Originally posted by K200Duser The flash fires 100% of the time, at least 50-60% of the time it flashes incorrectly. Not providing a full flash.
OK, but as I said, that could easily be correct behavior depending on the distance to subject, the exposure settings, the reflectance of the subject, etc. At ISO 400, the flash can certainly reach 8 feet if the aperture is wide enough, but who knows what aperture the camera selected. You should set it yourself to an appropriately wide aperture. And also consider that is there is anything between you and your subject, the camera will meter off that closer (and hence brighter) object instead of your subject, producing an underexposed subject. It is unfortunately just not the case that you can always point & shoot in auto mode with flash and expect a well-exposed picture.
If you post a picture (with EXIF intact) that demonstrates what you are seeing, most likely people will be able to make suggestions.
Quote: I can take three pictures of the exact same subject, same distance, same everything. Only one will come out properly exposed. The other two look about 3-4 stops underexposed
OK, if it's the exact same settings - and "auto" doesn't count as a setting because the camera might easily change its mind about aperture based on whatever whim it bases such decisions on - then the problem could still be a foreground object that sometimes confused the flash exposure sensor and sometimes didn't. It certainly *could* be a defect, but at this point, I'm not seeing nearly enough evidence/information to jump to that conclusion yet.