How do I turn the flash on my a540 - Polaroid a540 Digital Camera

On the A540, press cursor-up (marked with a lightning bolt) to cycle through the flash settings. Details are in the "Using the Flash" section of the Basic Manual (page 8 in my copy).

If you need the manuals, you may download them from here.

SD and SDHC cards have a slide switch along one edge. The position farthest from the metal contacts locks the card, protecting it from writes. The position nearest the contacts unlocks the card.

There is a button with the icon of a lightning flash. Press it and watch the screen. When you see a lightning flash with a diagonal line through it, the flash is turned off.

The lightning bolt icon is telling you to switch your flash on.

Hi. I had the same problem. I called Canon and they told me to reset the camera, and it worked. The camera is back to normal. To reset, hit the "menu" button and then scroll over to the tab with the tools icon. Scroll down until you see "Reset All". Hit "set" then highlight OK and hit "set" again. It will say "busy" if it was reset correctly. I had to do it twice for it to work, but it seems to be working fine now. Hope that helps.

Hi there, I can help you with that. Do this:

Turn the camera off.
Take out the batteries for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, put the batteries back in (or get a fresh set).
Then turn the camera back on.

Let me know if that helps or not with a comment. If it helps, feel free to rate my answer accordingly. Thanks for coming to FixYa.

Rob

I tried resetting the camera to the default settings and the camera did take pictures using flash. You can try this. Though resetting the camera solution works but the issue keep happening again and again. I am looking for a permanenet fix.

The camera may be trying to tell you that your flash is turned off in Auto mode, but to get a proper exposure you will need the flash turned on. Try turning the flash on and see if that works.

Hope this helps!

please go to manual mode and then enable the flash.

if it not works there are two reasons
both internal

either the flash bulb has blown.
else the control signal is not reaching and hence get it serviced.

Some of The Canon Powershot A530 and A540 cameras are subject to a advisory recall. Seems that a small spring on the battery compartment door can short out the batteries. Suspect this of yours, in that you mention that your batteries aren't lasting long. If your camera is on the list, Canon should fix this for you for free, including free shipping both ways. This is regardless of your camera's warranty status. Please check the following two links for more info:

http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/12/canon-a530-a540-with-short-battery-life.html