Flash photography ruining stuff...

I'm completely new to photography, although I have always been interested in it. I'm curious what the flash of a camera does to ancient artifacts such as paintings, murals, old objects etc....

I know its random haha, but I'm taking an archaeology class in college right now...

 

you mean..like..why they don't allow flash photography of old paintings and such?

 

UV from gas discharge tubes will cause deterioration, but another aspect in a museum environment is simply that it is inconsiderate to others viewing and photographing items.

And with the right camera, it is not needed.
My D3100 takes wonderful photos without the flash. Here's some hand-held no-flash shots from the Reagan Library.

The suit President Reagan was wearing when he was shot, Airforce One, and a flag and documents from the Lincoln era.

 

yea newer cameras have high ISO ranges and are getting less noisy all the time so flashes aren't always needed.

 

x2 with what they said and might be time to invest in a new, quicker lens.

 

Between that an image stabilization....

Fastest I ever shot on film was 1600 (and had the developer push it to 3200) when I shot Comet Hale-Bopp.

My biggest let-down was my Nikon L810.
I took it to Carlsbad Caverns... 90% of my shots were terrible. Auto focus was off, flash was worthless for anything over 10ft away, and anything inside of that was washed out due to the dark background.

I literally used that camera for 6 months before I was ready to pitch it. Bought it for my daughter's wedding, and it did "okay", but my old S330 would have done just as well, and been better in the caverns.
My complaint on the S330 was the proprietary battery and battery life was getting pathetic. I got the 810 in part because it uses AA cells so I could use my Enloops.
Now I'm back to a proprietary battery with the D3100, but I have been VERY impressed with battery life so far, and I can still use my Enloops in my flash units (got a deal on an 800 and a fair deal on a 400).

I've also got a Sigma flash unit, but the 3100 does not meter properly when I set it to bounce and it's too hot for close-in work even with a diffuser, so if it gets used, it's a remote-triggered backfill.

 

Exactly!

But it sounds like I got my answer