When I look at the metadata in Bridge for some Strobe pictures I took I get the following message, "Return light not detected, compulsory mode". I took the pictures with the strobe on a bracket. Any idea what this message means? Is there a list of what all of the metadata messages are?
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- Thread starter esusse
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That is a "flash tag" that describes exactly what occurred during your shoot. Here's a PDF with a list of all the different EXIF tags. Here's a short list from the link below of the various flash tags available
Resulting Flash tag values.
0000.H = Flash did not fire.
0001.H = Flash fired.
0005.H = Strobe return light not detected.
0007.H = Strobe return light detected.
0009.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
000D.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light not detected
000F.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected
0010.H = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
0018.H = Flash did not fire, auto mode
0019.H = Flash fired, auto mode
001D.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light not detected
001F.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light detected
0020.H = No flash function
0041.H = Flash fired, red-eye reduction mode
0045.H = Flash fired, red-eye reduction mode, return light not detected
0047.H = Flash fired, red-eye reduction mode, return light detected
0049.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode
004D.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode, return light not detected
004F.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode, return light detected
0059.H = Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode
005D.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light not detected, red-eye reduction mode
005F.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light detected, red-eye reduction mode
Other = reserved
http://www.exif.org/Exif2-2.PDF
As for specifically what it means, I can only guess that compulsory mode means you force the flash on rather than a low light detection setting, return light not detected means that no information was recorded from that specific flash.
Oh, I just found a better definition from a flicker site (see HERE)
That EXIF data relates to TTL. The "return not detected" indicates that no TTL information was obtained from the flash in question. However it is only reflecting the status of the on-camera flash (whatever's on the hotshoe or the popup). "Return not detected" usually occurs if the camera didn't get a return value for the onboard flash in TTL mode and it's meant to indicate that the flash was not effective against the subject. If the onboard flash was set to not contribute then that would be a correct indication.
It can also sometimes occur if the camera cannot adequately distinguish between the light from the off camera flash with respect to the onboard flash. That is to say that if the light from the off-camera flashes contribute significantly enough to the exposure that the on-camera flash becomes negligible then you will also get "return not detected" in the EXIF.
Resulting Flash tag values.
0000.H = Flash did not fire.
0001.H = Flash fired.
0005.H = Strobe return light not detected.
0007.H = Strobe return light detected.
0009.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
000D.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light not detected
000F.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected
0010.H = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
0018.H = Flash did not fire, auto mode
0019.H = Flash fired, auto mode
001D.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light not detected
001F.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light detected
0020.H = No flash function
0041.H = Flash fired, red-eye reduction mode
0045.H = Flash fired, red-eye reduction mode, return light not detected
0047.H = Flash fired, red-eye reduction mode, return light detected
0049.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode
004D.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode, return light not detected
004F.H = Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode, return light detected
0059.H = Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode
005D.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light not detected, red-eye reduction mode
005F.H = Flash fired, auto mode, return light detected, red-eye reduction mode
Other = reserved
http://www.exif.org/Exif2-2.PDF
As for specifically what it means, I can only guess that compulsory mode means you force the flash on rather than a low light detection setting, return light not detected means that no information was recorded from that specific flash.
Oh, I just found a better definition from a flicker site (see HERE)
That EXIF data relates to TTL. The "return not detected" indicates that no TTL information was obtained from the flash in question. However it is only reflecting the status of the on-camera flash (whatever's on the hotshoe or the popup). "Return not detected" usually occurs if the camera didn't get a return value for the onboard flash in TTL mode and it's meant to indicate that the flash was not effective against the subject. If the onboard flash was set to not contribute then that would be a correct indication.
It can also sometimes occur if the camera cannot adequately distinguish between the light from the off camera flash with respect to the onboard flash. That is to say that if the light from the off-camera flashes contribute significantly enough to the exposure that the on-camera flash becomes negligible then you will also get "return not detected" in the EXIF.