Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT Not bad!

[neuroanatomist]

I use mono lights much more often than Speedlites but when I do use them (wedding receptions, fast paced shooting) I want to just turn them on and have them work.

Do you mix them? That's why I'm going to stick with PWs, at least for now - the ability to trigger both my 430EX IIs and my Einstein and control the power of them all from the camera. If Canon comes out with an ST-E3/600EX-RT-compatible RF receiver that has a PC sync port, I'd strongly consider switching. Also, changing power levels with the AC3 seems a lot quicker/easier than the buttons/menus of the ST-E3/600EX-RT.

First impressions of the 600EX-RT - man, that's a big box, almost the size of the box for my 7D! The tri-lingual manual is over a 1/2-inch thick. A very solid, well-built flash. Sticking in some eneloops and pressing the test button, it flashes. That's about it for first impressions.

[Mark Elberson]

Do you mix them?

Not anymore

That's why I'm going to stick with PWs, at least for now - the ability to trigger both my 430EX IIs and my Einstein and control the power of them all from the camera.

I agree, that is awesome, but I got too many misfires when using the Mini/AC3 + MC2. It got really embarrassing when I was working with a client and I'd have to stop what we were doing to go to the Einstein and, wait for it, un-plug/re-plug the MC2 into the receptacle so that it could regain communication. I had too many exposures where one or many flashes simply did not fire. What put me over the edge was when I started using the Vagabond Mini. When using a battery pack it's generally advisable to not use your modeling lamps. There's a way to turn that off in the Pocket Wizard Utility. 100% of the time after falling "asleep" or just after a few exposures the Mini would "forget" its settings and default back to turning the modeling lamps back on. Luckily I tested that thoroughly before using them with a client. My solution, take the modeling lamps out of the units! That worked :-) More misfires later I re-purchased CyberCyncs (at least they are cheap) and I have not looked back. They work every time.

Also, changing power levels with the AC3 seems a lot quicker/easier than the buttons/menus of the ST-E3/600EX-RT.

I would miss the AC3. In this digital world of buried menu items and touch screens there is something to be said about knobs and dials :-) Fast and simple, end of story. Although about 100 times more robust of a unit, the Cyber Commander has nothing on those 3 dials!

First impressions of the 600EX-RT - man, that's a big box, almost the size of the box for my 7D! The tri-lingual manual is over a 1/2-inch thick. A very solid, well-built flash. Sticking in some eneloops and pressing the test button, it flashes. That's about it for first impressions. [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME~1/me93789/LOCALS~1/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.png[/IMG]

That's half the battle right :-) I downloaded the manual that Bryan posted about in his news feed. I was surprised to see 372 pages?!?!?