Canon Community

mjroberts · ‎08-23-2014

Hi,

I've just bought a Neewer TT560 speedlite and am using it with my canon 6D. I can't get t to work, and think I am missing something very basic to connect the camera funtioning to the external flash. The speedlite itself is working as it has a test function.

I have mounted the speedlite on my canon hotshoe as per the instructions. What next? Do I need another cable so that on pressing down the shutter the flash works?

On the camera menu, going to flash control - externa flash funtioning setting comes up with the message "incompatible flash or flash's power is turned off". I also have a Yongnuo speedlite and the same happens.

Skirball · ‎08-27-2014

Yup, the Yongnuo RF-602 ($20 a set) or RF603 II ($30 a set). Highly recommended.

I've been using the 602 for years and I think it's a great trigger. I own a full set of Yongnuo RF-622 triggers, which are eTTL compatible, but I mostly use my 602s because I don't really use eTTL and I like how small and compact the 602s are.

I can't speak to the 603 II from personal experience, but it looks like they made some nice changes. Just make sure if you get the 603 that you don't get the old first version. If I was buying today I'm not sure which I would get - the 602s have a 1/4" thread on the bottom which allows them to screw directly into my light stands. It's a fantastic feature, I have no idea why they didn't do it to the 603s. This single feature is probably worth more to me than everything I mention below. Without that thread you have to use a cold shoe, which isn't near as robust as the thread.

Also, the 602 transmitter is tiny, which I like, but it has a couple of down sides:

It uses a special battery (CR2), which are expensive, harder to find, and I don't have a recharger for. They last forever (well over a year of frequent use), but still, it's nice that the 603 II uses all AAA batteries.
There are no locking mechanism on the feet. It's no problem on the receivers, since I use the 1/4" thread. But the little tiny transmiter does slip out on occasion. Tthe 603 II added a lock on the foot so it doesn't slip out.
There's no on/off switch on the transmitter. If you just toss the transmitter in your pack and something presses up against it, it will wear the battery out. I built a little case for it for storage.

And one more plus for 603 II. The off switch on the 602 receiver, and the original 603s, was poorly placed on the top so you couldn't reach it when a flash is mounted. They finally moved it to the side for the 603 II. That is actually a nice upgrade that I wish I had. The other differences above don't bother me much. Still, if I was to buy today, I'm unsure which I would get.

Edit: one more thing I forgot. The 603 II has a pass-through. So you can mount a tranceiver on your camera to send out the signal and you can still put a flash (or even another trigger) on top of it. It's not something I do regularly, but I have had need of this function and was unable to do it with my 602s.

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Escalante101 · ‎12-29-2019

I now use Flashpoint Speedlites. Gave my Canon Speedlite to a relative. Last night I was at a gathering, and I had the ISO set at 100, and the pictures were a little darker than I would like. I was shooting at 1/100 of a second shutter speed. I should have increased the ISO or opened the aperture. I did not want to slow the shutter speed because I did not want to blur things. The only way I learn about this is to "practice / experiment." I shoot with the camera in "Manual", but I also have the Speedlite set to "Manual" where I can control the flash power. I have the Speedlite zoom set on "Auto". Put your flash on your camera and take some pictures at home and see what happens. Also, check the "flash" settings on the T7i and make sure it is set for the proper flash setting. Maybe it should say "External Flash"? One thing I do is do an online search for the problem I am experiencing, and sometimes there is a good video tutorial that explains how things work. Sometimes I do not know what I would do without video tutorials. They have saved me many times.

I was recently in Wisconsin at my niece's wedding using flash at the hall where the reception was being held. That is a real flash challenge. Big room, people at the front of the picture. Sometimes images were too bright, other times way too dark. If I was shooting people at a distance, with the settings I was using there was a considerable light fall-off and things in the distance were way too dark. As I said, this is a matter of doing a whole lot of this kind of thing.

Nevertheless, the first step is to check your gear settings - both the camera and the flash. Is the flash tightly attached to the hot shoe? Do some online research. These Canon forums will not always provide the answer you are looking for.

Waddizzle · ‎12-29-2019

" I did not want to slow the shutter speed because I did not want to blur things."

That is not exactly how strobe flashes work. The camera settings capture the ambient light, which is mostly parts of the scene beyond the range of the strobe. While the strobe illuminate the highlights and subjects within its' range.

Strobes can fire at 1/400-1/800 of second, which can easily freeze most motion. You can freeze motion with a "slow shutter" when using a strobe. The quick burst of light effectively becomes a shutter itself. The 2nd curtain mode is typically used to do this.

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"Fooling computers since 1972."

Escalante101 · ‎12-29-2019

I checked another Digital Goja video. At the top of the Flash Menu, access "Flash Control". When it says "Flash Firing" press the "Set" Button. Make sure it says ENABLE. If you do not have that selected, the flash unit will not work with the camera. If you inadvertently "Disable" the Flash Firing for some reason, go back and reset it so that it is set to "Enable". I did a search using the title "Canon Camera Does Not Recognize External Speedlite" and that is where I found the video about this apparently very common question. Try that.

hfonks23 · ‎12-29-2019

Settings are set to external flash but while the speedlight is attached of I try to go to external flash settings it say that flash isn't supported or is turned off. Regardless, the flash is firing when i hit the shutter button so I'm confused. I will teach out to some other platforms for some help and hopefully I'll find a tutorial that will help with my specific issue. All tutorials I have found are helpful but not for what I'm having issues with. Thank you!!

Waddizzle · ‎12-29-2019

@hfonks23 wrote:
Settings are set to external flash but while the speedlight is attached of I try to go to external flash settings it say that flash isn't supported or is turned off. Regardless, the flash is firing when i hit the shutter button so I'm confused. I will teach out to some other platforms for some help and hopefully I'll find a tutorial that will help with my specific issue. All tutorials I have found are helpful but not for what I'm having issues with. Thank you!!

If the camera does not recognize the flash, that is probably 99.99% of your problem. Turn off the camera and the flash. First power up the flash, wait for the flash it fully initialize, and then power up the camera second. Hopefully, the camera should recognize the flash during its' power up cycle.

Once the camera and strobe are aware of one another, hopefully the flash will fire when the camera fires the shutter.

I have found in Av mode, the flash want to behave as a fill flash. In M mode, the flash wants to behave like the only source of light, but depending on your exposure settings you can still get the fill flash behavior.

If you are having problems with a third party strobe, you really should seek help from the third party manufacturer. Canon is responsible for ensuring that third party gear works with Canon gear.

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"Fooling computers since 1972."

Escalante101 · ‎12-29-2019

Try setting the camera on "Manual". Turn the flash on first and make sure it is fired up. Try setting the flash on Manual Mode, if possible. Before turning on the camera, make sure it is in "Manual" mode. Then, turn on the camera. Then go to the Flash Menu on the camera and see if it has recognized the flash when you press the "set" button to set the external flash settings. I got this information from Digital Goja.

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