A7RII with a Canon 600Ex-rt (it works sort of)

Just trying a bunch of stuff with this new camera - tracking, AF, different custom button setups, etc, etc

It occurred to me that there would be a reasonable decent way of doing a smart 'dumb' setup of a the A7Rii with a bounced flash with the 600EX-rt (of which I have lots of them).

The 600EX-rt, has a mode called Ext. M (as do other more recent Canon flashes), whereby if you put in the ISO and the F-stop, it will automatically meter the area and fire the flash.

This isn't something I think people are going to do a lot of (well maybe very very little) but I can think of a situation or two where I am going to try it (I am a big bounce flash user).

So I tested it on the camera and it works perfectly. Basically lets say you know you area basically going to be shooting people / groups at F4 (so that is already half your inputs) so all it requires is a fast input of the ISO that you are going to use and you are done.

I have used flash upto very high ISO levels but I did the experiment at ISO 400. Thus I inputed ISO 400 into the flash, used ISO 400 on the camera and F4 and then just adjust the shutter speed, as a test, to get 2 stops underexposed. I took a picture with the flash aimed back over my shoulder and bounced into the ceiling and the result is very good for such an easy solution (if you happen to have a canon flash laying around).

So you can use your Canon flash just not in TTL.

The flash will not trigger if Silent mode but will in Electronic First Curtain Shutter


Here is the Samsung Note 4 picture of my test setup

A7Rii, Canon 35F2, 600EX-rt

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/x25C​jR

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/wmCw​UN

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/x23e​yf

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/xiDX​36

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/x22Y​z7

wallstreetoneil wrote in post #17667693
Just trying a bunch of stuff with this new camera - tracking, AF, different custom button setups, etc, etc

It occurred to me that there would be a reasonable decent way of doing a smart 'dumb' setup of a the A7Rii with a bounced flash with the 600EX-rt (of which I have lots of them).

The 600EX-rt, has a mode called Ext. M (as do other more recent Canon flashes), whereby if you put in the ISO and the F-stop, it will automatically meter the area and fire the flash.

This isn't something I think people are going to do a lot of (well maybe very very little) but I can think of a situation or two where I am going to try it (I am a big bounce flash user).

So I tested it on the camera and it works perfectly. Basically lets say you know you area basically going to be shooting people / groups at F4 (so that is already half your inputs) so all it requires is a fast input of the ISO that you are going to use and you are done.

I have used flash upto very high ISO levels but I did the experiment at ISO 400. Thus I inputed ISO 400 into the flash, used ISO 400 on the camera and F4 and then just adjust the shutter speed, as a test, to get 2 stops underexposed. I took a picture with the flash aimed back over my shoulder and bounced into the ceiling and the result is very good for such an easy solution (if you happen to have a canon flash laying around).

So you can use your Canon flash just not in TTL.

The flash will not trigger if Silent mode but will in Electronic First Curtain Shutter


Here is the Samsung Note 4 picture of my test setup

A7Rii, Canon 35F2, 600EX-rt

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/x25C​jR 2015-08-13 14.17.02 by Paul O'Neil, on Flickr

Picture (no flash underexposed by 2 stops)

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/wmCw​UN flash_test by Paul O'Neil, on Flickr

Same picture with bounced flash

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/x23e​yf flash_test-2 by Paul O'Neil, on Flickr

Another picture (bounced flash with 2 stops under ambient exposure)

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/xiDX​36 flash_test-3 by Paul O'Neil, on Flickr

Closeup (again underexposed by two stops - not tack sharp as I'm only using SS=1/20)
https://flic.kr/p/x22Y​z7flash_test-5 by Paul O'Neil, on Flickr

Paul, why not just use a YN E3 RT. Do you have one? I do and I'll be selling it if you want it (getting rid of all my 600EX RTs and controllers).

David Arbogast wrote in post #17667720
Paul, why not just use a YN E3 RT. Do you have one? I do and I'll be selling it if you want it (getting rid of all my 600EX RTs and controllers).

The Canon ST E3 RT controller on the camera doesn't work at all, even in manual mode, to fire the flashes off camera - does the YN E3 RT work?

Yes it does. It also has another cool trick the Canon version doesn't have - AF assist light. Otherwise all the functionality is the same.
It's all manual mode, of course, but you can set all your group power settings through, just like the Canon model.

I also have the ST E3 RT, and you are right - it doesn't work on the a7 series.

[EDIT - I am speaking from experience with a7R not a7R II, but I have no reason to suspect it won't work the same. Carlo will be able to chime in, since he has the same setup and has the a7R II to test with.]

YN E3 RT works with the a7 series cameras, and will work with the 600EX.

Oddly, the YN600ex RT does not work with the a7 series cameras, even with YN e3 RT as a trigger.