Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT and Yongnuo YN-E3-RT Transmitter

[shanetp]

Hi all.

I'm looking for any suggestions, but I doubt that this can be solved.

I have two Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT's and recently purchased a Yongnuo YN-E3-RT Transmitter to operate both Speedlites remotely from my Canon 200D camera.

On paper this setup should work faultlessly and the YN-E3-RT is advertised as working with the 430EX III-RT.

The problem is that the YN-E3-RT will only link with one of the 430EX III-RT's. It's always the same unit and it connects every time (we'll call this the good unit). The other unit it will not link too ever (we'll call this the bad unit).

The YN-E3-RT and both 430EX III-RT's firmware are up to date. I have spent some time attempting to get the YN-E3-RT and this one (bad unit) 430EX III-RT to link. ID and Channels have been checked, rechecked and changed many times. Batteries have been replaced and any possible setting I can think of played with.

Now using both 430EX III-RT's as either a master or a slave on & off camera I can get them to link faultlessly every time so I do not believe the 430EX III-RT to be the issue (however I could be wrong).

Now for the part I can't explain. I can get the YN-E3-RT and the 430EX III-RT that will not link to actually link but only if I follow a particular sequence. With the YN-E3-RT switched off I set the 430EX III-RT (good unit) as Master and the other 430EX III-RT (bad unit) as Slave, link is established between the two speedlites. Then I switch on the YN-E3-RT. I can now get the 430EX III-RT (bad unit) to establish a link with the YN-E3-RT. If I wish I can then set the other 430EX III-RT (good unit) as a slave and everything works fine. All features are there and everything works as advertised.

Any and all suggestions appreciated.

[TCampbell]

My first guess would have been that the devices weren't both on the same channel number and ID values, but you've checked that.

Canon doesn't publish the communication specs... companies reverse-engineer that -- I usually cringe when I read that someone is mixing units by different companies (because each 3rd party company has to reverse engineer the protocols).  

What DOES surprise me is that both units have identical firmware.  I expected one of the 430EX III-RT's to be different and that might explain the difference in behavior.  But you said you checked that too.

My guess is that this wouldn't happen if you used a Canon ST-E3-RT instead of the Yongnuo (i.e. I'm inclined to blame the Yongnuo for not getting the protocol exactly right) rather than the 430EX III-RT.  But the only way to be sure is to test the two 430EX III-RT flashes against a Canon transmitter to see if the problem goes away. 

[shanetp]

Hi Tim.

Thank you for your reply.  Yes firmware on both  430EX III-RT's is the same.  Unfortunately I cannot find any Canon info on the latest firmware version for the 430EX III-RT?

I suspect you are right in that the fault lies with the Yongnuo transmitter but as I do not have access to the Canon ST-E3-RT I cannot prove that at the moment.  Unfortunately the price differential in New Zealand means that if I were to buy a ST-E3-RT I may as well buy another 430EX III-RT.

See my other post about things I have tried so far.

Thanks again, all suggestions appreciated, regards - Shane

[diverhank]

What mode are you using the YN-E3-RT in?   You should specifically mentioned the modes and combos you have tried.  That case if there are modes that you happen not to know that they exist we'd know...You gave the impression that you have tried everything...that leaves us very little to work with.

You haven't mentioned that you've tried all the modes.  I'd try Grp mode then try setting the bad 430 to group A then B then C then D then E and see if it makes any difference.  I'd also try different channels...maybe the bad 430 doesn't like a certain frequency...

[shanetp]

Hi Diverhank.

Sorry I have tried a lot of different settings, I don't want to give the impression that I have tried everything or that there is no answer.  I live in hope that someone will have tthe answer.

Basically the problem is with one particular 430EXIII-RT which I cannot get it to wirelessly link to the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT transmitter.  The other 430EXIII-RT unit will link faultlessly every time.  If I mirror the settings of the "good" unit on the "bad" unit it will still not link.

Using either of the 430EXIII-RT's as either a master or a slave (on or off camera) I can get them to link faultlessly to each other every time.

Things I have tried (in no particular order)

1.  The various modes (ETTL, M, Multi & Gr) - changing the mode makes no difference.

2.  I have tried a number of Channels and ID's and confirmed that they work by linking with the "good unit" and the "good unit" and the YN-E3-RT.  I have tried the auto function and also the scan function to assign for the best channel strength.

