Marcus Watts wrote:
Most people who own a 5D would share my opinion that a pop up flash is a dicky little ad on that anyone with the money to buy that camera would not want because they would be serious enough about their photography to purchase a decent flash unit.
I am a professional event photographer who earns his living by taking pictures of people, usually in the evening in dark venues. I don't usually have to do red carpet press stuff - I am inside the event. That means that I am usually a few feet from my subjects, and often the difficulty is getting far enough away. Many wedding photographers use 5D's, and they would all benefit from the OPTION (AS IN OPTIONAL) to use a pop-up flash. Personally, I would use it as my main flash because Canon does not make a 'professional' flash unit that casts a minimal shadow. They are all too far from the lens axis. There are nearly a quarter of a million images on my website. I know of what I speak.
The downside to built-in flash doesn't exist for Canon. Nikon has the unfortunate problem of giving access to the aperture ring on older lenses which means that the bulk of their built-in flash needs to go on top of the pentaprism instead of in front of it. With EOS, there is never an aperture ring, so Canon can put the flash itself in front of the prism (as it does in the amateur cameras). The stanchions which hold the flash unit can be very very thin and strong, AND THEREFORE THERE IS NO NEED TO SACRIFICE VIEWFINDER SIZE TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE FLASH. Nikon has shown that weather sealed pop-up flash is possible. Canon's very cheapest DSLR has a built-in pop-up flash so we know it's very cheap.
So - WHERE IS THE DOWNSIDE? AND WHY WISH TO DENY OTHERS A USEFUL FEATURE WHICH WILL NOT HANDICAP YOUR OWN USE IN ANY WAY?
wkhc168 wrote:
I talked to my sales guy at my cemera store back in June. He said Canon told them no annoucement until the Photokina show. I asked him if they have a waiting list, he said not an official one but if I wanted to be put on the list once it is announced, he will put that request in my customer file and I will be on the list when they start one.
So you at least are not kidding(?). Maybe it's just me, but it seems bizarre to be queuing to buy a very expensive piece of technology without even knowing for certain what it's specifications are or what it's capable of. I know a lot of people are likely telling themselves that they "trust" Canon enough to know they'll want the product but it doesn't seem that long ago that I was reading angry posts from people who'd bought the 1D III in good faith only to find it had serious flaws. But, if having your name on a list doesn't commit you to anything, I guess there's no harm in it. I just find this whole frenzy of rumor & speculation really odd & I certainly wouldn't make any purchasing decisions based on it!
But as they say... YMMV!
globalkiwi wrote:
So you at least are not kidding(?). Maybe it's just me, but it seems bizarre to be queuing to buy a very expensive piece of technology without even knowing for certain what it's specifications are or what it's capable of. I know a lot of people are likely telling themselves that they "trust" Canon enough to know they'll want the product but it doesn't seem that long ago that I was reading angry posts from people who'd bought the 1D III in good faith only to find it had serious flaws. But, if having your name on a list doesn't commit you to anything, I guess there's no harm in it. I just find this whole frenzy of rumor & speculation really odd & I certainly wouldn't make any purchasing decisions based on it!
But as they say... YMMV! ...Show more →
I have a 5D and I love it. I know the replacement will just be better regardless of what the exact spec is. It is a no brainer. You are right, have my name on the list doesn't cost me anything and no commitment required. There is only upside.
brainiac wrote:
I am a professional event photographer who earns his living by taking pictures of people, usually in the evening in dark venues. I don't usually have to do red carpet press stuff - I am inside the event. That means that I am usually a few feet from my subjects, and often the difficulty is getting far enough away. Many wedding photographers use 5D's, and they would all benefit from the OPTION (AS IN OPTIONAL) to use a pop-up flash. Personally, I would use it as my main flash because Canon does not make a 'professional' flash unit that casts a minimal shadow. They are all too far from the lens axis. There are nearly a quarter of a million images on my website. I know of what I speak.
The downside to built-in flash doesn't exist for Canon. Nikon has the unfortunate problem of giving access to the aperture ring on older lenses which means that the bulk of their built-in flash needs to go on top of the pentaprism instead of in front of it. With EOS, there is never an aperture ring, so Canon can put the flash itself in front of the prism (as it does in the amateur cameras). The stanchions which hold the flash unit can be very very thin and strong, AND THEREFORE THERE IS NO NEED TO SACRIFICE VIEWFINDER SIZE TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE FLASH. Nikon has shown that weather sealed pop-up flash is possible. Canon's very cheapest DSLR has a built-in pop-up flash so we know it's very cheap.
So - WHERE IS THE DOWNSIDE? AND WHY WISH TO DENY OTHERS A USEFUL FEATURE WHICH WILL NOT HANDICAP YOUR OWN USE IN ANY WAY?...Show more →
The downside is that it may increase the price by $2. I agree with you 100%. My 580EX stays at home 90% of the time because there is just no room in my backpack for a flash unit. For fill light and catch lights, a built-in flash will usually do the job. And if it works like the Nikon flash commander (wireless triggering) it would be an incredible bonus. It's all good.
