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This question seems to back up the need to power up (and possibly fire) an external flash every couple of months.

For the built in, pop-up flash in a (DSLR, micro 4/3, point-n-shoot, or other), does simply turning the camera on cause the flash's capacitors to charge, thus preventing the potential damage noted in the other question, or do I actually need to enable the flash (pop it up) or set the camera to an automatic mode, then get it to meter (with a half-press of the shutter release) to start charging the caps and prevent damage.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What information from the linked question wasn't sufficient that you thought you need to ask the exact same question again just a day later? \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetsujin
    Jul 1, 2020 at 16:26
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    \$\begingroup\$ Does this answer your question? Do you really need to fire flashes regularly when not otherwise used? \$\endgroup\$
    – Tetsujin
    Jul 1, 2020 at 16:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Tetsujin I specifically called out in my question what the difference is and why I felt that I needed to ask a different question: Every answer in the "duplicate" question, which I had just finished reading, referred to an external flash. I acknowledge that in my question, then ask specifically about a built-in flash. Those are, to me, at least, two very different things. And, No, that does not answer the question about a built-in flash. \$\endgroup\$
    – FreeMan
    Jul 1, 2020 at 16:33

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Internal flash considerations are quite similar to external flash (and indeed there are cameras advertised where the flash has died by capacitor), but the involved energies tend to be a whole lot lower, so the capacitors may not need to be as specialised as they are in an external flash of significant strength.

However, powering up the camera and powering up the internal flash circuitry are different things. In many automatic flash modes, the flash charge circuitry is not powered before the camera determines by metering (at shutter half-press, for example) that the flash may be needed for a shot: after all, powering the flash circuitry takes a chunk off the battery charge even in case the flash is not actually getting fired.

In contrast, external flashes typically power up their high voltage circuitry when switched on.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ So I would either need to manually pop-up the flash or half-press the shutter release in a dark room requiring flash (assuming the camera is set to some sort of "Auto" or "Program" mode where it's doing most/all the thinking) to get the caps to charge and keep them in good shape. \$\endgroup\$
    – FreeMan
    Jul 1, 2020 at 17:48

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