EOS R5 & R6 - Menu setting: Expo. Simulation: Disable/During/Enable not working.

[ABNpix]

Equipment:

Canon R5 and R6 (with multiple flashes & remote triggers):

Situation: 

Portrait of person in dark suit, indoors, 60 feet behind subject wall is lit by window light, one light soft box on subject.

My problem:  

I can not compose a photo while flash or strobes are engaged. While shooting a portrait (indoors) with flash or studio strobes (Profoto) via remote trigger on hot shoe, the exposure simulation does not seem to work. Menu setting: Expo. Simulation: I’ve used all three settings Disable/During/Enable and the same issue/results happen. If I view the subject (dark jacket) through camera LCD or EVF the monitor goes bright because monitor is trying to make a good visual exposure to view the dark subject which in turn blows out the background or if you angle the camera away from subject toward something bright the monitor goes dark to compensate for the brightness. 

When I take the photo the final image in camera is perfectly lit and exposed correctly - the issue is trying to view and compose the photo before I even take it.... The EVF/LCD is blown out/way over exposed so much so that I can’t compose the photo correctly (ie. Background, architectural lines coming out of persons head).  

If I turn OFF the flash -or- turn OFF the remote trigger then the viewable image on the LCD or EVF shows the correct exposure, the background is not blown out and I can see the architecture and compose the photo. 

If I turn the flash back ON or the trigger for remote, the EVF/LCD shows the background blown out (way over exposed, so much that I can not see what’s there)…. Impossible to compose a photo, it’s like being blind, this is unexceptable.  

Ive called CPS they said they don’t know why this happens (the tech even had the same camera & flash set up and saw the same issue I have)….  He had no answer or help for me.

I don’t know why the monitor shifts when the lens is pointed towards dark or light areas - it should not shift at all if I am shooting fully manual. Just because I turn on a flash the monitor shifts under and over exposed if you focus on bright or dark areas this does not seem correct. I personally can’t believe this has not been addressed or solved by now….   For $6,000.00 USD (R5$4k & R6$2k) I can’t believe this is even an issue…. My other mirrorless system LCD/EVF does not change at all when connected to strobes or flash, the LCD/EVF stays exactly where the manual exposure is set, even when I shift my view from dark to light areas.  

I look forward to any response or answers to the issue.  

Thank you all for your time. 

ABN

[Waddizzle]

Michael demonstrates the issue, and seems to have found a work around in the video.  He demonstrates the different ExpSim scenarios.  He shows what happes: when the Speedlite on or off, while metering is active or inactive.

[Dcamba]

I did watch his video but it doesn’t address my issue. I’m not asking how to get a preview of the ambient light. I want to be able to see my subject well enough to grab focus and when the flash is turned on and my subject is backlit, my screen is too dark to focus. 

[kvbarkley]

Get a flashlight you can shine on the subject to focus, or use discoflash

[Dcamba]

I’m trying to take a picture of a subject in front of a window using my speed light (a Godoy V1) as OCF. I’m in full manual on my camera and flash. When I turn off exposure simulation my subject is too dark to see to be able to focus. I’m in spot metering mode. 

[usetape]

Here is the solution for anyone using a trigger for off camera flash and does not require e-ttl or hss. Put masking tape over the 4 pins of the flash or trigger that make a square together but leave the centre pin untaped. Voila. The camera will not recognize the trigger and/or flash as e-ttl capable and will (therefore?) not automatically disable exposure simulation when that flash/trigger is connected. We can turn exposure simulation off and on at will in all other circumstances. If I'm not mistaken, it would actually take EXTRA programming to not only turn off exposure simulation but also disable the feature entirely when a flash is connected. It boggles the mind. Now I have ugly masking tape on my beautiful pristine equipment to fix this. Thanks a lot, Canon. 

p.s. This has been a mandatory "feature" since I got a Canon EOS R in 2019. I now have an R6 with the same issue. They are obviously aware of it and aren't going to fix it. What's insane is that because it bothers me so much I would probably shell out for an EOS R5 just to not have a masking tape solution, BUT IT'S EVERY CAMERA IN THE LINEUP.

... and Sony does this, too. I don't know what the hell is going on.