Fuji S9600 built in flash power

Hi all,
I've been given (though yet to receive) a small studio type flash
rated at about 50ws. Does anyone know the typical flash output
power of a camera's built in flash?

This is just to give me a rough idea of the extra flash power that
this little studio thing can offer. Once I get hold of this lamp I
will make the usual tests to get familiar with its operation and
settings.

Rv!

(sorry if this turns into a double post - computer sneezed)

On Apr 24, 11:20 am, "Rv!" <no.it....DeleteThis@invalid.ok> wrote:
> Hi all,
> I've been given (though yet to receive) a small studio type flash
> rated at about 50ws. Does anyone know the typical flash output
> power of a camera's built in flash?

Yes, but only as a Guide Number.. - the Fuji is 5.6m (I reckon it's
closer to 5!), which is very meagre indeed. And when added to the
slow recycle time, it makes that one of the very few weak areas of
this fine camera).

There is no direct conversion from ws to GN - Ellis Vener covered this
on photo.net better than I could - I hope he forgives me for quoting
him, thus:

".... while some studio flash manufacturers do publish guide numbers
for specific head and reflector combinations, there cannot be a
general rule or equation for converting GN to watt- seconds or vice
versa. Watt-seconds is a measure of potential energy stored in flash
units capacitors while guide numbers are derived from actual output of
the flash unit. Additionally there are differences in how efficiently
a flash head & pack or monolight convert the potential energy stored
in the capacitors to actual light, and different reflectors further
influence the intensity of light - -a wide angle or "umbrella"
reflector spreads the light over a wide area while a narrow angle
reflector concentrates the enrgy into a much narrower area of
illumination. the final complication is that there is no industry wide
standard for reflector choice , distance to subject , etc. used when
taking the measurement. Even small flashes are subject to this lack of
standards."

Anyway, you'll probably find your studio flash will work out to
somewhere between 15 and 25...? Who knows.

> This is just to give me a rough idea of the extra flash power that
> this little studio thing can offer. Once I get hold of this lamp I
> will make the usual tests to get familiar with its operation and
> settings.
>
> Rv!

That's exactly what you need to do. Personally, I'd recommend a flash
meter if you're serious, but it depends on how much time you can spend
playing...