Flash Gun

One of the few accessories that are immediately associated with a camera or photography is a flash. This is because, a flash or a flash gun, as it may sometimes be called, is extremely essential to illuminate the key subject in a photograph when the light is not sufficient. Besides, a flash gun plays an important role in capturing a moving object or to create a different ambience with light than one that is already created. A flash, as the name implies, is a quick flicker of light (as fast as about 1/3000th of a second) with colour temperature of about 5500K. For cameras used by professional photographers, a flash gun is separately brought as per the requirement and mounted on the camera. But, this may not be true for low-end consumer cameras. In these type of cameras, the flash is usually integrated and can be automated.

In a professional camera a flash is incorporated using a mount bracket. Flash guns have specialised batteries and are stand alone units. Since high-end flashguns are not integrated in a camera, they need to be synchronised via a cable, a wireless flash gun is synchronised through radio transmitters. An amateur camera flash will not be sufficient for a good picture beyond 3m. Moreover, they do not provide enough light to shoot a good picture. They also result in "Red-eye effect".