2.7 FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY

Flash photography means taking a double exposure. The lighting in a flash shot always consists of two components: surrounding light and flash light.

• The surrounding-light component is metered like a regular exposure. The camera is metering the scene with multi, average, center-weighted, or spot metering, while the selected auto exposure mode (P, A, or S) automatically selects suitable exposure parameters based on your adjustment of the exposure compensation dial. As usual, the live view and live histogram are your friends. You can also set the exposure of the surrounding-light component manually in mode M. Basically, exposing the surrounding-light component works exactly like exposing a scene without flash.
• The flash-light component is automatically metered and adjusted by the camera to match the overall exposure. To accomplish this, the X100F employs a so-called TTL metering system. TTL stands for Through The Lens. It means that the flash light is entering the camera through the lens before it’s metered with the image sensor. This happens with the help of a weaker pre-flash that is emitted solely for metering purposes. You can bias the strength of the automatic flash-light component either on the FLASH FUNCTION SETTING page, or directly on external Fujifilm TTL flash units like the EF-X20. Please note that while the live view and live histogram provide a preview of the surrounding-light component, they completely ignore the flash-light component that will be added to the final image.

Besides Fuji and Fuji-compatible TTL flash units, you can also use generic third-party flash units. Pretty much everything that fits onto the hot shoe works. Using generic third-party flash units means that TTL flash metering [61] is no longer available, so you must manually set the flash energy output. You can also use automatic flash units that use their own built-in light sensor to automatically measure and adjust the flash output.

The TTL flash logic in your X100F supports several flash modes that can be selected in the Quick menu or on the FLASH SETTING > FLASH FUNCTION SETTING page:

• TTL FLASH AUTO is only available in mode P and automatically fires an available flash unit if the camera decides it’s necessary. It’s a silly mode, since you probably know better than your camera whether or not you want to use a flashgun. When the flash is firing, it works just like regular TTL, which is our next mode.

TTL STANDARD (formerly known as FORCED FLASH) always fires an active flash unit. This setting is available in all four exposure modes (P, A, S, and M).

• TTL SLOW SYNC works like standard TTL, but allows shutter speeds as slow as ⅛s to better capture the surrounding-light component. This can be helpful when the light is poor and you still want to capture more of the background. This setting is only available in modes P and A.
• MANUAL FLASH works like TTL SLOW SYNC, but allows you to manually specify the light emission power. This setting is available in all four exposure modes (P, A, S, and M).

COMMANDER is a trigger flash that optically releases external flash units (or slaves) that feature an optical sensor (like Fuji’s EF-X20 and several third-party flash units). Please note that you must manually adjust the power of the triggered slave flash. Don’t forget that the commander flash is also emitting flash light that can affect the exposure of your scene, especially when you are shooting with high ISO settings. Commander is available in all four exposure modes (P, A, S, and M).

• OFF makes sure that no flash is fired, even when the flash is switched on and connected to the camera.
• In the FLASH FUNCTION SETTING page, there is an option to specify whether the flash is supposed to fire on the FRONT (1st) or REAR (2nd) curtain. This option is available in all flash modes, and it is relevant for shooting moving subjects at slow shutter speeds. Since flash photography is a double exposure, it makes a difference whether the flash is fired at the beginning or at the end of a longer exposure.

Fig. 67: The FLASH FUNCTION SETTING PAGE lets you control flash parameters such as flash mode, sync mode, and flash exposure compensation.

Important: To use a generic shoe-mount flash (with mid-contact sync) on the X100F instead of its built-in flash, you must select FLASH SETTING > BUILT-IN FLASH > OFF.

In exposure modes P and A, the camera automatically selects suitable shutter speeds to capture the surrounding-light component of the scene.

• In flash modes TTL AUTO, TTL STANDARD, and COMMANDER, the slowest available shutter speed is approximately the reciprocal of the full-frame equivalent focal length. For example, shooting with the standard 23mm lens in your X100F (no tele or wide conversion lens), the slowest available shutter speed will be s. With the TCL-X100 tele conversion lens, the limit will be s. These are hard limits. Another hard limit in these modes is s. No matter what focal length is in use, the camera will not use a slower shutter speed than that. These hard limits mark the point where the surrounding-light component (basically the background) of the shot can end up underexposed. There is an exception, though: Auto-ISO can overrule both shutter speed limits for flash photography (the reciprocal limit and the s minimum) if you set a slower minimum shutter speed in Auto-ISO, such as , ⅛, or ¼s. To achieve even slower shutter speeds in concert with flash photography, you should use mode S or M.
• TTL SLOW SYNC and MANUAL FLASH allow the camera to use slower minimum shutter speeds with flash photography. There’s only one hard limit of ⅛s, which is independent from the focal length or an active OIS. To achieve even slower shutter speeds, you should use mode S or M.

