Canon Speedlite.

TONY C. · 4 Dec 2013

Hi all, I want to get a new canon 600 speedlite, my question is if I want to take it off camera possibly with a second flash to use remotely will it have to have a cord from flashes to camera or will it work cordless? ie controlled by camera shutter? I use a 7d, using flash this way can get quite confusing when you read some of the posts and very technical too. Replies would be very helpful, Cheers Tony.

Finste · 4 Dec 2013

You certainly could use a Canon TTL cord if you wish, or you could use the 7d's built in flash commander which works through the popup flash on the 7d. It will therefore require line-of-sight to trigger the flash. You will not however be able to use it via an ST3 or other 600RT in radio wireless mode. That only works with the 5D3 and 1Dx, (Presumably other new cameras going forward as well.)

Regards...

simonbarker · 4 Dec 2013

You'd just need to set the 600 to act as a slave and the flash on your 7D can trigger it but would it be worth considering some other (considerably less expensive) flash models if you're not needing the radio controls of the 600?

Phil V · 4 Dec 2013

As per Simon above, this is one of those 'well I wouldn't have set off from here' answers.

The short answer is the 7d can fire the 600 using the built in flash, but it's inelegant compared to either the Canon ex600RT or any other wireless (radio) option. You can also get ETTL cables of various lengths too (even more inelegant).

The modern answer (to go with your ex600) is another Canon radio flash (600), however that soon gets expensive (using 1 to trigger and a further 2 as remotes

)

A much cheaper solution would be some 3rd party triggers (Yongnuo YN622C's are less than £100, Pocketwizard Flex would be less than the cost of another EX600), but that kinda wastes what you've already spent on your current flash.

My recommended solution would be to save your EX600 for on camera use (seeing as you've already bought it) and buy the Yongnuo triggers and some emotely controllable Yongnuo flashes too (total cost less than a 2nd EX600)

TONY C. · 4 Dec 2013

Thanks for all your replies guys, its a bit baffling if your not used to this! always used flash on camera? gonna have to get my head round the replies I knew it wasn't that straight forward nothing ever is!
Phil I have not bought a 600 yet I just thought it being top of range it could do more then realised it may not be that simple, so your reply is certainly food for thought. Thanks

Phil V · 4 Dec 2013

Teecee said:
Thanks for all your replies guys, its a bit baffling if your not used to this! always used flash on camera? gonna have to get my head round the replies I knew it wasn't that straight forward nothing ever is!
Phil I have not bought a 600 yet I just thought it being top of range it could do more then realised it may not be that simple, so your reply is certainly food for thought. Thanks

No problem, unless you've got a massive pile of money sitting around, skip the 600 flashes. If you want the build quality and reliability of Canon, buy the 580's and some radio triggers.

Or go budget and do it all with Yongnuo, I recently sold my Pocketwizard kit and bought a pair of YN622's and a couple of flashguns, you can't argue with that kind of value.

TONY C. · 4 Dec 2013

I suppose the question I should have asked in the first place is how does all this work? just googled YN622's they are the triggers? does this mean I place the flashguns off camera then fire them off with the triggers? are they handheld? or does one sit on camera? can't find a pic of the set up anywhere! As I am starting with off camera flash for the first time I think i would be better to follow your advice and go budget Phil.

Yellowbelly · 4 Dec 2013

Finste said:
You certainly could use a Canon TTL cord if you wish, or you could use the 7d's built in flash commander which works through the popup flash on the 7d. It will therefore require line-of-sight to trigger the flash. You will not however be able to use it via an ST3 or other 600RT in radio wireless mode. That only works with the 5D3 and 1Dx, (Presumably other new cameras going forward as well.)

Regards...

Flippin' 'eck! No-one has told my 7D it can't be used with an ST3. Don't shout about this chaps, I don't want it to take umbridge.

Phil V · 4 Dec 2013

Teecee said:
I suppose the question I should have asked in the first place is how does all this work? just googled YN622's they are the triggers? does this mean I place the flashguns off camera then fire them off with the triggers? are they handheld? or does one sit on camera? can't find a pic of the set up anywhere! As I am starting with off camera flash for the first time I think i would be better to follow your advice and go budget Phil.

The transmitter sits on your hotshoe and your camera thinks it's a 580 ex or similar commander, you can then set your remote flash(es) power from the camera menu. The remote flash(es) sit on top of the receiver units and take commands from the camera. You have 3 'groups' of flashes, each group can contain as many flashes as you want, all set to the same power, whether that's a Manual power setting or an amout of FEC (using ETTL). The number of flashes and triggers you can control is only limited by your budget.

That's just scratching the surface, from where you are it's a steep learning curve.

Do you want to use High Speed Sync? That'll limit the YN flashes you can use. But you can use any ETTL compatible flashes (there are limitations, get ex compatible for the most flexibility).

Finste · 4 Dec 2013

Yellowbelly said:
Flippin' 'eck! No-one has told my 7D it can't be used with an ST3. Don't shout about this chaps, I don't want it to take umbridge.

Just tried it on mine and you are correct. You do indeed get partial functionality. For the life of me I always believed that it was only ever compatible with cameras produced during or after 2012. That condition only applies to full functionality. Live and learn I suppose.:shrug:.

Regards...

Yellowbelly · 4 Dec 2013

Finste said:
Just tried it on mine and you are correct. You do indeed get partial functionality. For the life of me I always believed that it was only ever compatible with cameras produced during or after 2012. That condition only applies to full functionality. Live and learn I suppose.:shrug:.

Regards...

You had me in fear of my next catalogue shoot!

TONY C. · 4 Dec 2013

Phil V said:
The transmitter sits on your hotshoe and your camera thinks it's a 580 ex or similar commander, you can then set your remote flash(es) power from the camera menu. The remote flash(es) sit on top of the receiver units and take commands from the camera. You have 3 'groups' of flashes, each group can contain as many flashes as you want, all set to the same power, whether that's a Manual power setting or an amout of FEC (using ETTL). The number of flashes and triggers you can control is only limited by your budget.

That's just scratching the surface, from where you are it's a steep learning curve.

Do you want to use High Speed Sync? That'll limit the YN flashes you can use. But you can use any ETTL compatible flashes (there are limitations, get ex compatible for the most flexibility).

Ah Its sinking in now there's no hurry to get my head round it, but I get the idea now, I only want a very basic set up to start with, just need to work out which flashguns & triggers to get now; Many Thanks for your help, Phil.