600EX-RT Flashes now in stock

[squarebox]

I'm in Japan. My controller came today, but I'm still waiting on two of the flashes. It's sad having a camera with a controller and nothing to control

I'm surprised you are still waiting, i picked up mine last week on thursady from Mitsuboshi for 49,000yen.

[CanineCandidsByL]

Since the manual still doesn't seem to be available, does anyone know if the signal is encoded in any way?  Like a million code+ garage door opener, there really is no reason why someone else on the same channel should set off you strobes, but you might occasionally prevent each others flashes from going off.

[dmills]

Hmm, what's Mituboshi? If it's not a website, I unfortunately live way off in the middle of nowhere :/ I just ordered them on Amazon for 52,142. Not sure I can cancel the order now, as it's been listed as 'shipping soon' for the last week.

[squarebox]

http://www.mitsuboshicamera.co.jp/

it's a huge camera store chain or so I though, it apparantly only exists in the Aichi area.  But you can buy from their website as well.  Everything you buy from them comes with a store 3 years warranty for free to boot and 5% back in points.  Not to mention their prices are usually the lowest of the low.  And if not, they will price match (though you lose the 5% points though)

[dmills]

Hey, great! Haven't heard of that one. Thanks for the link. I buy probably 90% of my camera stuff in the states and have it brought over with friends or mailed, but if there were better prices in Japan, I'd certainly be more interested, especially with the yen->dollar rate climbing.

[Beelzebubba]

I walked back to 300' (the other goal post on the field) and was able to shoot nearly 100% of the time assuming camera and flash were used at a normal shooting height.

Thanks for the info, interesting to know what they can do on a literal level playing field. 

In testing my 600ex-rt units in / around / behind objects and obstructions, I've noticed that the units top out at 45' (in radio mode of course) before getting intermittent.

That's pretty good for most applications.

wockawocka asked about the external battery pack.  I have the Canon CP-E4 external battery packs running with these, and they take about a second to recharge.  Without the CP-E4s, there's about a 3-4 second recycle time.  This is pretty much the same time as it is with 580exIIs.

[DHL1313]

3x 600EX-RT = $1,887

3x 580EX II
2x PocketWizard FlexTT5
1x PocketWizard MiniTT1
= $2,064.00


Now try to use all 3 off camera. You need one more PW for $200 or another 600EX for ~ $600

[neuroanatomist]

3x 600EX-RT = $1,887

3x 580EX II
2x PocketWizard FlexTT5
1x PocketWizard MiniTT1
= $2,064.00


Now try to use all 3 off camera. You need one more PW for $200 or another 600EX for ~ $600

Now try to radio trigger your monolights at the same time.  Oh, wait...with the Canon RF system you cannot.

[Frankie T Fotografia]

Can you control the Canon 600EX-RT with the new PocketWizard Plus III Transceiver attached to the camera's hot shoe, without the need of attaching a Pocket Wizard to the 600EX-RT? Or do I still need a Pocket Wizard on the 600EX-RT even though it uses radio signals?

[Bosman]

I did some range testing with the 600EX-RT flashes using radio triggering. I set up in a football field at the high school across the street. This school is surrounded with homes and not a clean RF zone.

I set the flash on a light stand at a height of 3' at left it at one end of the field at the goal post. I then walk out and started testing. I was able to shoot at a maximum distance of 400' but the results were intermittent. I did learn from this test that the flashes do reconnect as soon as they are able without any user input. So if you are temporally out of range you don't need to do anything to reconnect, other than move a little closer. The master on camera flash has an indicator that turns red if it looses connection with the slave. Yellow means that the slave is not set to fire. A green light is a good link and the flash is ready to remote trigger.

I walked back to 300' (the other goal post on the field) and was able to shoot nearly 100% of the time assuming camera and flash were used at a normal shooting height. When I placed the camera on the ground and shot toward the slave, the slave did not fire. I moved closer to the slave and repeated the test at 150' and had intermittent results at that distance when shooting the camera from ground level. Shooting in a normal standing position gave perfect results. 

I moved forward and back a bit, testing as I moved. I found that at about 120 out I was able to get good results no matter what I did with the camera. I was not able to get a misfire at this distance.

