Best Canon 600EX-RT clones?

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I'm rebuilding my flash collection based on the RT system. I have one genuine article and I'm very pleased with it, except the price. I'd more than happily use cheap clones on light stands as long as they deliver.

What are the latest compatible 3rd party flashes that basically have the same power output like Canon and same colour, also considering general reliability, power drain, etc?

I bough one YN 600EX-RT clone last year and I'm really not happy with that. The max power is around 1/2 of the genuine unit and it has a slightly magenta tint. It may do as a hair light but frankly I don't fancy another unit with those same issues. It also has a power drain.

So, what is the best 3rd party Canon-RT compatible flash right now, or do I need to just get a few more Canons?
 
I'm rebuilding my flash collection based on the RT system. I have one genuine article and I'm very pleased with it, except the price. I'd more than happily use cheap clones on light stands as long as they deliver.

What are the latest compatible 3rd party flashes that basically have the same power output like Canon and same colour, also considering general reliability, power drain, etc?

I bough one YN 600EX-RT clone last year and I'm really not happy with that. The max power is around 1/2 of the genuine unit and it has a slightly magenta tint. It may do as a hair light but frankly I don't fancy another unit with those same issues. It also has a power drain.

So, what is the best 3rd party Canon-RT compatible flash right now, or do I need to just get a few more Canons?

Hi Tom,

I use the Yongnuo flashes and I've not had much problems compared to the Canon versions. I'm in Cardiff and have four of them so you're welcome to try them to see if they are any different to the one you have.
 
AFAIK there is only one Canon 600EX-RT clone, and that's the Yongnuo you have. I have four YNs plus Tx. They're 1/3rd stop down on the Canon, like for like. Very pleased, just astonishing value.

Suggest you do what I did, sell the Canon and get a set of YNs, take the missus for dinner with the change. If there is a colour difference, then at least they'll all be the same for easy correction.
 
AFAIK there is only one Canon 600EX-RT clone, and that's the Yongnuo you have. I have four YNs plus Tx. They're 1/3rd stop down on the Canon, like for like. Very pleased, just astonishing value.

Suggest you do what I did, sell the Canon and get a set of YNs, take the missus for dinner with the change. If there is a colour difference, then at least they'll all be the same for easy correction.

Thanks, at least that confirms my YN is "normal". I see the point of having a bunch of them which equalises the playing field. My main concern is some work pretty much needs full power and ideally a lot more. I can't quite afford Profoto B1s right now.

Are you happy with ST-E3-RT unit (is that the Tx?)?
 
Thanks, at least that confirms my YN is "normal". I see the point of having a bunch of them which equalises the playing field. My main concern is some work pretty much needs full power and ideally a lot more. I can't quite afford Profoto B1s right now.

Are you happy with ST-E3-RT unit (is that the Tx?)?
There's a huge number of products between a speedlight and a B1.

Maybe you should widen the net, start with what you really need to do.
 
There's a huge number of products between a speedlight and a B1.

Maybe you should widen the net, start with what you really need to do.

I saw Phottix kit which looks very reasonable and a little bit cheaper than B1s but then you have external batteries and much steeper depreciation. The advantages of speedlites are portability, weight and obviously cost.
 
I saw Phottix kit which looks very reasonable and a little bit cheaper than B1s but then you have external batteries and much steeper depreciation. The advantages of speedlites are portability, weight and obviously cost.

If you need more power, then 1/3rd stop extra is handy, but unlikely to be a deal breaker - you need an extra stop at least, preferably two, to get to the next level. I do that by ganging up to four YNs together in the handy Godox softbox and that works well, while retaining the versatility of separate units which is mostly what I need. If I wanted big power on a regular basis, I'd go straight for Godox AD360 (roughly the same power as four speedlites), or preferably AD600 (about six). Godox also do compatible speedlites, offering the major advantage of a common control system throughout (y)

Nowhere near Profoto prices, and cheap even compared to Canon 600EX-RT.
 
If you need more power, then 1/3rd stop extra is handy, but unlikely to be a deal breaker - you need an extra stop at least, preferably two, to get to the next level. I do that by ganging up to four YNs together in the handy Godox softbox and that works well, while retaining the versatility of separate units which is mostly what I need. If I wanted big power on a regular basis, I'd go straight for Godox AD360 (roughly the same power as four speedlites), or preferably AD600 (about six). Godox also do compatible speedlites, offering the major advantage of a common control system throughout (y)

Nowhere near Profoto prices, and cheap even compared to Canon 600EX-RT.

I will look into them. It should be hopefully possible to mix it with the Canons.
 
I will look into them. It should be hopefully possible to mix it with the Canons.

As a rule, different flash radio triggers and controllers are not compatible between brands. Yongnuo even manages to have several incompatible systems of its own. There are very few exceptions to that. Nothing works with the Canon system except the YN 600EX-RT.
 
I will look into them. It should be hopefully possible to mix it with the Canons.

