topic Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

missamyb — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 12:26:40 GMT

Hi,

I jumped ship on Nikon and changed system to the R5 M2. There's a lot of relearning going on and I am super frustrated that I cannot seem to access any settings that allow me to set rear or second curtain sync for my studio lights set up. Any help ... I have been searching the webs and not found anything. thanks

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

shadowsports — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 12:30:09 GMT

Greetings,

Let me ping some of our flash experts to help you.

You can also contact Canon support at 1-800-652-2666.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

shadowsports — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 12:36:39 GMT

Greetings,

You should hear back from some folks in a little bit.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

deebatman316 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 13:49:58 GMT

Canon implements 2nd Curtain Sync differently than Nikon. A Nikon camera body internally delays the flash. Canon speedlites work differently instead the camera reports the shutter speed set to the flash. Then the flash calculates when to fire. Canon’s speedlites don’t need the center contact on the hot shoe to work. Also for Canon 2nd Curtain Sync only works with a Canon speedlite. It also only works if the shutter speed is set to 1/30th sec or slower. 2nd Curtain Sync must be set directly on the flash to work. Or on some older models such as my old 420EX it can be set from the Speedlite Control Menu. But this only works with a Canon Speedlite. The Speedlite Control Menu is unavailable when 3rd Party gear is used. Canon Speedlites released in or after 2007 can fully utilize the in camera flash menu to set curtain sync. My newer Speedlites such as my 470EX-AI & 600EX II-RT allow setting curtain sync in the menu. But my old 550EX doesn’t allow setting that from the camera menu. That setting is grayed out in the camera menu and must be set directly on the speedlite itself. When set on the speedlite the Speedlite Control Menu will reflect the change. But it still will be grayed out in the camera menu. Due to the Speedlite not supporting the Speedlite Control Menu. The camera can only display what the speedlite’s current settings are. But it cannot modify them. The top 2 pictures show how to set 2nd Curtain Sync on an old Speedlite such as the 550EX which has an LCD screen. This Speedlite is not compatible with the Speedlite Control Menu. As you can see most options are grayed out or missing. The bottom 3 pictures show how to set 2nd Curtain Sync on an old Speedlite such as the 420EX which lacks an LCD screen. This Speedlite is partially compatible with the Speedlite Control Menu to set 1st/ 2nd Curtain Sync. As you can see most options are grayed out or missing because the Speedlite IS NOT compatible with the Speedlite Control Menu.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

missamyb — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 05:35:25 GMT

Thanks for your detailed response. I guess when I shot with canon professionally many years ago I was only shooting with speed lights. Now I am shooting in studio though. So ... perhaps my question can be extended to ... what third party triggers can one use with an R5 2 to trigger studio flashes. I have a mix of Profoto and Elinchrom lights and generally use optical slave. What do I need to purchase to allow me to keep shooting with my current set up so I can access the functionality of second curtain? surely there are other studio shooters who have faced this issues and have some work arounds. I realise I could use a canon flash to fire the other lights but that doesn't give me the full light control I will need for my work. Thanks all

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

deebatman316 — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 12:16:05 GMT

None. Canon doesn’t support wireless rear/ 2nd curtain sync over optical wireless. They only recently over the last few years added that functionality. It was a hardware update to support wireless rear curtain sync over radio. Also they only support it on certain speedlites and transmitters utilizing radio transmissions. Those would be the EL-1, EL-5, EL-10, ST-E10, ST-E3-RT version 2 & 3. These speedlites can only achieve that during radio transmissions not optical transmission. Certain older speedlites can be used off camera and support wireless rear curtain sync those are the 600EX-RT, 600EX II-RT & 430EX III-RT. But a speedlite or transmitter that’s on the camera must support it. So does the camera body. Cameras released in or after 2020 already support this feature. But it only works when it’s set to radio transmission but not optical transmission.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

missamyb — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 21:47:51 GMT

Again. Thanks for the detailed response. But surely there are options for me moving forward. What do you or anyone else lose suggest? I don't want to get weighed down with all the tech stuff ... I just want options for how I can set up my workflow with this new camera for this creative work. Thanks

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

deebatman316 — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 22:08:44 GMT

With what you want to do with Rear Curtain Sync over optical wireless isn't possible. Only First Curtain Sync and HSS (if supported by the strobe) are possible. But if you strictly need wireless rear curtain sync you'll have to use Canon's own speedlites such as the EL-1, EL-5, EL-10 ST-E3 version 2 & 3 & ST-E10. That's the only way you can do rear curtain sync over wireless with Canon. There are no loopholes around this because Canon reports the shutter speed to the flash. Then the flash calculates when to fire there is no way to make rear curtain sync work with an off brand flash unit. Also Canon's flash units don't rely on the center contact work. Unlike Nikon where the camera body delays the flash instead. I've never needed wireless rear curtain sync only HSS or First Curtain Sync.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

chrishoesel — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:24:11 GMT

Could the OP use an EL-1 or EL-5 in the hot shoe to enable Rear Curtain Sync, and set his studio strobes to optically fire? Neither the camera nor the attached Speedlite would know that there are non-compatible strobes in the chain and would theoretically fire as optical slaves. OP would want to set the ratios for exposure on the studio strobes manually, but I'm sure that's not an issue.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

deebatman316 — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:28:26 GMT

Still wouldn’t work as the EL-1 & EL-5 don’t support optical wireless. Then those strobes would have to ignore the E-TTL pre-flash. Which is very visible during rear curtain sync.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

chrishoesel — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 16:59:17 GMT

I should have clarified:

Set the EL-5 to manual, stand-alone flash mode. (Not master/slave, or whatever the new PC nomenclature is)

Set the studio strobes to fire optically (this is quite normal when mixing strobe brands)

But in manual mode there would be no E-TTL pre-flash. The other studio strobes don't care whether the triggering strobe is an E-TTL pulse or a flash strobe. They will fire instantly when set to trigger from ANY flash going off.

Granted, all flash settings will need to be manual, and not TTL, however anyone doing rear-curtain sync will need it for very specific purposes which are generally quite advanced, and will know how to set exposure manually.

I have not tried it, so I'm just going by what would logically work in my mind.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

deebatman316 — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 17:18:54 GMT

It may or may not work also the shutter speed has to be very slow. Since Canon only allows rear curtain sync at 1/30th sec or slower.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

missamyb — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 21:48:48 GMT

Thanks for this message. This is my work around. Except I bought a godox trigger and flash forward thinking to a shift in slowly swapping out the other brands. I am surprised that the responses from the Illuminati in the room were largely giving the impression it wasn't possible or may not work. I much prefer to lean into creative thinking and innovation.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

jkphotos — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:21:52 GMT

Thank you for sharing this!

I use a Canon R5 ii and a Godox v100 flash and just confirmed that I was able to use second curtain sync despite using a third-party speedlite. It was just as you described. In manual shooting mode, I went to the flash function settings menu and was able to set it to 1st curtain, 2nd curtain, or high-speed sync.

Re: EOS R5 Mark II - Second Curtain on non-canon studio flash system

deebatman316 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 02:36:32 GMT

@jkphotos The only reason it worked is because it talks to the camera for E-TTL. If it was a manual single pin flash it would NOT be possible at all. Note Canon only allows rear curtain sync at 1/25th sec or slower. Since it’s handled on the speedlite end and not the camera body end. Unlike other camera manufacturers.