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I recently bought a Kodak Funsaver Disposable Camera (800 ISO), because I am traveling to Ireland and wanted to snap some shots while up there. I am wondering if I always should use the flash or just at night/low light situations. I will be outside and it will be sunny out most of the time, should I still use the flash? (I’ve never had a disposable, so I need your help).

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I have struggled to google-fu the specs for this particular Kodak so will assume that they are similar to Fuji's version of the camera (https://www.fujifilm.com/products/quicksnap/lineup/superia/).

The camera uses a fixed wide angle lens, f/10 or so aperture, and 1/140 shutter speed or so.

Keep in mind that you are not looking through the lens. The viewfinder is a framing aid and will work just fine unless you are very close to your subject (subject is 1 meter away). If shooting something that close, realize the camera is slightly below and to the right of what you are seeing and adjust your camera angle accordingly. Also, make sure your fingers are not covering the lens...many, many people have shot a full or partial finger with these cameras.

The focusing distance is fixed at 1 meter to infinity. Everything will be decently sharp as long as the subject is at least 1 meter away from you.

The 1/140 shutter speed is decent enough to freeze a person walking, but you'll get some motion blur if shooting fast paced action.

The flash will illuminate your subject between 1.2 and 3.5 meters. You can, of course, use flash and shoot a subject further away but they'll be underexposed.

Flash from the front of the camera is not really the best looking, so I would avoid using it unless you are in a dim environment.

Daytime outdoor and daytime cloudy shots will be fine. Shots at twilight, at night, in a bar/club/venue/building, you'll want to use the flash.

Make sure to get the camera developed at a location that gives you back your negatives. If you're in the USA, most drugstores will offer developing services, but they send the film out for development, the film is scanned and then destroyed and you get digital files. This is unacceptable, IMO.

Find yourself a lab locally or one you can ship the camera to who will develop and scan, offer prints, and who gives you your negatives back.

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    "You can, of course, use flash and shoot a subject further away but they'll be underexposed". That's not exactly correct. The flash has an effect over a limited distance, as you say. Subjects beyond that distance won't be lit by the flash, but that's not to say they will be underexposed. If you use the flash outdoors during the day, it is possible to have distant subjects perfectly exposed, with fill-flash affecting anything within the flash's range. The key I guess is just not to expect the flash to light anything beyond its range, if you need it to be lit.
    – osullic
    Mar 11, 2020 at 9:12
  • @osullic the light falloff is going to be dramatic after the end of the range but one doesn't go from perfectly lit at 3.5 meters to not lit at all at 4 meters. The question of just how much play do you have with the flash over the recommended range isn't worth the calculation - it's a disposable camera in non-professional shooting. Maybe I should have simply stated: shoot within the recommended range or take your chances.
    – OnBreak.
    Mar 11, 2020 at 17:33
  • With that sort of flash I've always had more issues with overexposing close subjects than underexposing distant(ish) ones
    – Chris H
    Mar 13, 2020 at 15:13

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