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01-26-2020, 10:17 AM - 1 Like   #31
sbh
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Adding to all of this, your photos are really good. They express a lot of fun and good times.

01-26-2020, 03:17 PM   #32
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QuoteOriginally posted by sbh Quote
Adding to all of this, your photos are really good. They express a lot of fun and good times.
Thanks
01-27-2020, 05:03 AM   #33
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All of the [modern] speedlights I have (500FTZ, 540FGZ, and Cactus RF60X) have red filters in front of their AF illuminator emitters. Perhaps a barely-out-of-the-infrared filtered tungsten modeling light, or deep red LED emitters, would allow AF to work in the near dark without adding much background to the recorded image. I have to assume that the speedlights are filtered for some reason, and I'm guessing here that you might be able to take advantage of it.
01-27-2020, 04:21 PM   #34
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QuoteOriginally posted by kaseki Quote
All of the [modern] speedlights I have (500FTZ, 540FGZ, and Cactus RF60X) have red filters in front of their AF illuminator emitters. Perhaps a barely-out-of-the-infrared filtered tungsten modeling light, or deep red LED emitters, would allow AF to work in the near dark without adding much background to the recorded image. I have to assume that the speedlights are filtered for some reason, and I'm guessing here that you might be able to take advantage of it.
Yeah, and I think that's what will be possible when using the V1 as a trigger and it's modelling light at low level, enough to help with various AF modes all around the frame. Just haven't gotten around to testing yet.

02-09-2020, 07:35 AM   #35
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Bruce,you almost certainly already know this but I'm a relative newborn with flash and did not.

Setting up for a photoshoot today where much of it will be in an old west indoor movie set inside I was trying to work with the autofocus assist light on my V860II and Godox trigger. (Would love to work with available window light but...)
Just wasn't seeing that "crosshatch" I supposedly should. I followed several different links and setups before someone was nice enough to ask what AF setting I used. Typically it's AFC. It has to be in AFS. Now it works. Perfectly. Geesh, I'm hoping that's the fix for low-light focus issues I sometimes have. After the fact I saw a thread here at PF with the same answer.

Such a simple thing that I just never learned.

Last edited by gatorguy; 02-09-2020 at 08:04 AM.
02-09-2020, 07:36 PM   #36
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QuoteOriginally posted by kaseki Quote
Perhaps a barely-out-of-the-infrared filtered tungsten modeling light, or deep red LED emitters, would allow AF to work in the near dark without adding much background to the recorded image
There are manufacturers of smart LED bulbs that have IR emitting capabilities for use with security cameras, however there is a possibility of IR contamination if the light is too strong. IR contamination will show up as darker colours being rendered lighter with a distinct red cast, and skin tones on those with darker skin tones can get screwy. Needless to say these kind of colour rendering errors are bit of a headache to correct for in post.
02-09-2020, 11:59 PM   #37
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QuoteOriginally posted by gatorguy Quote
Bruce,you almost certainly already know this but I'm a relative newborn with flash and did not.

Setting up for a photoshoot today where much of it will be in an old west indoor movie set inside I was trying to work with the autofocus assist light on my V860II and Godox trigger. (Would love to work with available window light but...)
Just wasn't seeing that "crosshatch" I supposedly should. I followed several different links and setups before someone was nice enough to ask what AF setting I used. Typically it's AFC. It has to be in AFS. Now it works. Perfectly. Geesh, I'm hoping that's the fix for low-light focus issues I sometimes have. After the fact I saw a thread here at PF with the same answer.

Such a simple thing that I just never learned.
Yeh I knew about AF.C being no good for flash/AF assist. I almost never use AF.C as a mode, reserving it only for sport and action shots where flash wouldn't be involved.

My issue was perplexing to me because two things;

1) The camera seemed hell bent on trying to find focus first on it's own, only once it failed did it try to use AF Assist. This for me was unacceptably slow to do a formal photoshoot.

2) When the AF assist did kick in it was too localised for a wide angle lens, the assist beam looked like a concentration of spot focus green light that didn't assist at all if the focus was away from the spot focus point.

Yesterday I was in my house during a powercut and had nothing to do so I set up my home studio to do more practising. It was still daytime however overcast (due to rain and stormy weather) and so I noticed as the day went on and the light changed in my house I could observe the AF system just struggle to find focus, whereas earlier in the day when the light was better it was quicker and nailing focus faster. This is definitely a thing I need to troubleshoot properly. I'm now feeling that AF Assist beams are not ideal for how I shoot, and I'm not sure guests in front of the camera appreciate standing there and then suddenly being exposed to an intense beam of green or red rays for the shot. I think that some kind of gentle support light for overall subject so that focus whereever you decide it to be will come to the rescue makes more sense.

