Suggestion required for wireless trigger for Canon 550D and 430EX-II combination

[bedantabd]

Please suggest the best and most affordable way to trigger my 430EX-II off-camera. I have a clumsy sync chord which hardly extends beyond 2-3 ft. And my Canon 550D does not have an in-built transmitter to fire off-camera flashes. Which of the following will be suitable for my requirement? Or do you want to suggest anything else?
• Yongnuo Upgrade RF-603 II C1
• Yongnuo YN-622C Wireless TTL Flash Trigger
• YONGNUO YN-622C-KIT
• YONGNUO YN-622N-KIT
• YONGNUO RF 603C
• YONGNUO YN-622C-TX

Thanks in advance

[chauncey]

http://www.techradar.com/us/how-to/p...-rated-1320868

[Manfred M]

There are so many options out there, you are going to do your own research. The triggers go from devices that do nothing more than fire off your flash to others that integrate completely with your camera's through the lens metering system and allow you to change the flash settings remotely. The ones that only trigger will be the least expensive because they do so little. The high end solutions give you the remote control you need. Don't forget that you will need a transceiver for both your flash AND your camera
.

I don't shoot either Canon or Yongnuo equipment, so can't give detailed information. I use PocketWizard triggers for both my Nikon Speedlights and my studio lights. My Godox flash (which is really a battery operated studio light) and Godox triggers will not work with my Nikon flash because the Godox flash uses a proprietary on flash receiver. I can use my PocketWizard triggers with the Godox, but I have no remote control of the flash settings.

I know PocketWizard has an integrated Canon solution, but it is quite expensive.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Bedanta,

As Manfred has said, there are many solutions, but we need to know what it is you want to achieve and where (i.e. under what conditions).

Do you want to simply trigger the 430EX-II when off camera? (using the 'manual' power level you set it to when positioning it)

Or do you want more control; e.g. two way communication allowing use of ETTL and, when in manual flash, remote control of the power level setting? (handy if flash mounted beyond reach, or just to save walking)

How do you want to "wirelessly" trigger (or communicate with) it? Optically, or by Radio Frequency (RF)? Both terms are called "wireless triggering" (somewhat confusingly)

For example, indoors, optical may work for you, but apparently it can be hit-and-miss if you're shooting outdoors in bright light (which masks the optical trigger or communication system)

If RF; be aware that there are two common frequency bands in use, one is rather short range (433MHz), the other usually offers better range (2.4GHz), but check the specs.

As Manfred says, you'll likely* need something on your camera to 'transmit' and something else, attached to flash, to 'receive' whatever trigger and control signals and those devices will need batteries and to be connected by hot shoe or cable.

* In the simplest/cheapest possible solution; you could probably just slave trigger the 430EX-II in optical manual slave mode without a receiver and use the on-board flash to fire it, but it won't be very reliable, the next step up would be a (second) mounted on camera flash, with a head that you can rotate and angle to aim directly at the 430EX-II to effect a targeted aiming of the flash to trigger the slaved '430' - but these options will not allow much control or use of TTL for Canon.

Good luck with the hunt, Dave

PS in your list of Yongnuo things, beware model numbers ending in "N", that may well denote it is designed for Nikon camera and flash systems. Be especially careful if ordering on Amazon, they tend to have the same page for both and it's easy to get mixed up (and potentially order the wrong thing at the last moment)

[rpcrowe]

There is one feature that I would look for in selecting a flash controller: high speed sync (HSS) capability.

IMO, HSS is critical in shooting outdoors with fill flash.

Otherwise, I am forced to rely on a shutter speed of 1/200 second (on my 5D2) or 1/250 second (on my 7D) or slower. Often I will want a faster shutter speed to (1) stop action outdoors or (2) to enable me to use a wider aperture in order to take advantage of selective focus (especially in portraiture).

Since I use a lot of outdoor fill flash, HSS is critical to my way of shooting...

[Donald]

I was at a workshop today and in answer to the same question I was recommended the YONGNUO RF 603C2.

