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

shanetp
Contributor

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.

 

1 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

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15 REPLIES 15

toonda
Apprentice
Glad I've found this topic, I have a yn-e3-rt unit that worked flawlessly with both my canon and yongnuo 600ex-rt units. Today I got a new 430ex III RT to use as second background lighting and was only able to use the whole set turning them on in a very specific order: first the canon 600 as master of the 430, THEN the yong 600 as second slave and FINALLY the yong transmitter, wich turned green as soon as I change the canon 600 to slave. Any other combination resulted in one or two units failing to connect, and turning one of them off would bring me back to ground zero. Checked and double checked ID and channel many times. Then I found this topic and rushed to update the transmitter to the current 1.26 firmware and BOOM!!!! everything is fine. God bless the chinese dudes that came up with the idea of turning their gear "future proof". I wonder if Canon's st-e3-rt would work with my set since it doesn't allow updates. Thanks, I hope my poor english is understandable.

Hello Toonda.

 

I'm glad my posting was able to assist, sorry I don't have any further answers for your Yongnuo 600 issue.

 

Shane

toonda
Apprentice
Another thing, I still cannot pair the yong 600rt to use on camera as master of the canon 430, even after updating it's firmware, but both canon 430 and 600 will work fine as masters of the yong. Yong 600 is bounded to be a slave forever...

toonda
Apprentice
Thanks shane, it won't be much of an issue for me to have it working as slave-only, since I rarely use any of my flashes on camera anyway 🙂

Is just wouldn't advise buying yong 600 and canon 430 together, they won't cooperate

in fact I wouldn't advise buying the yongnuo at all, mine is only six months old and already looks worse than my 16yo 550ex 😅

Hi Toonda.

 

I don't have any Yongnuo flashes only Canon, the Yongnuo Transmitter was so much cheaper than the Canon that I took a chance, it has worked out well. 

toonda
Apprentice
yes, the YN-E3-RT was a blessing in my life... Very reliable, and the infrared beam makes it even better than the original canon transmitter for ~1/4 of the money. The complaint was about the yn600exrt, which is very fragile. It's definitely not made to last, at least in my hands (I do a lot of outdoor shootings in harsh conditions). I tend to use it only as second backlight in manual mode since it's TTL is not even closely as precise as canon's...
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