Canon EOS 200D [Rebel SL2] + Speedlite 430EX III-RT: Wireless?

[caslex]

I have an EOS 200D (Rebel SL2) and would like to get an off-camera flash. I find conflicting information about whether my camera supports wireless flash or not. There seem to be different modes (optical vs. radio) and everything is a little bit confusing for a newbie. So here is what I found:

• The spec sheet on the US canon website for the SL2 mentions "Wireless functions" under the "External Flash Settings" and that the "The radio wireless flash functions can be set from the camera". What does that refer to?
• The spec sheet on the UK canon website for the EOS 200D states "wireless optical multi-flash support"
• The spec sheet on German canon website for the EOS 200D also mentions "kabelloses Multi-Flash-System" ("wireless multi-flash-system")

So all of that sounds like I would be able to use the 430EX III-RT over wireless, but some further googling revealed:

• https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4271415
  If I understood this correctly, they say that you cannot use the SL2 as a master for the 430EX III RT
• https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS-Rebel/Canon-SL2-and-430EX-III-RT/td-p/215447
  Same thing

Can anyone clarify on this? Maybe someone has that camera+flash combination? Thanks!

[kvbarkley]

Your camera does not have built-in optical flash wireless capability.

You can use any master capability in any external flash you attach per the flash's capabilities.

[caslex]

Thanks for you reply.

From what I understood, optical transmission wireless flash is not the same as RT (radio transmission?) wireless flash though. Does the EOS200D/SL2 support RT? Or is my only option to buy another gadget (be it a flash with optical master capability or some radio transmitter device)?

[RobertTheFat · Accepted solution]

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@caslex wrote:

Thanks for you reply.

From what I understood, optical transmission wireless flash is not the same as RT (radio transmission?) wireless flash though. Does the EOS200D/SL2 support RT? Or is my only option to buy another gadget (be it a flash with optical master capability or some radio transmitter device)?

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AFAIK, no Canon camera is capable of being a radio master, so you'd need a second flash with RT capability (or a standalone radio transmitter) to serve in that role. Some Canon cameras can serve as an optical master, but yours is not one of them. So you'd need a second flash unit as the optical master. You just have to make sure that the master and the slave are on the same page (both optical or both RT).

[caslex]

Alright, I guess I understand it now. Kind of misleading that Canon mentions "wireless (optical) multi-flash support" in their spec sheets then... Thanks anyways! I will look into RT transmitters then.

[kvbarkley]

look at the Specs for (as an example) the T7i, it is very clear that the flash can be used as an optical wireless master.

[ahmadr]

Can you explain where in the specs does it say that? Their speedlite sections look pretty much the same

[kvbarkley]

They have changed the online specs since I wrote that reply. Now there is no mention of the internal flash online. In the manual it says what used to be in the online spec:

[Sandi3009]

I can finally see that I'm not the only one who thinks that the website (UK version) misinforms. I was quite disappointed to discover I can't use this camera with off camera flash... simply because the realisation came during a holiday when I had no chance of purchasing additional accessories. I recently got the Hahnel transmitter/ receiver set... it works quite well manually but doesn't seem to give me a successful ETTL- can anyone confirm to me that it's somehow explainable? Would be grateful. Wasted a lot of time on that topic.

[Waddizzle]

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@Sandi3009 wrote:
I can finally see that I'm not the only one who thinks that the website (UK version) misinforms. I was quite disappointed to discover I can't use this camera with off camera flash... simply because the realisation came during a holiday when I had no chance of purchasing additional accessories. I recently got the Hahnel transmitter/ receiver set... it works quite well manually but doesn't seem to give me a successful ETTL- can anyone confirm to me that it's somehow explainable? Would be grateful. Wasted a lot of time on that topic.

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Are you using the Viper?  The Viper system is not TTL/ETTL compatible.  It is a fully manual system.  Buy a light meter, or get a refund.