Sometimes you will be in a situation where the light levels are low but you don’t want to use the flash. It could be that you are shooting in a place that restricts flash photography, such as a museum, or maybe you want to take advantage of the available light, as when shooting candles on a birthday cake. This is where Flash Off mode comes into play (Figure 3.3).
By keeping the flash from firing, you will be able to use just the available ambient light while the camera automatically modifies the ISO setting to assist you in getting a good exposure (Figure 3.4). If the camera estimates that the shutter speed is going to be slow enough to introduce camera shake, it will give a warning on the information screen that reads “Subject is too dark.” It will also list the shutter speed as “Lo” so that you know to check the camera settings. Fortunately, most of the new Vibration Reduction (VR) lenses being sold today allow you to hand-hold the camera at much slower shutter speeds and still get great results. The two downfalls to this mode are the Auto ISO setting, which will quickly take your ISO setting up as high as 3200, and the possibility of getting blur from subject movement.
