Speedlite 600EX-RT link drops - please help if you can!

[gwynnewade]

I suddenly have the same problem a couple others have mentioned.  I use an ST-E3-RT to link three 600EX-RT flashes with a 5D MIII.  Recently the link started randomly dropping on all the flashes (after some random amount of time from 1.5 minutes to about 4.5 minutes).  The only way to fix it is to turn everything off and reset each flash to slave.  Not good during a photo portrait session since it happens multiple times.

I have tried a ton of troubleshooting.  I used to shoot weddings so I have 2 cameras and two transmitters.  I've tried all combinations and the link drops regardless of the camera or transmitter and even if the transmitter isn't on a camera (hand held for test).  Both transmitters drop. I tried several different channels and auto - no change.  I tried each flash by itself to see if is something with 3 flashes - no. Same problem with only one.  I have 4 flashes and I tried the 4th just to see - same problem. 

One last piece of info.  When the link on the flash drops, the light on the transmitter still shows green (so it thinks it is linked).  Turning on and off the transmitter doesn't re-sync the flashes.

This seems crazy.  It can't be the camera (I even tried it with a new R6 that my husband got - same issue), because it happens when not connected to the camera.  Why would both transmitters go bad? Why would all 4 flashes go bad.  I don't know what else to try.

Any ideas, I'm pretty desperate at this point.

[BillWayToday]

You have described my issue perfectly.  As of today (1-June-24) - no resolution.

[Flash_Speednite]

I have also had this problem for years now, I'm shooting less so only have to think about it very occasionally, but this has been a problem since at least 2022, if not before that.

Same equipment, (1) ST-E3-RT, (4) 600EX-RT, (2) Canon 5D MKIII. I've tried every different grouping and configuration I could think of. The only resolution I've discovered is to power cycle the transmitter and flashes, sometimes as frequently as every few minutes.

[BillWayToday]

My "solution" is that I'm going to continuous lighting.  No more speedlites unless I'm out in the wilderness away from all electronics.  I don't have the words to describe how frustrating this is.  

[sfogel2]

My "solution" is to trigger the slaves with my pocket wizards. I was going to use the slaves in manual anyway. Only trouble is I'll have to set them up and leave them at the same manual setting unless I want to run around every time I have to change levels. So if you have Pocket Wizards, this might be a solution. They come with cables that fit the trigger port of the 600EX-RT.

If you get the Vello HSA-PSC adapter (unfortunately no longer available on B&H), which passes through the intact TTL signal from the hot shoe to the flash, and which has a trigger port, you can still mount a Speedlite in the hot shoe and shoot TTL flash, while triggering the slaves with the Pocket Wizards.

This is kind of a disgrace. But in Canon's defense, could they have predicted the ubiquity of 2.4Ghz signals these days?

[BillWayToday]

Gwynne, as of now it seems that there is no Canon hardware/software solution, and Canon as a company has its head buried deep in the sand.  I have 5 Canon flashes which are pretty much useless.  As you have perhaps read, this is due to the congestion in the 2.4GHz band and Canon's software being unable to reset itself (without human intervention) after an interruption. 

I keep hoping for a Canon (or clever user) software update solution, but so far it's crickets.  I'm generally a fan of Canon, but in this case they score a "F" for "Failing to support the customer".    

[sfogel2]

Has anyone tried the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT II transmitter with Canon 600EX-RT slaves? Wonder if that would solve the dropped link issue. The transmitter is claimed to be compatible with the 600s. Thanks 

 

[sfogel2]

Canon, we need a solution. I have 4 600EX-RT’s, $2000 worth of gear that is now either useless or too cumbersome to use for my purposes (shooting events in large dark rooms). This obsolescence is not OK

[sfogel2]

I sent four 600EX-RTs and my ST-E3-RT transmitter into Canon to see if they could get them to fail. At the Costa Mesa, CA repair center, they couldn't get them to fail. So an alert supervisor had me send them to the Virginia repair center. The tech worked for 2 days to try to get them to fail and could not. Wish I knew what to tell them. Could it be that the San Francisco Bay Area is much more saturated with 2.4GHz signals than their repair centers?

[BillWayToday]

It's not that they "fail".  They succumb to RFI in a very busy band.  They work exactly as they were designed - which includes no auto "re-start" capability in the face of RFI.  

[sfogel2]

In that case, poor design. Not robust.