topic Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal in Speedlite Flashes

600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

jennybug678 — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 17:57:58 GMT

Hello,

We are wedding photographers who have used Canon 600EX II- RT's for years now. We use them for receptions and lighting the dance floor, speeches, and creative shots. We have never had issues with connectivity until around 2019/2020. All the sudden since, it has been getting worse and happening at more and more venues. We have found our flashes will not stay connected via radio transmitters at certain venues. We do channel searches, place our flashes in different areas, etc, same issue. We will connect for 2 min, then it will disconnect out of no where. We use mainly another 600 EX II RT as the trigger (master) and other 600 EX II RT as slaves. We honestly are sick of it and are thinking of ditching Canon. We haven't heard of any other flash brands having any issues. Only hesitancy we have is that we have already 8 of these purchased from years of buying them and don't want to have to replace them all with a different brand. Has Canon came up with a fix for this or bettering their flash products? I see this is a known issue and it seems the only "solution" is use Line of Sight. Which won't work for how we use them most the time. ANY HELP PLEASE?

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

NatalyaP — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 23:19:07 GMT

Greetings jennybug678,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing some frustration when using your Speedlite flashes. You are performing some of the troubleshooting steps that we recommend like doing a channel search and testing the flashes in different areas.

Please check the contacts the hot shoe of the camera as well as the contacts on the flash unit itself that sits on top of the camera. I understand you have multiple Speedlite 600EX II-RT flashes and if possible, please test the flashes on a different camera body to see if the camera itself the root cause of the issue.

If the above does not apply, then we would need to take into consideration of certain interferences in the event you're shooting at. For example, if the event has a local wireless network, then this may cause wireless connection issues. It doesn't have to necessarily be a physical wireless router and mobile phones that use a hotspot function would transmit a wireless signal that could interfere with the connection on the flash unit.

When shooting in an environment where there may be local interference, we would recommend using the infrared optical wireless connection rather than the radio wireless function.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

Nick55 — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 13:21:38 GMT

Jenny.
We are in the same boat.
I have been using the Canon 600 EX-RT/ ST-E3 RT system since 2012 when first. Accumulating more over the years, I have 5 600’s and 2 RT Transmitters. All have been working great until Early February 2023.
Everything you described has been happening since.
No new router at home. Wife and son not in the house as they were traveling for the weekend.
Trouble shooting as well if not better than people at Canon, numerous discussions with CPS, we decided to send in for “Repair” and firmware update. The Transmitters were updated, but the 600’s were not. “Sender” in the transmitter, Master and Slave, Not Sender and Reciver. There is a documented situation on Canons site, where 7 or more would “Drop Link” updates were performed in both the Transmitters and 600’s.
When my units were returned I immediately set up all of the Speedlites. and both Transmitters. set up just fine only to “Drop Link” one by one after 3-5 minutes.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

apphoto — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 21:03:42 GMT

Hey there - (not a forum expert and I also don't know how to link you over to other forums) - but there are at least two other forums with tons of comments on this same issue. One is titled:

Radio communication issues.EL-1, 600EXII-RT, 430EXIII-RT, YN686EX-RT, ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter

and the other is titled:

Canon 600EX II-RT drops link- HELP!

Lots of other folks having the same issue. I too had several Canon flashes and transmitter that I've invested in. The cheapest solution I could come up with is to use one Godox transmitter (attaches to hot shoe of camera) and get one Godox receiver (per 600 EX slave - set up wherever and the 600EX attaches via the receiver's hotshoe). I purchased the X1R-C Godox trigger and several X1T-C Godox receivers. I've had one shoot with them so far and they worked well (no link drop). There's also another Godox trigger (X2) if you want to maintain on-camera flash with off-camera flash

I posted more details with my observed pros/cons and other tidbits about this approach in the second referenced forum above that may be useful.

I totally agree - such frustrating results on a system that had previously been rock solid!

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

Nick55 — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 12:44:29 GMT

Any updates as to why our once reliable System is now “Unreliable”?

