Blink overexposed / underexposed zones

Summary

Sub-toggle of the Protect chips master. Strobes a red overlay over highlights the meter says will clip and a blue overlay over shadows the meter says will crush, gated on the meter's zone reading rather than raw pixel values.

How it works

What it does

On the just-captured preview, strobes a red overlay over highlights the meter says will clip and a blue overlay over shadows the meter says will crush. Same idea as the 'blinkies' on a digital camera's playback view, but gated on the meter's actual zone reading rather than raw pixel values.

How clipping is detected

The blink fires only when the meter places a spot at Zone IX.5 or above (highlights) or Zone I.5 or below (shadows). In Multi-Spot or Auto Zones modes the per-spot zones drive it. In Single-Spot or whole-frame modes the scene's brightest and darkest 5x5 patches (the same detector that powers the protect chips) drive it. If the meter says nothing is at the rails, no blink, even if some preview pixels happen to peg at white or black. Adjusting the EV-comp dial shifts every zone in real time so the blink updates with it.

Pro precision recommended

The blink reads the 8-bit JPEG of the just-captured preview, which tops out around 7 stops above middle gray. With Fast precision the meter is also limited to that 8-bit ceiling, so a truly hot specular may not register as Zone X. Switch on 'Auto-pro on clipped readings' (or 'Professional metering') below so the meter can drive the sensor down past the JPEG ceiling and report the actual zone for those spots. Without Pro the blink still works, but it sees the same 8-bit ceiling the preview does, so the verdict is only as honest as Fast metering can make it.

When to turn this on

When you want a visual confirmation of where the scene is clipping at the current exposure, in addition to the chip-driven warnings. Especially useful while learning the zone system or when a scene has subtle highlights you might miss in a chip glance.

When to turn this off

When the strobing is distracting, when you find the chip workflow alone is enough, or when you're metering scenes you already know the latitude of and don't need a visual reminder of every blown corner.

Note

Only has an effect when the parent 'Protect highlights / shadows chips' switch is on. Off there means off everywhere; off here keeps the chips alive but skips the strobe.