Optical trigger for Yongnuo RF-602

[NatureLover]

Does anybody know if there is an optical trigger that I can mount to a Yongnuo RF-602 transmitter ??

Presently, I have acess to an ST-E2 and three 430 EXII Speedlights. I also have access to three AB 800s. ... All this gear belongs to various friends who are very generous in loaning their gear to me while I determine what I want to purchase.

I would like to use the ST-E2 to fire the three Speedlights in manual mode for such things as BG lighting, rim-lighting, hair lights. I would also like to use the ABs for key and fill lighting. As expected, the ST-E2 will fire all three 430 EXIIs perfectly in manual, and I can easily control the output of each Speedlight to get the lighting I want. If there is an optical trigger (shaped like a hot-shoe??) that I can mount to the RF-602 transmitter, can I add the AB's to my lighting set up??

Yes, I know the AB's have a built-in optical trigger that is the default if I don't plug in the sync cord, but I have had mixed results (at best) when shooting outdoors and the AB's are spread apart. The built-in optical triggers work fine indoors, but I tried to shoot some night shots of my motorcycle and a model in a large empty parking lot, and I had to work REALLY hard to get the AB's arranged to "see" the flash from the Speedlights. ... So I figured if I could just trigger them with the RF-602, it would be much more reliable. ... The problem is, the ST-E2 is already mounted on the camera, so I cannot trigger the RF-602 via the camera's hotshoe.

Any ideas on how to mix 3 Speedlights and 3 AB 800's in a reliable manner outdoors?? I'm sure some of you have great ideas, and I hope Lon is reading since I went to the Flashzebra sight and saw all of the different optical trigger options available (just confused me).

Thanks in advance for any help.

[NatureLover]

Anybody know the answer to this??

[L_F_L]

What happens if you mount the ST-E2 atop the Yongnuo?

[NatureLover]

What happens if you mount the ST-E2 atop the Yongnuo?

... I haven't purchased the Yongnuo RF-602's yet, so I can't just put the ST-E2 on top of a receiver and give it a try. ... Is there anybody out there that has both a set of Yongnuo's and an ST-E2 who could try this and report back??

I have a feeling it won't work, as the RF-602's are only simple trigger devices (center-pin to ground). ... But if that will still allow an ST-E2 to send an IR signal to fire the 3 580 EX II's, I'd be set.

I'm still thinking that if it works, the best alternative would be to keep the ST-E2 on camera (where it belongs) to fire the 3 580 EX II's, and use some type of hot-shoe type optical trigger under the Yongnuo RF-602 transmitter. ... If a simple optical trigger could actuate the Transmitter, then:
1) ST-E2 would trigger the 3 580 EX II's
2) Optical trigger would instantly actuate the Yongnuo Transmitter
3) The Yongnuo receivers on each of the AB 800s would instantly fire those strobes

... This seems like the most economical way for me to use all of this equipment (that I can borrow from friends) to take advantage of all these lights OUTDOORS where the built-in optical triggers on the AB's won't always work.

HELP !!!!

[PacAce]

Does your camera have a PC sync port you can connect the RF wireless transmitter to?

The ST-E2 has to be mounted on the camera hotshoe or to the Canon off-shoe cord. If it's not, you won't be able to mix the ST-E2 slaves with the AB strobes.

[PacAce]

... I haven't purchased the Yongnuo RF-602's yet, so I can't just put the ST-E2 on top of a receiver and give it a try. ... Is there anybody out there that has both a set of Yongnuo's and an ST-E2 who could try this and report back??

I have a feeling it won't work, as the RF-602's are only simple trigger devices (center-pin to ground). ... But if that will still allow an ST-E2 to send an IR signal to fire the 3 580 EX II's, I'd be set.

I'm still thinking that if it works, the best alternative would be to keep the ST-E2 on camera (where it belongs) to fire the 3 580 EX II's, and use some type of hot-shoe type optical trigger under the Yongnuo RF-602 transmitter. ... If a simple optical trigger could actuate the Transmitter, then:
1) ST-E2 would trigger the 3 580 EX II's
2) Optical trigger would instantly actuate the Yongnuo Transmitter
3) The Yongnuo receivers on each of the AB 800s would instantly fire those strobes

... This seems like the most economical way for me to use all of this equipment (that I can borrow from friends) to take advantage of all these lights OUTDOORS where the built-in optical triggers on the AB's won't always work.

HELP !!!!
That won't work because as soon as the ST-E2 emits a command signal to the slaves, the optical slave unit will get triggered, setting off the transmiter which in turn will set off the AB strobes (and prematurely, I might add). The result is that the command signal from the ST-E2 will get drowned in the light from the strobes and the EX slaves will not see the command from the ST-E2. Without the proper commands, the EX slaves will never fire.

[NatureLover]

That won't work because as soon as the ST-E2 emits a command signal to the slaves, the optical slave unit will get triggered, setting off the transmiter which in turn will set off the AB strobes (and prematurely, I might add). The result is that the command signal from the ST-E2 will get drowned in the light from the strobes and the EX slaves will not see the command from the ST-E2. Without the proper commands, the EX slaves will never fire.

Thanks Leo. I didn't realize that the ST-E2 signals would cause an optical trigger to flash. I don't know how the technology of an optical trigger works, and I thought it would only fire if it "saw" a burst of white light. Since the ST-E2 fires a combination of Infra-Red bursts to communicate with the slaves, I thought the optical triggers might not "see" the bursts of red light. ... I guess light is light, regardless of the color!!! I'm still learning.

Thanks for the clarification.

[L_F_L]

From another forum (http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13281&view=findpost&p=98710):

You *can* trigger studio slaves with just the ST-E2 and no other speedlite... just tape over the "four square" contacts on the camera's hotshoe (so only the old school, single center pin contact is exposed).

I use a bit of black masking tape so it doesn't look too shoddy

This prevents the ST-E2 from functioning in ETTL mode and the studio strobes (profotos in my case) trigger perfectly.

Sounds like there are pros and cons to the various methods in this forum, but I got a lot of mileage out of this hack until I picked up my new Pocketwizard Plus IIs

Now, would the Speedlites get triggered by ST-E2 in non-ETTL? (haven't tried) If they would, then you can use ST-E2 to trigger Speedlites + strobes.

[PacAce]

From another forum (http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13281&view=findpost&p=98710):



Now, would the Speedlites get triggered by ST-E2 in non-ETTL? (haven't tried) If they would, then you can use ST-E2 to trigger Speedlites + strobes.

You can trigger the EX flashes with the ST-E2 even in the "non-ETTL" mode (using the tape trick) or you can trigger the strobes but you can't do both at the same time for the same reason I described in my previous post.