Yes , I would like to know why my photo's are coming out grainy ? pentax 8.0 meg. 7x optical zoom.digital

Take no more pics until you've recovered your photos, take the card out of the camera. This is to reduce the chance of you overwriting some of your "lost" photos. There are many good freeware photo recovery software options that may help you recover your photos. This article reviews and outlines several of the better ones:

Unfortunately with higher mpxs sometimes you pay for it with higher noise levels. The smaller pixels are more sensitive and can cause noise. A couple of things you can do to help control the noise is make sure your pictures not underexposed, you may need to bump up you exposure compensation a little as long as you don't end up too bright.
You can also try to shoot with the lowest ISO setting your camera has. High ISO = NOISE!
Last you can run your photos through a noise reducing program such as"Noisware" their community edition is free. http://www.noiseware.com/download_nwsa.aspx
PS Contrast settings will do nothing for noise.

If the pricture was taken in low-light then it just will look grainy. If not then make sure you're zoomed all the way out (i.e. not using Digital zoom as opposed to Optical Zoom) and make sure the resolution settings on the camera Menu are set to the highest setting.

Format the memory card after save the all data. Then reset the camera & back up all the data back on the card, Now try & let me know the result.

Hey missy0528,
There are a few reasons your images might be grainy, one of which is your image quality is set to low. I would always have the camera set to the highest resolution possible, because you can always reduce the size of an image but you can never make it bigger. Another cause of grainy images in digital cameras is the sensitivity of the camera (ISO) is set to high. Since you are only seeing grainy images when you use the zoom the reason for the grainy images is most likely do to using the digital zoom. All a digital zoom does is crop the image much as you can do in some computer applications, and by doing this you greatly reduce your image quality. I would never use a digital zoom. Your camera has a 5x optical zoom and a 5.6x digital zoom. I would only use the optical zoom. I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Allan
Go Ahead. Use Us.

It will be grainy a bit specially in digital zoom and even in optical zoom to the full level it might become grainy as camera is unable to absorb all the light from distant object......

The DiMAGE 5 offers a 7x high power zoom lens, with a focal length of 7.2 - 50.8, which in 35mm equivalent equals 35 - 250mm. A manual zoom ring controls the optical zoom. The DiMAGE 5 has a maximum aperture of f/2.8 - f/3.5.

In addition to the optical zoom, this camera is equipped with a super zoom and digital zoom for taking telephoto and wide-angle shots. The super zoom and digital zoom cannot be used at the same time. Super zoom is used to extend the optical zoom up to 14× magnification. However, the resolution is automatically fixed at 1600 ×1200. Digital Zoom is used to extend the maximum optical zoom to approximately 40x. However, pictures taken with the digital zoom may appear grainy. Camera shake is likely to occur at these higher magnifications, please see “camera shake” question for further details on this.

In addition to the optical zoom, this camera is equipped with a super zoom and digital zoom for taking telephoto and wide-angle shots. The super zoom and digital zoom cannot be used at the same time. Super zoom is used to extend the optical zoom up to 14× magnification. However, the resolution is automatically fixed at 1600 ×1200. Digital Zoom is used to extend the maximum optical zoom to approximately 40x. However, pictures taken with the digital zoom may appear grainy. Camera shake is likely to occur at these higher magnifications, please see “camera shake” question for further details on this.

The D-450 Zoom is an improved version of the D-400 Zoom. Both models have the following features: •1.3 megapixel resolution •3x optical zoom lens - 2x digital telephoto •Stream-lined compact form design •Automatic focus, metering, and white balance •Built-in, pop-up electronic flash •Real-image optical viewfinder •LCD monitor •Buffered RAM memory; burst shooting •Video output to TV •12-second self-timer •8 meg SmartMedia included. Larger capacity cards available. In addition, the D-450 Zoom has the following features: •A larger buffered RAM memory permits rapid shooting (real-time shooting without having to wait for the image write) and a true sequence shooting in more quality modes: Memory Card Storage Capacity Shots Frames per second Quality Mode 10 2.0 SQ 8 0.8 HQ 4 0.8 SHQ •A new high-resolution glare-free LCD monitor screen that can be easily viewed at any angle and even in bright sunlight. The new monitor also uses less power •Automatic ISO adjustment from ISO 160 to 640. Manually selectable ISO 160, 320, and 640 •New Slow-Synchronization flash mode which enables the use of the flash on shots requiring long exposure (such as night time photography) •Image playback now includes an easier to use index mode of 4, 9, or 16 images. A 3x magnification inspection mode allows easy viewing of image detail •Overall power efficiency has been improved. 1.5 to 2 times more battery life compared to the D-400 Zoom •D-450 Zoom comes in a Champagne Gold finish NOTE: The D-450 Zoom digital camera does not include the Olympus FlashPath floppy disk adapter (which was included with the D-400 Zoom). The FlashPath adapter is available as a separate accessory.