I tried the new firmware for two shoots for about 30 minutes each with no dropped connections. I was using two EL-5's on an R1 and then with the older ST-E3 RT with EL5's on an R5 with no problems. I finally feel like the system is working like it always should have.
Figures this drops just after I decided to give up waiting and adapt my strobe systems to trigger via the Godox X radio system (also bought into the Neewer Q radio system because it was so cheap). It just baffles me it literally took Canon years to address this.
I was going to say - no fw updates for the older gear like ST-E3 and 600 series flashes... but you're saying it works properly with the ST-E3 RT anyway.
Of my Canon flash gear, I only have one EL-5, an ST-E3-RT and four 600EX-RT v1. Only the EL-5 is firmware upgradeable out of this set.
I ran some tests at home in a suburban environment that has at least 10 wifi SSIDs in the immediate area. I used an R6II set to a 10 seconds interval timer and simply checked time stamps of photos whenever a connection dropped. Before updating the EL-5, every combination I tried dropped the connection between 5-10 minutes. This was with the EL-5 as master to a 600EX-RT and as slave to the ST-E3-RT controller. Included with each test was a 600EX-RT slave on a different group. Each slave would drop connection at different times and whatever was controller would still show the green connected status lamp color. Restarting all devices other than the camera was required to reestablish the connection.
After updating the EL-5, whenever it was used as a slave, the connection would eventually drop within 10 minutes. When it was used as master to a 600EX-RT, the connection would also eventually drop within a similar timeframe.
But the EL-5 appears to be very stable now as a master/controller unit on the camera's hot shoe. I have a set of Phottix Laso receivers that operate on the Canon RT network. You can either plug a flash into them with a sync cable, or mount a speedlite flash on the receiver's hot shoe. So I tried these with various flashes mounted on the hot shoe, each receiver in its own group spanning B to E and used the EL-5 on-camera as the master. This is how I have been using the Canon RT system for the last few years since it became otherwise unreliable. And this solution had been pretty stable until recently when even the Laso receivers started dropping connections. But now with the EL-5 as master, it has been running on the interval timer for over an hour without a single dropped connection.
I honestly don't know if this is because of the fw update. I just swapped out the EL-5 master with the ST-E3-RT and the Phottix Laso receivers are all still firing.
Meanwhile I set up another camera on interval timer with a Godox flash as master/controller triggering 600EX-RT flashes mounted to Godox X1R receivers (these are Godox's version of the Phottix Laso receiver). And this combination has also been running without any glitches, as it should be.
I tried the new firmware for two shoots for about 30 minutes each with no dropped connections. I was using two EL-5's on an R1 and then with the older ST-E3 RT with EL5's on an R5 with no problems. I finally feel like the system is working like it always should have.
Pete73,
Thank you for this post! I downloaded the firmware to my computer, and I look forward to installing it in my EL-1 (Version 1) and putting an end to dropped connections.
rscheffler wrote:
OK, I'm not having quite the same luck.
Of my Canon flash gear, I only have one EL-5, an ST-E3-RT and four 600EX-RT v1. Only the EL-5 is firmware upgradeable out of this set.
I ran some tests at home in a suburban environment that has at least 10 wifi SSIDs in the immediate area. I used an R6II set to a 10 seconds interval timer and simply checked time stamps of photos whenever a connection dropped. Before updating the EL-5, every combination I tried dropped the connection between 5-10 minutes. This was with the EL-5 as master to a 600EX-RT and as slave to the ST-E3-RT controller. Included with each test was a 600EX-RT slave on a different group. Each slave would drop connection at different times and whatever was controller would still show the green connected status lamp color. Restarting all devices other than the camera was required to reestablish the connection.
After updating the EL-5, whenever it was used as a slave, the connection would eventually drop within 10 minutes. When it was used as master to a 600EX-RT, the connection would also eventually drop within a similar timeframe.
But the EL-5 appears to be very stable now as a master/controller unit on the camera's hot shoe. I have a set of Phottix Laso receivers that operate on the Canon RT network. You can either plug a flash into them with a sync cable, or mount a speedlite flash on the receiver's hot shoe. So I tried these with various flashes mounted on the hot shoe, each receiver in its own group spanning B to E and used the EL-5 on-camera as the master. This is how I have been using the Canon RT system for the last few years since it became otherwise unreliable. And this solution had been pretty stable until recently when even the Laso receivers started dropping connections. But now with the EL-5 as master, it has been running on the interval timer for over an hour without a single dropped connection.
I honestly don't know if this is because of the fw update. I just swapped out the EL-5 master with the ST-E3-RT and the Phottix Laso receivers are all still firing.
