Can a Panasonic GH4 wirelessly trigger a Canon 320EX Speedlite?

Asked 12/12/2014

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I used a Canon 7D with a Canon 320EX in wireless mode, but after replacing the 7D with a Panasonic GH4 I can’t get the flash to fire remotely. I’ve tried different group and channel settings on both the flash and camera, including the GH4’s wireless flash options, but nothing works. The 320EX will fire when mounted on the GH4 hot shoe, though without TTL. Is there any way for the GH4 to remotely trigger the Canon 320EX in its built-in wireless mode?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

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The four-thirds Olympus/Panasonic "RC" wireless system is completely incompatible with Canon's wireless eTTL. Them's just the breaks. The hotshoe communication protocols that are used to perform TTL, HSS, and wireless firing are all proprietary and brand-specific, just like lens/body electronic communication is. (Well, except in the case of micro four-thirds/four-thirds where Olympus and Panasonic gear are compatible with each other.) This is also why you can't do anything but fire the flash in sync on the hotshoe.

The only bit of electronic communication between a flash and a camera body that is part of the ISO standard for flashes is the sync (fire) signal. The ISO standard determines the physical dimensions of the foot/shoe, that the rails are ground, and the contact/pin in the center of the "square" is for sync. Which is why your 320EX fits on the GH4's hotshoe and fires in sync. But that's it. All the other contacts/pins and signals are proprietary and brand-specific. That the contacts and pins are placed identically in the Canon and micro four-thirds (and Fuji X and Pentax) flash gear doesn't mean much because the signals that go across them are not the same. You can, however, use a Canon eTTL cable between a micro 4/3 camera and micro 4/3 flash because the contacts are placed identically (you just have one additional contact on Canon gear that's not used).

If you want to remotely fire the 320EX from a micro four-thirds hotshoe, you're going to have to buy additional equipment, and you won't have most of the function you'd have using it with a Canon camera. If you want the full range of function on the GH4 you had with the 320EX and 7D, sell the 320EX, and pick up a Panasonic FL‑360L (aka the Olympus FL-600R, and which also has an LED video light like the 320EX) or any of the micro four-thirds RC-capable flashes. These flashes can be used as RC slaves to the built-in RC master in the GH4's pop-up flash, just as you used the 320EX with the 7D's pop-up flash.

Or. You could purchase radio triggers. I use the Yongnuo YN-622C triggers and YN-622C-TX dedicated transmitter with my 580EXII and YN-568EX and my Panasonic GX-7. I don't have TTL or HSS (unless I'm using my 5DMkII or 50D), but I do have remote power, zoom, and group control with this combination. Similarly, you could use Cactus V6 triggers. And if you only need manual firing sync, then any of the radio triggers out there should work (except the Yongnuo RF-603 Mk I triggers--they don't work on mft or Fuji X hotshoes, because the signal to autoswitch the on-camera unit into transmitter mode requires a signal that's Canon/Nikon specific; the MkIIs have a switch to explicitly set a unit into transmitter mode).

Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user27440

11y ago

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No. The Panasonic GH4’s wireless flash system is not compatible with Canon’s optical wireless eTTL system used by the 320EX.

Panasonic/Olympus use their own RC wireless protocol, while Canon Speedlites use Canon’s proprietary wireless communication. Those TTL, HSS, and wireless control signals are brand-specific, even if the flash physically fits the hot shoe.

The only universally standardized hot-shoe communication is the basic sync/fire signal. That’s why the 320EX can fire when mounted directly on the GH4, but advanced functions like TTL and Canon wireless remote control do not work.

So, with the GH4 you cannot use the 320EX in Canon’s native remote wireless mode. To use it off-camera, you’d need a simple manual triggering method that only sends a sync signal, and you should expect manual flash operation rather than Panasonic-controlled TTL wireless features.

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