In photography, a flash is a device that produces an instantaneous flash of light (typically around 1/1000 of a second) to help illuminate a scene. While flashes can be used for a variety of reasons (e.g. capturing quickly moving subjects) they are mostly used to illuminate scenes that do not have enough available light to adequately expose the photograph. The term flash can either refer to the flash of light itself, or as a colloquialism for the electronic flash unit which discharges the flash of light. The vast majority of flash units today are electronic, having evolved from single-use flash-bulbs and inflammable powders.

In lower-end commercial photography, flash units are commonly built directly into the camera, while higher-end cameras allows separate flash units to be mounted via a standardized accessory mount bracket. In professional studio photography, flashes often take the form of large, standalone units, or studio strobes, that are powered by special battery packs and synchronized with the camera from either a flash synchronization cable, radio transmitter, or are light-triggered, meaning that only one flash unit needs to be synchronized with the camera, which in turn triggers the other units.

Types of flashes

The earliest flashes consisted of a wad of magnesium powder that was ignited by hand. Later, magnesium filaments were contained in flash bulbs, and electrically ignited by a contact in the camera shutter; such a bulb could only be used once, and was too hot to handle immediately after use, but the confinement of what would otherwise have amounted to a small explosion was an important advance.

For the Kodak Instamatic camera, flash cubes of 4 bulbs were introduced, that allowed taking 4 images in a row as the cube automatically rotated 90 degrees to a fresh bulb upon firing. The later Magicube was noteworthy in that each bulb was set off by a plastic pin striking a pyrotechnic element in the flash, so that a battery was not required.

Today's flash units are often electronic Xenon flash lamps. An electronic flash contains a tube filled with xenon gas, where electricity of high voltage is discharged to generate an electrical arc that emits a short flash of light. (A typical duration of the light impulse is 1/1000 second.) As of 2003, the majority of cameras targeted for consumer use have an electronic flash unit built in.

Another type of flash unit are microflashes, which are special, high-voltage flash units designed to discharge a flash of light with an exceptionally quick, sub-microsecond duration. These are commonly used by scientists or engineers for examining extremely fast moving objects or reactions, famous for producing images of bullets tearing through objects like lightbulbs or balloons.

See also

• Red-eye effect
• Flash synchronization
• List of photographic equipment makers