The Range of Your Flash

How far will the light from your flash travel? That�s something you need to know if you expect to get the most out of your flash. The flash built into most digital cameras is not extremely powerful; at best, you can expect to get a range of about 20 feet. To find the range of your camera�s flash, refer to the owner�s manual that came with your camera. You can almost always find the flash range listed in the specifications section of the manual. If you cannot find the range of your flash listed there, assume it is no more than about 15 feet.

• The range of your flash also depends upon two other factors: the current ISO (light sensitivity) setting on your camera and the focal length setting of the zoom lens. The first factor�ISO�is pretty obvious. The more sensitive the CCD is made to light, the more effective the flash will be.
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  It is an unfortunate side effect of zoom lens technology that when you increase the focal length to telephoto, you typically process less light than when you are using a wide angle or normal focal lengths. Since there�s less light getting through the lens barrel to the CCD at telephoto magnifications, the flash has less range.
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  If you�re used to the great range you would get from an external flash unit mounted on top of a 35mm SLR camera, you might be disappointed by the range from a digital camera flash. It stands to reason, though, that the small flash built into a digital camera could not have the same power as the large flash head�with lots of AA batteries�mounted on an SLR.
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  That means you�ll have to be aware of how far you�re trying to get the flash to throw light, especially at night or in very dark conditions. If your subject is very far away, such as 25 feet or more, it is unlikely that the built-in flash will have any effect at all on your photograph. In fact, some digital cameras disable the flash automatically when they sense that the lens is focused on infinity. You might want to check your camera manual or experiment to see if that feature applies to your camera.