Yongnuo st-e3 RT

Hello dear friends.

I was looking for a good reliable transmitter with AF assist, so Canon st-e3 RT wasn't an option.
And I was surprised that Yongnuo came up with their own version of st-e3 with AF assist.

So I immediately jumped on this and did a small review for this little transmitter.

http://www.isaacimage.​com/yongnuo-st-e3-rt/

Long story short, still unreliable and works with delay so as for me it doesn't work at all.
So might be a problem with my unit.

Not trying to promote my site, just trying to help for those who is also looking for transmitter with AF assist.

Happy New year to all.
George

isaacimage wrote in post #16574735
Hello dear friends.

I was looking for a good reliable transmitter with AF assist, so Canon st-e3 RT wasn't an option.
And I was surprised that Yongnuo came up with their own version of st-e3 with AF assist.

So I immediately jumped on this and did a small review for this little transmitter.

http://www.isaacimage.​com/yongnuo-st-e3-rt/

Long story short, still unreliable and works with delay so as for me it doesn't work at all.
So might be a problem with my unit.

Not trying to promote my site, just trying to help for those who is also looking for transmitter with AF assist.

Happy New year to all.
George

The Focus assist issue has already been discussed and the issue of it being off centered to the left has to do with the way it is locked down in the hot shoe as I pointed out in this post: https://photography-on-the.net …p?p=16540660&po​stcount=67

As far as it being unreliable because it "works with delay" needs a little more of an explanation. I have tested it against an ST-E3-RT and have found it to produce the same results at max sync speed. If it were working with a delay then there would be a sync issue of which I have not found any so far as my testing is concerned. The YN does now allow for SCS (Second Curtain Sync) in the Manual mode so are you sure you did not have it set to this function?

The weather sealing issue is not a big deal at least not to me and I am sure the vast majority of users. At 1/2 the price of the Canon version one cannot expect that the fit and finish will be that of the Canon especially when you consider the features that they added are unavailable on the ST-E3-RT.

It is by no means perfect, especially in the focus assist department but it has merit by offering more features than the Canon version plus the firmware can be updated by the user so hopefully any issues in the way that it performs can be fixed with a firmware update.

Thanks for the review. A few of thoughts/responses.

First, my YN-St_E3 worked perfectly on my 5d3, but caused my 600ex to fire a preflash, making it fire late, when used with my SL1. After I updated the firmware, it worked perfectly on the SL1 also. Sounds like you were having the same issue. There is a known issue with many older bodies that can be fixed through the firmware upgrade.

Second, as noted in the other YN-ST-e3 thread, the YN can be rotated a wee bit left or right before locking down. That can change the alignment of the AF assist array. While they don't always line up perfectly anyway, they are certainly better than the far more expensive Canon.

Third, build quality I thought was good. I wouldn't take it out in pouring rain, but it did not feel cheap or fragile at all.

Finally, I got mine through ebay for less, but that may be a Canada/U.S. dollar difference. I'm not sure. The 245 is insane. They are regularly available for under $145.

Sorry to double post. Here's the brief summary I posted on FM:

Got my YN-E3-RT yesterday after returning from a short holiday. I'll post more extensive thoughts later. My initial thoughts are that it is officially pointless to pay for Canon's version. The Yong Nuo works perfectly and has an AF assist function. The focus array does not line up perfectly with all points, but as Canon does not offer one at all, this is a huge win for the Chinese product. The YN-E3 easily triggered my 600ex around corners and in different rooms. I haven't been able to test its range yet.

The YN-E3 worked perfectly on my 5d3, but I had to update the firmware before it would play nice with my SL1. Updating the firmware took some effort because Norton did not like the downloads from YN's website.

Given the delivery time, its almost a given that the firmware needs to be updated to 1.07. That release has only been available for about a week.

I paid $139.99 (total) for mine from Photo Gadget. To be honest your review seems to be a bit if a hit piece, where you make statements about a "delay" yet give no details. You also fail to mention whether you bothered to update the firmware, and if that corrected any of your "issues".

I for one am, for the most part, happy and can see no point in purchasing the ST-E3-RT.

I'm interested in the yong nuo as well. A couple of questions.

Will I be able to adjust the 600ex I have right from the menus on my 5dm3?
Will I be able to somehow use my 430ex2 with this transmitter if I buy some additional adapters? If so which do I need? Or am I out of luck there and have to get another 600ex and or the yong nuo version? Thanks.

I believe all of your questions are answered in this thread:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1348512

ilumo wrote in post #16646421
I'm interested in the yong nuo as well. A couple of questions.