When you are metering a scene with your X100F, you will quickly realize that it doesn’t make any difference whether the flash is turned on or off while doing so. The metering result will always be the same. In other words, the X100F is always metering the surrounding-light component in the same way, with or without flash. In case you choose to use a flash, the flash-light component will simply be added to the surrounding-light component.

This is important because it tells us that we don’t have to fear some camera voodoo that may or may not influence the metering of the surrounding light as soon as we switch on a flash. Instead, we can be certain that the camera’s metering will always deliver consistent results. This also means that it’s our job to balance both light components; for example, we can reduce the surrounding-light component to make room for more flash light in the composite exposure.

Typically, if you want to use the flash as a fill-in light to brighten a dark foreground (such as a backlit person), you wouldn’t have to change much, since the flash-light component would brighten the dark foreground simply by filling in the light that’s missing. However, if you use the flash on a scene that’s already fully exposed by natural light, the camera’s TTL flash metering would conclude that no additional light is necessary. The forced flash would still fire, of course, but with minimal output; it would probably be almost invisible in the resulting shot. To emphasize the flash-light component, reduce the exposure of the surrounding-light component.

Fig. 68: Reducing the surrounding-light component to darken the background leaves more room for the flash-light component.

Here’s how it works:

• You can control the exposure of the surrounding-light component either with the exposure compensation dial or by setting an appropriate manual exposure (ISO, aperture, shutter speed). Less surrounding light will prompt the TTL flash metering to add a stronger flash-light component, since the TTL flash system will always try to deliver balanced results. Changing the exposure compensation dial has no effect on the flash component of the shot; it only affects the exposure of the surrounding-light component.
• To control the surrounding-light component in manual mode M using the live view and the live histogram, make sure to set SET UP > SCREEN SET-UP > PREVIEW EXP./WB IN MANUAL MODE > PREVIEW EXP./WB.
• In a studio, you often want to minimize the surrounding-light component and illuminate your subject entirely with flash light. In such cases, I recommend small aperture settings (large aperture numbers), base ISO 200, and a fast shutter speed. The fastest official flash synchronization speed of the X100F is s, but some flash units won’t be that fast, especially when fired at full power and/or with a wireless transmitter. To compose a scene with very little surrounding light in mode M, set SET UP > SCREEN SET-UP > PREVIEW EXP./WB IN MANUAL MODE > OFF. Otherwise, it will be hard to see anything in the viewfinder other than darkness.
• Sometimes the fastest available flash sync speed (s) will still overexpose the surrounding-light component, even at base ISO 200. Yes, you could stop down the aperture, but this might negate the purpose of achieving a nice subject-to-background separation with little depth of field. In such a case, it’s useful to deploy the camera’s built-in neutral density filter to reduce the amount of light that hits the sensor by three stops.
• Like the DR function, flash light is often used to reduce contrast between a dark subject and a bright background. You can combine both features, which may be useful if the background—when viewed isolated from the foreground—still contains so much contrast that DR expansion is required. Think of a night scene with city lights, street lamps, and bright billboards in the background. In such a scenario, a flashgun could illuminate a person standing in the foreground, while the DR function (DR400%) would help capture the colors and textures of the city lights. DR400% is also useful when you are illuminating scenes with subjects that expand deep into space and don’t have an equal distance to the camera. In such cases, DR400% will give subjects that are closer to the flash light an additional overexposure protection of 2 EV which can be retrieved during external RAW conversion of your shot.
• The previously discussed hard limits for minimum shutter speed in modes P and A can lead to an underexposed surrounding-light component. However, these limits are quite useful because they prevent shaky or blurred backgrounds in hand-held shots. This isn’t an issue when using a tripod, so you could circumvent the limits by selecting TTL SLOW SYNC or by manually setting a slow shutter speed in S or M mode.
• Surrounding light and flash light frequently exhibit different color temperatures, which makes it difficult to find a white balance setting that suits all parts of the image. Luckily, some RAW converters (like Lightroom) allow selective white balance editing in an image. Another method is to use a gel filter in front of the flash unit to warm or cool the flash light to better match (or contrast with) the surrounding light.

Fig. 69: With plenty of surrounding light, the flash-light component takes a backseat. In this example, it simply added a spark to the cat’s eyes. The best flash shots are often those that aren’t easy to identify as flash photography.

