Review - Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT

[JohnnyWashngo]

'Selling off my 580exIIs wasn’t easy. Their drop in price meant I was selling two flashes to one 600ex-RT purchase'

That's odd. I sold off 3 of my 580exII speedlites in perfect condition when the 600ex-rt was announced. I got almost new price for them and had to add only a small amount extra to buy 3 600ex-rt's. Certainly nowhere near to the 2 for 1 situation you observed.

Great speedlite BTW. I love the confidence a radio trigger gives me. And I love the range as well.

Maybe because I started selling mine off after the 600 was released.  I didn't share your foresight as the used market crashed when the 600 was released.

And I agree, the confidence of radio, having it all displayed in front of me, the reassuring "beep" and that green light showing they're connected - all make for a more stable shoot.

I see. Yeah, I suppose it was a matter of lucky timing when I sold off my old speedlites.

One thing that I really like about the 600ex-rt's is the flash grouping function. It's made doing creative work so much fun.

Also, I have been buying gels in the UK from FlashGels who have precut a bunch of Lee filters for the new system.

http://flashgels.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13&zenid=eh3ud620p3jnd0bjjq2702f616

I actually rather like the canon gel holder and the way the gel clips into it. Feels a lot more reliable than the other systems I used on the old 580s.

[JVLphoto]

Also, I have been buying gels in the UK from FlashGels who have precut a bunch of Lee filters for the new system.

http://flashgels.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13&zenid=eh3ud620p3jnd0bjjq2702f616

I actually rather like the canon gel holder and the way the gel clips into it. Feels a lot more reliable than the other systems I used on the old 580s.

That's awesome! Long way to send for some gel's - hopefully someone over here will do the same - price is less than Canon's too.  I still want my own die-cut: yes I could cut my own with an exacto blade but who has time for that?

[RS2021]

I love the cheesy blue flash rings behind the 600EX unit...way to go guys!!! 

[bvukich]

"little metal screw port that I’ve never seen anyone use…"

What the heck is that anyhow?  It's on the 430EXII as well.  I've always wondered when I notice it there, but never enough to actually look it up.

[JVLphoto]

"little metal screw port that I’ve never seen anyone use…"

What the heck is that anyhow?  It's on the 430EXII as well.  I've always wondered when I notice it there, but never enough to actually look it up.

It's threaded the same as most light stands, so I assume it's designed to mount your flash sideways like that - which actually makes a lot of sense.  Heck, I already have an umbrella bracket that, if I remove the cold shoe, I can screw the flash onto it.  Helps bring the flash back to a more central spot on most modifiers... of course saying I *can* do something and actually doing it are different things

[Marsu42]

Another point for cons:

• Still no remote 2nd curtain sync though the change to the rt protocol would have been the perfect opportunity

I wonder if they (through firmware) will allow for flash control with the 600EX-RT using the 6D's wireless system.  I would hope that, at minumum, future bodies would have that master control built in.

I doubt Canon will take the trouble to feature-update the 6d firmware, at least if the 6d is selling ok. and the competition hasn't followed up, but as others has written why stop selling 600rt or st-e3 units as controllers until then? But maybe that's just me being overcritical of Canon's money grabbing marketing :-p

For rt control not being included in the first place my guess is that Canon didn't want to add a really good feature except for the low light af center point that the 5d3 hasn't... plus the dev cycle for the 6d seems to have been very short, so they just added out of the box gps (w/o compass) and wifi chips.

Adding rt might even be not possible at all because the radio chip is hardwired to wifi standard and cannot be modified for custom protocols.

[JohnnyWashngo]

"little metal screw port that I’ve never seen anyone use…"

What the heck is that anyhow?  It's on the 430EXII as well.  I've always wondered when I notice it there, but never enough to actually look it up.

