anyone shoot weddings with 600ex-rt's w/ radio transmission?

I currently run 580exII's on a radio popper jrx system. In theory, it is great. I like shooting the ocf on manual and having an on camera flash do fill. and I can adjust the ocf from the camera.

but in reality, it does not always work and has its issues. the on camera flash has to be in manual, not ettl to even get consistent trigger timing. which I live with. I don't mind being all manual if it worked all the time, but it still doesn't. I get too many shots where the ocf's don't fire, or one fires and not the other, or something fires at full power despite the settings, etc..

I run cp-e4s on my ocf's, and I really shoot them at a lower power indoors anyway. high iso's and fast glass. and I'm not asking them to recycle too fast or anything.

I have to have the transmitter velcroed on to the side of my flash and fire it with a pc cord. which is often a sh*tty connection, there's not great way to Velcro the transmitter on so it stays, so I also rubber band it and then I have this fricken cord in my way half the time. which I've dealt with for a couple years now, but is still annoying.

I've had to repeatedly send in transmitters or recievers for repairs because something fails. either from falling off the side of my flash and crashing on the floor, or from the moon not being in the right alignment or something. it's getting old. and I'm ready for consistent reliability. some ettl ability might not be bad for some things too.

so my first thought was i'm just going to get pocketwizards and everything is going to work great, consistently. everyone that I know that uses them loves them, and they just work.

but my next thought was, if i'm going to make a fairly big investment in upgrading my ocf system, should I just get the 600ex-rt's with the radio control just built into 'em!? one less connection, one less piece of equipment in the system, one less battery per flash to worry about, etc. etc.
pricewise, it's not really a concern, both options are going to cost me some decent money, but are worth it to me if they work.

so, with all that said, will I compromise too much ability by going to the 600ex-rt's in lieu of the pocketwizards? does any body here use a 600ex-rt only setup at weddings and have any experience with it? is it consistent enough for you? what are some other drawbacks?

I own a lot of flashes, manual and ttl. Canon RX system isn't bulletproof too. I have ST-E3-RT with 2x 600ex. I only use the radio on outdoor bridal portrait for ocf. 10% of the time the ST-E3 can't trigger the 600ex. It happens to two 5dMK3.

jeesh, that's good to know, thanks so much for the response!

I used the pocket wizard Flex and mini for several years and it was a solid performer. However, when I bought the 5D MKIII I also purchased one of the 600 Ex RT's and tested it at a couple Wedding Receptions. I have since sold all of the PW's and 580 EX'II's and now use three 600's and two ST-E3 RT's on my MK II and MK III cameras. I absolutely LOVE the Canon radio system and have shot 15 or so Weddings this Summer with no problems at all.

Pocketwizards are very expensive. Why not take a look at Yungnuo 622c flash triggers? I use them and they have never missed a beat . They are also capable of ETTL and HSS. Only like $99 a pair.

I'm not opposed to saving money. but I've saved money before and it's been an awful experience.
my first radio triggers were cactus v4 triggers and man did they suck most of the time for me.
then I upgraded to radio poppers jrx's and it's just one thing after another with these things. the px system worked good enough but I really didn't like the button operation system it used.
I've heard the newer cactus triggers are great for the money, and I've thought about getting the Phottix Strato II's too as it would certainly save money.

I don't want to waste my time with a third option if it doesn't work when I need it to. my time and frustration costs me more than the money in this regard. i'll look into the yungnuo triggers too. i'm not counting out the cheaper options, but I need them to work.

campin123 wrote in post #16191292
I used the pocket wizard Flex and mini for several years and it was a solid performer. However, when I bought the 5D MKIII I also purchased one of the 600 Ex RT's and tested it at a couple Wedding Receptions. I have since sold all of the PW's and 580 EX'II's and now use three 600's and two ST-E3 RT's on my MK II and MK III cameras. I absolutely LOVE the Canon radio system and have shot 15 or so Weddings this Summer with no problems at all.

thanks campin! very helpful, even if it makes my decision harder haha

I've used Photix Strattos with my 580's and AB's and they've been a great solution. Remote lights are in manual and on-camera is either manual or ETTL and all very reliable. I can not adjust the remotes' power from camera, but I can turn them on or off individually which is all I need. And they're pretty inexpensive.

One of my favorite things about them is the transmitter plugs directly into the hot shoe and it has its own hot shoe into which the on-camera flash goes. So none of the velcro that other solutions require.

I've absolutely loved them . . . until I got my 5D3. These triggers had been FLAWLESS with my 5D2's, 50D, etc. I've had trouble with them and the 5D3, though. They misfire about 5% of the time which is 5% too much when you're working a wedding. Photix insists that they're compatible, but I have to believe they are not as a 580 fires perfectly when plugged directly into the 5D3's hotshoe and these trigglers are still 100% with my older cameras.

