EOS Rebel T6 Popup Flash as Wireless Master to Speedlite 430EX II

Can the popup flash on an EOS Rebel T6 be the master and wirelessly trigger a slaved Speedlite 430EX II-- or is a transmitter needed?

It cannot. The T6 does not have either the hardware or software to do this. You need a 550EX + (580,580 2, 600), an ST-e2, or a third party 'master' transmitter to control the 430EX 2 as a 'slave'.

 

Canon's Master/Slave setup (for these generations of flashes) use IR. The t6 doesn't not have an IR transmitter (as far as I'm aware), most EOS cameras do not - so physically cannot send ETTL control data to the flash.

 

Further, Canon's EX line of flashes don't even have optical slave trigger capability anymore (so you cannot use the flash as a trigger at a manually set output level). That one is kind of frustrating to me (personally).

It cannot. The T6 does not have either the hardware or software to do this. You need a 550EX + (580,580 2, 600), an ST-e2, or a third party 'master' transmitter to control the 430EX 2 as a 'slave'.

.

 

Oh well.

 

Thanks for the detailed response though!

There are some cheap third party manual flashes like the Neewer TT560 that have a slave mode that will fire when they sense any other flash going off, these could be triggered by your on camera flash. You can pick these up on Amazon for around $30 each. I also saw KEH advertised some used ones for $13. Just throwing this out there for consideration. Keep in mind, manual flash will limit you to shoot under 1/200th of a second. There is no ETTL with manual flash, there is no highspeed sync. These are simple cheap manual flash speedlights that resemble a Canon 580EXII speedlight without all the bells and whistles.

There are some cheap third party manual flashes like the Neewer TT560 that have a slave mode that will fire when they sense any other flash going off, these could be triggered by your on camera flash. You can pick these up on Amazon for around $30 each. I also saw KEH advertised some used ones for $13. Just throwing this out there for consideration. Keep in mind, manual flash will limit you to shoot under 1/200th of a second. There is no ETTL with manual flash, there is no highspeed sync. These are simple cheap manual flash speedlights that resemble a Canon 580EXII speedlight without all the bells and whistles.

 

Thanks for the tip; pretty inexpensive way to go. I think I'd have a hard time, though, going back to manual flash.

 

I don't have too many pleasant memories of the distance-estimating and mental math using a Spiratone flash on my Minolta HiMatic 7s and SRT-101...

If expense is of critical importance and you want to retain use of EX wireless ettl, you have two or three choices. 1) buy a used 550EX / 580EX (~$60 - $90) - either will work as a master for your 430EX II 2) a new Yongnuo YN568EX II / YN600EX-RT II . ~$95 - $115, they will act as a master for your 430EXII, and is compatible with the EX system. 3) a Yongnuo YN-622C-TX for ~$41. The downside is that it's not a flash, just a 'master' controller for your 430 EX II...

Guess it depends what you are doing. A little experimenting, this all becomes second nature. I like using a combo of on camera bounce with a cheap $10 modifier and 3 or 4 strategicly placed speedlights high around the room set at about 40% power if I am doing a large room event. Shutter will be between 1/200 and 1/100, F stop 3.5 to 4, ISO 1600-3200 depending on on how noisy your camera is. Make slight adjustments to on camera flash power and shutter speed based on what you are seeing on Histograms. Try to keep your lights out of the frame when walking around, unless you want them in the frame for some creative reason.

 

If doing portraits, a little experimentation and you will figure it out. I always shoot RAW, so you get a lot of tweakability in post too. You can get very pro looking photos on a budget. The camera doesn't care how much the lights cost, just get the settings right.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Mark Keefer

Marcus and Mark, thanks for those great solutions!