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Speedlite 600 EX- RT

Sanjaydesai
Enthusiast

I need to know if the speedlite 600 EX-RT is used off the camera in manual mode, is it possible to get flash distance to subject number on panel if f stop is dialed.Also if the power of flash is changed then the corresponding changes in flash distance to subject number is displayed. This feature is available in Nicon SB 900 speedlite

11 REPLIES 11

jrhoffman75
Legend
Legend

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/cameras/flashes/speedlite-600ex-rt...

 

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

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

Thanks for your response. I do have this manual. But I do not find what I am looking for. In manual mode of flash I need to dial f stop and the flsah to diplay flash to subject distance required for correct exposure.

You will have to do it the old fashioned way and create a cheat sheet.

diverhank
Authority

@Sanjaydesai wrote:

I need to know if the speedlite 600 EX-RT is used off the camera in manual mode, is it possible to get flash distance to subject number on panel if f stop is dialed.Also if the power of flash is changed then the corresponding changes in flash distance to subject number is displayed. This feature is available in Nicon SB 900 speedlite


I don't think the 600 EX-RT display that but it's easy enough to estimate. The 600 - as the name suggests, has a Guide number of 60 which is the f/stop multiply by the distance in meters.  So if you shoot an object at 10m your f/stop has to be f/6 at ISO 100 and the flash zoom at maximum (200mm) and power at 1/1.  With a bit of practice you can figure all this out easy enough.

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Diverhank's photos on Flickr

This is true but when the power is not 1/1 but other than that say 1/4 or 1/32  this becomes diffcult. it is all guess work then. Nikon SB 900 can display the distance flsat to subject for given power and f stop even if it is off the camera. Does 600 RT EX display if it is off the camera and in manual mode.

Short answer is no.  IMHO, if you can't calculate these simple computations, you shouldn't be using the flash in manual mode. Or just get yourself a flash meter or just use the Nikon flash.  In manual mode, any flash will do.

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Diverhank's photos on Flickr

I'm a bit confused by this.... 

 

Canon knows the distance to subject because the lens focusing mechanism reports it.  But that is the focus distance for the CAMERA... not for an off-camera flash.  When the flash is not on the camera, it doesn't know it's subject distance (not even for Nikon).

 

The illumination for a flash is based on subject distance (Inverse Square law), Flash power output, camera f-stop, and any light modifiers being used (reflectors, softbox, whether you are bouncing the flash, etc.)

 

When I worked with all manual flash we had only a few modifers and we knew what they did to the exposure when we used them.  So it was fairly easy to know how much light we'd get from the flash for any giving subject distance and power level and we used that to dial in the appropriate f-stop.  

 

Initially we had to work it all out and test it.  But once you've taken hundreds of shots with the lighting setup you get to where you just know what exposures to use.

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da


@diverhank wrote:

@Sanjaydesai wrote:

I need to know if the speedlite 600 EX-RT is used off the camera in manual mode, is it possible to get flash distance to subject number on panel if f stop is dialed.Also if the power of flash is changed then the corresponding changes in flash distance to subject number is displayed. This feature is available in Nicon SB 900 speedlite


I don't think the 600 EX-RT display that but it's easy enough to estimate. The 600 - as the name suggests, has a Guide number of 60 which is the f/stop multiply by the distance in meters.  So if you shoot an object at 10m your f/stop has to be f/6 at ISO 100 and the flash zoom at maximum (200mm) and power at 1/1.  With a bit of practice you can figure all this out easy enough.


On second thought, let me check into this tonight to confirm or deny it.  Working off memory is a dangerous thing.  When I shoot off camera, I almost always do mental calculation, trial and error or use a flash meter so I never looked.  I'll give you a better report.  I believe that the 600EX-RT does give you a distance for a given ISO and f/stop...not sure about off-camera.

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Diverhank's photos on Flickr

Thanks for your response. I  know pretty well that when the flash is on hot shoe and in manual mode it gives flash to distance reading for correct exposure for given power and Fstop but once the flash is off the hot shoe then it does not. 

 

You are right if the flash meter is used then it gives information for the correct exposure but I was looking for if there is any setting on flash itself which shows the distance if it is off the hot shoe. I guess Nikon SB 900 or SB910 has that feature.

 

Regards,

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