It's threaded the same as most light stands, so I assume it's designed to mount your flash sideways like that - which actually makes a lot of sense.  Heck, I already have an umbrella bracket that, if I remove the cold shoe, I can screw the flash onto it.  Helps bring the flash back to a more central spot on most modifiers... of course saying I *can* do something and actually doing it are different things

Page 6 (I think) of the manual has it down as a bracket mount.

http://goo.gl/ij3i3

Which makes sense when you think about.

http://www.wexphotographic.com/webcontent/product_images/large/37/1018262.jpg

I never even noticed it before

[FunPhotons]

Syl Arena just did a lecture for Canon CPS on the 600 where he makes the strong point that it is not an infrared system

http://learn.usa.canon.com/galleries/galleries/tutorials/syl_arena_speedlite_600exrt_seminar.shtml

Good talk to watch regardless, but I would believe that Canon vetted the talk and content before they put it up

[RGomezPhotos]

I know!  I would be very happy to buy someone's good-condition 580exII's...  Even if I had a compatible-camera, I would not use the newer flashes simply because there are no receivers for strobes.  Seems kinda silly to buy into this system and it work ONLY with flashes...  And at double the price of a top of the line third party maker...

'Selling off my 580exIIs wasn’t easy. Their drop in price meant I was selling two flashes to one 600ex-RT purchase'

That's odd. I sold off 3 of my 580exII speedlites in perfect condition when the 600ex-rt was announced. I got almost new price for them and had to add only a small amount extra to buy 3 600ex-rt's. Certainly nowhere near to the 2 for 1 situation you observed.

Great speedlite BTW. I love the confidence a radio trigger gives me. And I love the range as well.

[RS2021]

For now, I have decided to stick with my litter of older 580EX II based system...will be too expensive to get four 600EX units...And canon will drag it out as long as they can before they release cheaper slave RT units.

[Marsu42]

The Nikon SB-910, the top of the range Nikon flash that does not have radio, costs $549.95, the Canon EX600-RT costs $559

Looking at current Amazon.de prices the Nikon is €389 and the Canon is €519 - so the competition is 25% cheaper. The 600rt is still a good product (that's why I bought one), but Canon will exploit their tech leadership as long as it's possible. I'm hoping 3rd party manufacturers will reverse engineer the rt protocol asap...

[Pagesphotography]

I know I find myself using ocf more with our 600/st e3 rt since it works together rather seamlessly.

[neuroanatomist]

Syl Arena just did a lecture for Canon CPS on the 600 where he makes the strong point that it is not an infrared system

I like Syl.  He's a good guy and has great advice for using Speedlites.  But about this, he's wrong.  As I noted above, with a Speedlite as a master, the main tube transmits the signal, so both visible light and IR are being emitted - but the receiver is only picking up the IR.  As I also noted above, the ST-E2 outputs IR only, since the flash tube is covered with the same visible light blocking IR-transparent filter material.

Don't believe me?  Try reading Canon's own specs for the ST-E2...

Wireless Functions   
Transmission System    Infrared pulse

How is that not infrared?   

Syl states that for Canon's optical system, the transmitter is the flash tube (which I stated), and that the ST-E2 uses a flash tube as well, but it has a "thick piece of plastic over it" so it's not "throwing on-camera flash into your shot."  If that 'thick plastic' blocks the light from the flash tube, how is the ST-E2 is signaling the slave flashes?  Infrared.  You can't see it.  Your CMOS sensor can't see it.  But the slave flashes can.  Syl just seems unaware of the fact that a flash tube outputs a broader spectrum than just visible light, and Canon is using the non-visible part of that output for optical wireless triggering.

The real point he's trying to make is that the IR triggering is 'line of sight' just like visible light.  A TV remote control is IR, and it's line of sight, too. 

[Rienzphotoz]

Very nice review and great pics ... but isn't it kinda late

[RLPhoto]

600 ex RT vs PCB einstein 

That is the question in my upgrade situation.

Apples and Oranges no? I didn't sell my Elinchrom lights to get the speedlight. I sold my old speedlights to get new speedlights.

Personally, I love the look my bigger lights can produce, their versatility in power output (the Einsteins are very impressive in this regard), but they're not entirely portable.  So do you shoot at home, or in controlled environments where you don't have to lug heavy equipment around all the time, looking for power? Or are you working on your feet in tight situations often with incredibly limited amounts of time?

I use both types of light for different situations, though that doesn't prohibit me from combining them if necessary.

Well, I'd use both equally as much. Before reading the review, I was 100% sure of my upgrade path to ditch my older strobes for PCB. Now, I'm not so sure if I should ditch my old 580's for 600 RT's until my Novatrons die then get new Einsteins.