Prolinca 40203 not firing Canon speedlites

[Tom Rollo]

Hello everyone, new here and seeking some advice. I dusted down my lighting equipment yesterday and confidently put my prolinca 40203 on camera and was then dismayed that it did not fire my Canon 420ex and 550ex speedlites when they were set to slave mode. Has anybody got any ideas how to get this to work. I used the flash trigger to fire studio lights previously, but don't think that I used it to fire my speedlites. Am I doing something obviously wrong, or will this little unit not fire my speedlites at all?

I hope you can help.

Tom

 

[Phil V]

Canon speedlights don't have an optical slave mode.

The slave mode is for the Canon near IR remote functionality.

You can buy optical slaves with hotshoes

 

[Tom Rollo]

Phil, thanks very much for your reply. Away now to look at other systems. I have studio lights but like the idea of firing the two Canon units off camera when I'm working around toddlers in a small space.

Anyway, thanks again.

Tom

 

[HoppyUK]

Not only do you need a separate optical slave, you need a special one for Canon Speedlites - this one £10 http://www.colinsfoto.com/Sonia_Opt...including_Canon_EZ_and__EX/p43950_466761.aspx

A normal slave will fire once, and not again without switching off. If you don't have this small piece of knowledge, it will quickly drive you mad (I am still in recovery.)

A better idea though, is to switch to radio triggers, like 4x Yongnuo RF-603 transceivers - one on-camera and one for each flash unit, about £10 each, here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yongnuo-RF...qid=1468509594&sr=1-1&keywords=yongnuo+rf+603 though you need to choose Canon or Nikon, get the right cable for your camera model, and you'll need a different cable to plug into the Prolinca (1/4in jack at a guess).

 

[Tom Rollo]

Thanks Richard. It's been a while since I invested in camera and lights equipment, my other hobbies took up my spare funds for quite a while. Would you mind explaining why it would be better to go radio controlled rather than optical? I like the idea of the small hotshoe for it's compactness, but does the radio trigger add lots of benefits in addition to the increased costs? If it does, then I may well be better investing in radio triggers and cables rather than these wee flash hotshoes.

Tom

 

[HoppyUK]

Thanks Richard. It's been a while since I invested in camera and lights equipment, my other hobbies took up my spare funds for quite a while. Would you mind explaining why it would be better to go radio controlled rather than optical? I like the idea of the small hotshoe for it's compactness, but does the radio trigger add lots of benefits in addition to the increased costs? If it does, then I may well be better investing in radio triggers and cables rather than these wee flash hotshoes.

Tom

Well first an apology. I read your OP wrong, and for some reason thought the Prolinca was a studio flash head! I have no idea why, especially as I have that exact same item and, for anyone else reading, Prolinca 40203 is an optical slave transmitter. So, all you would need then is 2x that Sonia optical slave. I'm also assuming that neither of your Canon speedlites has a co-ax sync socket, but if they do then the other Sonia slave would also work (green one) though the one I linked has obvious practical benefits.

The advantage of radio triggers is reliability in difficult conditions, ie outdoors in bright ambient light, and they have massive range. The RF-603 also has remote wake-up if your guns nod off which can be handy, and with the right cable, they can also double as a remote camera trigger. But on second thoughts, if you're just doing a bit of indoor stuff like portraits or table-top etc, then a couple of those Sonias would do the trick nicely

Final thought, if you want full remote auto-TTL etc control, then YN-622 transceivers might work. I say might, as they're designed for newer flash guns (basically Canon Type-II guns). I know Phil V uses them fine with a Canon 550EX, but not sure about your 420EX. You'd need to check.

 

[Phil V]

Well first an apology. I read your OP wrong, and for some reason thought the Prolinca was a studio flash head! I have no idea why, especially as I have that exact same item and, for anyone else reading, Prolinca 40203 is an optical slave transmitter. So, all you would need then is 2x that Sonia optical slave. I'm also assuming that neither of your Canon speedlites has a co-ax sync socket, but if they do then the other Sonia slave would also work (green one) though the one I linked has obvious practical benefits.

The advantage of radio triggers is reliability in difficult conditions, ie outdoors in bright ambient light, and they have massive range. The RF-603 also has remote wake-up if your guns nod off which can be handy, and with the right cable, they can also double as a remote camera trigger. But on second thoughts, if you're just doing a bit of indoor stuff like portraits or table-top etc, then a couple of those Sonias would do the trick nicely

Final thought, if you want full remote auto-TTL etc control, then YN-622 transceivers might work. I say might, as they're designed for newer flash guns (basically Canon Type-II guns). I know Phil V uses them fine with a Canon 550EX, but not sure about your 420EX. You'd need to check.

I can control and fire both a 550 ad a 420, but the feedback isn't as good as with newer flashguns.
ps - I also hadn't realised the Prolinca was a transmitter. However, optical transmission today is a bit like sticking to VCR - yes it's usable, but not as reliable or useful as radio triggers. And radio triggers are also so cheap compared to what we paid for the old tech.

 

[Tom Rollo]

Thanks to both you guys, Richard and Phil. Seems like you pair almost live on here with those number of posts, but I have loved the friendly and helpful tone from both of you. I think I will go for those Sonias (thanks Richard).

Tom

 

[HoppyUK]

Thanks to both you guys, Richard and Phil. Seems like you pair almost live on here with those number of posts, but I have loved the friendly and helpful tone from both of you. I think I will go for those Sonias (thanks Richard).

Tom

Don't set the guns to slave, set that switch to off.