Eli5: Why does a camera have to flash and time it perfectly when it takes a picture? Can’t the light just stay on?
In: 4956
Several reasons:
1. It is easier, and uses much less charge, to power a single strobe of 6400 watts for 1/1000 of a second than to power that same wattage even for a whole second.
2. Flashes can be used to compensate for slow shutter speed. A mechanical shutter can only go so fast, but a strobe in a dark room will give you the effect of a very fast shutter.
3. Historical Development: The flashbulb originally was a magnesium filament in an oxygen bulb designed to explode and produce the flash. It was much EASIER and CHEAPER to design a bulb that would ‘flash’ than one that would maintain high intensity.
4. You CAN light the scene for longer periods, but it takes much more equipment and money to do so, while a flash is small and efficient and gives you the same result.
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