My solutions seem to be;

- Use a V1 as a trigger and take advantage of its modelling light feature. Bonus is it may also provide fill light if needed.

- invest in some kind of external light that can be mounted to the light stand or camera/tripod/L bracket to assist with focus

I think the tricky point of both these options are intensity of light. I don't want to blind people nor do I want the exposure the AF assisting light will give off. It's about finding what level of light the AF system really starts to struggle with. More testing required.


QuoteOriginally posted by Digitalis Quote
There are manufacturers of smart LED bulbs that have IR emitting capabilities for use with security cameras, however there is a possibility of IR contamination if the light is too strong. IR contamination will show up as darker colours being rendered lighter with a distinct red cast, and skin tones on those with darker skin tones can get screwy. Needless to say these kind of colour rendering errors are bit of a headache to correct for in post.
Now that I didn't know.

02-10-2020, 08:27 PM   #38
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Okay. Here is a possible solution. Daisy chain your X-PRO on top of a Cactus V6 II trigger. You can force the Cactus V6 II to permanently have it's AF assist light on. It might work for you. I've used this setup myself purely to have the AF assist ON!

It would be great if you knew someone locally so you could try out this setup for your situation.
02-11-2020, 02:47 AM   #39
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QuoteOriginally posted by Batman_ Quote
Okay. Here is a possible solution. Daisy chain your X-PRO on top of a Cactus V6 II trigger. You can force the Cactus V6 II to permanently have it's AF assist light on. It might work for you. I've used this setup myself purely to have the AF assist ON!

It would be great if you knew someone locally so you could try out this setup for your situation.
I could do that as I still have a V6ii, however it is pending sale and I don't want to dig it out of the box.

I know what the v6ii AF assist is like, its not that indifferent to the Godox AF assist light, again it would be too 'Spot' for assist and not global enough. I think the modelling light on the V1 and using that as a trigger is most likely going to be the work around.
02-11-2020, 04:50 AM - 1 Like   #40
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FWIW I addressed my dim light focus issue this weekend with a light I already had, a Genaray Torpedo. Set it at a narrow beam and 20% power connected to a power bank hung on the light stand and AD200 for the main. I had no focus issues whatsoever Saturday in a grungy warehouse. That doesn't necessarily make it a perfect fix but I'm not seeing any detrimental effects from the constant light on the pics themselves. I had another shoot on Sunday (Old West movie set) but no necessity to test it again so the jury is still out.
02-11-2020, 12:37 PM   #41
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QuoteOriginally posted by gatorguy Quote
FWIW I addressed my dim light focus issue this weekend with a light I already had, a Genaray Torpedo. Set it at a narrow beam and 20% power connected to a power bank hung on the light stand and AD200 for the main. I had no focus issues whatsoever Saturday in a grungy warehouse. That doesn't necessarily make it a perfect fix but I'm not seeing any detrimental effects from the constant light on the pics themselves. I had another shoot on Sunday (Old West movie set) but no necessity to test it again so the jury is still out.
That's good to know. I'm just hoping I can use what I currently have to get the job done before spending $$ on new equipment.
02-11-2020, 11:09 PM   #42
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Had a moment today to play with the V1 as a trigger, and I learned that there is an option I missed to make the modelling light go off for the shot itself, so that's brilliant and pretty much the issue resolved. In low light situations I would advise many to ditch the Xpro-P or XT2 and instead use a V1 to trigger the other flashes (which it can do nicely as well, and I don't mean optically, I meant it can act as a radio trigger).

Problem solved I think.
02-12-2020, 02:17 AM - 1 Like   #43
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QuoteOriginally posted by BruceBanner Quote
Had a moment today to play with the V1 as a trigger, and I learned that there is an option I missed to make the modelling light go off for the shot itself, so that's brilliant and pretty much the issue resolved. In low light situations I would advise many to ditch the Xpro-P or XT2 and instead use a V1 to trigger the other flashes (which it can do nicely as well, and I don't mean optically, I meant it can act as a radio trigger).

Problem solved I think.
Where is that option? I know that the AD400 can do it, that is, disable the modeling light when you shoot, but it's a more advanced flash, etc. Didn't know about this option on the V1.

---------- Post added 12-02-20 at 10:21 AM ----------

I found it!, It was a bit hidden... great.
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