Fill Flash + 40D

Is it possible to use the pop-up flash as fill with the 40D? I was out this weekend in sunny weather, and wanted to avoid shadows on my sons face. However because it was so bright my shutter speeds were around 1000 because I was using 2.8 aperture. When I tried to use the pop up flash it kept synching at 250. Far too slow and I ended up with a white photo!

Does the answer lie in a 430EX flash gun?

Thanks!
Paul

You have more-or-less answered your own question. Yes, the built-in flash can defnitely be used for fill-in in bright sunlight, but since it can only sync to a maximum shutter speed of 1/250, you would have to use a smaller aperture (f/5.6 and 1/250 instead of f/2.8 and 1/1000). If you want to retain a large aperture (say for portraits), then your only choice is to use an external flash that has a FP sync function (this includes most if not all Canon flashes on the market as well as some from independent brands). This allows you to use shutter speeds as high as the camera's limit (1/8000), but the range is considerably decreased. I suppose there is also another alternative - to put a neutral density filter on the lens to cut down brightness, but I don't think that is as commonly used.

You can also turn your ISO down to the minimum setting.