Question to Yongnuo RF-603 flash trigger

[alan_kovarik]

<p>I just bought this flash trigger on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Wireless-Flash-Trigger-Receiver-Canon-60D-500D-550D-/110653412637?pt=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item19c375151d). Some guy on the internet said to me it works with all cameras. I know eBay says its for Canon and it works with Canon, but I was wondering if it could work with my Olympus E420 too (it has only hotshoe and USB)... I tried it, but its not working. Why? Is there some solution for this? Thanks for any help!</p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>Boy, there's a lot of questions today from victims of Oly weirdness.</p>

<p>First, you are trying to trigger a remote flash with the camera, and not trigger the camera's shutter via a remote, right? Because RF triggering an Oly camera is tricky.</p>

<p>Not all remote triggers work with all cameras. Some triggers have too low a trigger voltage (yes, it's possible for the voltage to be too low. Normally, we only hear about flashes that have too high a voltage, and fry cameras or radio triggers). There's a site that talks about which ones work with which.</p>

<p>Aside from that, make sure that you're in S or M mode, and that you set a shutter speed below the camera's X-sync speed. I'd suggest 1/125 sec. Make sure you've got the RF-603 on the flash in receiver mode, the one on the camera in transmitter mode, and that the test button on the one on the camera can make the flash fire. That gets you down to the camera as the source of your problems.</p>

<p>Oh, and beware of stuff like "Some guy on the internet said to me it works with all cameras." People selling things do not have your best interest at heart.</p>

[alan_kovarik]

<p>Yes, I'm trying to trigger it with camera.<br />There are not any reciever/transmitter modes on the triggers, just on/of button (and shutter button). There is no test button.<br />Its not working witn any shutter sped.<br>

Someone in another forum said to me that I could try RF-603 for Nikon and that could work with my Olympus more likely (because Canon has some specific circuits)...<br>

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RF-603-Yongnuo-Nikon-wireless-flash-trigger-Transceiver-/260745179902<br />I dont know... should I try it?<br>

Could you give me a link to the site you are talking about? Thanks!</p>

[michael_madio]

<p>The trigger button on the RF-603 can be used as a test button ... it should trigger the other remotes. If this does not work then the units are possibly defective, on the wrong channel, or have weak batteries.</p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>Alan, here's what I've found...</p>

<ul>

<li>RF-603 transceivers default to being receivers. They <strong>automatically </strong>turn into transmitters when placed in the hotshoe of a matching camera. In other words, an RF-603N will automatically become a transmitter if you put it in the hotshoe of a Nikon camera. An RF-603C will become a transmitter when placed in the hotshoe of a Canon camera.</li>

<li>OK, now here's where life gets weird. An RF-603 will <strong>manually </strong>switch from being a receiver to being a transmitter if there is no flash connected to it, either in the hot shoe or in the mini-jack, and you press the test button on the RF-603. That means, if you put the RF-603 on your Oly, do not put a flash in the RF-603, and press the test button, that RF-603 should become a transmitter and trigger your Oly flash in a matching RF-603, provided that your flash has not gone to sleep.</li>

<li>An RF-603 will trigger practically any flash. But it will only wake up a matching flash. An RF-603N only wakes Nikon flashes, an RF-603C only wakes Canon flashes. Neither will wake your Oly flash. So, you have to figure out how to set your flash so that it never sleeps, or remember to fire it often enough so that it doesn't sleep (maybe every five minutes. I don't know what the default is for an Oly).</li>

<li>And, as Michael said, when the RF-603 is set to be a receiver, the button functions as a "test" button, firing the connected flash. When the RF-603 is a transmitter, it functions as a "transmit" button, sending a "fire" message to the receiver.</li>

</ul>

[GerrySiegel]

<p>I wonder. Could you be working and sweating over an e Bay- you will excuse the expression if I err- 'too fussy ' <em>junk </em>item.' Me, I have an Olympus camera. I am triggering my strobes using Elinchrom EL-Skyport RF Universal Trigger set. It operates with a transmitter that sits in the Olympus camera shoe, single center contact does the trick. It has a test button, and that works too. This part of the pair takes a button cel Li Ion battery. The receiver has a built in battery and they provide a charger, receiver unit has a 3.5 mm out port with a set of cables (to match about any flash unit input you got), such as mini to PC and a nice little stowage zippered box. I report this in the event you decide to 'deep six' that e Bay one you are fussing with....a wireless trigger must work all the time every time.<br /> I have not had a failure with Elinchrom Skyport from day one. But then I had to to lay out 175 dollars; you may find that over your budget... Optical slave triggers work too at about a fourth the cost, incidentally, but means putting a small flash in the camera shoe and aiming it up at the ceiling, I use to do that too.<br /> .. Another unit may work. Or may work for a while or may not work, sounds not so versatile a trigger item you got, IMO...FYI,Another medium price unit is the "Radio Popper." Paul Buff, Alien Bee company sells a set in mid price range. Elinchrom Skyport Univeral set, btw, is <em>made</em> in China, but Elinchrom, the Swiss flashmaker markets it here......be well, gs</p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<blockquote>

<p>Could you be working and sweating over an e Bay- you will excuse the expression if I err- 'too fussy ' <em>junk </em>item.' Me, I have an Olympus camera. I am triggering my strobes using Elinchrom EL-Skyport RF Universal Trigger set.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I don't think I'll "excuse the expression". I'm too much the product engineer, too appreciative of good design and production, too capable of recognizing when the engineering is not so good.</p>

<p>My experience with Elinchrom is that they fit your description "err- too fussy ' <em>junk </em>item" perfectly. From the made in India "mystery meat" De Lite and BX series, to the awkward and unergonomic Skyport system with possibly the worst latency in the industry, to their accessory attachment system that I've seen fail repeatedly even on the higher end Style S and RX line. Do you think your Skyports are made in Switzerland by forest kobolds? They're a product of the same eastern factories that produce the "eBay" stuff you complain about.</p>

<p>My experience with the RF-602 is that it's a competent system, and I'd expect no less from the RF-603. Alan's problem appears to be that he is taking sophisticated hardware that has to be dedicated to a specific camera system to provide features like automatically configuring transceivers (which Skyport doesn't do, being a separate transmitter/receiver system) and waking up flashes (which Skyport doesn't do, either). He's doing the equivalent of trying to use a Nikon flash on his Olympus system. Some features will work, some won't, and even for the ones that work, things are going to be awkward. He'd be having exactly the same problem if he had tried to use Pocket Wizard TT1 or TT5 or Radio Popper PX, much higher end systems than the RF-603.</p>

<p>There are many simple, generic, non-dedicated remotes that will work for him. Some are mystery meat, like Skyport, the older Yong Nuo RF-602, the Cactus V4. Some are major brand, like Pocket Wizard Plus II, Radio Popper JrX, or Paul Buff Cyber Sync.</p>

[GerrySiegel]

<p>I didn't know Skyport was "mystery meat', say, a cute term that. Hey, Elinchrom product works for me, and so I state, but I have not tested the range. I just read favorable reviews on Amazon ere I bought a set.. Anyway, Alan, you decide, it's your flash system. Aloha, gerry</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>If you cannot find a test button my thought went to something [ a pair of scissors perhaps] to short across the terminals. It means taking transmitter unit off camera but seems a reasonable way to test the trany/reciever part of the set-up? </p>