5d M2 and flash

[Emilymarie]

I just bought this camera and I know and have known that it does not have on board flash. Im just curious why not.

 

[smlblk396]

What I meant to say is that they think you should.
When you get in that pro category I think you would have a setup of strobes.

 

[IgsEMT]

'Cause Canon wants you to spend more $ on additional gear. Nikon isn't any better

 

[Derrel]

'Cause Canon wants you to spend more $ on additional gear. Nikon isn't any better

Actually Nikon *is* better...the Nikon D700, priced as the low-cost full-frame Nikon body, has a bulit-in pop-up flash AND a built-in, multi-flash commander...the Canon has neither the flash nor the flash commander system...

Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

 

[John Mc]

Why would you be interested in an onboard flash,bar maybe a convenience for quick shot's at a party maybe?

 

[MohaimenK]

because they know people who'll buy this will never want to use on camera flash. they're HORRIBLE!
Nikons have it because their photogs like bad pictures :lmao:

 

[Village Idiot]

Who knows? Price? Canon cameras didn't have in body wireless TTL control until very recently. The only reason some one who's not using the 5D MKII for snapshots to have an on board flash, imo, is to trigger strobes remotely that have optical slaves. Even then, I would personally choose a more reliable method to trigger a strobe.

 

[Emilymarie]

because they know people who'll buy this will never want to use on camera flash. they're HORRIBLE!
Nikons have it because their photogs like bad pictures :lmao:

Understandable, I never even used it in my rebel because it does look so bad.

 

[MohaimenK]

Understandable, I never even used it in my rebel because it does look so bad.

Yeah, also, they were gearing the camera toward the professional wedding/even photographers but what I really think is that the fact that they were gearing this toward potential videographer more than anything. They knew in video world a pop up flash would not be needed. If you think of that, those are probably the main reasons why

 

[Village Idiot]

Understandable, I never even used it in my rebel because it does look so bad.

Yeah, also, they were gearing the camera toward the professional wedding/even photographers but what I really think is that the fact that they were gearing this toward potential videographer more than anything. They knew in video world a pop up flash would not be needed. If you think of that, those are probably the main reasons why

The original 5D doesn't have a pop up and the 1D series doesn't either. They had cameras around long before the DVSLR

 

[Derrel]

A flash located directly on the lens axis creates what is known as on-axis fill lighting. In traditional, professional lighting, the ideal place for the fill light is directly next to the camera, pointed straight ahead, at the same exact,precise height as the camera lens....ahemm...a flash placed in the hot shoe is *exactly* where it should be for FILL light...perhaps some of you missed the Strobist blog post about how to use a flash located on-camera as fill light while using the sun or the light from the sky as main light...

 

[Emilymarie]

Understandable, I never even used it in my rebel because it does look so bad.

Yeah, also, they were gearing the camera toward the professional wedding/even photographers but what I really think is that the fact that they were gearing this toward potential videographer more than anything. They knew in video world a pop up flash would not be needed. If you think of that, those are probably the main reasons why

Just noticed you have the same cameras I do( although the MII is still in transit). Do you ever pick up ur rebel anymore?

 

[Big Mike]

Another reason why the 'pro' cameras don't have a flash, is that they have large 'penta-prisms' for the viewfinder, giving you a large and bright viewfinder.

Smaller cameras, like the Rebels, have a smaller penta-mirror, rather than a prism. The difference is quite noticeable if you look through both types.

 

[Village Idiot]

A flash located directly on the lens axis creates what is known as on-axis fill lighting. In traditional, professional lighting, the ideal place for the fill light is directly next to the camera, pointed straight ahead, at the same exact,precise height as the camera lens....ahemm...a flash placed in the hot shoe is *exactly* where it should be for FILL light...perhaps some of you missed the Strobist blog post about how to use a flash located on-camera as fill light while using the sun or the light from the sky as main light...

And perhaps some people fail to mention that a tiny underpowered lightsource that lacks precise control is not a very good type of flash to use for fill....ahemm...a tiny underpowered lightsource that lacks precise control is not a very good type of flash to use for fill

A pop up isn't very strong and won't be very effective under most sunny conditions. It also tends to create red eye and is a tiny light source so any shadows created by it will be harsh.

Maybe some one missed that David Hobby's on cameras fill is generally a ringflash attachment for a speedlight which provides a softer diffused and more powerful light than a pop up flash.

 

[Derrel]

Fill flash is supposed to be significantly under the main light. Lacks precise control? Nikon offers incremental power output control over its built-in flash units in manual mode, as well as one-third f/stop control over a multiple stop range. Somebody must not understand the use of the word "precise"; one-third of an f/stop is a precise control of the flash. A pop-up flash is VERY strong under lower-light conditions, and will be effective under many sunny conditions--as FILL light, it would typically be about three f/stops below the ambient light level, thereby making a pop-up flash a PERFECT source of quick, always-with-the-camera fill light...

Maybe somebody is a newbie who has very little idea that fill flash needs no diffusion when used outdoors... Ringflash--LMAO. I have to chuckle at people with a year or two of experience acting as if they've been around the block.

But back to the OP's question" why does the 5D Mark II not have a built-in flash. The answer is two-fold. First, the 5D is based on a $389 EOS Elan film body...it is basically a cheap film body design from the late 1990's, with a good sensor slapped into it. It is a primitive, low-specification camera body. The 5D is a good example of what camera engineers and designers call "a bad split"; meaning, the split between the amount of money allocated to the body and its sub-systems, and to the sensor and electronics. Kodak, Fuji, and Sigma, as well as Canon, have taken various cameras over the years and modified them to make d-slr oferings. The amount of money allocated to "the body" has often been quite low, as witness the line of FujiFilm d-slr models S1,S2,S3,S5; the S1 was built on a Nikon N60, a real piece o'junk; the S2 and S3 were built on the somewhat better Nikon N80, as was the Kodak SLR/n full-frame 14 megapixel body. The Fuji S5 Pro was built on the Nikon D200, which made it a camera with a very different "split" between body costs and sensor/electronics. The Kodak DCS 760 was built, on the then-$1,500 Nikon F5 professional body platform. The Canon 5D's body parentage is a low-cost EOS Elan,and so it lacks a pop-up flash, and lacks sophisticated AF, and other things. it is built as an economy full-frame camera, by Canon, so as not to cannibalize Canon's 1Ds series sales....that is the Canon way.

Basically, the 5D series has been built on a low-specification body, and borrowed the autofocusing system from an earlier crop-body, the 20D. It has no flash because that would add cost. AND, and this is a biggie, MANY people consider a pop-up flash to be the mark of an "amateur" camera. Japanese camera designers, for example, have for many years, insisted that "pro" cameras NOT be designed with a pop-up flash, since snooty pro users love to bash pop-up flash units as "totally useless". Despite the fact that with good slave triggers, a pop-up flash is as reliable, or more-reliable, than most cheaper radio-frequency trigger systems. And no wonder; we have people right here who have cameras not even equipped with a pop-up flash spouting misinfomation like "lack of precise control", when, uh...if they had a camera that does have a pop-up flash, they'd understand that precise control over a three f/stop range, plus and minus, in 1/3 stop increments means "precision control" over flash output...

So, be careful of who you listen to...the answers you get might be quite unreliable, or simply from a misinformed newbie.