If the flash-light component of your image turns out too bright or dark, you can bias the camera’s TTL flash system:

• To bias the flash-light component of your shot, you can adjust the flash exposure compensation in the camera on the FLASH SETTING > FLASH FUNCTION SETTING page or on many external TTL flash units. Combining the in-camera flash compensation with an additional compensation setting on the flash unit itself will usually add up both corrections (the new EF-X500 is an exception to this rule).
• You will often get nicer-looking results by bouncing the flash off the ceiling, which makes the flash light look softer. Of course, bouncing the flash light requires much more power, so you may need a stronger flash. It’s also worth noting that bouncing the flash from a colored surface will tint the light accordingly.
• To add a tint or change the color temperature of your flash light, you can attach colored gel filters in front of your reflector. The color temperature of unfiltered flash light usually corresponds to regular daylight.
• The range of your flash unit depends on the set aperture, the ISO setting, and (of course) the power setting. In TTL mode, the camera is automatically adjusting the light output of your flash, but many flash units (including the built-in flash of the X100F) can also be set to manual. This way, you are the one setting the power output of the flash. In manual mode M, changing the shutter speed doesn’t affect the brightness of the flash-light component of your shot. Hence, changing the shutter speed is a quick way to adjust the exposure of the surrounding-light component without messing with your carefully balanced manual flash-light setup.

Flash photographs are double exposures consisting of surrounding light and flash light. When you shoot the surrounding light with a slow shutter speed, there is the question of when the flash (with its much faster speed) should fire. Normally, the flash is fired along with the shutter opening at the beginning of an exposure. However, selecting the rear curtain makes the flash fire at the end of the exposure when the shutter closes.

Naturally, moving objects change their position during the exposure of a shot. Synchronizing the flash with the rear curtain ensures that moving objects are frozen where they are at the end of the exposure as opposed to the beginning. This often results in the moving object appearing more natural in the image.

Fig. 70: Front- vs. rear-curtain sync: This example shows the same scene photographed with front-curtain sync (above) and rear-curtain sync (below). The shot above shows how the flash freezes the moving vehicle at the beginning of the exposure while the shot below shows it being frozen at the end of the exposure. The rear-curtain version looks more natural and avoids the false impression of the car moving backward. This is also a good example to examine flash photographs as double exposures. You can see how the slow shutter speed captures the moving vehicle as a blurry trail of light, while the fast flash instantly freezes parts of it.

Officially, the fastest flash sync [62] speed of the X100F is s.

• In exposure modes P and A, the camera will never offer a shutter speed faster than s. If this is too slow for the current light conditions, the surrounding-light component will be overexposed. In this case, the shutter speed of s will be displayed in red. To avoid overexposure, stop down the lens, reduce ISO (but never below 200), or use the built-in neutral density (ND) filter [30].
• In exposure modes S and M, you can select shutter speeds that are even faster than s: up to s. The X100F will honor these settings in flash mode, but there may be a price to pay: the resulting images can display some partial shadowing of the flash. Its power setting plays a role, as well. At maximum power, many flash units need between s and s to fully emit their energy. This means that with very fast shutter speed settings, a portion of the flash light wouldn’t be recorded: the shutter would already have closed before the flash had finished.

Fig. 71: It’s also possible to deliberately use very slow sync speeds to create a blurry background behind a more contoured flash-lit foreground.

• Using wireless flash (TTL and manual) can impose further sync limits, because the transmitter on the camera has to communicate with the off-camera flash. This latency takes time and can reduce the maximum effective sync speed of your setup. In my experience, light-based communication (such as Fujifilm EF-X500, Metz M400) results in less latency than radio-based communication (like the Godox 2.4GHz system).
• With firmware 2.00, Fujifilm has promised improvements for radio-based off-camera flashes. If and how this improves latency issues remains to be seen. As of now, I recommend s as a safe maximum sync speed for off-camera radio flash units operating at or near full power. With less output power, faster shutter speeds of up to s may also be possible.

Fig. 72: This wireless flash shot was taken with a shutter speed of s using a Godox X1TF radio transmitter and TT600 flash.

If the flash and your lens share (almost) the same optical axis, this can lead to the red-eye effect [63]: an unpleasant red reflection in the eyes of humans or animals.

• If you pull up FLASH SETTING > RED EYE REMOVAL and then select either FLASH or FLASH+REMOVAL, the camera will emit a pre-flash prior to each shot that forces your subject’s pupils to contract, thus reducing or eliminating the red-eye effect.
• In addition to the pre-flash, there’s another red-eye removal tool available: selecting REMOVAL (or FLASH+REMOVAL) in the FLASH SETTING > RED EYE REMOVAL menu will detect and remove unpleasant red-eye effects in a JPEG after the fact. This function is also available in PLAYBACK MENU > RED EYE REMOVAL in case you decide to use it later. If you want to keep a copy of the unretouched JPEG, select SET UP > SAVE DATA SET-UP > SAVE ORG IMAGE > ON. The RAW file isn’t affected by this variant of red-eye removal.

Fig. 73: The red-eye removal function emits a pre-flash that is bright enough to prompt your subject’s pupils to contract. This example shows a crop of the actual image.

TTL-Lock works like AE Lock: Where AE Lock locks the exposure of the surrounding-light component, TTL-Lock locks the exposure of the flash-light component. To use TTL-Lock, you have to first assign it to one of the X100F’s Fn buttons.

