Nikon D5300 Flash

Coverage and Range
Uneven coverage and inconsistent flash performance with the kit lens. Our standard portrait shots required less than average exposure compensation.

Coverage and Exposure. Flash coverage was rather uneven at wide angle (18mm), with very dark corners. The lens also cast a shadow at the bottom of our test frame. Coverage at telephoto (140mm) was better despite being very dim, though still somewhat uneven. (Some of the corner shading is due to the lens itself, though.) For our Indoor Portrait scene test, the Nikon D5300's flash required only +0.3 EV exposure compensation adjustment to get bright results with our Nikkor 60mm lens at f/4, which is a bit better than average for DSLRs we've tested. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode at 1/15 second produced bright results without any compensation, though with a stronger pinkish-orange cast from the ambient room lighting.

ISO 200 Range. With the kit lens at wide angle, the Nikon D5300's flash exposures started out dim at 6 feet, got a little brighter at 7 and 8 feet, then became dimmer again. Our flash range series remained underexposed at all distances we test. At the telephoto end, flash intensity started out a bit dim at 6 feet and also remained dimmer than ideal, while varying quite a bit as well. These are odd results, and we wouldn't be surprised if a firmware update is pending to fix this behavior.

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Nikon D5300's built-in flash has a Guide Number (GN) of 12 meters (39 feet) in Auto mode at ISO 100. That translates to about 9.8 feet at f/5.6 at ISO 200. In the shot above at those settings the D5300 appears to perform to Nikon's specification, producing a bright exposure at the rated distance. It's interesting that this shot is well-exposed at 105mm, while the shot at 10 feet in our range series at full telephoto using the same aperture is underexposed. Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 200, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun taking a shot using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.