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

Danfaz — Sun, 14 May 2023 16:30:53 GMT

Well, this has been a known issue for a couple of years now, so I wouldn't expect an update any time soon.

Earlier in the thread, a Canon Product Expert said:

"When shooting in an environment where there may be local interference, we would recommend using the infrared optical wireless connection rather than the radio wireless function."

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

Nick55 — Mon, 15 May 2023 12:27:49 GMT

Shooting “Optical” is like shooting film.
With line of site eliminated with Radio and 600 in Apollo Softbox for example, it would be like the Dark Ages as in 2011 and prior.
Optical is not the solution.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

gviper — Mon, 29 May 2023 23:27:47 GMT

I gave up and switched to Godox 860 3C. no problems at all.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

gviper — Mon, 29 May 2023 23:28:31 GMT

agreed, that is a cop out.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

jennybug678 — Mon, 29 May 2023 23:44:59 GMT

Ok thanks! I’ll take a look at them. What GHZ do they run on?

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

jennybug678 — Mon, 29 May 2023 23:45:28 GMT

I wish! It really makes us mad too. We never had issues until a couple years ago.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

jennybug678 — Mon, 29 May 2023 23:46:12 GMT

Not a good solution. Especially when I am shooting dance floor and reception events with these.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

jennybug678 — Mon, 29 May 2023 23:47:29 GMT

Agreed 1000%. I feel like Canon needs to change the technology to fix it.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

gviper — Tue, 30 May 2023 16:59:48 GMT

2.4

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

chrishoesel — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 12:17:34 GMT

I had the same issue 2 weeks ago shooting a friend's prom event at his house. I was losing connection to my 2 600EX-II-RT's (using the ST-3-RT ver.2) every 10-15 seconds. I did a channel scan and it showed several non-contested channels. (Channel 5, 10, and 15) I tried all three. It got so bad that I asked if he could turn off his 2.4Ghz spectrum on his wifi. There were over 20 people in the room, all with devices probably attempting to assert their dominance trying to connect to networks. It still didn't work. It only worked reliably once I asked everyone to turn off their wifi for a few minutes so I could shoot the subjects. This was only possible because I'm friends with the homeowner. This would not be acceptable at any other venue. In my own house, I don't have any issues. I know this doesn't help, but other than overpowering the contested channels using more xmit power (which isn't allowed by the FCC) or changing to a different spectrum, most 2.4gHz devices are going to suffer. It depends on the location you're at. I get frustrated also, but short of a radio issue in the speedlites and transmitters, I don't know if there is anything Canon (or any other manufacturer) can do.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 14:41:52 GMT

Could it be 5G cellphones causing the problem?

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

gviper — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 17:46:20 GMT

All l know is Godox works perfectly in the same area that the 600s constantly failed

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

chrishoesel — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 21:33:16 GMT

I mean, it's a different spectrum, but anything is possible. Doubt it's the 5g. There are a ton of 2.4gHz devices fighting for the limited space as it is. 2.4gHz is often better than the higher frequencies because it penetrates walls and windows better than the shorter wavelengths of the higher frequencies. That's why there is a huge installed base of devices out there all trying to transmit and get priority.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

chrishoesel — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 02:52:16 GMT

That indeed seems to be the case. I would of course, attribute that to the Chinese-made radios transmitting at a higher-than-allowed power. I think the limit in the USA is 100 milliwatts or .10 watts. External 2.4gHz radios can transmit at up to 1 full watt. Europe is lower still. Middle East and other countries have different limits. China just doesn't care and is probably pumping out RF from their units at higher wattages than the Canon units. (just speculating) However, it does seem to be an environmental factor that has reared its ugly head fairly recently. Maybe the spectrum is over saturated and 2.4gHz is being clamped in certain locations.

Re: 600 EX II-RT's dropping signal

jennybug678 — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 03:19:31 GMT

I think 2.4 is definitely over saturated in the past few years and now we are screwed. Canon needs to make a different option, otherwise I will definitely need to switch to another company soon