I also tried some shots where I placed the flash inside my home. I took the camera outside and walked two houses away and was able to get the flash to fire out my front window. It's 11:00pm right now so I only did few test shots this way. Our street was looking a little like an set for ET with all the lights going off and bouncing around homes.

My conclusion from these tests is that these Flashes are rock solid at distances up to the rated 100'. The unit can also work at greater distanced with some consideration as to position of the flash with respect to the ground. These units are able to do everything I want in terms of radio transmission distance for wedding photography.

I never tested the range of the Pocket Wizards TT5 and TT1 on my Nikon bodies but I would expect that they would transmit much further partially due to the external antenna. that they have. The distance the 600EX-RT travels is everything I need for the work I do.

By selling my SB900 flash + TT5 transceiver for $550, I had almost enough to get the $639 all in one 600EX-RT flashes. A big advantage in not having to carry the TT5's with me and install them as needed. I also did not have to worry about power up order between the flash and the body. I did not experience the intermittent lock up that I did when using the TT5/TT1 units on the Nikon bodies. The canon system is also much faster to set up and use.

I know i don't have these  myself but i believe canon states 98 ft as the range, thats prob all conditions range, whereas you had perfect conditions til you laid on the ground. The pocket wizard with the AC7 plastic housing gives them around 400ft range from various tests and videos i have read and seen.

[Bosman]

Can you control the Canon 600EX-RT with the new PocketWizard Plus III Transceiver attached to the camera's hot shoe, without the need of attaching a Pocket Wizard to the 600EX-RT? Or do I still need a Pocket Wizard on the 600EX-RT even though it uses radio signals?

You best head to PocketWizards dot com for that answer, but i did hear a blurb about compatibility it just wont be ETTL of course since the PW III is not a TTL trigger.

[Beelzebubba]

3x 600EX-RT = $1,887

3x 580EX II
2x PocketWizard FlexTT5
1x PocketWizard MiniTT1
= $2,064.00

Now try to use all 3 off camera. You need one more PW for $200 or another 600EX for ~ $600

I suppose you could get the ST-E3 for another $300. 

Your PocketWizard solution would certainly work.  With the 600's, I like being able to control the flash group functions from the master/ST-E3.  The menu system is easier.  And it's pretty nice actually not having to use PocketWizards as an added layer for radio. 

For me, the dealbreaker with PocketWizard was with the issue with TT5's frying 580exII units a while back.

Certainly the 600's are not for everyone, but I certainly am enjoying them.  It was definitely a nice trade-up from my 580exII's.

There was some language in the manual for the ST-E3 that led me to believe that there will be other (even third-party) products coming soon that will tie-in to Canon's remote system.  Who knows - maybe Canon will be making triggers themselves?

[DHL1313]

3x 600EX-RT = $1,887

3x 580EX II
2x PocketWizard FlexTT5
1x PocketWizard MiniTT1
= $2,064.00

Now try to use all 3 off camera. You need one more PW for $200 or another 600EX for ~ $600

I suppose you could get the ST-E3 for another $300. 

Your PocketWizard solution would certainly work.  With the 600's, I like being able to control the flash group functions from the master/ST-E3.  The menu system is easier.  And it's pretty nice actually not having to use PocketWizards as an added layer for radio. 

For me, the dealbreaker with PocketWizard was with the issue with TT5's frying 580exII units a while back.

Certainly the 600's are not for everyone, but I certainly am enjoying them.  It was definitely a nice trade-up from my 580exII's.

There was some language in the manual for the ST-E3 that led me to believe that there will be other (even third-party) products coming soon that will tie-in to Canon's remote system.  Who knows - maybe Canon will be making triggers themselves?

Ya I blew up a 580EXII had to pay $104 to fix it and I don't want to use that sock thing. I'm still going to buy the new flash regardless of the wireless options.

[Mike Miami]

[/quote


There was some language in the manual for the ST-E3 that led me to believe that there will be other (even third-party) products coming soon that will tie-in to Canon's remote system.  Who knows - maybe Canon will be making triggers themselves?
[/quote]

Can you explain where and what you read? Thanks