Anatomy of A Digital Camera
The Flash
A flash can be great for
taking low light pictures and for filling in shadowed areas, my
preference is to use flash as little as possible and to use
available light for more natural looking photos. As you shop for a camera, something you should look for
in a built in flash is a bit
of distance between the flash and the lens. If the lens and
flash are too close together, you usually get the "red
eye" effect. This is caused by light being
reflected back from people's retinas causing the "rabid"
or "undead"
look. For
example, some compact cameras have the flash mounted very close
to the lens, causing frequent red-eye. Some cameras make
the flash pop up from the case, increasing
the distance from the lens, lowering the red-eye syndrome.
This occurs with regular film cameras too.
Flash features can include:
- Red-eye reduction - a preflash
is activated before the main flash, causing the eyes to
react and reduce red-eye
- Slow flash - useful for creating
light trails on moving cars during a night shot and great for indoor photography where you want to see more of
the room past the subjects you are photographing. I
like to use slow flash for photographing fire performers who
spin burning poi or staff, creating fire trails with the
performer clearly lit up.
- Fill flash - used to light
subject that have a strong backlight. For example,
photographing a person with the sunset behind them, the camera
will adjust for the background. Using the fill flash
lights up the areas that are not receiving direct light.
- Sync flash - high end consumer
and professional digital cameras offer a flash sync jack that can be used with other flash units. This allows
you to use multiple lighting techniques.
- Adjustable flash power - this
is usually on the higher end camera models.
Look at the flash range, will
this give you what you want? After you buy the camera, do
you get dark flash photos? Make sure you are close enough
for the camera's range.
Flash units: If you
buy a digital SLR, mirrorless camera or high end point and
shoot, you usually will have a flash mount on the top of your
camera. You can buy a matched flash for your camera for
greater power and adjustments! Also, if you get a flash
that can rotate and tilt, you can create much more interesting
light for your subjects. Flashes can start very
inexpensively (with non branded flash units starting around $50)
and can get rather expensive, such as the Nikon 910 flash which
is $540.
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to Anatomy of a Digital Camera
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