Yongnuo YN600EX-RT at Photokina?

[Hardwire]

Hey guys,

This was on Yongnuo's facebook page:
NOW we are in the world’s leading image fair -- Photokina. Welcome to visit our booth and kindly invite you to come for first try out and experience of the new products below! Do not miss the opportunity!

Photokina—World of Imaging
Fair time: 2014.9.16-21
Location:Cologne,Germany

YONGNUO booth:HALL 5.1 L-029
New items will be released in the fair:
Speedlite:YN600EX-RT;
LENS: EF 50mm F1.4;EF 35mm F2;EF 50mm F1.8.

Did anyone go and for my interest, did anyone actually see the much fabled YN600EX-RT speed lights? Any idea on availabilty and price?

(I should add that I have seen the comments on the page suggesting end of October but no hints about pricing)

 

[pwp]

Keep an eye on Flash Havoc http://flashhavoc.com/
They generally seem to be first with flash hardware news.

If the Yongnuo YN-600 EX-RT cuts it, I'll be grabbing a couple to expand on my pair of Canon 600-EX-RT. I'm loving the hardware coming out of China right now from companies like Godox, Yongnuo and other lesser known brands.

Japan had better watch out when China starts innovating in camera hardware. This looks like being some time in the future, but how fast did the last ten years go? You think it won't happen? Historically it wasn't that long ago we were scoffing at anything Japanese...cars, cameras, electronics etc as invalid and most likely low status rubbish. More recently you could have said the same about products coming out of South Korea. No longer.

The Dragon is fully awake and is open for business.

-pw

 

[Marsu42]

New items will be released in the fair:
Speedlite:YN600EX-RT;

Strange wording, we'll see when it will be released to the public. I hope enough people have been forced to beta-test their rt controller so they've got the flash right ... but as it has a usb fw update interface, early adopters might be in for trouble again.

It's nice to have a software upgrade option, and I'd certainly have some suggestions for fixing little quirks with Canon's 600rt - but this option also might lead companies to adopt a "sell first, fix later" strategy.

Keep an eye on Flash Havoc http://flashhavoc.com/
They generally seem to be first with flash hardware news.

True, but as they're so quick I'd advise caution about their reviews. At least with the Yn rt controller clone they were very positive (as was everybody else, what could go wrong?) but completely missed the unreliable radio performance and the laughable af assist ... the latter can be discovered after 10min of shooting with it.

 

[Hardwire]

I usually do read FH, but their last update on this product was back in August, hence asking on here if anyone had actually seen it at Photokina.

I know about some of the issues with the YN transmitter, but for the price difference I am willing to live with them, and expect about the same with the flash guns....so aiming to get a bunch of portable and remotely controllable strobe power, without the Canon cost as I will not be earning from this kit as yet.

When it is making me millions, then I will replace everything with first party products ;-)

 

[Marsu42]

I know about some of the issues with the YN transmitter, but for the price difference I am willing to live with them, and expect about the same with the flash guns....

The Yn transmitter clone has its place because the Canon original refuses to work with pre-2012 cameras. But are you sure you want to accept the "issue" of a transmitter not transmitting, its very basic function?

If you can repeat the shot, or if your flashes are no further than 1m away you'll be fine, but I advise to be wary of this unreliability - and I'm saying this as "Mr. Budget" who really hates spending more money than necessary.

 

[Hardwire]

I agree in principal, however I think it may be down to a hit and miss QC with the early shipped devices. I did not get mine in the early rounds and I have no problem with repeated test shots from one side of my house with the transmitter still managing to trigger the flash from the end of my (ok small) garden passing a wall, a glass patio sliding door and a wooden fence.

If I can get at least this level of performance (which I expect as the flashes will mainly be Rx no Tx) I think they will suit my not-for-profit use for the time being....depending on their cost of course!

 

[Marsu42]

I agree in principal, however I think it may be down to a hit and miss QC with the early shipped devices.

It tried to be smart this time but waited even after the 1.10 fw update for the Yn controller was out and early adopter's problems shouldn't occur. After some reasearch, my option is that it's not my individual sample (though the af assists is off to one side), but so many people report these issues it's simply a bad design or - more likely - improperly reverse-engineered rt protocol.

 

[Quasimodo]

Lookiing at ebay.com some Chinese vendors list October 24 as the date when they start selling the 600ex rt. I will be awaiting reviews (I have the Canon ST-E3). If they work great, they will be a nice addition to my canon ones for less than a third of the price

 

[millan]

Hi Hardwire,
I visited their booth at Photokina and had a chance to try 35 f/2 and 50 f/1.8 lenses. At first I was thinking they are showing Canon lenses – appearance was obvious. Many visitors including me were asking for the availability and price of a new flash. We were told that the price will be very surprising (understand low) and the availability by the end of the year.

 

[Maui5150]

These are available now and are around $180 a piece.

I did pick up their YN-E3-RT last year and have been waiting on these for a year. Definitely please with the price. Seems like from what I heard, results are mixed with the YN-E3-RT. While it has focus beam assist, seems like the alignment is slightly off so only upper focus points work, and on crop sensor, you are pretty much SOL, though with the 7D MK II and wider spread, may not be as bad. Then again, while the Yongnuo's implementation is shoddy, it is 100% better than Canon's lack of implementation, so I guess this is one of those, if it works for you and your situation, it is a bonus.

My guess is that Yongnuo took a lot of heat for issues with the YN-E3-RT and have been working on improving the 600-EX-Rt... Though it is not surprising this long fabled gun finally shows up to market, there is a 3rd player in the market who has another 600 clone coming out so still waiting on hearing if Yongnuo got their act together on this, or if they rushed to market to try and fight off the competition.