Canon 600EX. Why did it take so long?

I'm very new to photography and I'm looking at some videos about the system and I'm like "So the flashes communicate wirelessly instead of having to sense light bouncing from somewhere." I understand that that is a very good way to get them to flash without cables, smart for sure.

But is this "new" wireless technology so revolutionary? I don't get why it's taken this long. Please help me understand.

I have some background in hardware and electrical engineering (part of my studies at University) but I'm a software engineer by trade. So I'm somewhat aware of current technology.

The only problem I can see with why it has taken this long is the problem of latency, which they seem to have nailed.

Ideas?

Harvey lost the keys to the RF lab back in May of '87 and only recently found them (behind the Dairy Queen on Ross Street). Possibly this has some bearing on the delay.

Enjoy! Lon

FlashZebra wrote in post #14260820
Harvey lost the keys to the RF lab back in May of '87 and only recently found them (behind the Dairy Queen on Ross Street). Possibly this has some bearing on the delay.

Enjoy! Lon

Nicely done!

Here is a guess....
Pocket Wizard (AKA Lab Partners Associates, Inc) dominated the ratio control market for digital remote radio photographic control devices with U.S. Patent No. 5,359,375. Since that patent is expired now, it allows other corporations such as Canon to use key features that are no longer protected to integrate similar microprocessors to communicate Photographic flash signals in a reliable and affordable way.

If not +1 for what Lon said

Canon was too busy not putting in IS into the 24-70

J Kacey wrote in post #14261326
Here is a guess....
Pocket Wizard (AKA Lab Partners Associates, Inc) dominated the ratio control market for digital remote radio photographic control devices with U.S. Patent No. 5,359,375.

Why have Quantum been able to do this over the years then, before PW ever got involved?

It seems the patent relies substantially on "Binary encoded sequenced pulses (are) transmitted from the transmitter to program (the) receivers remotely." Rather than the remote control of flashes using non-controllable receivers. Was the Patent THAT hard to get around? http://patents.justia.​com/1994/05359375.html

It just seems like laziness on the part of Canon (and Nikon) to let this pass by for so long and probably the driving force behind the move now is purely financial.

I always assumed that it was all about the bandwidth. How long has 2.4GHz been cleared globally for wireless device use? Otherwise, they'd have had to engineer/test/manufact​ure units that operated on different frequencies for each market. There's a reason tvs and other media players use infrared remotes. RF bandwidth is regulated. Infrared isn't.

The other big change is that the Strobist only goes back to 2006. Prior to that, I'm willing to bet the demand for TTL-capable off-camera speedlight radio triggering was quite a bit smaller than it is today.

Canon brought out a new ST-E3 but with no focus assist light... they just do this stuff to mess with your mind

You only have to look at any DSLR video blog to see all the whining about why they don't just implement the simple obvious things available a decade ago.

elv wrote in post #14262792
Canon brought out a new ST-E3 but with no focus assist light... they just do this stuff to mess with your mind ...

Or it could be because the ST-E3 has no lamp of any kind. The ST-E2 used the same near-IR lamp it did for master signalling for the focus-assist. Given that the light-based master unit has now been replaced by a radio-based transmitter might have something to do with the lack of focus assist. Last I heard, the Canon AF system doesn't focus on broadcast radio waves.

From the Syl Arena videos, it's kind of clear that Canon's saving money on retooling/production by using more or less identical components/form factor (and one assumes design) between the ST-E3 and the 600EX-RT. The ST-E3 is essentially a headless 600EX-RT. Downside, no AF assist. Upside, you don't have to learn two vastly different UIs for controlling your remote flashes, and you have identical mastering function.

inkista wrote in post #14265486
Or it could be because the ST-E3 has no lamp of any kind. The ST-E2 used the same near-IR lamp it did for master signalling for the focus-assist.

IR signalling and the AF-assist beam emitter were/are completely independent functions using totally independent light sources.

It is just stupid to not include a focus assist on the ST-E3, as it is stupid to not include a focus assist on other hotshoe radio devices.

PhotographersWorldWide wrote in post #14265832
IR signalling and the AF-assist beam emitter were/are completely independent functions using totally independent light sources.

It is just stupid to not include a focus assist on the ST-E3, as it is stupid to not include a focus assist on other hotshoe radio devices.

I know there will be times when I really want the focus assist on the STE3-RT.
Its one of those things that a product manager should have insisted on when the engineers started talking about what they could include to hit the price point.

I know from personal experience there are always compromises when designing a product and getting the engineering done so it can be brought to market.

Not sure what they could have left off, but the AF light was a poor choice.

Licensing a radio device is a difficult thing. You have to get it approved in every country you want to sell your product in.

picturecrazy wrote in post #14267367
Licensing a radio device is a difficult thing. You have to get it approved in every country you want to sell your product in.

Which is why all these triggers are using an unlicensed frequency band.

regardless, any radio device needs approval in every country, if you are going to sell it legally. even on the unlicensed frequencies.

klimraamkosie wrote in post #14260785
But is this "new" wireless technology so revolutionary? I don't get why it's taken this long. Please help me understand.

I think part of this is the growing popularity of small, off camera flash. People like Joe McNally, David Hobby and Syl Arena popularized the use of off camera hot shoe flash, especially outdoors. The Canon wireless system works well indoors, but outdoors you really want radio triggers. That created a demand for radio triggered flashes that justified Canon developing the technology.