There are many indoor flash photo opportunities you may be faced with. You may want to cast light on a group of people for a portrait photo. You may want to throw light into a room for an architectural photo. Or you may just want to cast light on certain objects in a lighted room that appears too dark for an exposure. 

If your camera’s auto-exposure settings say that the photo would require a shutter speed slower than 1/60 of a second then you probably shouldn’t hand-hold the camera or the photo would come out blurry. The reason it would come out blurry is because the shutter would be open long enough for any minor hand shake to distort the composition. The use of a tripod or faster film will probably be needed but many of us do not regularly carry a tripod. Most photographers simply use their flash bulb when they are inside. 

In order to take effective indoor flash photos there are some techniques you should keep in mind. When using the flash do not point it directly at a mirror or glass that will create a lens flare or just ruin the photo. Stand close enough to your subjects so the flash is actually effective (four to ten feet). Try to make sure your main subjects are about the same distance away from the flash as each other or some that are closer to the flash will appear brighter than ones that are farther away. 

PriceGrabber has a wide variety of price comparisons on many different types of camera flashes. One thing I have recently been shopping for is a macro photography ringlight.

The Nikon Coolpix S520 is an 8 megapixel digital camera with 3x optical zoom. It is designed for point-and-shoot photographers looking for style, easy operation, and an intuitive interface. The Coolpix S520 features image stabilization, ISO speeds up to 2000, the Expeed imaging processor, enhanced noise reduction, 16 scene modes, and face recognition. 

Incorporating Nikon’s new, innovative Expeed digital imaging processing system for enhanced noise reduction and improved the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, the S520 captures sharp photographs while maintaining image quality and ISO sensitivity up to ISO 2000. Notable images can now be saved to individual albums as well with the S520’s in-camera image organization system. New viewing options include Face Zoom-in, which allows users to quickly zoom in and switch between faces during playback on the 2.5” LCD screen. 

Reviewers have mentioned its above-average image quality and appealing price range. This camera is built for users who simply want to take quality photos without worrying about creative features or functions. The Nikon Coolpix S520 is relatively plain and simple and does a good job with photos.

The Canon Pixma iP4500 is a high resolution photo printer designed to deliver high-quality photo printing with exceptional text printing in a stylish case. It features high resolution printing, five ink tanks, built-in automatic duplexing and borderless photo printing. It has a stylish design with sleek curves and silver and black accents that are supposed to enhance the look of any home or small office. 

The Pixma iP4500 features a maximum of 9600 x 2400 color dpi resolution and five Smart LED equipped individual ink tanks in the Canon FINE print head. FINE technology uses a high-performance multi-nozzle print engine that ejects consistent and microscopic ink droplets. The results are high-resolution photos with great detail and clarity in less time. All these features together allow the printer to deliver print speeds of approximately 31 pages per minute (ppm) for black, 24 ppm for color and 21 seconds for a 4″ x 6″ inch photo lab quality borderless photo. 

Reviewers have appreciated the print quality of this printer but also expressed a little disappointment at how expensive the iP4500 is for what it offers. It is available now for about $92 - $168.

The HP Photosmart R742 is a 7-megapixel with a 3x HP Precision optical zoom lens and 7x digital zoom. The R742 is aimed at pocket-shooters on the go who like simplicity, a large screen, and a decent amount of photo editing features. It has 13 shooting modes, a large 2.5-inch display which helps with editing photos, 16 MB of internal memory. It has HP Design Gallery can be used to apply colors and borders to photos within the camera, and industry-leading red-eye removal on the camera reduces time spent editing photos on a computer. 

This camera is very simple and easy to use with menus that are very well laid out and specific. It is a very low budget camera that does not offer the newer perks like face detection or blink detection. It is built with only the necessities to snap quick photos. Advanced photographers would probably not appreciate this camera but beginners would likely enjoy it. 

It is available now for about $129 - $149.

The Nikon Coolpix P80 is a 10.1 megapixel digital camera with 18x optical zoom-Nikkor lens. It is designed for consumers looking for an ultra-zoom compact camera with a broad range of creative control options. The Coolpix P80 features the Expeed digital image processor, 15 scene modes, ISO speeds up to 6400, face detection, an electronic viewfinder, and a 2.7″ LCD screen. 

The P80 includes intuitive controls via dedicated command and mode dials, providing easy access to shooting controls and exposure mode settings. The P80 offers Programmed Auto, Shutter-priority Auto, Aperture-priority Auto and Manual modes giving users the ability to tap into the creativity of DSLR functions while maintaining the simplicity of Coolpix cameras. 

Nikon has incorporated its user-friendly tools into the P80, designed to make the photo-taking process easier and more intuitive. These technologies include In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, D-Lighting, and Face-Priority AF. 

Reviewers have been fairly impressed the Coolpix P80 but have also mentioned sluggish performance and noise problems. The Nikon Coolpix P80 is available now for about $328.89 - $399.99.

The Canon Powershot A580 is an 8.0-megapixel digital camera with 4x optical zoom. It is designed to be rugged, lightweight, and packed full of features. The Powershot A580 has a CCD-type image sensor, face detection, motion detection technology, automatic red eye correction, and the DIGIC III imaging processor. 

