Tried strobes as OCF for the first time...

Epic Fail...

I placed 2 x PCB Einsteins in two corners of the room to raise the ambient a bit... they both had 8.5inch reflector on them and were pointed towards the roof for bounce flash purposes.

On my camera, I had a 600EX-RT flash, in ETTL mode (zero exposure compensation - even though i tried putting that up too and it didn't work) with the CST connected to it via sync port.

I tried Einstein at 1/32 power.. image = underexposed.
I tried Einstein at 1/16 power.. image = underexposed.
I tried Einstein at 1/2 power... image = underexposed.

The entire area wasn't even that big.. so far i've been using 600EX-RT's off camera (2 of them) in ETTL mode and I usually get decent results (some inconsistency but can be fixed in post).. ambient is usually raised for the room and the pictures look nice.. but with the strobes every test picture was at least 2 stops underexposed. It seemed like the flash had no effect.. and i was taking pics without any flash in the room.. they had severe orange tinge to them.

Can someone please tell me what I did wrong?.. was i supposed to put my flash in another mode (instead of ETTL)?

What were your camera settings? Images with EXIF intact always works best

The speedlight emits a preflash in ETTL mode, it's likely that this preflash was triggering the strobes so they were flashing prematurely.

Since the OP stated that there was a CST connected to the sync port, I would say they were using cybersync wireless and not optical triggers to fire the strobes and preflash was not the issue. It could be it there were no CSR receivers connected to the strobes.
Did the light from the strobes seem to be spreading enough to cover the room. I like to shoot the strobes back into a corner of the room and bounce it back. It seems to me to spread better and have a better direction than bouncing off the ceiling. The wall covering and room shape will factor in and sometimes the ceiling is the only choice.

Camera & Lens: 5DIII, 70-200 f/2.8 IIL

Settings when tested: ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/125 to 1/200.

I had CSXSV Receivers on the strobes, they weren't fired optically.. and the light was spreading decently when i looked up at the roof when firing the strobes..

Wow. I would have guessed at ISO 800, f/2.8, and with (2) Einsteins at 1/2 power that you would have been overexposed for sure. But, I've never used them either... just Speedlites for me - with PCB triggers though

Based on the use of the CST and CSXSVs, I have no idea what could have been wrong. When the CSXSV are installed, does it automatically override the optical slave? Or do you manually have to switch off the slave? Just wondering if the pre-flash was still firing the optical too soon...

dedsen wrote in post #15229892
Since the OP stated that there was a CST connected to the sync port, I would say they were using cybersync wireless and not optical triggers to fire the strobes and preflash was not the issue. It could be it there were no CSR receivers connected to the strobes.
Did the light from the strobes seem to be spreading enough to cover the room. I like to shoot the strobes back into a corner of the room and bounce it back. It seems to me to spread better and have a better direction than bouncing off the ceiling. The wall covering and room shape will factor in and sometimes the ceiling is the only choice.

5W0L3 wrote in post #15229949
Camera & Lens: 5DIII, 70-200 f/2.8 IIL

Settings when tested: ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/125 to 1/200.

I had CSXSV Receivers on the strobes, they weren't fired optically.. and the light was spreading decently when i looked up at the roof when firing the strobes..

Just because the cybersyncs are plugged in doesn't mean the optical sensors are automatically turned off. Using the exact same setup, take a picture of the roof where the lights are firing. You're not going to be able to look at the roof and tell of the strobes are firing with the preflash or the regular flash. Bear in mind also that the preflash signal from the camera is still a signal to fire.

Scatterbrained might be on to something. I did not find anything that addresses the slave operation with the CSXSV receiver plugged in, but from this quote from the owners manual the optical slave is still active even with a plug in the sync port.

Slave Eye Status Screen: The slave is turned on or off using the Adjust Buttons. When on, the slave eye is still active whether or not the sync jack is in use.

You need to test it with the Optical Slave turned off with the rear control panel.

Like others said Einstein not syncing due to pre-flash. You need to disable the optical sensor. Honestly if folks post problem shots in their post (along with exif intact) it would be so much simpler to anwser.

dedsen wrote in post #15230599
Scatterbrained might be on to something. I did not find anything that addresses the slave operation with the CSXSV receiver plugged in, but from this quote from the owners manual the optical slave is still active even with a plug in the sync port.

Slave Eye Status Screen: The slave is turned on or off using the Adjust Buttons. When on, the slave eye is still active whether or not the sync jack is in use.

You need to test it with the Optical Slave turned off with the rear control panel.

Maybe I was on to something... his post came after mine

drvnbysound wrote in post #15230073
Wow. I would have guessed at ISO 800, f/2.8, and with (2) Einsteins at 1/2 power that you would have been overexposed for sure. But, I've never used them either... just Speedlites for me - with PCB triggers though

Based on the use of the CST and CSXSVs, I have no idea what could have been wrong. When the CSXSV are installed, does it automatically override the optical slave? Or do you manually have to switch off the slave? Just wondering if the pre-flash was still firing the optical too soon...

drvnbysound wrote in post #15231074
Maybe I was on to something... his post came after mine

Go back and look again

bobbyz wrote in post #15231055
Like others said Einstein not syncing due to pre-flash. You need to disable the optical sensor. Honestly if folks post problem shots in their post (along with exif intact) it would be so much simpler to anwser.

I don't disagree with you, but if the optical sensor was the culprit, how would be able to tell from a sample?

Scatterbrained wrote in post #15231094
Go back and look again

Okay... maybe so, I didn't see read into the first post as much since the optical slave wasn't mentioned. But it was the second post that echoed the CSXSV not automatically disabling the optical slave...

frugivore wrote in post #15231115
I don't disagree with you, but if the optical sensor was the culprit, how would be able to tell from a sample?

Take a picture with the Speedlite and camera both aimed straight at the Einstein.. if the picture isn't blown out, it fired too early (??)

frugivore wrote in post #15231115
I don't disagree with you, but if the optical sensor was the culprit, how would be able to tell from a sample?

Unless he shooting in really really big space, Einstein at 1/32 power at ISO800, f2.8 you will see it. And OP even went to 1/2 power. But then you will have complete white IMHO at those camera settings.