So all for what it's worth.

I had three 600EX-RT flashed plus the transmitter. I used them once and sold them. They just didn't fit my work mode. I bought some Cheetah lights with their long life battery, transmitters + receivers and love them. They are perfect for weddings.

hmm, all great info. and you guys have always been role models of mine, so your input is invaluable.
thank you both.

would have never thought to look at Cheetah tbh.

I'll be the lone dissenter, I guess. I have 3 600ex rt's and I wouldn't trade them for anything for wedding work. They are so easy to use, and so quick to set up, that I find myself using OCF in situations where I didn't want to take the time to set up my former system.

So, it I love my 600s? Yes - let me count the ways!

1 - Speed! I can have these set up and ready to go in seconds. So when I am walking around with the bride and groom, and only have a few minutes to get a hundred great shots of the two of them, I don't have to fiddle with anything if I want to add some OCF. I simply take the 2dd 600 off my belt, turn the on-camera 600 to master, and I am good to go. The off camera flash works just like the on camera flash would except I can control the direction of the light. So if I want to shoot at f1.4, and 1/4000, the hss has me covered. Or when I have to get 20 family groups in 20 minutes, I can have 2 extra 600s on stands and ready to go in less than 2 minutes...all fully controlled from the on camera master. Or when the family photos take a little extra time because uncle Buck was at the bar, and I need to set up lights in the reception befor the impending announcements...piece of cake, turn the slaves on, run them up the stands and they are ready to go. No fuss, no muss, no messing with cables or transmitters or receivers...no more troubleshooting which component is causing my system to fail. If the flashes are on, they are connected.

2 - reliability. All of this speed wouldn't be worth a darn if the system wasn't 100% reliable...but it is for me. The only time it lags is towards the end of the reception when the batteries are getting tired. A couple of cp-e4s would solve that problem.

3 - flexibility. This is awesome. I can set the master on one camera to control the flashes in one way, and the master on the other to control them in a different way, and seamlessly switch between the two. So for the average reception, I have my primary camera set to control all of the off camera flashes set to the manual power setting for the room. That gets me even exposure where I want it in the room. I then put the st-e3 on a second camera with all of the flashes set to ttl. I usually have a fast prime wide open on this camera. So I can get safe shots with camera 1, then try for creative stuff on camera 2 without ever touching a flash setting. I love to run the Canon SL1 with the 28f1.8 and the ST-E3, and put my heavy cameras down.

So in short, I believe the 600ex-rt's are the best thing to happen to wedding photography since the digital camera

thanks Jamie, i'm currently swaying that way at the moment, and your post might be pushing me over the edge.
I forgot about the RF signal problem with the pocketwizards and the 580's and that is turning me off big time. the other options all seem to leave something to be desired in one way or another too.
I like the simplicity of the 600's being all in one.

To counter Jamie's excellent write up, I believe that the Cheetah lights do nearly all that and more. Cheetah lights offer greater flexibility with light modifiers, have more power, the batteries don't run down towards the end of the evening and are just as easy to set up. The only thing the Cheetahs don't do is ettl. But I don't use ettl anyway on my off camera lights so for me it's a non issue. Others, like Jamie, like this feature.

Since my wife and I both shoot weddings, we both have our own OCF systems. She has 4 600ex rt (uses one on camera as the trigger) and we both LOVE the ease and reliability. I use our old set of 580exII with radio popper PX system, which I also LOVE because of the reliability. The 580s w/ the px radio poppers give me the same functionality as the 600s (ettl, consistent firing, etc) and if buy them used, the 580 and radio popper will cost around the same as a 600, so we will eventually transition to 600s.

The biggest fault of the 600 system is the ST-E3 because, unlike the ST-E2, it doesn't have a IR beam for focusing. In dark receptions, IR assist beam is essential. That's why we use a 600 on-camera as the trigger.

I know a ton of other photographers use a variety of systems and swear by them too...and they are cheaper than the PX system and the 600s. Honestly, we hardly use the ettl feature, but it's nice to be able to change the power of the flash remotely. I've heard great reviews for the cheetah stand products as well as King and Stratos triggers.

most people have already discussed the pro and cons and their experiences with 600ex-rt.

as a wedding photographer, i have to carry 2 bodies during bridal portrait session. i have the ST-E3 on each of the 5D3 body. 2 more 600ex-rt that can be triggered by both camera. easy. there are people who says that they prefer to have 600ex rather than the ST-E3 but i go for 2x ST-E3 for it's size and weight.

cheers,
Scott