Meanwhile I set up another camera on interval timer with a Godox flash as master/controller triggering 600EX-RT flashes mounted to Godox X1R receivers (these are Godox's version of the Phottix Laso receiver). And this combination has also been running without any glitches, as it should be....Show more →
If you use the ST-E3-RT as the master to fire the updated EL5 only are you still losing connections? Its not really fair to include the 600EX in the mix with this particular upgrade, same with the ST-E3-RT but is does seem to be working for me.
I wonder what the odds are that we will be able to send our 600EX-RT's to Canon for a firmware update? Probably zero.
I agree it’s very unlikely the 600 series will receive a fw update. I believe both versions are now no longer officially supported for service by Canon.
Pete73 wrote:
If you use the ST-E3-RT as the master to fire the updated EL5 only are you still losing connections? Its not really fair to include the 600EX in the mix with this particular upgrade, same with the ST-E3-RT but is does seem to be working for me.
I wonder what the odds are that we will be able to send our 600EX-RT's to Canon for a firmware update? Probably zero.
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rscheffler wrote:
I’ll have to retry without the 600s in the mix.
I agree it’s very unlikely the 600 series will receive a fw update. I believe both versions are now no longer officially supported for service by Canon.
I tested the ST-E3-RT triggering the updated EL-5 with a camera shooting on the interval timer. I let it run a little over an hour and it did not disconnect, which is definitely good news.
I got the same results using a 600EX-RT v1 as master and EL-5 as the slave - no connection drop for at least an hour or so. When I tried the 600 as slave again, it dropped the connection within 10 minutes (with ST-E3-RT as sender because the R6 I used for the tests is incompatible with the EL-5's multifunction shoe).
It makes me wonder more about the original source of the RT network reliability problem - whether it was the sender, the receiver, or both. As mentioned, for the last few years I've reliably used the third-party Phottix Laso receivers (now discontinued) with Canon's RT network triggered by any of my Canon master units, whether ST-E3-RT, EL-5 or 600EX-RT. But if I instead used 600 or EL-5 units as receivers, there were frequent disconnects. Now that I've fw updated the EL-5 and it appears to be reliably working with the non fw updated ST-E3-RT, it suggests the problem was primarily on the receiving side of the system.
As noted above and in my earlier post-fw-update testing results, 'legacy' 600EX-RT units remain unreliable and continue to disconnect. This pretty much makes my collection of 600s unusable 'as-is' for OCF use. I can still reliably trigger them from the ST-E3-RT or EL-5 only if mounted on and triggered via the Phottix Laso receivers. The same is possible via the Godox X1R-C but requires use of a Godox flash or controller as the on-camera sender unit.
Last year Canon had the EL-5s on sale for $200 and I didn't grab more because of the RT network problems. If they go on sale again, I will reconsider. I still like the EL-5's build quality more than the Godox/Neewer V1 Pro/Z2 Pro units I recently acquired. But the price point of the Godox/Neewer, when on sale, is incredible. I also like that the V1 Pro/Z2 Pro battery can be charged via USB-C, unlike the EL-5's battery that needs a Canon camera charger, which of course is not included with the EL-5. I'd love to see Canon transition all of their batteries to direct USB-C charging. Given how slow they react to such trends, it will probably be years before this happens, if ever.
Note that it is listed as 1.1.0, but it is dated 10-15-25.
I downloaded the above EL-1 firmware today using the iOS variant. I do not think that the instructions from Canon worked too well but I was able to figure it out and transferred the new firmware from my Mac to my CFexpress card that was in a card reader, then to my camera, then to my Series 1 EL-1 when it was switched on.
I am using a ST-E3-RT Version 1 on top of my R3, and the EL-1 Version 1 has remained connected for well over an hour, whereas before, it would drop out after 5-minutes. It remains connected, even after the camera goes to sleep. A slight tap on the shutter button wakes everything up, with the EL-1 remaining linked.
My EL-1 displays that I am using 1.1.0 and it works great.
The new FW would be 1.2.0 for the EL-5. I believe 1.1.0 is the version for the EL-1.
Now it is unclear how to install them. The PDF in the package looks like it is for the camera's FW.
I downloaded EL-5 FW finally from Canon Japan. https://canon.jp/support/software/os/select/dc/el5-v120-win
EB-1 wrote:
The new FW would be 1.2.0 for the EL-5. I believe 1.1.0 is the version for the EL-1.
Now it is unclear how to install them. The PDF in the package looks like it is for the camera's FW.
I downloaded EL-5 FW finally from Canon Japan. https://canon.jp/support/software/os/select/dc/el5-v120-win
Install the .CFU file in the memory cards root directory. When you turn on the camera (with the flash on and installed in the multifunction shoe) navigate to the firmware in the camera's menu and it should show up as accessory. After that, click though like updating the camera firmware.
I finally got the EL-5 and ST-E10 FW updated, though the EL-5 would not function at all until the battery was fully charged. I'm not sure what was up with that.
