WilliamG wrote:
After posting on dpreview, I've found out it's not a bug, but a different implementation. Basically, on the 5DII, the brightness change is on the fly. It will change at all times. On the 7D, it only changes ONCE. i.e. you hit the play button outside in the sun, and then the brightness will be to max. Now turn off the playback on the LCD. Go inside, and hit play again, the screen will be darker. This means if you're in the dark and view an image, the screen will be dark, and if you go outside or into a brightly lit area WITH the image still on the screen, the screen will not light up brighter automatically. You have to turn off image playback and then turn it back on for the 7D to "re-adapt" to the ambient light.
Basically:
5D II = constantly changing, on the fly.
7D = adapts once, the first time the LCD is activated, but not during the viewing session. ...Show more →
Yep your are right. I never really looked at that feature but now I know about it. Thanks for doing the research.
WilliamG wrote:
After posting on dpreview, I've found out it's not a bug, but a different implementation. Basically, on the 5DII, the brightness change is on the fly. It will change at all times. On the 7D, it only changes ONCE. i.e. you hit the play button outside in the sun, and then the brightness will be to max. Now turn off the playback on the LCD. Go inside, and hit play again, the screen will be darker. This means if you're in the dark and view an image, the screen will be dark, and if you go outside or into a brightly lit area WITH the image still on the screen, the screen will not light up brighter automatically. You have to turn off image playback and then turn it back on for the 7D to "re-adapt" to the ambient light.
Basically:
5D II = constantly changing, on the fly.
7D = adapts once, the first time the LCD is activated, but not during the viewing session. ...Show more →
IgnacyGawedzki wrote:
If that's working the same way as the 580EX in master mode, then yes, when you "disable" the main flash, it does fire during exposure (in addition to the ETTL pre-flash), supposedly to trigger the slaves. This is pretty annoying, even if that main flash is quite weak. I wonder whether there is a good technical reason for that or simply another way for Canon to sell those ST-E2, which trigger the slaves using IR pulses (which I imagine could still be annoying, though not as often).
I think there is some confusion here.
Canon's (and Nikon's) flash triggering systems are *optical* systems that use signals emitted by the flash unit itself, not an infrared emitter. Any master flash unit, be it a 550 or 580 in the hot shoe, or the native flash on the 7D, always signals the slaves via short pre-flash bursts. The ST-E2 does the same, but Canon has placed a deep red filter over the flash tube to make the signaling less obstrusive.
Normally the master participates in the lighting configuration as part of slave group A. But on the 7D and on Canon Speedlites, you can disable flash firing on the master flash, so it only operates as a trigger. All triggering is still performed by the flash, however, and will be visible to your subject. This can variously cause eye-blink or make you more noticeable. Focus assist with the built-in flash is also limited to visible light strobing, a horrible implementation for professional purposes.
For these reasons, I still prefer using an ST-E2 for shooting people and events. I say this a former D300 user who quickly abandoned Nikon's on-board "Commander Mode" for these same reasons.
Works great shooting static subjects and plants though.
garyvot wrote:
I think there is some confusion here.
Canon's (and Nikon's) flash triggering systems are *optical* systems that use signals emitted by the flash unit itself, not an infrared emitter. Any master flash unit, be it a 550 or 580 in the hot shoe, or the native flash on the 7D, always signals the slaves via short pre-flash bursts. The ST-E2 does the same, but Canon has placed a deep red filter over the flash tube to make the signaling less obstrusive.
Normally the master participates in the lighting configuration as part of slave group A. But on the 7D and on Canon Speedlites, you can disable flash firing on the master flash, so it only operates as a trigger. All triggering is still performed by the flash, however, and will be visible to your subject. This can variously cause eye-blink or make you more noticeable. Focus assist with the built-in flash is also limited to visible light strobing, a horrible implementation for professional purposes.
For these reasons, I still prefer using an ST-E2 for shooting people and events. I say this a former D300 user who quickly abandoned Nikon's on-board "Commander Mode" for these same reasons.
Works great shooting static subjects and plants though. ...Show more →
Gary has described the situation/feature right on the money.
WilliamG wrote:
This means if you're in the dark and view an image, the screen will be dark, and if you go outside or into a brightly lit area WITH the image still on the screen, the screen will not light up brighter automatically. You have to turn off image playback and then turn it back on for the 7D to "re-adapt" to the ambient light.
Basically:
5D II = constantly changing, on the fly.
7D = adapts once, the first time the LCD is activated, but not during the viewing session.
Thanks for this info. I guess that's why I never noticed a problem.
I have used the E2 for a long time with no problems from macro to meetings etc and like the onboard control it gives me. I prefer one system to figuring out what each camera can or can't do for remote firing so it looks like my E2 will still be getting a work out when needed.
garyvot wrote:
Normally the master participates in the lighting configuration as part of slave group A. But on the 7D and on Canon Speedlites, you can disable flash firing on the master flash, so it only operates as a trigger. All triggering is still performed by the flash, however, and will be visible to your subject.
Despite the risk to drift OT, let me add something here. When you "disable" the master flash, it still does fire, though much more weakly, *during exposure*, in addition to the pre-flash. You can see that by shooting in front of a mirror.
Alek Komarnits wrote:
Ditto what Ignacy said - I did a mirror test and you still see it fire, even when disabled.
Too bad they somehow couldn't set the on-board flash to Infra Red only when acting as a Master!
Well, apparently no remote triggering is ever done in IR with Canon flashes. In the case of the ST-E2, it just seems to be a strong red filter in front of the transmitter, which is visible otherwise. This is what I've read here and elsewhere, although I don't own an ST-E2 myself.
Only issue I have had to date with mine has been an ERR 02 message when writing to 1 specific card. This has happended the 2 times I have used that particular card.
