Godox PB960 - Anyone have / use one?

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sunnyside_up

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Bethy
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Ordered one and it arrived, but much to my disappointment, I can only get the an old Canon 550EX to power off it ... the 580EX and the Yongnuo 600 won't draw any power from it... Tried powering on the flash first, then the pack, and vice versa, all the usual combinations, batteries charged, not charged, Duracells and rechargables... for whatever reason, it's only powering the 550. Specs say it should power them all (I have listed above).

So... my question - does anyone have / use one? Any issues? Am I being a complete thicko plunker and missing the obvious?

Cheers team.

B
 
The canon flash does need batteries to power the electronics. The external pack only charges the actual flash, as far as I know. I don't regularly use it with my 580ex2, but I'm sure I have in the past.
 
J Veitch said:
The canon flash does need batteries to power the electronics. The external pack only charges the actual flash, as far as I know. I don't regularly use it with my 580ex2, but I'm sure I have in the past.
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Yes, they all need to have powered batteries to work the circuitry... My 580EX is the old one - as is the 550... it 'should' work with the 600's... but what confuses me is why it's only working with the old 550.
 
Sorry I'm not really being particularly helpful at the moment. If I remember tomorrow I'll try and dig out my 580 and pack and give it a try, see if I'm missing something.
 
It's a while since I had a 550 and 580 but I seem to remember that the 550 will use the external pack by default when it's connected (ie, no custom function changes are required) but the 580/580MkII need you to alter a custom function to tell the unit which power source you want it to use.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
It's a while since I had a 550 and 580 but I seem to remember that the 550 will use the external pack by default when it's connected (ie, no custom function changes are required) but the 580/580MkII need you to alter a custom function to tell the unit which power source you want it to use.

Bob
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ahhhhh!!! Don't suppose you know where that little charm of info is hidden in the menu systems??
 
Canon Bob said:
It's a while since I had a 550 and 580 but I seem to remember that the 550 will use the external pack by default when it's connected (ie, no custom function changes are required) but the 580/580MkII need you to alter a custom function to tell the unit which power source you want it to use.

Bob
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Yea, having now googled a bit more - turns out the 600EX-RT doesn't have a C.Fn.12 or any other to alter the power source, as the manual for the Canon 600 dictates. Looking now to see if there is a firmware upgrade... if not, then the brand new powerpack is going to have to be sold on.... :(
 
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JohnN said:
I don't have canon or the pack so cannot personally help, but a quick Google found this:

https://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2011/speedlite_tip_pt2_article.htmlp

Custom function 12 on the speed light
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Thanks John. Yes, been googling this, and as I mentioned above, out of the box, although the Yongnou is a clone of the Canon 600... turns out it's not. Jumps from C.Fn11 = C.Fn 20... and none of the ones there have anything to do with external power sources sadly. Hoping for a firmware update.
 
It was the 580 I looked up, I didn't expect to find the other one officially anyway, perhaps their tech support?
 
Canon Bob said:
What about the 580EX, Bethy.....does that work?

Bob
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Hey Bob...
It works on the 550EX - but only in Ettl mode...(?!?!?!?!)
Can't get it to work on the 580EX, even setting the C.Fn 7 to external power source.

No menu settings on the YN600EX-RT for external battery options. Not even in the firmware upgrade.

Just to re-iterate, the Canon guns are the first versions (not the II's) and the 600 is a Yongnou.

But then I saw this video and this guy is getting it to work...?? My pack is orange though, the only difference.

 
Byker28i said:
I have one - works a treat with my 550Ex2. Custom function 12 uses recharge power from the external source, batteries for the control.
Best thing is, itf it doesn't detect external power it reverts to all power from batteries, so you make the function change once and never change it.
Manual is here: http://www.canon.co.uk/support/consumer_products/product_ranges/cameras/speedlites/
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Just out of curiosity - and a really stupid question - is yours black or orange? I know it shouldn't make a difference, I don't think they are different units, only in casing.
 
12 isn't available on the yongnou version.
 
Ok, so here's a weird one. Having nipped round to a friend's place who has a 580II, did some comparisons...

The 580II will work in Ettl off the Godox and I can vary the output. However in manual, only working at full power and half power. Take it down to 1/4 and it won't run off the Godox.
The 580I will now work in Manual only, and nothing below 1/2 power. Take it down to 1/4 and it won't run off the Godox.