Though equipped with Canon’s precise nine-point Autofocus system, the PowerShot A580 model offers an AF-Point Zoom feature that works together with the camera’s advanced Face Detection Technology to enable users to double check facial expressions before snapping photos. Once it has been enabled in the recording menu, AF-Point Zoom can be engaged when photographing people simply by pressing the shutter button halfway.  

The Powershot A580 also features Canon’s Intelligent Orientation Sensor that determines whether a scene is being shot as a vertical or horizontal image. It then automatically rotates the image for quick and easy review on the cameras’ 115,000-pixel 2.5 inch LCD monitor. 

With beginners in mind, the new “Easy Mode,” available with the Powershot A580 model, simplifies camera operation even more than the standard full auto mode. 

This camera scored very high with reviewers and is very competitively priced at $123 - $154.

The Sony DPP-FP75 Picturestation is a compact and affordable dye sublimation photo printer. It is designed for casual photographers looking for a way to print 4 x 6 photos conveniently and quickly. The DPP-FP75 features one-touch printing, red-eye reduction, fast printing, and a 3.5″ LCD display. To simplify the process of printing your digital pictures, this printer is outfitted with one-touch printing and in-printer photo editing features. 

The DPP-FP75 is designed to be transportable and can be taken to birthday celebrations, family reunions or scrapbooking parties. It produces lab-quality 4 x 6-inch prints in about a minute. This model has basic editing functions that allow you to enlarge, reduce, rotate and adjust the color of your photos before you print. To ensure a continuous color tone and to protect your prints from fading, it uses dye-sublimation technology with SuperCoat 2 laminate, a kind of durable coating that protects photos from water, heat and fingerprints. Printing with this printer supposedly costs around 29 cents per print. 

The Sony DPP-FP75 is available now for about $149 - $179.

The Kodak Easyshare Z1285 is a 12-megapixel digital camera with a 5x Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon optical zoom lens. It is designed to be a high resolution point-and-shoot camera that makes picture taking effortless. The Z1285 features HD quality video capabilities, a 2.5″ LCD screen, 5x digital zoom, Kodak perfect touch technology, digital image stabilization, and the Kodak color science imaging chip. 

The Z1285 captures HD photos in 16:9 format, and empowers you to view your pictures in high definition on an HDTV or other HD devices. With HD video, the camera can record more video while using less memory with MPEG-4 compression. Also with the video function you can print multiple frames on a 4 × 6 in. (10 × 15 cm) print, save single frames and e-mail family and friends, and mark special spots in your video with video bookmarking. 

This camera has not been reviewed thoroughly let, so I’m not sure how it performs. But 12 megapixels is impressive for a point-and-shoot camera which allows you to print in sizes up to 30 × 40 in. (76 × 102 cm). It also has a relatively cheap price tag ($167.94 - $204.00).

Professional camera reviewers were impressed with the Cyber-shot N2’s performance. They complimented its quick start-up speed and lack of shutter lag. One weakness they found was in the N2’s burst mode, apparently the N2 takes just three shots in a row at a very slow 0.7 frames/second. Photo quality was found to be great for the most parts with comments made on exposure, sharpness, and nice colors. 

The Sony Cyber-shot N2 is a 10.1 megapixel digital camera with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 3x Optical Zoom lens. Released in 2006, the N2 was the first compact Cyber-shot camera to cross the 10 megapixel line. It is equipped with the 1/1.7-inch Super HAD CCD which is designed to ensure superb, sparkling pictures with unrivalled clarity and detail. The Cyber-shot N2 features a high sensitivity mode (ISO 1600), a 3.0-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus screen with Touch-Screen access to shooting and playback functions, a photo album (up to 500 images), music capabilities, eight pre-set Scene Selection modes, five color modes, and a battery designed to deliver up to 300 shots on a single charge. 

Built to be stylish and slim, the Cyber-shot N2 has a brushed gold-tinted aluminum body and is only 22.7mm wide. It was released at the end of 2006 so you might be able to find some good deals on it.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS20 is a 10.1 megapixel digital camera with a 4x optical zoom Leica DC lens. It is designed to be affordable, intuitive, easy-to-use, small, and stylish. The DMC-FS20 features optical image stabilization, intelligent scene selector, face detection, a 3.0″ LCD, 50MB of internal memory, and quick auto focus. 

With image stabilization, gyrosensors detect hand-shake and the lens system shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a blurry image. Intelligent Scene Selector senses the ambient conditions, recognizes the shooting environment and will automatically select the appropriate scene mode from: scenery, portrait, macro, night portrait or night scenery mode. This intuitive technology, helps the consumer use the most common scene modes that are built into the camera, but often go unused, without making any manual adjustments. Panasonic’s face detection detects faces anywhere in the frame and automatically chooses the optimal focus and exposure settings so portraits come out clear and crisp. Detecting up to 15 faces, Panasonic’s face detection can even track a face if the subject is moving. 

Not many reviewers have taken a look at this camera, so it is hard to recommend it or not. It does not have much of a track record. It is available now for about $197 - $304.