how to take pictures in dark places?

what are the best settings to use when taking photos in dark places like bars or restaurants? i already raised the iso to 400 and lowered the NR but the pictures turn out "grainy".

Does your camera have full manual functions? Slow down the shutter speed and use a tripod (or put the camera on the bar or restaurant table) to avoid shake. If you're getting grain at ISO 400 you probably can't raise it any higher, so will have to make other adjustments. Many digital cameras also have nighttime program modes that do a fantastic job for you.

I might just be having a 'duh' moment, but what is NR? For some reason I can't think of what on earth that is and that might be why I'm having trouble answering your question. =)

Hi, I noticed that you haven't marked any replies as the "best answer." Are you still looking for an answer? If so, I recommend you re-submit it on http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com so it will have a better chance of being noticed. These days it looks like most questions are being answered within a few days. Good luck!

After finding out that pictures will be too noisy with high ISO taken by the FZ30, I have set the ISO of my camera down to 80 almost permanently.

When shooting in low light conditions then I shoot in RAW format and then brighten them up on the computer using a RAW converter. I use RAW shooter essentials 2006 which you can download for free from : http://www.photo-freeware.net/raw-shooter-essentials.php This method only works if you don't need to shoot photos in quick succession as the FZ30 does take a while to write RAW.

Other solutions to your problem include setting the aperture to 2.8 if your lens is short enough, otherwise 3.6. In the scenarios described, I would use my flash. I would recommend investing in an external flash if you're still having difficulties as an external flash can reach further and can also be more diffuse (produce less red-eye) if used correctly.

My results can be found at : http://www.ukjon.com/html/mr_fox_2006.html and also at http://www.ukjon.com/raw/ These were taken using RAW format as flash would have been inappropriate and ineffective.