The 550EX will work in Manual, but on full 1/1 power only. It will work in Ettl and I can vary output.

I can't get anything from the YN600 (the Yongnou).

I shoot manual, rarely will I use Ettl. So it's no use to me. But surely this can't be right?!?!?! @JohnN @Byker28i @Canon Bob
 
sunnyside_up said:
...... But surely this can't be right?!?!?! @JohnN @Byker28i @Canon Bob
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There's no communication (per se) between the Godox and the flashes so it's hard to see what's wrong. I use Canon's own version (CP-E4) and flash operation is just the same as using the internal cells (albeit slower to recharge if higher power settings are used).

I'll do some investigation but don't hold your breath.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
There's no communication (per se) between the Godox and the flashes so it's hard to see what's wrong. I use Canon's own version (CP-E4) and flash operation is just the same as using the internal cells (albeit slower to recharge if higher power settings are used).

I'll do some investigation but don't hold your breath.

Bob
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I have no idea where to go next, except a return claims through Amazon. I'll stick to Enloops. Thanks everyone for your help, I think I've pretty much exhausted trying to find a solution to this. As much as it makes no sense...
 
That makes no sense, it's just an external battery pack. Canon bobs cp-e4 is just an external battery pack with aa batteries instead of li-ion. I have a 580ex2 that works fine, so has a collegue at work who's just bought a godox 960 after seeing me using mine doing staff portraits.

I don't know the yongnuo model, I'll try mine later after guy Martin :)
 
Byker28i said:
That makes no sense, it's just an external battery pack. Canon bobs cp-e4 is just an external battery pack with aa batteries instead of li-ion. I have a 580ex2 that works fine, so has a collegue at work who's just bought a godox 960 after seeing me using mine doing staff portraits.

I don't know the yongnuo model, I'll try mine later after guy Martin :)
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I know it makes no sense... I went to see a mate today just to do a sanity check that I wasn't missing something... I'm sooooo hacked off.
 
Byker28i said:
That makes no sense, it's just an external battery pack. Canon bobs cp-e4 is just an external battery pack with aa batteries instead of li-ion. I have a 580ex2 that works fine, so has a collegue at work who's just bought a godox 960 after seeing me using mine doing staff portraits.

I don't know the yongnuo model, I'll try mine later after guy Martin :)
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Just a thought... do you use yours with your flash on or off camera?
 
Here's something to try Bethy.........

You haven't mentioned whether you've connected two flashes to the Godox at the same time. I suspect that the voltage from the Godox is a little too high and here's the reasoning......

The 550EX, 580EX and 580EXII all have some internal safety which cuts off the external source if the charge voltage is too high....I have no idea about the YN600. When you pop off a full or half power flash then the load on the Godox to recharge for the next flash pulse is quite high and there's likely to be a drop in volatge as a result. When firing at lower power then there's not the same requirement as the main capacitor still retains some or most of its charge. The Canon flashes don't charge the capacitors to quite the same voltage when using an external pack although I can't understand why this should be? The 550EX charges more slowly (less load) than the 580EX which is in turn slower than the 580EXII.......hence there is more probable voltage reduction as the flashes progress through the generations and later generation flashes will have more (but not all) functionality.

I suspect that firing two flashes simultaneously might hold the voltage a tad lower and you might see that 1/4 or 1/8 power is possible......it's not the solution but would show that your Godox is probably out of spec on the high side.

Hope all that made sense.

Bob
 
sunnyside_up said:
Just a thought... do you use yours with your flash on or off camera?
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Both. When off triggered with a ST-E2 master flash thing, or sometimes with all flashguns on manual (canon and yongnuo cheapies) on yongnuo wireless triggers (rf-602). BAsically set all to manual power levels and trigger with the wireless triggers - used when the ST-e2 won't trigger because of distance etc.
 
@Canon Bob @Byker28i I am SUCH an idiot.

Bob, your post made a lot of sense to me - after someone else also explained that to me. I feel like an idiot.

Having now re-tested again with the 550 and 580, hammering the flashes at 1/4 power eventually pops the light, so it IS taking juice from the pack.

The Yongnou 600's - well, that was an 'order of turning on' thing - Pack, Flash, Commander (if the flash is being used as a slave, which it is).

Really really sorry for wasting all your time... but thank you so much for taking the time to help. Muchly appreciated.

Beth
 
Sounds good, Bethy, and I learned a few things during the diagnosis so it wasn't a waste of time.

Bob
 
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