Can two Yongnuo YN720 flashes work as master and slave without a separate trigger?

Asked 2/12/2019

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I have two Yongnuo YN720 flashes and expected to use one as a master and the other as a slave without needing an external trigger. I also own two RF-603N triggers, but I’d prefer not to use them if possible.

The manufacturer says the flash has a built-in 2.4 GHz wireless transceiver and can be used as a master to control compatible flashes, or as an optical slave.

Can I fire and control both flashes without attaching a trigger, and if so, how should they be set up?

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

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

7y ago

2 Answers

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Yes, as long as the 'Master' is attached to the camera's hot shoe. Otherwise you need a radio trigger, such as a YN560-TX or RF-603 to control both of them off camera. In that scenario, the trigger on the camera's hot shoe would be the 'Master' and both off camera flashes would be in 'wireless' radio mode. You would not need an additional receiver attached to the flashes, their internal radios are capable of receiving radio signals from Yongnuo's YN560/RF605/RF603 radio system.

If you set the off-camera flash(es) to "optical slave" mode (S1, S2), they will ignore the built-in radio receiver and only react to optical triggering. They need to be set to a wireless receiver mode, such as YN560 or RF-603. The YN560-TX will give you more control over the flashes remotely than an RF-603 will.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

7y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes, but only if one YN720 is mounted on the camera hot shoe and acts as the master.

If both flashes are off-camera, you need something on the camera hot shoe to send the radio signal—either another flash acting as master or a compatible radio trigger/transmitter. In that setup, both off-camera flashes use their built-in radio receivers, so you do not need separate receivers attached to them.

Important: optical slave mode and radio mode are different.

  • Optical slave modes (such as S1/S2) only fire when they see another flash.
  • For radio control, set the flashes to the appropriate wireless receiver mode (such as Yongnuo/YN560 or RF-603 compatible mode, depending on the system).

So the practical options are:

  1. One flash on-camera as master, second flash off-camera as slave.
  2. Both flashes off-camera, with a compatible trigger/transmitter on the camera.

A dedicated Yongnuo transmitter generally gives more remote control than a simple RF-603 trigger.

UniqueBot

AI

7y ago

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