Shooting modes
How your built-in flash works depends on which shooting mode you’re using.
Your camera’s modes are split into two categories: Basic zone where the camera is in control of nearly all of the settings; and Creative zone, where you take increasing control over the camera. Most modes in the Creative zone are called semi-automated. The only modes in which you can take full control are Manual (all cameras) and Fv mode (EOS R-series only).
Basic zone modes
In some Basic zone shooting modes, as you press the shutter button, the built-in flash pops up automatically when the camera senses extra light might be useful. This can be in low light, or when the subject is in shadow against a bright background. In other basic zone shooting modes the flash never pops up. And on some more recent cameras, you need to manually raise the flash even in the Basic zone modes – there is no automatic pop-up.
In Full Auto (green square and A+) and Creative Auto (CA) modes the built-in flash will fire if the camera decides that flash is needed. There are two main situations where this will happen:
- If there is not enough available light for the picture to be taken without resorting to slow shutter speeds, the flash will be activated.
- The flash might also activate if the subject is backlit. This often occurs when shooting a portrait outdoors. If the person has their back to the sun, or bright sky, light illuminates the edges of the subject (often called rim-lighting), but leaves the face in shadow. The camera recognises that the edges of the frame are brighter than the centre and fires the flash to improve the image (it does this through the Evaluative metering system, which analyses different zones of the image and compares them). Not all backlighting will activate the built-in flash. If you know that you want to use the flash for a picture, switch to Program (P) shooting mode and press the flash button to raise the flash unit.
When it comes to the SCN (scene-based modes), the behaviour of the built-in flash is programmes according to subject type. Therefore the flash never fires in Landscapes or Sports modes. The flash is only suitable for subjects within a few metres of the camera, so it would add nothing to a landscape.
With sports, a flash can distract the competitors so is not activated in Sports mode. If it is safe to use flash for the sport you are shooting, select Program (P) mode and activate the flash manually.
In the Portrait and Close-up modes the built-in flash will automatically fire for backlit subjects and low light situations. In portrait mode the camera is programmed for continuous shooting. If the flash is activated, the continuous shooting slows down to allow time for the flash to recycle (see Flash recycling time to understand why).
Flash is useful when shooting close-ups with a hand-held camera. Because the effects of camera shake or subject movement are magnified along with the subject, the very brief duration of the flash (less than 1/1000 second) helps to ‘freeze’ this movement to give a sharper image. It can also be worth switching to Av mode and activating the flash to ensure it fires.
In low light, the flash will fire in Night Portrait mode. The flash should give a well-exposed main subject. At the same time the camera takes a meter reading from the background and adjusts the shutter speed to give a good exposure at the aperture selected for the flash. If the main subject appears underexposed you can try moving closer with the camera. The exposure time can be several seconds, so use a tripod if you want to avoid the effects of camera shake blurring the background. Ask your subject to remain still for a few seconds after the flash.
Photographing floodlit buildings and cityscapes at night usually require the camera mounted on a tripod to keep it steady during exposure times of several seconds. Handheld Night Scene mode overcomes this. It takes four shots in rapid succession using faster shutter speeds. These shots are combined in-camera to give correct exposure and overcome slight movement between each exposure. By default, the built-in flash does not fire. However, you can switch the flash on to illuminate a near subject. The flash only fires for the first of the four shots.
There will be times when the camera thinks you need flash but you don’t. Perhaps you like the contrast between light and shade across the face of a portrait. Or you might be shooting in a building where photography is permitted, but not flash. Whatever the reason, the Flash Off setting will give you the convenience of Full Auto operation, but without the risk of the flash head popping up unexpectedly.
Built-in flash is not available when HDR Backlight Control mode is selected.
Built-in flash is disabled when Candlelight mode is selected. Flash would overpower the candlelight effect.
The Kids mode is found on some recent EOS cameras. The default setting is high-speed continuous shooting and auto flash. In good daylight continuous shooting keeps up with active children. In low light, the built-in flash pops up automatically. Shooting continues if you keep the shutter button depressed, though it slows down slightly to give the flash time to recycle after each exposure.
A Food mode is found on some recent EOS cameras. You can change the colour tone from Warm to Cool. By default, the built-in flash is set to Off. If you activate the flash, the colour tone will switch to Standard.
In the Creative filters mode you can apply up to ten different effects (depending on the camera). Auto flash is the default for Toy camera effect, Fish-eye effect, Soft focus, Grainy B/W and Water painting effect. The built-in flash is disabled for Miniature effect, HDR art standard, HDR art vivid, HDR art bold and HDR art embossed.
Creative zone modes
In the Creative zone modes you can activate the flash at any time by pressing the flash button on the side of the camera, just above the lens release button (circled below), or if your camera doesn’t have a button, simply lift the flash up via the tabs either side.
The built-in flash does not activate automatically in any of the Creative zone modes – Program (P), Flexible-priority (Fv), Shutter-priority (Tv), Aperture-priority (Av), Manual (M) and Bulb (B). However, you can use built-in flash with any of these modes. Once activated, the flash will fire for every exposure. Press down on the raised flash head until it clicks back into place when you no longer want the flash to fire.
In low light levels, Program (P) and Av mode will use flash and ignore any ambient light. In bright light it will automatically provide fill-in flash, adding light to shadow areas. In both conditions the camera will keep the aperture as wide as possible for the light level and keep the shutter speed between 1/60 second and the camera’s maximum sync speed (either 1/180 or 1/200 second, depending on camera).
Tv mode is programmed to automatically provide fill-in flash regardless of the ambient light level. If using Tv mode, ensure that you set the ISO high enough for the ambient light to allow a suitable aperture to be selected. In Tv mode the aperture value will flash if there is too much or too little light.
Manual (M) mode simply tries to give a correct flash exposure, leaving you to adjust the exposure settings for the ambient light level. This can be quite complex, so it’s recommended that if you need to use flash you work in one of the other modes until you’re confident with flash usage.
