Pixiq

If photography is about light (and it is) then flash is often times the photographer's best friend.

A flash provides additional light that can be handy for pictures taken indoors or at night. It can even be used as a fill light outdoors.

All compact cameras these days come with a built-in flash unit of some sort. Heck, even many of today's camera phones have flashes to aid the mobile photographer. Of course many DSLRs come with a pop of flash until you start reaching the "pro" level cameras and those provide a hot shoe to mount an external flash unit to help out when light is lacking.

So what should you consider about flash when making your next compact camera purchase?

The smartest thing you can do is look for flash controls that are easy to access and make sense to you. You really don't want them buried in an overly complicated menu system. The ease with which you can switch your camera from auto flash to flash on or flash off can often times determine whether you get the shot when you wanted it. This is especially true when capturing candid portraiture.

The small flash that comes with a compact camera may not always produce splendid results, however, it's important to remember that sometimes just getting the shot is the most important thing.