X-rite Passport question.

SecureGSM

2 x 5D IV
Feb 26, 2017
2,360
1,231
I don’t understand why that would give you natural skin tones, it flies in the face of what ETTL II is doing and depending on actual EV would result in a 2 stop over exposed subject.

of course nobody knows the true details of ETTL II and there is a movement of exposure bias depending on the EV. The only reliable way to shoot in mixed lighting with flash is to go manual everything. In dynamic situations, like receptions etc, ETTL II works remarkably well, but for set up portrait shoots ETTL II is unpredictable because of its proprietary nature.
Yeah, you can do that. What I found from a practical perspective is I usually play with X -sync speed to ensure flash to ambient ratio is approx 4:1. At this ratio ambient becomes a non issue really. And stop down to ensure that at The x-sync Selected and f number ambient gives very little exposure. ISO varies from 200 to 400 usually.
then I would set Flash exposure compensation to a little over say 1/4 to 1/2 stops.
with high ceilings flashbender XL Pro plus on camera flash is. gelling is rarely an option as light quality changes as you move around. A lot. Therefore it is either mixing available ambient with focus in skin tones in post or removing ambient all together. Nothing is perfect though. Run and gun setups is always a compromise however this little strategy affords me pretty consistent results.
 
Upvote 0
Dec 13, 2010
4,932
1,608
Yeah, you can do that. What I found from a practical perspective is I usually play with X -sync speed to ensure flash to ambient ratio is approx 4:1. At this ratio ambient becomes a non issue really. And stop down to ensure that at The x-sync Selected and f number ambient gives very little exposure. ISO varies from 200 to 400 usually.
then I would set Flash exposure compensation to a little over say 1/4 to 1/2 stops.
with high ceilings flashbender XL Pro plus on camera flash is. gelling is rarely an option as light quality changes as you move around. A lot. Therefore it is either mixing available ambient with focus in skin tones in post or removing ambient all together. Nothing is perfect though. Run and gun setups is always a compromise however this little strategy affords me pretty consistent results.
Shooting with ETTL and FEC doesn’t have anything to do with your ambient setting. No matter what you set your camera too the flash, used in ETTL, will properly expose what it hits, or try to. Using +2 stops in ETTL with a ambient exposure set is not the same thing as setting your flash two stops above ambient. It will overexpose what it hits with two stops.

and second, no matter the light quality the color of the ambient remains unless it’s more than one source of ambient, then you can do what I wrote earlier. For a birthday for my daughterfor example, which is in November, it’s dark out and the only other light source along with my flash is the ceiling lights, they are the same all over the top floor and a gel works no matter where you shoot from.
 
Upvote 0

SecureGSM

2 x 5D IV
Feb 26, 2017
2,360
1,231
Shooting with ETTL and FEC doesn’t have anything to do with your ambient setting. No matter what you set your camera too the flash, used in ETTL, will properly expose what it hits, or try to. Using +2 stops in ETTL with a ambient exposure set is not the same thing as setting your flash two stops above ambient. It will overexpose what it hits with two stops.

and second, no matter the light quality the color of the ambient remains unless it’s more than one source of ambient, then you can do what I wrote earlier. For a birthday for my daughterfor example, which is in November, it’s dark out and the only other light source along with my flash is the ceiling lights, they are the same all over the top floor and a gel works no matter where you shoot from.
right. let me explain then:

ETTL, AV :
with flash off: iso 400, adjust aperture until correct shutter speed reads in viewfinder 1/60.
alternatively and if required , set ISO to 100 or 200
then in menu set x-sync to be: 1/200 instead of 1/60.
thats approximately 1.6 stops under?
in dimly lit venues iso 400, 1/60 and F5.6 and smaller likely to result in already 2-4 stops under exposed exposures.
if that is the case then forcing X-Sync to be 1/200 is not even a requirement.
with flash on, ettl: set flash exposure compensation to +0.5
flash to ambient ratio will end up being around 4:1 at least
i hope it makes sense.

p.s.
".. and second, no matter the light quality the color of the ambient remains unless it’s more than one source of ambient.."

with flash off and settings as per above (2-4 stops under), take an exposure, note how it is almost a black frame instead.
that's what the ambient exposure component represents. nearly nothing. the rest is the flash.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Dec 13, 2010
4,932
1,608
right. let me explain then:

ETTL, AV :
with flash off: iso 400, adjust aperture until correct shutter speed reads in viewfinder 1/60.
alternatively and if required , set ISO to 100 or 200
then in menu set x-sync to be: 1/200 instead of 1/60.
thats approximately 1.6 stops under?
in dimly lit venues iso 400, 1/60 and F5.6 and smaller likely to result in already 2-4 stops under exposed exposures.
if that is the case then forcing X-Sync to be 1/200 is not even a requirement.
with flash on, ettl: set flash exposure compensation to +0.5
flash to ambient ratio will end up being around 4:1 at least
i hope it makes sense.

p.s.
".. and second, no matter the light quality the color of the ambient remains unless it’s more than one source of ambient.."

with flash off and settings as per above (2-4 stops under), take an exposure, note how it is almost a black frame instead.
that's what the ambient exposure component represents. nearly nothing. the rest is the flash.
I understand what you’re saying, but not sure it makes sense to me personally to shoot that way, and not sure where the +0.5 stops of FEC fits in with your equation. If the flash fills the entire room without trouble, sure, but how often does one flash on camera evenly light an entire wedding reception?
The way I shoot is I set my camera to my custom flash mode (C1) which is basically M with auto nothing and exposure simulation off, wb 5600 etc. indoors I don’t use HS/HSS, but I do outside, so I just set the shutter speed to where my aperture and iso include as much ambient as I like. For a portrait against my background I don’t want ambient so I know that a iso 100 1/200s f5,6 or f8 doesn’t include ambient. But, in a wedding I really dislike the flash look you get when the whole background goes black, I feel it looses all the mood.

so I use a slowish speed and high’ish iso to include some ambient,and is why I gel, then balance the flash with that setting. That way I get some needed help with flash, but don’t black out the background.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0