Why are my Kodak Z1285 pictures a grainy mess.?

Question

I just bought this Z1285 last night. Every picture but one is just a jumble of graininess. I've tried all the modes even all the custom modes where you can select the current light situation.

Its 12mp and I'm viewing it at 100% Even when viewing it at 16.7% or on the camera its grainy.

Other camera posts say to decrease the ISO to lessen the grain but there doesn't seem to really be an option on this Camera.

Are all digital cameras this way?

Gonna end up returning it I'm affraid. But I don't know much about cameras.

Answer 1

What quality setting are you using on the camera?

It may be too low (which will allow you to take more pictures, but the quality will be poor).

Have a look and if required put the quality setting up to max. As the other answer suggests, take shots out doors in bright light and see if they come out ok. If they do, and indoors shots are poor, then a setting on your camera may be wrong. If the outdoor shots are also grainy and poor, then you may have a problem with the camera.

Answer 2

You might have your ISO set to "auto" and you are shooting indoors without a flash.  Under those conditions, your images will be "noisy" using any camera.

Set your ISO to 100 and take a test shot outdoors in bright sun.  If you are still getting a lot of noise, then your camera is under warranty and you can get a replacement.

Kodak makes some of the most advanced sensors and their sensors are used on many other camera brands.  Their latest is a 50MP sensor being used on the newest, $40,000 Hasselblad.

Here are the possible ISO settings for your camera:

Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, (6400, 8000 at 3.1 MP)

If you read your owners manual, there will be section that will tell you how to pick the ISO you want.  Try 80 or 100 as your standard setting unless you are shooting in very low light and do not want to use flash.