2 speedlite set up

Hello all. Could someone give me a definitive answer if possible.

I have a canon 600d and 2 speedlites, a 430exii and a yongnuo 560iv. I want to use both speedlites off camera at once and fully manual, eg set flash power of each speedlite independantly and do it on the speedlites themselves. Im struggling to do this, and struggling to find info as to whether its even possible. I have been through all settings on camera and on the speedlites but im finding it a bit overwhelming to be honest.

If anyone has any info or helpful links that would be much appreciated.

Grant

What are you using to remote trigger the flashes? Usually you use a transmitter on the camera hotshoe, and receivers for each flash. Some offer ettl ability while cheaper ones you'll shoot completely in manual.

http://www.cnet.com …ns-wireless-flash-system/

You should be able to operate at least the 430 II as an optical slave. I have never fired a flash optically with a Canon Rebel, but here is a link covering how to do it with your camera and Canon flash. I don't know if you can operate two flashes optically, but you probably can.

http://community.usa.c​anon.com …h-the-built-in/td-p/36843

I am using the built in flash to trigger the speedlites. In the very near future I will be purchasing a 6d or 5d which will require that I buy triggers of some kind. Until then I was hoping that I could get away just with the pop up flash.

At this stage all I'm using the speedlites for is for portraits of family members. I like low key stuff, which I can sort of get away with 1 speedlite. I was trying to do some high key stuff today, 1 as main flash and 2nd flash to wash out the background. I had sporadic success. I could get both flashes to fire at times, then the next shot only one would fire. It was quite random. Between settings on the camera, the 430exii and the yn560, ettl and manual settings, I find it very hard to find a pattern as to what works and what doesn't.

One thing I should have said. I'm using the 430ii as the slave which is the main flash. That works every time so no problems there. It's really the flash I use as the back flash, the yn560 that seems to be sporadic .

If I was to purchase a set of triggers , eg yn622c from yongnuo, would that make life easier for me in using everything manually?. And secondly, would there be any reason why the yongnuo triggers wouldn't work on a canon and a yongnuo speedlite simultaneously?.

Thanks
Grant

fiwi wrote in post #17831821
One thing I should have said. I'm using the 430ii as the slave which is the main flash. That works every time so no problems there. It's really the flash I use as the back flash, the yn560 that seems to be sporadic .

If I was to purchase a set of triggers , eg yn622c from yongnuo, would that make life easier for me in using everything manually?. And secondly, would there be any reason why the yongnuo triggers wouldn't work on a canon and a yongnuo speedlite simultaneously?.

Thanks
Grant

The optical sensors both have to see the pre flash to work. That's sometimes a problem in arranging the flashes to light up what you want with the optical sensor pointing at the camera. Radio triggers don't have the line of sight problem, so will make life easier.

The triggers should work on any brand of flash in manual flash mode. You're only using the center pin to tell the flash to fire.

fiwi wrote in post #17831821
One thing I should have said. I'm using the 430ii as the slave which is the main flash. That works every time so no problems there. It's really the flash I use as the back flash, the yn560 that seems to be sporadic .

If I was to purchase a set of triggers , eg yn622c from yongnuo, would that make life easier for me in using everything manually?. And secondly, would there be any reason why the yongnuo triggers wouldn't work on a canon and a yongnuo speedlite simultaneously?.

Thanks
Grant

Heya,

Real transceivers will make life infinitly easier. YN622's will do it (for a cost) and allow more than manual, such as ETTL, HSS, etc. Otherwise, the simple RF603c II's are much cheaper and do the manual thing all day and are excellent too, if you don't need ETTL/HSS, and are quite reliable. Again, cheap. Two of those transceivers are like $30 new as a pair. They will work with all your lights.

Very best,

^^^^^^^
That is correct. YN603 will provide manual triggering but with YN622C on each flash and a YN622C-TX on the camera hot shoe will allow you to control both flashes remotely from the camera. That alone is worth the extra money to me.

Terry, Mal, Gee, invaluable info , exactly what I was looking for. I did some more testing and it does seem that the 430exii picks up my on camera flash a lot better that the yn560. Thanks

fiwi wrote in post #17831820
I am using the built in flash to trigger the speedlites ...
... I had sporadic success. I could get both flashes to fire at times, then the next shot only one would fire. It was quite random. Between settings on the camera, the 430exii and the yn560, ettl and manual settings, I find it very hard to find a pattern as to what works and what doesn't.

The on-board flash rapidly fires a series of coded pulses to set mode and power on the 430EX II. The Canon flash understands the code; the Yongnuo does not understand as it's expecting to fire after either one or two pulses depending on its optical mode setting.

MalVeauX wrote in post #17831896
Heya,

Real transceivers will make life infinitly easier. YN622's will do it (for a cost) and allow more than manual, such as ETTL, HSS, etc. Otherwise, the simple RF603c II's are much cheaper and do the manual thing all day and are excellent too, if you don't need ETTL/HSS, and are quite reliable. Again, cheap. Two of those transceivers are like $30 new as a pair. They will work with all your lights.

Very best,

GeeMack wrote in post #17831929
^^^^^^^
That is correct. YN603 will provide manual triggering but with YN622C on each flash and a YN622C-TX on the camera hot shoe will allow you to control both flashes remotely from the camera. That alone is worth the extra money to me.

oldvultureface wrote in post #17831944
The on-board flash rapidly fires a series of coded pulses to set mode and power on the 430EX II. The Canon flash understands the code; the Yongnuo does not understand as it's expecting to fire after either one or two pulses depending on its optical mode setting.

Correct. If you plan to mix ETTL and non-ETTL flashes you are going to face compromises and complication.

The YN-560 flashes will never work with the Canon coded optical wireless system. I would return the YN-560 IV and buy another Canon flash so you can use the built in flash on your 600D to trigger them.

If you plan to buy wireless radio triggers I would return the YN-560 IV and buy one of the Yongnuo ETTL flashes so it would be more compatible with the Canon 430 EX II.

From what I have read the YN-622C-TX transceivers are not compatible with the YN-560 III or YN-560 IV. You would have to buy additional YN-622C receivers. You can then trigger the YN-560, but you can not adjust the flash power remotely using the YN-622C system.

Don't forget to allow recycle time even after going to radio remotes. I mention only because you are switching style to high key background.

Thanks CCF. In regards to the high key shots, I have been playing around today and have run into a problem. Using my 24-105 with the yn560 works fine at the widest aperture-f4. The problem is that if I try to stop the lens down at all, the yn560 will not fire at all. I tested this with my 50mm 1.8 and got the same result, fine wide open at 1.8 but stop it down at all and the yn560 won't fire. I played around with shutter and iso settings but nothing changed.

Am I missing something here?

Thanks

Why is it that if I change built in flash setting on camera to ETTL, the flash fires when I stop down (which I thought fixed my problem) but the photo is totally under exposed?. I thought the yn560 is a fully manual speedlite.

Sorry about the large number of posts. I seem to put my questions straight to POTN as I go along instead of waiting till I have tested all outcomes.

My 430exii doesn't suffer the problem the yn560 does when stopping down. It fires no matter what the aperture of the lens is set at. Does anyone ave an explanation for this?. My camera is always in custom wireless

Thanks