3. I have assigned both 430EXIII-RT's different groups but it has always been A or B,  I will try the "bad unit" on C then D then E.

4.  I have cleared the C.Fn & P.Fn settings on both the YN-E3-RT and the "bad" 430EXIII-RT and also cleared the Speedlite settings using the Set. clear button on the 430EXIII-RT.

5.  Firmware on all units is up to date, or as best as I can determine for both of the 430EXIII-RT's as I cannot find any updated firmware, both are the same firmware anyway.  The YN-E3-RT firmaware is the latest revision but as I have downloaded it I may try to reinstall.

What puzzles me is that if I go through the complex procedure I outlined in my initial post of turning off the YN-E3-RT and setting up the 430EX III-RT "good unit" as Master and the other 430EX III-RT "bad unit" as Slave I can established a link between the two speedlites. Then when I switch on the YN-E3-RT I can now get the 430EX III-RT "bad unit" to establish a link with the YN-E3-RT.  Obviously as the "good unit" is still a master no link to YN-E3-RT is established but if I wish I can then set the other 430EX III-RT "good unit" as a slave and everything works fine, all three are linked.  All features are there and everything works as advertised.

If I turn off either the YN-E3-RT or the 430EX III-RT "bad unit" then I need to start all over again.

Any and all suggestions appreciated.  Again thanks for your help.

Regards - Shane

[diverhank]

What had puzzled you may have held the key to the problem.   What you did to get all 3 to link up was to establish the YN-E3-RT to be the secondary master to the bad 430.  Multiple masters are allowed so many photographers can share the same light setup.   Apparently that scheme (secondary master/slave) works for the YN-E3 and bad 430 combo.  Once the link is established, it stays.

So for some reason, the primary master/slave cannot be established but the secondary master /slave is no problem.  That may mean something.  I'll do more research and see what I can dig up.

[shanetp]

I wasn't aware of the secondary master feature.  I have had a quick read and from what I can see Canon refer to this as the Master and Sub-master.  I wonder what differentiates these two, too the slave?  From what I can see in the Yongnu Manual:

"Note that when using two or more master units, the color of the LINK lamp varies depending on the order in which the power was turned on. The first master (main master) is green and the second and subsequent masters (sub-masters) are orange."  I will check this out when I do "my procedure" and see if that is occurring as described.

[shanetp · Accepted solution]

The problem has been solved.  As I said I checked all versions of the firmware on both Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT's (v1.0.1) and the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT Transmitter (v1.25).  I can find no info on the latest firmware version for the 430EX III-RT, nor any info on how to update so I assume that this is not an option unless done by Canon.  However my last option and the only thing I hadn't tried was to reinstall the YN-E3-RT's firmware as this is available and I had downloaded it during the my extensive troubleshooting process.

As soon as I installed the Yongnu Updater Software and connected the YN-E3-RT I knew something was up as the Updater indicated that the YN-E3-RT's firmware was at version 1.21.  Following the firmware update to v1.25 which takes only 15 seconds all works fine and I can now link the YN-E3-RT to either or both 430EX III-RT's in slave mode and all features are working as advertised.

I can't explain why the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT Transmitter was showing v1.25 as it's firmware version?  As soon as saw v1.21 as the current version in the Updater Software I exited the update process and rechecked in the transmitter menu, it was still showing v1.25.  One of lifes little mysteries?

Thank you to all who help, I appreciate your efforts on my behalf.

Shane

[diverhank]

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@shanetp

As soon as I installed the Yongnu Updater Software and connected the YN-E3-RT I knew something was up as the Updater indicated that the YN-E3-RT's firmware was at version 1.21.  Following the firmware update to v1.25 which takes only 15 seconds all works fine and I can now link the YN-E3-RT to either or both 430EX III-RT's in slave mode and all features are working as advertised.

Shane

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Glad it worked out for you. I first instinct is to tell you to update the firmware but you mentioned that the firmware was up to date.  Now that you mentioned it, I did notice that the Yongnuo firmware listing is messed up on some units I have also...if I have to enter info in Chinese instead of English (like someone in  China trying to enter it in English) I'd probably make mistakes like that to.  Quality control is not very well done for things that are made in  China, unfortunately.

[shanetp]

I agree, always a risk when buying a 3rd party copy of a "name brand".  Unfortunately due to the market size in New Zealand the price difference with the Yongnuo and Canon is significant.