And, yes, Dave is right. On Yongnuo 'C' stands for Canon and 'N' for Nikon.

Please also note my reference is to the ...C2; i.e. the Mark II

[tclune]

I have the 603 with my Nikon. By and large, I am happy with it. There are a few things worth knowing, however. First, of course, it is manual flash only -- no TTL or the like. Second, I found that the 603s were fine at max synch speed on some cameras and not others. In particular, I found that I needed to drop down from 1/200 to 1/150 sec on a D800 to avoid synch problems. I had no issue with any other Nikon that I tried, and it isn't that big a deal to change the shutter speed by that amount with flash. But you do need to find out how the unit interacts with your specific camera before shooting anything important. Third, the unit allows you to place a flash on top of the camera-mounted 603 and use it as a pass-through for that flash. However, the 603 does not screw onto the camera, so the flash unit can cause the 603 and flash to side right off the camera body. Fourth, the on/off switch for the unit is located in a place that can't be reached once the flash unit is mounted to it, so you need to turn the unit on before attaching the flash. And, finally, I have one flash unit that refuses to wake up remotely with the 603. This is a Sunpak, and may have this problem with every remote unit. But it is a PITA when the flash is mounted on an umbrella and needs to be physically removed from the umbrella, have power cycled, and returned to the umbrella to continue a shoot. Nonetheless, I have found the 603s reliable and cost-effective. FWIW

[inkista]

Please suggest the best and most affordable way to trigger my 430EX-II off-camera. ...

"Best" and "most affordable" don't go together. Yongnuo, btw, are really good at being affordable. Not so great at being "best". Yongnuo's triggers don't work together (i.e., you can't mix 603x and 622s in the same setup). TTL and manual triggers from Godox, Phottix, RadioPopper, PocketWizard, etc. can. Think about future growth as well as what you're doing now.

But of your selection, the worst/cheapest is two RF-603s. The better/cheapest is two RF-603IIs or RF-605s. Best/cheapest is probably ditching the 430EXII and getting a YN-560III and YN-560-TX. The best/expensive is a YN-622C and a YN-622C-TX. Radio triggers require both a transmitter and a receiver, so you need two units to work with your 430EXII off-camera: a receiver unit on the flash's foot, and a transmitter unit on the camera's hotshoe. The YN-622C-TX gives you easier-to-see control over the signalling.

The difference between the 603/5 and 622 triggers is how much information is being communicated from the camera to the flash. The 603/5 system is "manual only"--that is, the only signal that's sent is the one to fire the flash at the right time. You'll have to use the 430EXII in M mode, and make the flash settings by hand on the flash itself every time you want to adjust the output power, zoom, etc.

The 622 triggers are "TTL" triggers, which communicate the full flash hotshoe protocol. You can use eTTL to auto-set the flash power based on metering, you can use HSS, 2nd curtain, and set the zoom and power level of the flash remotely from the camera. But to use them with full function, your camera body has to have a Digic4 or later processor in it--i.e., it has to have a flash control menu. And your 430EX must be the Mk II or -RT Mk III version, which can be controlled from the menu. I think your 550D is okay, but I'd check that it has the flash control menu.

Your best resource to do research on these things is the flashhavoc website. The gear guides are a little out of date, but the blog itself is constantly being updated with all the latest and great information in flashes and triggers. The POTN board also has a hoppin' off-camera-flash population in their Flash and Studio Lighting forum, and as POTN used to be a Canon-specific board, most of the folks there are familiar with Canon gear.

Yongnuo are good for cheap hobbyist usage if you don't mind having to swap out an entire system all at once to upgrade vs. being able to build a triggering system over time. If you want to grow a system, then Phottix or Godox might be a better fit. For heavy pro usage you may want to look at industry brands like PocketWizard, Cybersync, or RadioPopper.

I've mostly settled on the Yongnuo YN-622 for-Canon triggering system. I use it mostly with a 580EXII, a YN-685, and a YN-568EX. The YN-685 is great because it has a built-in 622 receiver (less baggage to haul!), but I love the 568EX because it has optical slave modes which mean I can use it with my hotshoe-less P&S camera or without needing a 622 on it to be my background light. My 580EXII, however, is still best for the on-camera run'n'gun and is the only flash I have with an autothyristor mode so I can use it on or off camera with my mirrorless cameras and still get something TTL-like.

