of camera that is more competent shooting in lower light.