Turning the flash off on the Canon S30

[vicforde]

The icons on the LCD screen of the canon S30 for the flash functions are difficult to read. Is there any way to turn off the flash as soon as the camera is activated in the shooting mode?

Vic Forde

[Rustle]

In the creative zone (manual settings), the camera will remembers all settings from when you last used the mode, including the flash. In the Image Zone (automatic settings) it defaults to the automatic setting so that you can quickly switch to a mode (auto, slow shutter, etc.) and not have to worry about the settings. I don't think there's anyway around that.

The manual lists a heirarchy of which settings are retained when you switch modes while the camera is on, but doesn't say anything about powering on the camera in a specific mode. Again, I think it just defaults to whatever gets you a quick picture.

So, as far as I know, you'll have to stick with turning on the camera and pressing the flash button to turn it off.

Russ

[rcpage]

Anyone know how the flash can be forced to be switched on irrespective of the brightness of the day?

[star]

You should be able to do that with the flash button right?

rcpage wrote:
Anyone know how the flash can be forced to be switched on irrespective of the brightness of the day?

[Rustle]

That's called 'fill-flash' by most photographers, but I think the manual just calls it 'always on'. Unfortunately, the icons are a bit screwy in my mind:

- The lightning arrow is always on
- An arrow with an 'A' is auto-sensing
- The eye is auto-sensing with red-eye reduction
- An arrow with a small eye is always on with red-eye reduction
- A circled, crossed out arrow is always off

It would make more sense to me if the red-eye icons were switched, so that always on was the large eye and auto-sensing was the arrow with small eye, but whatever. If anything, I really wish that Canon had put in a slow-synch mode, which double-flashes a subject. It's on some of their other cameras, but not the S30/S40.

Russ