TTL-Lock can work in one of two ways:

• Lock the exposure of the most recent flash exposure when you press the TTL-Lock button (FLASH SETTING > TTL-LOCK MODE > LOCK WITH LAST FLASH).
• Meter the flash exposure with a metering flash when you press the TTL-Lock button and immediately lock the metered result (FLASH SETTING > TTL-LOCK MODE > LOCK WITH METERING FLASH).

TTL-Lock is practical in situations where you want to take more than one picture of the same scene and maintain a consistent flash output for the entire series. A typical method involves setting the LOCK WITH LAST FLASH option and taking a few test shots of the scene and applying flash exposure compensation until the result looks great. Now press TTL-Lock to lock this “perfect” flash exposure while you take additional pictures of the scene.

Fuji’s TTL system flash EF-X20 was specifically made for retro-style cameras like the X-Pro1, but also works perfectly with the X100F. Besides using it as a TTL flash, you can also set its output power manually. You can even trigger it wirelessly with another flash, such as the camera’s Commander flash.

• Set the flash mode in your X100F to COMMANDER.
• Move the mode switch on your EF-X20 to the N position.
• Manually set the desired flash output on your EF-X20. There are seven levels, from (full power) to .

With this setup, the flash on your X100F will wirelessly trigger the EF-X20. Please consider that the light emitted by the commander flash can still affect your image.

Fig. 74: An optically triggered EF-X20 slave flash

The EF-X500 is Fuji’s version of a professional flashgun, with wireless TTL control of several flash units (organized in up to three independent groups), stroboscope flash, and a secondary LED reflector that can be used as a catch light [64], a more powerful AF assist lamp, or a video lamp. It also features FP high-speed sync to support shutter speeds of up to s.

Fig. 75: With the fully featured EF-X500 attached, the FLASH FUNCTION SETTING page adds several new items, including a reflector angle control and control of the secondary LED, which can be used as an AF assist lamp and/or a catch light.

You can use the EF-X500 as a single flashgun or as a master/slave in setups with multiple wireless flash units. Communication between master and slave units is light-based.

Fig. 76: In TTL master mode, one EF-X500 can control multiple flashguns in three independent groups (A, B, C) via a light communication protocol. Each group can be controlled via direct TTL, a ratio of another TTL group, or fully manually.

Many potential customers consider the EF-X500 disappointing, mostly because of the following reasons:

• The EF-X500 was announced in January 2016, yet ten months and several delays later, the flash still wasn’t available.
• The flash is quite large, heavy, and expensive.
• Wireless TTL control is realized with outdated light signals instead of state-of-the-art radio transmission.
• Users are supposed to buy and attach a heavy and expensive EF-X500 as a master controller to their camera.

Fig. 77: The EF-X500 is Fujifilm’s pro flash and leans a bit to the large, heavy, and expensive side. At this level, one would expect wireless TTL based on radio transmission instead of outdated light signals.

Luckily, a growing number of independent manufacturers are offering Fuji-compatible flash solutions with wireless radio TTL, multi-group support, and FP high-speed sync (Cactus, Godox, Metz, Nissin, etc.).

Metz was one of the first flash manufacturers to support Fujifilm’s flash system, including FP high speed sync, the AF assist lamp and convenient control via the camera’s flash configuration page. This makes the Metz M400 [65] an interesting alternative to the larger and more expensive EF-X500.

Fig. 78: If you are looking for a fully compatible shoe-mount flash that is more affordable and less bulky than the Fujifilm EF-X500, the Fujifilm edition of the Metz M400 might be just right.

The M400 is based on a “fly-by-wire” user interface that doesn’t feature dials with fixed markings. Instead, there are four generic control buttons and a LCD display that can be read day and night. Thanks to this flexible user interface, the M400’s firmware can be fully compatible with any camera. Also, there are never any discrepancies between flash settings made in the camera and those made directly on the flash unit. All important flash functions can be conveniently accessed and changed on the flash configuration page and in the menus of your X100F.

In addition to this, Metz keeps improving its flash firmware and provides free updates that can be applied by the user via the flash unit’s built-in USB interface. This ensures compatibility with upcoming Fujifilm cameras and future feature changes.

Basically, you can use any modern flashgun from any vendor with your X100F, if you are prepared to manually set its power. You can connect third-party flash units directly to the camera’s hot shoe, or use a cable or a wireless (radio) triggering device.

The camera’s TTL modes aren’t available when you are using third-party flashes because the camera isn’t metering the flash light, it’s only triggering the flash. Again, the maximum sync shutter speed is s.

To use a generic shoe-mount flash (with mid-contact sync) on the X100F instead of its built-in flash, you must select FLASH SETTING > BUILT-IN FLASH > OFF.