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Speedlite 270EX II in Slave Mode

BazzaBoy
Contributor

I have a question about the 270EX II.

 

How do I use it as a slave with my EOS 6D? The instruction manual says that if I set it to the slave mode, it will fire as a slave with bounced light off another flash. So, I used my 90EX on my camera hot shoe and set the 270EX in the slave mode and set it aside. But nothing happened when my camera flash went off. The 270EX II did not go off.

 

Does that mean I got a defective flash?

 

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

10 REPLIES 10

jrhoffman75
Legend
Legend

Is the 90EX configured for wireless flash?

 

Are both units on the same channel?

 

Is the bounced light making it to the 270EX?

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, LR Classic

Thanks jrhoffman75,

 

The 90EX does not have a wireless mode.

 

I tried the 270EX II as slave with my Canon compatible Nissin Di866, and all works OK.

 

Thanks again.

 

The 90EX does have a wireless mode (page 15 of manual), but when in wireless mode it won't flash as a Speedlight.

 

Glad you found a solution that works.

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, LR Classic

TTMartin
Authority
Authority

@BazzaBoy wrote:

I have a question about the 270EX II.

 

How do I use it as a slave with my EOS 6D? The instruction manual says that if I set it to the slave mode, it will fire as a slave with bounced light off another flash. So, I used my 90EX on my camera hot shoe and set the 270EX in the slave mode and set it aside. But nothing happened when my camera flash went off. The 270EX II did not go off.

 

Does that mean I got a defective flash?

 

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 


The 270EX is difficult to use as a slave as the sensor to receive the flash signal is on the front of the flash, and that will usually be facing away from the camera. If you are sure you have configured the 90EX as the master flash through the cameras menus, you might need to position a small mirror (dental mirror) so it reflects the 90EX's control signals back into the front of the 270EX. When used as a master controller, the 90EX does not flash for the photo, it only emits control flashes. 

diverhank
Authority

@BazzaBoy wrote:

I have a question about the 270EX II.

 

How do I use it as a slave with my EOS 6D? The instruction manual says that if I set it to the slave mode, it will fire as a slave with bounced light off another flash. So, I used my 90EX on my camera hot shoe and set the 270EX in the slave mode and set it aside. But nothing happened when my camera flash went off. The 270EX II did not go off.

 

Does that mean I got a defective flash?

 

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 


As others had stated, yes you can use the 90EX to remote control your 270EXII off camera.  What you will need to do:

 

1. On the 90EX, change it to Master Controller (the display should say Master with a lightning bolt.

2. On the camera menu, make sure Wireless Flash Control is enabled.

3. On the 270EX II, change to Slave with lightning bolt

4. Verify the the 90EX (and/or on camera) and the 270EXII both show the same channel (1 is the default)

 

To test, point the 270EXII front directly towards the 90EX and fire off a shot from the camera and verify that it goes off.  Once that works then you worry about correct placement to make sure it works properly.

 

The 270EXII sensor is in the front and when in use points away from the 90EX flash pulses.  The flash pulses are line of sight only, being optical and not radio.  The 270EXII can only swivel up but not sideways so when you point the flash towards the subject, the sensor is looking away from the camera and the 90EX.  When indoors, usually there's no problem because the pulses bounce off the walls and get to the sensor but that is not always possible, especially when you are using umbrellas or softboxes.   Without umbrellas or softbox, one way to make it better is to point the 270EXII sensor towards the 90EX with the flash head straight up, bouncing off a white ceiling.  You might be able to do this while bouncing off an umbrella too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Diverhank's photos on Flickr


@diverhank wrote:

As others had stated, yes you can use the 90EX to remote control your 270EXII off camera.  What you will need to do:

 

1. On the 90EX, change it to Master Controller (the display should say Master with a lightning bolt.

2. On the camera menu, make sure Wireless Flash Control is enabled.

3. On the 270EX II, change to Slave with lightning bolt

4. Verify the the 90EX (and/or on camera) and the 270EXII both show the same channel (1 is the default)

 

To test, point the 270EXII front directly towards the 90EX and fire off a shot from the camera and verify that it goes off.  Once that works then you worry about correct placement to make sure it works properly.

 

The 270EXII sensor is in the front and when in use points away from the 90EX flash pulses.  The flash pulses are line of sight only, being optical and not radio.  The 270EXII can only swivel up but not sideways so when you point the flash towards the subject, the sensor is looking away from the camera and the 90EX.  When indoors, usually there's no problem because the pulses bounce off the walls and get to the sensor but that is not always possible, especially when you are using umbrellas or softboxes.   Without umbrellas or softbox, one way to make it better is to point the 270EXII sensor towards the 90EX with the flash head straight up, bouncing off a white ceiling.  You might be able to do this while bouncing off an umbrella too.

 

 


There are no switches on the 90EX (except on/off), all of the configuration is done through the cameras flash control menu.

Thanks TTMartin,

 

The 90EX does not have a wireless mode.

 

I tried the 270EX II as slave with my Canon compatible Nissin Di866, and all works OK.

 

Thanks again.

Thanks diverhank,

 

The 90EX does not have a wireless mode.

 

I tried the 270EX II as slave with my Canon compatible Nissin Di866, and all works OK.

 

Thanks again.

BazzaBoy
Contributor
Thanks jrhoffman75,

That is useful information. I did try it with the 90EX, but I think the wireless signal from the flash/camera is not strong enough if the 270EX II is pointing in the same direction. It needs the slave flash to point towards the camera for the action to take place. And not many photographers would want the slave flash to point directly at the camera. It does not make sense.

With my Nissin flash the wireless signal emits from the flash and not the camera. So I think that is the way I will have to go.

If you have any more suggestions as to how to make it work with my 90EX please let me know as that would make the camera/flash assembly much lighter to carry around.
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