Poll: How do you use your on-camera flash?

[scoundrel1728]

You may vote up to 5 times. Please use these votes to make multiple selections if necessary.

[Wilt]

I use a separate flash as much as possible, when I know I will be using flash a lont. But there are many times when you don't want to lug it around 'just in case' . The built in flash unit makes a nice 'just in case' flash that has no additional bulk and weight.

[scoundrel1728]

I don't even own an external flash. I learned photography as a child back in the days when photographers were still using flashbulbs at ten cents a pop. This did not count batteries, which had to be fresh or the bulb would be a hair late in firing - not enough to notice at the time but enough to ruin the exposure. For someone on an allowance of 50 cents a week, flash photography was a heavy extra expenditure indeed. I did without it except for a few occasions. I would guess my entire lifetime output of flash pictures to be less than 500, of which thirty at most were taken with a flashbulb. I had fired off about 25,000 exposures since I went digital and before I stopped counting a few years ago.

Despite the ready availability and much lower incremental cost, I still go with available light or nonstrobe fixtures. I checked "outdoor fill" and "main light, but only when desperate."

[cyclohexane]

I chose "My camera doesn't have one" as one of my votes, as my main body doesn't have one.

My second body has one, which works as an outdoor fill-flash and trigger occasionally. Indoors, the light generated is usually a bit too flat to create a pleasing fill.

[scoundrel1728]

Isn't a good fill light supposed to be flat?

[captlen]

I read the question to mean on camera flash not just built in flash. I very seldom use the built in flash but often use an on camera flash.

[JDArt]

Use as an outdoor fill light can mean the difference between average pictures and ones that pop.

[cyclohexane]

Originally Posted by scoundrel1728

Isn't a good fill light supposed to be flat?

Maybe I worded it wrong... it just looks really, really tacky indoors most of the time. I don't have any examples because I don't use it inside, LOL.

[scoundrel1728]

Originally Posted by captlen

I read the question to mean on camera flash not just built in flash. I very seldom use the built in flash but often use an on camera flash.

Perhaps I should reword the poll question to limit the responses specifically to built-in flash. An external flash, even when used on-camera, produces a less flat light than the built-in version and is a lot less prone to producing red-eye because of the greater angular separation between the flash source and the imaging lens.

[Liza]

Since I got the 580EX, I don't use the onboard flash anymore. I may pick up a 430EX to be used on my other body or as a slave during wedding shoots.

[scoundrel1728]

Current poll results:
My camera doesn't have one. 10
I never use it except possibly when testing. 3
As a main light 2
As an indoor fill light 4
As an outdoor fill light 11
For producing catchlights 2
For triggering slave units 6
As a main light, but only when desperate 7
Total Votes: 27

Conclusion: Of the 27 total votes, if we subtract out the ten whose cameras lack a built-in flash and the 3 others who seldom or never use theirs, that leaves 14 of 27, or about half, who use the internal flash for one thing or another.

The number of votes for individual applications total 32, indicating that the mean number of applications for the flash unit was about 2. Of these applications, the most popular was as an outdoor fill light, with about 4/5 of the built-in flash users checking this application. About half used the built-in flash as a main light of last resort, with a slightly smaller number using it to trigger slave units.

Because of the number of responses and possibly differing interpretations of the polling question, the numbers are necessarily crude and do not justify a more detailed analysis.