Using 600EX-RT as non-firing master

[Davottawa]

Can I use the 600EX-RT on my Canon 60D camera to trigger two 430EXII Speedlites in groups A and B without firing the 600?

I turn off the flash icon on the 600 under menu 2, but it still fires.

I haven't tried it before so I don't know if it's not possible or I'm just doing something wrong.

Thx

[rs-eos]

Do you have the 430 EX series II or III?  If it's really the II series, I think those are still optical/line-of-sight.  So the 600EX-RT would need to be an optical master.  That should certainly be possible.

If you have the series III, then it should indeed be possible to use the 600EX-RT as a radio master (as if it was the ST-E3-RT).

[Davottawa]

I have the 430 EXII. I tried setting the 600 on both radio and optical, but it flashed on both settings, even with the flash  icon turned off on the 600. I think maybe the camera was overriding the flash setting.

If the 430s are optical does that mean they need a flash from the master to trigger them? The manual says it is a wireless signal so I figure, no.

Thx. 

[rs-eos · Accepted solution]

You'll need to use optical.  The term "wireless" is a bit unfortunate since it's too vague in this context.  It either means optical or radio.  But the 430 series II doesn't have radio capability; hence needing an optical setup.

Having said that, there's a troubleshooting section on page 111 of the 600EX-RT (first generation) User Manual.

I didn't yet check the manual for your EOS 60D, but there's probably a section on using a flash in the hot-shoe as a master.

[Davottawa]

Thanks! I will check that out !

[Davottawa]

Thanks RS-EOS, 

That was the answer. The 600 fires a slight flash to trigger the 430 slaves even when it is set in the 'flash off' position. The flash is still significant though so I tried it full vertical bounce as well as shielded a bit to reduce its effect and it still did set off the slaves which were only 15 feet away so all is good.

I must have referred to the camera's manual and the 600's manuals 3 or 4 times without seeing the pages you pointed out!  

So this good 'ol equipment of mine lives on! 

Thx again.

[rs-eos]

Excellent! Glad you got things working.