Will I be able to adjust the 600ex I have right from the menus on my 5dm3?
Will I be able to somehow use my 430ex2 with this transmitter if I buy some additional adapters? If so which do I need? Or am I out of luck there and have to get another 600ex and or the yong nuo version? Thanks.

I am assuming you have the RT version of the 600EX? As far as your 430EX's are involved the YN-E3-RT has no optical capability so "NO" compatibility between the 430EX and the YN-E3-RT. As to whether you would need another 600EX in my opinion I would sell the 430EX's and buy another 600EX. I sold most of my older EX Speedlites to buy extra 600EX-RT's and do not regret it for one second. At the moment there is no receivers available to allow the older EX Speedlites to be controlled via the Wireless RT system.

The YN-E3-RT is controllable from the 5DmIII's flash menu but remember, that just like an "on camera" flash, any global FEC dialed into the cameras flash menu will not show up on the transmitters display and can be overridden by the transmitter if FEC is dialed into both the camera and the transmitter. The second curtain flash function, in the Manual wireless mode, can only be accessed from the transmitter menu and not the cameras menu. This is probably due to the fact it is a transmitter specific feature (only available with the YN-E3-RT) and more than likely a camera firm ware update would be needed to make this function show up in the cameras flash menu. Do not hold your breath waiting for Canon to add this to any firmware update unless they have plans to update their ST-E3-RT which I doubt is highly unlikely.

I've also sold my three 580 EX II flashes and got some 600 EX-RT units instead.

agv8or wrote in post #16648504
I am assuming you have the RT version of the 600EX? As far as your 430EX's are involved the YN-E3-RT has no optical capability so "NO" compatibility between the 430EX and the YN-E3-RT. As to whether you would need another 600EX in my opinion I would sell the 430EX's and buy another 600EX. I sold most of my older EX Speedlites to buy extra 600EX-RT's and do not regret it for one second. At the moment there is no receivers available to allow the older EX Speedlites to be controlled via the Wireless RT system.

The YN-E3-RT is controllable from the 5DmIII's flash menu but remember, that just like an "on camera" flash, any global FEC dialed into the cameras flash menu will not show up on the transmitters display and can be overridden by the transmitter if FEC is dialed into both the camera and the transmitter. The second curtain flash function, in the Manual wireless mode, can only be accessed from the transmitter menu and not the cameras menu. This is probably due to the fact it is a transmitter specific feature (only available with the YN-E3-RT) and more than likely a camera firm ware update would be needed to make this function show up in the cameras flash menu. Do not hold your breath waiting for Canon to add this to any firmware update unless they have plans to update their ST-E3-RT which I doubt is highly unlikely.

Very helpful. Thanks so much!

agv8or wrote in post #16648504
I am assuming you have the RT version of the 600EX? As far as your 430EX's are involved the YN-E3-RT has no optical capability so "NO" compatibility between the 430EX and the YN-E3-RT. As to whether you would need another 600EX in my opinion I would sell the 430EX's and buy another 600EX. I sold most of my older EX Speedlites to buy extra 600EX-RT's and do not regret it for one second. At the moment there is no receivers available to allow the older EX Speedlites to be controlled via the Wireless RT system.

The YN-E3-RT is controllable from the 5DmIII's flash menu but remember, that just like an "on camera" flash, any global FEC dialed into the cameras flash menu will not show up on the transmitters display and can be overridden by the transmitter if FEC is dialed into both the camera and the transmitter. The second curtain flash function, in the Manual wireless mode, can only be accessed from the transmitter menu and not the cameras menu. This is probably due to the fact it is a transmitter specific feature (only available with the YN-E3-RT) and more than likely a camera firm ware update would be needed to make this function show up in the cameras flash menu. Do not hold your breath waiting for Canon to add this to any firmware update unless they have plans to update their ST-E3-RT which I doubt is highly unlikely.

Everything above is absolutely correct.

HOWEVER, you COULD continue to use your 430 as a DUMB flash slave with a couple of accessories - an optical slave and a hotshoe adapter. I do this with mine now when I want to use it as a hairlight or a background gel flash. You still have to manually adjust the flash controls, but in limited use under the right conditions, you would still be able to utilize the 430 - it would just fire when the optical slave attached sensed the flash from the 600's.

Just an option I wanted to toss out to you. Your best bet is to upgrade to a 600 from Canon or Yongnuo, but if that's not in the budget, you can still use the 430 (with some limitations) using the adapters for about $40 or so.