600ex-rt Speedlight Question

I am currently using 4 of the 600ex-rt for real estate photography. I am using Canon's radio transmitter to trigger them. The transmitter can only set three different power levels. A, B, and C. There are times I want each speed light to have its own power. Is there any way to do this? Also is there a way to set power right at the speed light but still trigger from the radio transmitter?

Thanks!

Northwoods Bill wrote in post #16971908
I am currently using 4 of the 600ex-rt for real estate photography. I am using Canon's radio transmitter to trigger them. The transmitter can only set three different power levels. A, B, and C. There are times I want each speed light to have its own power. Is there any way to do this? Also is there a way to set power right at the speed light but still trigger from the radio transmitter?

Thanks!

Assuming you mean the STE 3' trigger.
Yes you can set a different flash mode for each of the groups ( max 5 I think) see p.18 of the manual.

Not sure if your camera is classified as a post 2012 camera? My 5D3 is , i do recollect some thing like, maybe pre 2012 cameras can not use Groups in wireless mode. Sorry as mine are post 2012 cameras Imdid not get into the limitations of cameras I do not own.

Shooting with a 5diii. I will have a look at the manual for the ste3. Thanks

Use them in group mode and you can adjust each group anywhere from 1/1 or 1/128th power. So if you have four 600's set each of them to a different group (A,B,C & D) and you can control each one individually from the ste-3.

Thanks, for some reason my ste-3 was only showing groups a,b,c. Not sure if that is because I never set a flash to group d or e. I will experiment tonight.

Northwoods Bill wrote in post #16972561
Thanks, for some reason my ste-3 was only showing groups a,b,c. Not sure if that is because I never set a flash to group d or e. I will experiment tonight.

I am pretty sure you need to set one of them to the 4th group for it to show up.
I am assuming there is some communication that advises the Ste3 of their existence.

Northwoods Bill wrote in post #16972561
Thanks, for some reason my ste-3 was only showing groups a,b,c. Not sure if that is because I never set a flash to group d or e. I will experiment tonight.

Submariner wrote in post #16972656
I am pretty sure you need to set one of them to the 4th group for it to show up.
I am assuming there is some communication that advises the Ste3 of their existence.

All five groups A, B, C, D, and E will be availabe in the <Gr> mode without having a Slave set. You just need to scroll down through the groups on the Master.

Yes, but even when using radio mode the ST-E3-RT also supports the old setup, the one you can also use with optical communication. When using that method, only three groups are available (A, B and C).
So there could be a confusion of main modes here, not just which groups you can use.

Set the remote flash up via the camera's menu system instead. At least to being with, it's a lot easier to overview.

The optical system does allow you to set manual power settings at the flashes themselves, and then you can use as many flashes with as many settings as you care for walking around to set up. Such slaves are called Individual slaves. Not supported in radio mode, though.

Thanks. Got it now. I was not in <gr> mode. That is going to be a big help at the next shoot.

For real estate and architectural photography I've found using the 600EX-RTs in Gr ETTL mode is even easier than in M mode. With ETTL its possible to set each group with a plus or minus FEC to get the lighting scheme you want. Then use the FEC master to bring the whole scheme up or down to fine tune the over all exposure.

Sounds a lot more complicated to describe than to do.

I will give It a try. My only concern with ETTL is the possibility of the camera metering differently from shot to shot. I am blending in PS so I want my overall exposure to remain consistent. The blending is mainly light painting certain objects.

dmward wrote in post #16974040
For real estate and architectural photography I've found using the 600EX-RTs in Gr ETTL mode is even easier than in M mode. With ETTL its possible to set each group with a plus or minus FEC to get the lighting scheme you want. Then use the FEC master to bring the whole scheme up or down to fine tune the over all exposure.

Sounds a lot more complicated to describe than to do.

That is sound advice dm.

Northwoods Bill wrote in post #16974294
I will give It a try. My only concern with ETTL is the possibility of the camera metering differently from shot to shot. I am blending in PS so I want my overall exposure to remain consistent. The blending is mainly light painting certain objects.

Not enough to worry about in my experience.

Wow. That is an impressive image. I was pretty pleased with what I came up with for my first try but I clearly have more to learn!