For some reason the N900 that I have is taking TERRIBLE quality photos. They seem to be much worse than my old HTC TYTN II (3mp). Even with the flash off they are really grainy (the flash is known to cause some sort of haze with the n900). I have tried changing it out of automatic mode (ex: macro mode) and changing the resolution (3mp vs 5mp) and there hasn't been a difference. Does anyone else experience this and is there a way to make the photos look better?

Edit: here's an example, a photo of my old phone I was going to list on Ebay (now reconsidering doing that...) I know the photo can be resized in a photo manipulation tool, but its still really blurry
http://imgur.com/L0urX.jpg

What ISO setting are you using?

Automatic - This I haven't played around with too much, I thought the default setting should produce something half descent?

Photos seem to be at 3.5 megapixels not 5
Check your camera settings.

I think it defaults to 3.5
I remember having to change it to 5

Yeah mine was on default 3.5, I have taken pics at 5mp and think they are quite acceptable

I have tried adjusting the resolution, it doesn't change the outcome. The two resolutions on the N900 are identical, except with the 3mp it crops the photo for a widescreen view, AFAIK.

That looks like an out of focus picture. It could be that your camera suffers from a back or front focus problem. But, I wouldn't jump to that conclusion only from looking at a picture like this one. From the looks of it, it was taken indoors, with insufficient light, and was hand held. Those are challenging conditions even for an SLR camera.

You see, when there is not enough light, the camera has to compensate by either using a wider aperture (not much available on a phone camera to begin with), slowing the shutter down (increasing the likelihood of camera shake), or increasing the ISO (increasing the visible grain). Under low light conditions, focusing is also more challenging, even for a high end DSLR camera. To test that you do not have front or back focus issues you will need to take some shots to a chart, preferably using a tripod or something like it. But, my guess is that you are simply running into the low light limitations of a camera of this type.

Try taking some shots outside or get yourself some strobe lights for your interior shots and more than likely you will get much better results. Also, make sure to press very gently on the shutter button while taking the shots. Press slowly until it has acquired focus and then slowly apply more pressure until it reaches the point of release.

Let us know what you find.

Making photos really depends on a lot of conditions. Are you trying to make photos in the dark room? are u trying to make photos while object is moving? What ISO setting is set to? If you try ISO setting 100 Ull need more light in the room, but the photos going to be less grainy. Just a simple explanation.

Regarding Blurry photo- try to press the button half way- the frame in the middle of the screen gets green- press it all the way down to make photo. I find out with this phone, that even if the object (or u) moves a little bit while making photo- always blurry.
Photo taken by N900:

When you're taking your photo as previouslt stated apply light pressure to allow focus, the square will illuminate red if it cannot focus and green means take the photo, you've got the focus