You can kind of mix the Godox stuff with the Canon. The Godox trigger has a hotshoe on top, so you can stick a Canon unit on top of that to use as a master for additional Canon units. Bit messy though, and seems to play up sometimes - see my dead thread from last week - https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/mixing-godox-and-canon.628508/

You could of course stick Godox receivers on your Canon units, but you could do that with pretty much any system, and it defeats the purpose of buying kit with built in radio.
 
You can kind of mix the Godox stuff with the Canon. The Godox trigger has a hotshoe on top, so you can stick a Canon unit on top of that to use as a master for additional Canon units. Bit messy though, and seems to play up sometimes - see my dead thread from last week - https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/mixing-godox-and-canon.628508/

You could of course stick Godox receivers on your Canon units, but you could do that with pretty much any system, and it defeats the purpose of buying kit with built in radio.

It should be a simple pass through of signal, unless there is something messy with that specific trigger perhaps?

I'll be planning of using YN ST-E3 so that has less of a chance to enter undesired modes, and more importantly less unnecessary counterbalance shooting in portrait orientation. I'm just really hoping it will work out.

Failing that would godox be trigged as an optical slave by the RT flashes going off?
 
It should be a simple pass through of signal, unless there is something messy with that specific trigger perhaps?

I'll be planning of using YN ST-E3 so that has less of a chance to enter undesired modes, and more importantly less unnecessary counterbalance shooting in portrait orientation. I'm just really hoping it will work out.

Failing that would godox be trigged as an optical slave by the RT flashes going off?

Yea, may have been my lack of sleep before that early morning shoot that caused me to miss something obvious. Will have to test again. Like you say though, having a speedlite on top of a trigger on top of your camera, isn't great ergonomics.

Just had another quick play with them. Canon still gets kicked into Multi mode as soon as it goes on the Godox trigger, odd. And neither system appears to recognise the other in optical slave mode. They both want to be in ETTL when set to optical slave, so are waiting to see a flash from another of the same system.
 
Yea, may have been my lack of sleep before that early morning shoot that caused me to miss something obvious. Will have to test again. Like you say though, having a speedlite on top of a trigger on top of your camera, isn't great ergonomics.

Just had another quick play with them. Canon still gets kicked into Multi mode as soon as it goes on the Godox trigger, odd. And neither system appears to recognise the other in optical slave mode. They both want to be in ETTL when set to optical slave, so are waiting to see a flash from another of the same system.
I think this forum has the answers http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1455540

In summary it is not a pass through hot shoe but rather a "Group A" speedlight connection, or something along those lines, and it won't play nicely in wireless mode... which totally sucks. The YN STE3 may or may not work but now I start to see why Godox have their own wireless speedlites. It might be just easier and safer to either buy into their system, or run exclusively Canon / YN RTs.
V850II - £108
V860II-C - £143 on ebay

I'll have to sleep over this. It would be nice if they had a showroom or a roadshow...

edit: what about plugging X1 to the camera via PC cord, and RT system on hotshoe? Surely nothing could go wrong there?
 
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Ah, good find.

edit: what about plugging X1 to the camera via PC cord, and RT system on hotshoe? Surely nothing could go wrong there?

Not sure. How would that relate to the whole 'Canon only allowing one TTL communication' part? Don't think I have an intact sync cable anywhere to test.

Personally I'm looking at getting more Godox gear. The AD600 with remote head looks handy, and with the AD360 is an affordable way to build up a decent location kit. I'll be keeping my three 600RTs for media walls, dancefloors, and quick and dirty setups like that.
 
Ah, good find.



Not sure. How would that relate to the whole 'Canon only allowing one TTL communication' part? Don't think I have an intact sync cable anywhere to test.

Personally I'm looking at getting more Godox gear. The AD600 with remote head looks handy, and with the AD360 is an affordable way to build up a decent location kit. I'll be keeping my three 600RTs for media walls, dancefloors, and quick and dirty setups like that.

The Canon on the hotshoe will be the one using TTL. The PC cord is just a dumb trigger, and you would presumably manually key in the ratios in the X1 trigger (you can do this, right?). Depending how good and versatile the trigger is I may swing either way. The RT system is wonderful. I'll be surely keeping the one genuine Canon flash.

The main advantage of AD units is the Bowens accessory mount, and obviously the power. So no more umbrellas or messy speedlite softboxes. I just have one big question - does it have good colour reproduction and is it built to last at all?
 
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Heard Shanny which does the RT system and also similar 600EX clones... never tried though...

I've just ordered new YN 600EX and the E3 trigger... Was thinking about the AD600 or AD360 but decided to stick with YN due to cross platform ability.

Forgot about that one! I've not heard anything about it since launch last year, and Shanny is nowhere near as popular as Yongnuo at least around these parts, but other Shanny guns have been favourably received. Review here http://flashhavoc.com/shanny-sn600c-rt-speedlite-review/
 
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