Shutterbugsailer Loc: Staten Island NY (AKA Cincinnati by the Sea)

We also drove without seat belts,air bags, and child seats in those days and most of us survived. From what I remember, film SLRs from the 1960s mostly relied on external light meters and didn't even have batteries, making an external flash impossible; fast forward to 1980 or so, when electronics made their way into cameras, the small disposable batteries they used didn't have enough juice to fire a flash more than a few times, rendering a built in flash undesirable, if available at all. From what I see, the higher end cameras are doing away with them, while the point and shoot models and entry level MILC/DSLR models still offer them. To me having a built in flash is like having air conditioning in your car when you live in Alaska. You may never need it, but better to have and not need than to need and not have.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Camera sales are driven by consumer demand. That answers your question.
Most photographers demand to be free from "pop-up" features that on-board flash units are. Most will set themselves off automatically if they are needed. Canon found most buyers of these cameras turn the flash completely OFF as the first "customization' they perform. As with most devices users do not care for self-driven features. Speedlites are economical and far more useful.

BebuLamar

built in flash came with the AF era. When the camera has AF it has to have sufficient power to focus the lens and needs a place to hold the batteries. So they have the grip and they added the the built in motor drive. The camera now has sufficient power on board to run the flash.
Imagine a camera like the Nikon F3 which is an electronic camera, its tiny batteries can't power anything else.

Bison Bud

I have agreed since my original post that off camera flash is superior and that when I expect to do flash photography I will take along my speedlight setup. However, I don't take it for everyday outings and the built-in flash on my Pentax K3 has saved my bacon a number of times! Several posters here have stated that a built-in flash is useless, but I believe that one can learn to use it effectively and that is a pretty one sided view. In fact, I really like one poster's comment that having a built-in flash is more like "an artist having another brush" to work with. If nothing else it is a good backup that requires no extra equipment or setup time and that is worth something in my eyes.

Anyway as my final post here, I have decided to post a couple of flower photos that I took at a Dalhia show, inside a full lighted indoor Mall, using low key photography techniques. While they are far from perfect and I could have done a better job with off camera, multi-point flash, if given full access to the flowers and permission to set things up. Instead, I had to shoot hand held from behind the barriers and could not even reposition the flowers for a better shot. All things considered, I think they turned out fairly well and I'm pleased with the result, especially since I would not have been able to get them without my built-in flash. All in all, this has been a good discussion and I thank everyone that took the time to share their opinions and information! Good luck and good shooting to all.

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BebuLamar

But to answer you question. It's not "any more". People who liked built in flash still do and people who don't didn't like it before.

bobforman Loc: Anacortes, Washington State

+1

Shutterbugsailer Loc: Staten Island NY (AKA Cincinnati by the Sea)

Gorgeous shots. Better than those taken with the same camera with either no flash, and probably at least as good as those taken with an external flash.

lukevaliant Loc: gloucester city,n. j.

tropics68 Loc: Georgia

I was actually agreeing with your professional camera statement. I guess I could have phrased it better.

EJMcD

To sum things up...some people like built-in flash, some don't.

BebuLamar

And people who do and don't stay the same. It's not that people don't care about built in flash any more. Manufacturers just realized that there are many people who don't like built in flash.

EJMcD

EJMcD

Guilty!

therwol Loc: USA

There are many features of modern cameras that many users don't use or don't even know about. Look at how many settings can be changed in the camera. To me, a built in flash is a feature that can easily be ignored. It never bothered me that my Nikon D810 has a built in flash. Except for trying it out a couple of times, I just ignored it. Having it there would never put me off from buying the camera. At the same time, I can see how it could be useful under certain circumstances. By the way, the D850 that I just bought is the first in a line of digital cameras I've owned that doesn't have a built in flash.