Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT Flash

I purchased 3 of these flashes from Amazon and plan on adding a fourth soon. I also have a pre-order placed for the Canon ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter which I hope to receive sooner rather than later. The radio's on these flashes are awesome and the menu system is also greatly improved. One of my favorite features is the ability to use a master flash or the ST-E3-RT to control each of my flashes. The group mode is great, but can only be used with 2012 or newer Canon Cameras such as the Canon 5D MKIII which I also own. I tested the group mode on my Canon 5D MKII and it definetly does not work with that camera. With the group mode you can have up to 5 groups total and set the power levels using either ETTL or Manual mode. I use a label maker and mark my flashes as A B C (and future will be D for the fourth flash). I still have one group left if I want to go to five flashes. If you have more than 5 flashes you can assign multiple flashes to the same group and their power settings will be the same. Using the Master you can easily switch the slaves remotely from either ETTL or Manual mode and set their power settings. When you turn on the flashes they come up quickly and link up before you are ready to shoot - mere seconds. I was really impressed with how the radios worked and it's so nice to have just one set of batteries and not have to hook up a bunch of external gear. These are a huge time saver. One thing I will mention to those who may want to mix these with Studio Flashes. You can fire these from remote triggers just like the older Canon models as they have a PC input port. Even when using the external triggers to fire in conjunction with my studio lights it's still nice to be able to set up the power levels using manual levels and group mode through the master. The one thing that I discovered and is very important to note is that if you change power settings on the master for the slaves they will not receive the changed information unless you first press the TEST button on the master and I'm sure the same will be true for the ST-E3-RT. Firing the master from the synch port or even using a hot shoe adapter does not transmit the new settings. You must press the TEST button first to get the new settings over the the slaves. This is pretty minor and easy enough to do. Keep in mind if using external triggers you will need one on each flash. I could not figure out a way to get them to fire just by triggering the master in radio mode, although I am still experimenting. It would be really nice to only have to put an external trigger on the master but from what I could find you need one on each flash. I still need to read the manuals all the way through and experiment some more so I will try to remember to update my review if I find out something new. It would be nice to see these work in group mode with older cameras such as the 5D II and 7D and that is probably my only real disappointment with the flashes. I can't see why that can't work at least in manual mode, but it doesn't unless there is a workaround I haven't found yet. Overall I am really pleased with these flashes and look forward to giving them more of a workout as well as testing them with an external battery pack. For photographers that are on the go and want a powerful system that is more convenient in terms of space, set up time, batteries and reliability, this is the way to go. EDIT (04/27/2012): After some more time with these flashes I still love them. I have 5 of them now and am still waiting on the wireless controller. I did come up with a much better solution for combining these with studio lights. Not sure why I didn't think of it before as it's simple and works great. I just put my 600EX-RT on top of my camera in the hot shoe so I have full control - no need for third party radios on the 600EX-RT's. I then use the synch port on the camera to fire the studio flashes. A cable runs from the synch port to the trigger port of the transmitter for my studio lights. I now have a mixed radio system with wireless control over all my lights. Awesome!

I use three of these flashes, primarily because after reading about some of the shortcomings of the controller, I decided it would be worthwhile to just by an additional flash to use on camera. To date, they have worked flawlessly and can be controlled easily through the menu on the on-camera flash or in my 5dmkiii. I love, love, love the ability to manually control the off-camera flashes and change setting on the fly. Battery performance is great. I'm have been in the habit of changing to fresh batteries for each event, but have found, after using a battery tester, that I have at least half the battery power left and can stretch the batteries to two events. I'll eventually get power packs for these, but until then, they absolutely perform! Unlike my previous Pocket Wizards, the ETLL works well, and these allow for customizing each flash individually. I have yet to experience any issues with the RF system and they have fired reliably for several events. Although I am usually using these at a range of anywhere from 20 - 50 feet, these things have fired from as far away as 200 feet. I haven't tested them or used them much beyond that distance, but for my purposes, this is more than enough. The on flash menu's can be a little confusing and convoluted. I highly recommend sitting down with these prior to your first use to really get a feel for the flashes and the menus. Like anything else, once you spend enough time working with them, adjustments will become second nature. Another great aspect of these flashes is allowing for different groups to be set-up. A second photographer can set up their preferences for each flash, which will allow you both to trigger the flashes, with different settings. Pretty Neat. Again, I am completely satisfied with these flashes and they are a vast improvement over my previous 580ex's. If you plan to use these for wedding receptions or any other two strobe set-ups, I would recommend spending a little more money and purchase a third to act as the controller. Not only do you have the ability to have that third flash, it also provides you with the IR assist beam in low light situations!

Very fast shipment, strongly recommend!

He tenido excelentes resultados con el flash, sencillo de usar en el modo automático y tiene muchas opciones de personalización. Es una excelente opción si lo quiere utilizar un aficionado a la fotografía y he lo he visto utilizado por los profesionales.

This speedlite transmitter perfectly syncs , first few days reviews - Impressive

It is a wonderful product

Best Flash i ever had. Little Expensive but money worth it.