Does canon 70D has a bulit in flash trigger ! Or I need a third party device !

[thirdeye]

Hello. Well I have off camera speedligt but I couldnt get it fier without having the built in flash on . what if I wanna use the off camera speed light without the one on the camera . as I know that canon has a regier bilut in and I don't need a third party device !
Thank u

[TCampbell · Accepted solution]

The flash trigger uses the on-camera flash and it is optical. You can "disable" the flash to use only the off-camera flash, but the on-camera flash still needs to be raised.

It will fire a pre-flash while the camera shutter is still closed to evaluate light (if using E-TTL instead of manual) and also to send instructions to the off camera flash (again, for E-TTL... but also to tell the off-camera flash when to fire.). The timing has a fractional delay. So it tells the off-camera flash to fire, the shutter opens, then the off-camera flash (and only the off-camera flash) firs, then the shutter closes.

This all happens VERY quickly and you'd swear both flashes fired at the same time -- when actually the on-camera flash fired only when the shutter was closed, and the off-camera flash fired its last shot when the shutter was open.

To do this, you'll need to go into your flash control menu and tell it you want to "disable" the on-camera flash. Disabling doesn't mean the flash doesn't get used... It just means that it doesn't fire at that final moment when the shutter is actually open.

Also note that because it uses visible light (not IR) to transmit instructions, the off-camera flash's sensor must have line-of-sight to the on-camera flash. If this is a flash like the Canon 430EX II speedlite, the sensor is in the lower part of the flash. That means you may need to rotate the lower half of the flash to face the camera, then swivel the flash head to send light wherever you need it. If the lower unit simply faces forward you will find it to be less reliable (especially over larger distances or outdoors.)

[thirdeye · Accepted solution]

Thank you so much ,that was very helpful.
I'll need to try it again .

[TTMartin]

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@TCampbell wrote:

Interesting... I'll have to test this.  I tested by shooting in a dark room and noted that while I could see the flash fire, the photo captured by the camera was black.   I may test the mirror when I get a chance (my 5D II & III don't have built-in flash, but I have a 60Da.  I don't have a 70D.)  

I'm wondering how bright the reflection in the mirror was.  Might it have been afterglow of the gas cooling down?  

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When I first tested it I had my 120-300 f/2.8 with a 2X TC set at f/8 and Auto ISO the flash was barely visible, you probably wouldn't notice it unless your were looking for it.. I took that lens off and put on my 17-50 f/2.8 OS and set the ISO at 6400. The reflection fo the flash in the mirror was bright and clearly visible.

[thirdeye]

Strange because when I put it on wireless flash . I get instance msg ( wireless device is not connected )

[TTMartin]

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@thirdeye wrote:
Strange because when I put it on wireless flash . I get instancemsg ( wireless device is not connected )

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Do you have the external flash set to slave mode?

As mentioned above the flash control menu setting you are using is the 'Built-in flash func. setting' menu.

The 'External flash func. setting' menu is for when the external flash is physically attached to the camera.

[thirdeye]

Thank you so much. I'll need to look at the manual and try it again.
That was helpful

[Miamic70]

That explains it. I figured since 70D has wireless and so does my 600EX surely Canon implemented remote flash but no. Another money grab 😕

[TCampbell]

A 70D built-in flash WILL trigger a 600EX flash.  

Keep in mind that the 600EX-RT has 5 different modes... (1) standalone, (2) radio master, (3) radio slave, (4) optical master, and (5) optical slave.    In order to use the 70D as the master and the 600EX-RT as an off-camera wireless flash, the 600EX-RT must be put into optical slave mode.

There's a zig-zag arrow button on the left side of the 600EX-RT.  Press that several times (each time advances it to the next mode... when it gets to the last mode it loops around to the first mode again.  Think of it as a circle of modes.)    As you press it, watch the upper-right corner of the LCD panel.  You're looking for a lightning bolt icon in the upper right conrer and the row below should say "slave" (there's a "master" and "slave" mode with the lightning bolt.. you want "slave").

Also... make sure the camera and flash agree to use the same "channel" number.  It will probably default to "1" and that's fine. If you're shooting around several other photographers who also use the wireless E-TTL system you can change the channel to avoid being on the same channel as another photographer.

The flash also gets a "group" letter as a slave.  The groups are "A", "B", or "C".  The camera (as a master) can be in either "ALL" mode or it can trigger specific channels.  The flash likely will default to "A".  Just make sure the camera is either in "ALL" mode -OR- the same letter as your remote flash (e.g. "A").

If the channels are correct and the group is correct and the flash is in optical slave mode AND you enable the flash on the 70D AND enable the "wireless func." mode for the remote flash THEN it will fire for your 70D (they are compatible.)

If you're having difficulty you might want to step through the instructions in the 70D manual or just ask for help.  It does work...  no extra gear is needed.

The 600EX-RT also supports radio mode.  The only "radio" devices in the Canon line (currently) are the 600EX-RT flash and the ST-E3-RT Transmitter.  The 600EX-RT can work as master or slave in either radio or optical mode.  The ST-E3-RT Transmitter can only work as a "master" and only in radio mode.  No cameras have a built-in radio transmitter (that's actually true of all camera companies.)  Everyone else is either optical flash ... or you have to buy 3rd party tranceivers to do radio.  Canon's new radio flash system is currently the most advanced system in the industry.

[Miamic70]

Thanks for the tips. I played arounds and no matter what could not get it to remote fire let me see if I follow your instructions and try that tonight.

You would think in 2015 adding a radio, gps and wifi would not really be that big of a deal to modern DSLR's at least pro-sumer / pro models. I mean manufacturers are hurting yet 2 out of 3 are in every smartphone sold.

[TTMartin]

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@Miamic70 wrote:

Thanks for the tips. I played arounds and no matter what could not get it to remote fire let me see if I follow your instructions and try that tonight.

You would think in 2015 adding a radio, gps and wifi would not really be that big of a deal to modern DSLR's at least pro-sumer / pro models. I mean manufacturers are hurting yet 2 out of 3 are in every smartphone sold.

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I haven't followed the latest releases from Nikon and Pentax. But, to my knowledge the Canon 6D is the only dSLR to have both WiFi and GPS built in. And no dSLR has a built in flash, WiFi, and GPS. So combining all of those may be harder than you think.

[RobertTheFat]

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@TTMartin wrote:

I haven't followed the latest releases from Nikon and Pentax. But, to my knowledge the Canon 6D is the only dSLR to have both WiFi and GPS built in. And no dSLR has a built in flash, WiFi, and GPS. So combining all of those may be harder than you think.

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The more you load a camera up with such features, the more demans you place on the battery. And no photographer who works directly with clients, models, or fast-moving events wants to be changing batteries during a shoot.