Can a Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II wirelessly trigger a Canon 430EX II?
Asked 1/26/2022
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I have a Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II and an older Canon 430EX II Speedlite. Can the camera’s built-in flash trigger the 430EX II wirelessly as an off-camera slave? If not, what kind of external flash or trigger setup would I need to use off-camera flash with the G7 X Mark II?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
4y ago
2 Answers
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It won't work without additional gear.
The 430EX II does indeed have optical wireless capability, but only in Canon's "smart" optical system. That requires a master unit that can "speak" the optical light-blip code that is how that communication protocol works. The pop-up flashes on the T3i and later T#i, ##D, and 7D bodies can do this. But built-in flashes on the the Canon Powershots, like the T# and SL# and lower-end Canon mirrorless bodies, can not.
And the 430EX II doesn't do "dumb" optical (typically called S1/S2 on a lot of 3rd-party flashes) triggering, like a Nikon SB-700 can with its SU-4 mode. And attaching a "dumb" optical trigger to a 430EX II's foot or cabled to a sync adapter on its foot is problematic, because the Canon EX speedlights never played well with most optical slaves. Something like a "Wein peanut" isn't going to work; you'd need a Sonia green-based optical slave. But buying one and a sync adapter for either PC or 3.5mm is going to cost roughly the same as just buying a cheap manual speedlight (like a Godox TT600) with S1/S2 modes built-in.
Keep in mind, this is very limited triggering capability. All you can tell the flash to do is fire. There's no TTL or HSS, any settings changes have to be done directly on the flash (so make sure it has M mode and physical UI controls for power/zoom/etc. settings).
However. Most compact fixed-lens cameras do use a leaf shutter, so HSS is kind of a non-issue. And my experience triggering my S90 with an optical slave leads me to say, use S1 if your camera is in M mode, and S2 if your camera is in Av/Tv/P/Auto modes to get the sync timing correct. S1 fires the flash on the first burst it senses; S2 on the second burst to avoid firing early with a TTL metering pre-burst. Canon apparently likes to do something with a metering pre-flash in those exposure modes, and typically doesn't give the Powershots any ability to switch the built-in flash from TTL to M.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
4y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No. The PowerShot G7 X Mark II’s built-in flash cannot directly trigger a Canon 430EX II in Canon’s optical wireless system.
The 430EX II is not a simple “dumb” optical slave; it works as a slave only in Canon’s coded optical wireless system, which requires a compatible master unit to send Canon’s optical control pulses. PowerShot built-in flashes do not provide that master function.
So, without extra gear, this setup will not work.
If you want off-camera flash with the G7 X Mark II, you would need either:
- a compatible optical master unit that can control Canon wireless optical slaves, or
- a different flash/trigger setup that supports basic optical slave modes or radio triggering.
In short: the G7 X II alone cannot wirelessly fire a 430EX II.
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