New solutions to the old question: can the camera flash be used as a torch?

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wildetudor

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Hi guys,

It's quite obvious to mobile phone users that the powerful flash their phones are equipped with can come very handy in the dark, if used as a flash. I know people have been looking for ways to do this on Nokia phones, where usually this is not a built-in function. I also know there are several Symbian/Java applications out there that claim to be able to do this. However the ones that I have tried (NTorch, BestTorch, SpotOn) are either only able to use the *screen* for lighting, instead of the flash, OR only able to turn on the red, low-powered light in the flash. Does anyone have a solution that will actually use the full power of the flash? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 
There are actually quite a few for the Blackberry's that use the camera flash as a torch. The latest one I seen will actually turn it on full bright, and leave it on for up to 30 minutes.
 
If you're on about the phones equipt with the faster flashes found on traditional cameras (Xeon flashes), then I don't think it's possible. I'm no camera expert, but the way these flashes work is that a quick jet of current is sent to the light which causes a quick but powerful burst of lighting. To use it as a light, you'd have to have the application tell the phone to keep a persistant flow of high current to the flash, which would not only cause damage, but it would also drain your battery pretty darn quick as well I should think. In short, I don't think it's possible due to hardware limitations. the LED flash equiped phones however, do a fairly good job :)
 
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