Best way to fire/control Quadra and 600EX-RT's

Pondering what is the best way to do this. Right now I'm thinking that firing with the skyports will work best and trigger the 600's with a sync cord attached to a skyport receiver. Has anybody tried controlling the 600's with the ST-E3 without it being on the camera? I'm guessing it won't work because it appears that info is not sent until the ST-E3 is fired.

If I go the other way and fire everything with the ST-E3, then I can control all lights with the remotes but I think I would be stuck with optical triggering of the Quadra. Saw Joe McNalley do this in a video but since he's a Nikon guy it was all optical triggering anyway. Anyone mixing these two systems with RF triggering?

Bob

I dont have an answer, but I'm confused about how you would fire the 600 without the st-e3 being on the camera? Are you wanting ettl from the 600?

I have used the Quadra and 600RT together, you are relegated to either:

1. Shooting Quadra as is and 600RT's with Elinchrom universal triggers.

2. Shooting the 600RT with ST-E3's and Quadra on optical.

I'm going for the latter. I sold off my Elinchrom universals for that reason.

gonzogolf wrote in post #15167804
I dont have an answer, but I'm confused about how you would fire the 600 without the st-e3 being on the camera? Are you wanting ettl from the 600?

I was wondering if you could adjust the 600's with the ST-E3 not mounted and fire them with the skyports. I'm going to test it out but I have a feeling it won't work because it seems the signal to make a change is not sent until the ST-E3 is fired. Would just want to control the 600 power output in manual. Doing it the other way would allow TTL control with the 600's but I would lose RF triggering of the Quadra. Probably not a big deal because even if I can't see the optical trigger eye on the Quadra pack it is unlikely that it would not be able to see the flash from the 600's in most shooting scenarios.

Bob

symbolphoto wrote in post #15167811
I have used the Quadra and 600RT together, you are relegated to either:

1. Shooting Quadra as is and 600RT's with Elinchrom universal triggers.

2. Shooting the 600RT with ST-E3's and Quadra on optical.

I'm going for the latter. I sold off my Elinchrom universals for that reason.

But you can still adjust the output of the Quadra with the skyport transmitter off camera. You kept the transmitter, right?

Bob

Hot Bob wrote in post #15168059
I was wondering if you could adjust the 600's with the ST-E3 not mounted and fire them with the skyports. I'm going to test it out but I have a feeling it won't work because it seems the signal to make a change is not sent until the ST-E3 is fired. Would just want to control the 600 power output in manual. Doing it the other way would allow TTL control with the 600's but I would lose RF triggering of the Quadra. Probably not a big deal because even if I can't see the optical trigger eye on the Quadra pack it is unlikely that it would not be able to see the flash from the 600's in most shooting scenarios.

Bob

Even though you are going RF with the 600, if you are in ETTL your preflash would screw with the optical slave in the quadra unless it has a setting for that.

gonzogolf wrote in post #15168089
Even though you are going RF with the 600, if you are in ETTL your preflash would screw with the optical slave in the quadra unless it has a setting for that.

The Quadras can learn to ignore preflash.

Bob

Why not 600EX-RT on hot shoe and Skyport via PC port on camera?

One thing I found out from PW is that Elinchrom or Einsteins that can be controlled by their respective ControlTL modules can participate in group C with speedlites in group A and B in ETTL. The FEC that is used to control group C will control the monolights over a 6 stop range. Zero FEC is three stops down from the top of the range.

Naturally this will work with any Canon speedlite(s) in groups A and B. As long as they are supported by ControlTL hardware.

I know that raises a question about why not just use the moonlights. The answer is that the on camera speedlite makes an easy fill that won't blow out the foreground.

dmward wrote in post #15170349
Why not 600EX-RT on hot shoe and Skyport via PC port on camera?

I love this setup for my Quadra and 580's. Would be very nice with the 600 RT's

Ah yes, i forgot you could do that also. Too contraptiony for my taste, but it clearly works.

J Kacey wrote in post #15170615
I love this setup for my Quadra and 580's. Would be very nice with the 600 RT's

I think someone makes an ETTL cable with a hot shoe on top.

Jerry's looks like he glued one onto the cable and plugs the pig tail into the PC connector on the camera.

Might be contraptiony but it gets the job done and that's most important. If I could remember all the jerry rigged (sorry Jerry ) stuff I've used to get a shot over the years it'd be a long list.

I did some testing last night and confirmed that the ST-E3 will not adjust the settings on a slave until it is fired. It is possible to make the adjustments with the ST-E3 off camera but, you have to press the test fire button after making adjustments.

I can see the advantages to running the skyport through the PC jack with the ST-E3 in the shoe. I usually keep a RRS L-bracket on my 5DII and I can imagine a small arca clamp with a cold shoe clamped to the left side of the camera might hold the skyport nicely. It might be a little less "contraptiony".

Bob

dmward wrote in post #15171498
Might be contraptiony but it gets the job done and that's most important. If I could remember all the jerry rigged (sorry Jerry ) stuff I've used to get a shot over the years it'd be a long list.

Well that's fine and dandy when you can take your time. But when it comes to weddings, you need something reliable and fast. Very fast. I don't have time to put on a bracket, plug in pc jack, connect a trigger to the adapter, put the adapter on the hotshoe etc etc...

Nevermind how i'd carry it in a small convenient bag...

This is just a quick mock-up but might work well with a smaller clamp and a low profile cold shoe like the one Jerry used.

Bob