Sean, I did have the flash set wrong, and now it is working just fine with the f stop and distance I expected. As I use the camera more and more, it just gets better and better. The pictures are really outstanding for this price range. Olympus has a terrific camera. I've read the manual twice, and get most of it now. There's an awful lot of features I'll never need, LORD There is an awful lot of features! Jerry - Turn off HTML mail features. Keep quoted material short. Use accurate subject lines. http://www.leben.com/lists for list instructions.