Red-eye reduction systems that work by preflash(es) can cause two problems.

• First, your subject may mistake the preflash(es) for the actual picture,and look or turn away. This ruins the shot, of course.
• Second, even if you tell your subject to expect the preflash(es), he may not know what to do with himself during the lag between the preflash(es) and the final flash (again, the flash for the picture itself). In that seemingly interminable time, the lively moment you sought to capture when you pressed the shutter button can turn into an awkward, self-conscious stare.

Watching the perfect picture slip away as your camera puts on a light show is a frustrating experience, to say the least. Some red-eye reduction preflash systems fire a rapid and very distracting series of up to ten or so bursts before they take the picture.

If your red-eye reduction system is of the preflash sort, seriously consider not using it. As if to acknowledge the problem, some manufacturers relegate red-eye reduction to a separate button, so it's not part of the usual flash mode sequence. You can turn it off and on, or combine it with other flash modes, at your discretion. Thank you very much, but wouldn't you rather have a good picture with red-eye (and fix it with a Sharpie, if need be) than a crummy picture without red-eye?