Which Compact P&S Cameras Have a "Soft" Flash Setting?

[musicmafia]

The more I think about it, my main complaint about my last 2 compact point and shoots (including the top of the line Canon S95) was this:

In low light situations (using Auto or Semi-Auto modes) people appear dark and shadowed without flash and when I use the flash, people look like Casper the ghost.

On my old Cybershot I actually stuck some semi-transparent tape over the flash

Since I mostly shoot in auto modes, I am wondering which are the best brands or models of compact P&S that incorporate an adjustable or "soft" type flash setting?

I know some of the Casio models do this, are there others?

Thanks for your help!

[Photo-John]

I know exactly what you mean about the harsh flash. For that reason I recommend everyone turn off the auto flash setting with any camera. It's horrible.

As for a "soft" flash setting, I think all cameras have it now. Some cameras have a special "slow synch" flash mode and they all allow you to just force the flash on. It used to be that forcing the flash on popped the flash but still set the exposure for tha ambient light. In low light that means the flash illuminates your subject and the ambient exposure allows the available light to fill in the background and shadows. All cameras allow you to force the flash and that's generally what I do. It's not always clear to me what the program differences are between forcing the flash and slow speed synch flash on cameras that have both. But when they have both I would go with the slow speed mode since it does what you're asking for.

For what it's worth, here's a photo I took with the flash with the Canon S90. It's basically the same camera as the S95. The S95 just has a couple of new features but most of the functionality and the sensor are the same.



If you click on the image it will take you to a gallery with all of my S90 photos. I think once you learn what you're doing with it, it does just fine for flash photos. And that's the case with most cameras. They all have their quirks and you need to get to know how each one works. Expecting to pull a camera out of the box and take perfect pictures in all situations just isn't realistic. That said, some cameras do have better flash metering than others and it is frustrating when you get harsh or blown out flash photos.