Pop Up Flash

Anyone use it to get good results? Every time i've tried, it's just harsh, flat and horrible! Any tips or examples?

Direct flash, no matter what the source, can often be described as "just harsh, flat and horrible!"
You need a diffuser, or preferably, a hotshoe mounted flash and a diffuser to soften the effect of the flash.

If you want to continue with the popup flash you may have to make your own diffuser. Diffusers for 'proper' flash units vary in cost and include Sto-Fen Omnibounce, Lumiquest Softbox, Gary Fong's Lightsphere, bubble wrap, milk containers (washed and dried), and ordinary white paper or card.

How's your imagination ?

Pretty poor! I tried making one out of a film canister but it kept popping off! Think it might need modifying slightly!

Read my post about pop up flash diffuser.

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8424

Built-in flash should only be considered as a fall-back device when you need to get a picture in a hurry or when you are just doing snap-shots. Note that most pro cameras do not even have them.

Frontal lighting is very clinical and uninteresting and the size of the light source is comparatively tiny. Even with a diffuser the improvement is small, and the problem of foreground object being much brighter than more distant ones will always be there.

Bounced flash is much more even and less obvious than direct flash. It's worth investing in an add-on, bounceable flash if you plan to do a lot of flash photography.

I dont know why they insist on including them.

Hi Gartmore
If you think of built in flash as a "wireless controller", it suddenly commands much more respect.
I use K20D and Sigma EF 530 Super. A great combo.
cheers
bb2

For snapshots the pop-up flash is very handy indeed. Why do all pictures have to be perfect in every sense? I have taken many pictures of my grandchildren, capturing memorable moments, and I enjoy them even if the lighting is not "studio quality".

they are handy....for fill and wireless.

now if I were going to design one...
well imagine a ping-pong ball, on top of a short extendable antenae....

what really ticks me off is the fact that you can't get a shoe mount flash with a built-in lcd panel in front of the flashtube... for changing the color balance of the output.

I liked the one on the Leica Digilux 2 (and its Panasonic sibling whose name escapes me) where the pop-up flash had two positions allowing you to bounce it. Even if it was only 45 degrees it was still a nice touch - I'm suprised more cameras don't use a similar system...

Still, I'm pleased the K10D has one. Better than nothing in a tight spot and immensely useful as a controller.

Ok but a radio wireless controller doesn't give you a pre-photo firework display.

Well, I'm still glad the pop-up flash exists. You don't have to use it if you don't want to...