Need Help with 600EX-RT wireless in manual mode

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KimS
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p.1 #1 · Need Help with 600EX-RT wireless in manual mode

I bought 4 600ex and have two 5D mk2 bodies. 2 flashes are masters controlling the same two off-camera slaves. Setting up the wireless slaves was easy- ratio A:B

But how do i control the output of the on-camera flash

I don't see anything in the manual about it and it's driving me crazy. I don't see any function buttons that would operate it either.. unless maybe the master is A? If that's the case, how would that work with using two cameras and two masters controlling the same two slaves? Would one master need to be A and the other B or because they're both masters are they both A?

Jul 22, 2012 at 04:09 PM

KimS
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p.1 #2 · Need Help with 600EX-RT wireless in manual mode

master flash defaults to group A..

Jul 22, 2012 at 10:15 PM

BrianO
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p.1 #3 · Need Help with 600EX-RT wireless in manual mode

Just to clarify your question, are you trying to use three flashes -- one on camera and two off camera -- at the same time? And you want to use two different cameras to control the two off-camera flashes?

As you found, the Master is always Group A. You can also set a Slave to Group A and the other to Group B, or you can set one Slave to Group B and the other to Group C. (And with the radio mode of the 600EX RT, you also have Groups D, and E if/when you get more of them, but unless you have a 2012-model camera, the latter Groups may not be available.)

In ETTL mode, Group C operates differently than A and B, but in Manual mode all three work the same way, with you setting the levels of each. Manual mode is definitely the way to go.

Jul 24, 2012 at 06:22 AM

cgardner
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p.1 #4 · Need Help with 600EX-RT wireless in manual mode

To answer the second question:

Master and slave are linked together by channel selection (1-15) and unique ID# set on both.

So if you wanted two Masters to both fire two slaves, both Masters and both slaves would need to be set to the same channel and ID# number.

But if photographer #2 wants to take a shot just after photographer #1 the slave flashes may not yet be fully charged and the shot will be missed. The 600EX slaves communicate "ready" status back to the Master so shooting that way would simply require paying attention to the "slave ready" indicator and some agreement between shooters (i.e., shooting alternately) to avoid their "fire" signals from overlapping.

Alternately the two photographers could work independently on separate channels / ID numbers with separate sets of flashes. If would require more gear but each photographer would have total independent control of OCF light placement and ratio. Less risk of missed shots that way.

Also since you mention shooting in M mode you should bear in mind how distance from the slave will affect exposure and lighting ratios if two shooters at different distances are sharing the same slaves. If shooting with ETTL ratios —which meter based on the light reflected from separate pre-flashes fired for each group—the metering would keep the ratio the same for both shooters but they would need different FEC settings for exposure if flash is at different distance from the subject they are shooting.

All things considered I think separate sets of flashes on separate channel + IDs would be less confusing and produce more predicable results. Not the cheapest option, but the best ones seldom are.

Jul 25, 2012 at 11:44 AM

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