Can the Yongnuo YN600EX-RT work as an optical master for a Canon 430EX II?
Asked 5/6/2015
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I’m using a Canon 70D with a Yongnuo YN600EX-RT and want to trigger a Canon 430EX II in Canon optical wireless mode. The camera menu shows an optical option, but it keeps switching back, and on the flash I can only find normal mode, radio master, radio slave, and optical slave. Is there a way to set the YN600EX-RT as an optical master, or is this flash limited to other wireless modes?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
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I found an Amazon review that states that, unlike the Canon 600EX-RT, the YN-600EX-RT cannot be used as an optical master, only as an optical slave. Looking over the manual, there are sections to set the flash as an RT master, as an RT slave, and as an optical slave, but no section on setting optical master mode. So, I think it's likely that the flash simply doesn't have this functionality, despite what the specs say.
If it's true that you cannot use the YN-600EX-RT as an optical master, then your only recourse to trip the 430EXII from the 600EX-RT is going to be attaching a Yongnuo YNE3-RX receiver onto the foot of the 430EXII. On the plus side, you'll have RF triggering, rather than optical, and full TTL/HSS capability. In addition, you'll have ID code, groups D&E, and Gr mode control over a 430EXII--features that it doesn't do on its own in Canon's optical slaving scheme. You'll also have wireless 2nd curtain sync, which Canon's own RF and near-infrared systems don't do.
2017 update: Yongnuo has released a YN-600EX-RT II, which includes "smart" optical master capability.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
11y ago
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No. The Yongnuo YN600EX-RT appears to support Canon RT radio master/slave modes and optical slave mode, but not optical master mode. That matches the behavior you’re seeing: there’s no optical master setting on the flash, so the camera can’t force it into that mode.
So a YN600EX-RT cannot directly act as an optical master to control a Canon 430EX II wirelessly in Canon’s optical system.
Your practical options are:
- use the YN600EX-RT as a radio master with a compatible receiver on the 430EX II, or
- use a different Canon-compatible optical master flash/transmitter.
If you add a Yongnuo RT receiver to the 430EX II, you can trigger it by radio instead of optical, which is generally more reliable and can preserve features like TTL/HSS if the receiver supports them.
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