On my mirrorless cameras (Fuji X100T, Panasonic GX-7), the YN-622 triggers obviously don't give me TTL or HSS, but they do work like manual-with-power-control triggers, which is still more useful to me than manual-only triggers. YMMV. The fit can be a bit tight on the GX-7 hotshoe, though (I've heard the Nikon version fits a bit better).

[loosecanon]

I use the 622's They are cheap from ebay and work. Auto control is via the camera menu system for flash, or by the TX unit which enables full control without going into the camera menu. The TX unit also allows some recent Canon camers to be tripped via the hotshoe

[inkista]

I use the 622's They are cheap from ebay and work. Auto control is via the camera menu system ...

...if the camera body is Digic 4 or later and has the menu and the flash is menu-commandable (580EXII/430EXII and later models)...

for flash, or by the TX unit which enables full control without going into the camera menu. The TX unit also allows some recent Canon cameras to be tripped via the hotshoe

...if the camera body was introduced in 2012 or later. The OP's 550D is older than that, so requires a shutter release cable from the TX to the cable release port (2.5mm -> 2.5mm minijack cable).

[bedantabd]

Thank all you wonderful people for those replies.............but quite a lot of info for me to digest and analyse/decide right way. Will do some further research as some of you have suggested. But for now I have one more question: is there any 3rd party flash unit which will work as master (sitting on my 550D's hotshoe) to fire 430EX-II as slave (off-camera)? I don't want to ditch my OEM's flash for a 3rd party flash unit. (Kathy, please don't get upset.........). And yes, I do want TTL & HSS both to work.

[inkista]

... is there any 3rd party flash unit which will work as master (sitting on my 550D's hotshoe) to fire 430EX-II as slave (off-camera)? I don't want to ditch my OEM's flash for a 3rd party flash unit. (Kathy, please don't get upset.........).

That's actually a very smart move. For a first or only flash, an OEM is still going to be the best choice, just from a compatibility and resale value point of view.

If you get radio triggers, the transmitter on the hotshoe acts as your master. So, spending ~$80 on a YN-622C-TX and YN-622C (or a Godox X1 transmitter/receiver set) is probably cheaper than going for a Canon master unit.

You'll only need a flash unit to be your master on the hotshoe, if you want to do on-camera and off-camera flash simultaneously. And there are third-party flashes with master capability. Just look in the specs to see if it can do this. There are a lot (Sigma 500, Nissin Di-866, Metz 58, Yongnuo 568EXII, Phottix Mitros+, Godox V850c, etc. etc.) But you are going to be limited to Canon's optical wireless system, since that's all your 430EXII understands.

Optical uses near-infrared light signals to communicate between the on-camera master and the off-camera flash (that red panel on the front is where the sensor is). You have to have "line of sight" between the two; that is, the panel has to face your master unit, and nothing can be blocking the light between the two. It's like a TV remote. And like a TV remote, the signal can be bounced off walls or ceilings. The only problem is that the light level for the signalling is relatively low. It works well in studio settings indoors.

But go outdoors in the bright sunshine, and the light can overpower the signaling. It can reduce the distance the signals can travel, and without surfaces to bounce off, the line of sight requirement can get stricter. This is why radio triggers are often preferred. Radio goes through things, and has better range and reliability outdoors in bright light. Wanna stick your flash outside a window to fake sunlight while you shoot inside? Radio can do that. Optical triggering, maybe not.

You could also consider whether you want to move to Canon's RT system. Canon's realized everyone prefers radio triggers, so they (and Nikon) have begun building them into their flashes. The Canon 600EX-RT, 430EX III-RT, and ST-E3-RT are the units in this system, and are pretty expensive. But you could get an ST-E3-RT, and a Yongnuo ST-E3-RX or Phottix Laso to put on your 430EXII to start using this system now.