Marcus Watts wrote:
I think you may be thinking too hard. I doubt that they are trying to build excitment by indicating an incremental improvement.
I'm not sure what we are supposed to read from it but i imagine we are supposed to think of where we have eledgedly come from as humans (sludge once) to where we are now, what we were destined to be.
Wait, are you introducing religion into this discussion with all this talk of human destiny
I'm not thinking too hard... just wildly speculating with a large dose of humor. Isn't that what rumor threads are all about?!
Just to add fuel to the fire... What if it is called the 5DE, with the "E" meaning the return of eye-controlled focus?
I heard from a very reputable source that this may in fact be the truth. My source also said that Canon was planning on unleashing a new sensor/memory technology on the new line that will be denoted with an "f". He mentioned that the new recording technique will be full frame, thinner than a compact flash card, and be made up of a propreitary blend of silver halide salts and cellulose acetate rather than transistors. The new camera will most likely be called the Canon 5Df Mark IIE. We shall have to wait and see....
Personally I would love to see Eye Control come back. I really enjoyed using it and was shocked to find it was in the 1 series cameras. Now how can I get the Firmware to run on my Mk3?
brainiac wrote:
So - WHERE IS THE DOWNSIDE? AND WHY WISH TO DENY OTHERS A USEFUL FEATURE WHICH WILL NOT HANDICAP YOUR OWN USE IN ANY WAY?
most buyers are hobbyists. It's a lot of money for them, enough that it's not a simple business decision like for brainiac. There's a lot of emotion involved. Emotionally, a pop-up flash is something that belongs on cheap cameras. Look at the history of these things all the way back to the first consumer AF SLRs. Expensive pro cameras have expensive pro flashes on the hotshoe and no pop-up. Every bargain-price no-name-author photo how-to book at Border's says so. Some hobbyists want a pro-looking camera to hang around their neck. Ergo, pop-up flash would detract from the emotional appeal of the camera since it would hardly look different than the boring D80 / 30D / K100d / A300 / etc that everyone has.
brainiac wrote:
I am a professional event photographer who earns his living by taking pictures of people, usually in the evening in dark venues. I don't usually have to do red carpet press stuff - I am inside the event. That means that I am usually a few feet from my subjects, and often the difficulty is getting far enough away. Many wedding photographers use 5D's, and they would all benefit from the OPTION (AS IN OPTIONAL) to use a pop-up flash. Personally, I would use it as my main flash because Canon does not make a 'professional' flash unit that casts a minimal shadow. They are all too far from the lens axis. There are nearly a quarter of a million images on my website. I know of what I speak.
The downside to built-in flash doesn't exist for Canon. Nikon has the unfortunate problem of giving access to the aperture ring on older lenses which means that the bulk of their built-in flash needs to go on top of the pentaprism instead of in front of it. With EOS, there is never an aperture ring, so Canon can put the flash itself in front of the prism (as it does in the amateur cameras). The stanchions which hold the flash unit can be very very thin and strong, AND THEREFORE THERE IS NO NEED TO SACRIFICE VIEWFINDER SIZE TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE FLASH. Nikon has shown that weather sealed pop-up flash is possible. Canon's very cheapest DSLR has a built-in pop-up flash so we know it's very cheap.
So - WHERE IS THE DOWNSIDE? AND WHY WISH TO DENY OTHERS A USEFUL FEATURE WHICH WILL NOT HANDICAP YOUR OWN USE IN ANY WAY?...Show more →
Do you leave the hoods off your lenses and never shoot at wider angles? Because no camera I've ever used with a pop-up flash has been able to clear the wider angles (casts a curved shadow toward the bottom of the pic), especially with a lens hood on. I HAVE TO use a flash with more vertical clearance to fix that. And as far as shadows caused by a flash that is some distance away from the lens, that's actually much more attractive and interesting than flash straight-on from the lens axis that wash out all depth. Shadows aren't your enemies--they're your friends. You just have to know how to control them. Shadows too harsh? Use a flash modifier to soften them.
I won't go so far as to say that everybody would be better off without the pop-up flash, but I don't find much utility in it (and also admittedly look rather skeptically at pros who do, especially for work. Personal stuff is up to you, but paid work should look better than what a pop-up flash can deliver.) and would prefer Canon put the cost of the flash toward something more useful to me like weather sealing and/or 100% viewfinder. That's the downside--Canon are very, very price-conscious in deciding which features to put in, so if removing a pop-up flash makes room for weather sealing gaskets I'm all for it.
Anyone willing to speculate on the price of the 5D Mk2? I could afford a Nikon D700, am I unreasonable in hoping that the Canon won't be significantly more expensive than this?
David Baldwin wrote:
Anyone willing to speculate on the price of the 5D Mk2? I could afford a Nikon D700, am I unreasonable in hoping that the Canon won't be significantly more expensive than this?
