ccredifo
Contributor
There are a dozen TTL acronynms. Best I can tell each manufacturer has their own proprietary method of providing TTL. Can someone shed some light on the differences? Is there an advantage to one versus the other?
TTL Headache (E-TTL, S-TTL, i-TTL, Auto TTL)
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although i am a total newb, i will take a stab. i have been researching and reading a lot the last couple of weeks as i am on the hunt for a new strobe and maybe new gear altogether, depending upon the results of my research and my pocketbook. at least somjething will be written down that more experienced/knowledgable folks can fix. 
TTL is obviously through the lens. when used in conjunction with flashes, it refers to metering the exposure through the lense.
Auto TTL just means it is done automatically by the camrea controlling things, like shutter speed, aperature, flash duration. obviously it could be semi-auto TTL if you use an aperature priority setting or shutter speed priority setting and set either of those yourself.
eTTL is Canon's protocol for their flash management communication system.
iTTL is Nikon's protocol for their flash management communication system.
both of these require either hotshoe connection or wireless control of a slave strobe with appropriate settings on the camera and the slave strobe. wireless is achieved by light bursts that the slave strobe can see and interpret with the light bursts coming from the main camera strobe. they are very weak when compared to the main flash power.
i do not think there is necessarily an advantage of one over the other, but i am sure diehards in each camp will have their reasons for liking one over the other. but like i said, i am a newb so i might be wrong here. i really think they are just a different way of doing the same thing - flash control.
i also do not think there are any wireless iTTL or eTTL stobes for underwater use yet. i think this might be the way to go, but i have actually found none that work this way yet. maybe some gurus have ideas or know of one/some or will tell us if there is a reson this will not work.
S-TTL seems to be a way of controlling a flash via light as well, but this time through a fiber optic cable that picks up the light burst from the main flash and transfers it to the slave flash or with a sensor that does the same and transmits it to the slave flash with a hotshoe type cable as if it were connected via hotshoe. Inon and Sea&Sea (there may be others) do it the first way (i think) and HeinrichsWeikamp does it the second way with his digital adapter.both of these methods allow point and shoot cameras that would not normally be able to use a slave strobe to do so and with TTL metering.
i posted a thread the same day as your other one and have gotten no replies as of yet. i asked about the effectiveness of sTTL vs 'real' TTL (i.e. hotshoe connection). no replies as of yet, and i have not gone this way because i am not convinced how well it works. hopefully someone will reply there or here and let us know how much of my rambling is correct and how well each of these protocols work.
hope this helps 'til an expert or two comes along.
TTL is obviously through the lens. when used in conjunction with flashes, it refers to metering the exposure through the lense.
Auto TTL just means it is done automatically by the camrea controlling things, like shutter speed, aperature, flash duration. obviously it could be semi-auto TTL if you use an aperature priority setting or shutter speed priority setting and set either of those yourself.
eTTL is Canon's protocol for their flash management communication system.
iTTL is Nikon's protocol for their flash management communication system.
both of these require either hotshoe connection or wireless control of a slave strobe with appropriate settings on the camera and the slave strobe. wireless is achieved by light bursts that the slave strobe can see and interpret with the light bursts coming from the main camera strobe. they are very weak when compared to the main flash power.
i do not think there is necessarily an advantage of one over the other, but i am sure diehards in each camp will have their reasons for liking one over the other. but like i said, i am a newb so i might be wrong here. i really think they are just a different way of doing the same thing - flash control.
i also do not think there are any wireless iTTL or eTTL stobes for underwater use yet. i think this might be the way to go, but i have actually found none that work this way yet. maybe some gurus have ideas or know of one/some or will tell us if there is a reson this will not work.
S-TTL seems to be a way of controlling a flash via light as well, but this time through a fiber optic cable that picks up the light burst from the main flash and transfers it to the slave flash or with a sensor that does the same and transmits it to the slave flash with a hotshoe type cable as if it were connected via hotshoe. Inon and Sea&Sea (there may be others) do it the first way (i think) and HeinrichsWeikamp does it the second way with his digital adapter.both of these methods allow point and shoot cameras that would not normally be able to use a slave strobe to do so and with TTL metering.
i posted a thread the same day as your other one and have gotten no replies as of yet. i asked about the effectiveness of sTTL vs 'real' TTL (i.e. hotshoe connection). no replies as of yet, and i have not gone this way because i am not convinced how well it works. hopefully someone will reply there or here and let us know how much of my rambling is correct and how well each of these protocols work.
hope this helps 'til an expert or two comes along.
Check out the link to the information by bobf - the strobe guru - located in the main sticky in the UW Photo area. You can get there via the pink link in my sig, too.
You will also find the link to the strobe finder, by far the best resource to start with when thinking about a new strobe - and you can do side by side comparisons, too.
ttl is a nice tool but it's not necessary and I wouldn't freak out about it. Just do be aware that if you want to use it, you need to make sure that all of your components are compatible before you buy. And this forum is great at helping you spend da money!
You will also find the link to the strobe finder, by far the best resource to start with when thinking about a new strobe - and you can do side by side comparisons, too.
ttl is a nice tool but it's not necessary and I wouldn't freak out about it. Just do be aware that if you want to use it, you need to make sure that all of your components are compatible before you buy. And this forum is great at helping you spend da money!
thx alcina, currently 5 down from this one in this forum. a few views but no replies.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/strobes-lighting/252925-sttl-does-work.html
there is also Olympus-TTL, which is the Oly version of flash management communication protocol.
i see the new UFL 2 by Oly, which may actually use the wireless TTL control. maybe someone knows as it is not explicit in the little bit of documentaion on the web page for it.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/strobes-lighting/252925-sttl-does-work.html
there is also Olympus-TTL, which is the Oly version of flash management communication protocol.
i see the new UFL 2 by Oly, which may actually use the wireless TTL control. maybe someone knows as it is not explicit in the little bit of documentaion on the web page for it.
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