Canon 600EX-RT review

[MarkWebbPhoto]

I just finished writing a very detailed review for the 600EX-RT. I have three of these right now and would love to have more. You'll find details for setups in a variety of different locations and events in the review. I tried to be as detailed as possible but if you have any questions about anything that wasn't covered just comment below and I'll continue to update the review over time.

http://markwebbphoto.com/blog/2012/6/canon-600ex-rt-review

[FunPhotons]

Good review. Yeah they're an awesome flash. By the way, you can turn off Optical from the Z menu through a custom function. Handy if you're like me and don't use it.

[bdunbar79]

Good review Mark.  I just got mine.

[MarkWebbPhoto]

Good review. Yeah they're an awesome flash. By the way, you can turn off Optical from the Z menu through a custom function. Handy if you're like me and don't use it.

Oh thanks for the tip! I'll definitely switch mine off!

[bdunbar79]

What are the best batteries for this?  Did you just get the NiMH recharge batteries?  Thanks.

[MarkWebbPhoto]

What are the best batteries for this?  Did you just get the NiMH recharge batteries?  Thanks.

There are a lot of batteries out there to choose from but I have come to trust the Sanyo Eneloop "hybrid" batteries because they can hold a charge for a long long time. I can't tell you how many times I have put a speedlite on my hot shoe and the Duracell or Energizer rechargeable batteries were completely dead. Whatever you choose go for reliability over raw power.

Now, I have quite a collection of Sanyo Eneloop (2000 mAh) AA batteries but I am slowly and steadily replacing those with the newer Sanyo XX Eneloop (2500 mAH) batteries. You'll get a faster recycle time and around 25% extra pops with the XX series (rough estimate). Four XX series AA batteries were enough to last me through several hundred photos in my remote 600EX-RT units during a wedding reception at night. These seem to be a good mix of power and reliability.

In the near future, I plan to update the review with some measured times between a few different batteries and the difference between using the 4 AA batteries in the speedlite body and adding an additional 8 AA batteries with the Canon CP-E4 battery pack. Using the battery pack obviously makes the recharge faster and will last longer since you now have 12 batteries but at the moment I only have enough XX series batteries to fill the 3-600EX-RT speedlites and not the battery pack (still using the 2000 mAh for that) but I need to compare for myself to see if it would be worth paying all that extra money and ditching my older batteries. By the time I finish updating all of my batteries to the XX series, Sanyo is bound to release the even more powerful XXX series with 3000 mAh and that would be something.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/766725-REG/Sanyo_XX_Powered_by_Eneloop.html

Also, you should avoid quick chargers and especially avoid rapid chargers. They will destroy your batteries and they will never reach their full potential after a charge. In order to get the most out of your batteries you need to use a slow charge and that's when I found the La Crosse Technology Alpha battery charger through a forum somewhere. I had to purchase mine from Amazon. If you have a lot of batteries you might want to get two of these since it takes so long to charge (usually at least 8 hours). I wish they had a charger that held more than 4 AA's.

[bdunbar79]

Cool    Thanks Mark.

[bdunbar79]

What luck!  I had enough amazon.com points so the charger ended up free.   

[RLPhoto]

Love the review and I will eventually dump my 580II's for some 600RT's in the future. It's just at the moment, I want to invest in some newer strobes. 

[RS2021]

Love the review and I will eventually dump my 580II's for some 600RT's in the future. It's just at the moment, I want to invest in some newer strobes. 

Same boat...obviously Canon is trying to sap as much as they can when both radio and optical techs are on their lineup and they have dragged their feet in releasing lower priced RT slaves. The ST E3 supports only radio and if you insist on radio and don't want third party radio accessories, you have to get multiple 600EX RTs. If you are a multi-speedliter even if you get the 600ex cuz you are itching to spend money, unless you get several 600's, you are forced to go optical on 600EX/580ex combos. The original ST-E2 that they pushed for years only two groups A:B controls... so as things stand now, it is a compromise of some sort or needless expense to get multiple master 600EX RT units.

Until Canon releases radio slaves I am not buying multiple 600EX RT's nor do I see a benefit to mix matching on optical with a higher priced master 600EX RT unit .. so will have to stay with 580 series for now. 

[bseitz234]

Also, you should avoid quick chargers and especially avoid rapid chargers. They will destroy your batteries and they will never reach their full potential after a charge. In order to get the most out of your batteries you need to use a slow charge and that's when I found the La Crosse Technology Alpha battery charger through a forum somewhere. I had to purchase mine from Amazon. If you have a lot of batteries you might want to get two of these since it takes so long to charge (usually at least 8 hours). I wish they had a charger that held more than 4 AA's.

Hi-

Do you know anything about the xx charger available with the batteries at amazon? I can't seem to find a mention of charge time anywhere, but I kind of assume if it's not specifically a quick charger, that it should offer a real, full charge?

(link for reference: http://www.amazon.com/eneloop-Capacity-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B0058GZWXQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359050773&sr=8-1&keywords=eneloop+xx )

Thanks!

[Rienzphotoz]

Hi Mark,

That is an awesome review and really awesome pics ... I've had my 600-EX RT's for some time now but haven't used them as well as you do ... still learning and struggling to use them effectively ... 600 EX-RT's have a lot of power, can easily overpower the ambient light and that's where I struggle  to strike a balance on how much is just enough, without over doing it ... will keep checking your site for any new updates ... just got the ST-E3-RT today from Amazon Japan (paid only $270 ... the weakening of Yen against the Dollar has some benefits  for people like me).

[joshmurrah]

Fantastic review, thanks for taking the time to write that up!

[digital paradise]

Nice work.

[bycostello]

nice reveiw thanks for sharing.. and great pictures and set ups... all very inspiring...  although i have to make do with my mix of 580, 550 and 480s... no budget for 600s