Canon TTL 600EX Speedlite

I feel lucky to have new 600’s. These will be replacing my 10 year old units that have 1000’s of flash cycles in dust, dirt and even rain. I tried a few china copies and nothing compares in my outside action environment. Always copied and never duplicated. This is the benchmark for speedlites. The best ever.

Worked like a charm for years without a hitch, then suddenly it started losing the radio connection to the transmitter. Almost every 1-2 min, I have to stop and cycle the power on all the flashes and the transmitter. As other reviews state, this is a well documented problem on Canon forums that has not been addressed at all by Canon.

Loved this flash for many years, but these flashes are no longer reliable and lose sync with the trigger. Likely due to radio interference from either wifi or cell signals. I have 3 of them and 2 triggers and they are essentially worthless for intended purpose now.

Very unreliable radio connection in settings with Wi-Fi interference; like everywhere other than a park. There is no fix. Problem is well documented on Canon user forum. It’s a shame as the build quality and feature set is up to canon standards. It’s just useless if you need reliable off camera flash.

I bought my 600 EX RT in late 2015 after I thought my 550 had been stolen, so this is really not a case of an upgrade, just buying a top of the line flash out of desire for the most options and reach. Disclosure up front: I do not use this flash in studio / multiple flash settings, so I can’t offer any comment or advice about those applications. I use it strictly as an on-camera, all-purpose flash for family pictures, backlit fill situations, and the like (pretty much amateur stuff but with a nice pro look). My favorite features of this flash are: I can’t recall a single instance of having a bad exposure in many difficult lighting situations unless it was my fault; the recycle time is incredibly short even with marginal batteries; and the overall ease of use, conceding I only use about 20% of its capabilities. But a word of caution (not a complaint but a fact with my unit), when the batteries go, they are gone! No warning by way of a progressively slow cycle-up, they just go. If you have any concern about the condition of your flash batteries, have replacements close at hand. Just know you won’t get much / any warning of battery failure with this flash. This a great flash for the way I use it and would highly recommend it for those who would use it the way I do.

Purchased 3 new flashes from Adorama. I used the failed flash only for 2 weddings.

I used a non Canon Flash for the last couple of years. I always had issues controlling the flash and the image was to dark or blown out. When the opportunity arose to purchase the 600 ex-rt at a real good price I figured why not what do I have to loose. I used it this past weekend for a wedding shoot. The match up was perfect to my 1dx. It synced without missing a step. The images came out perfect on the screen, they were even better on the computer. SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY ON THIS FLASH !!!! you won't be sorry.

I'm an advanced amateur photographer getting his start as a strobist. I do some freelance work with local companies in the Nashville area and my occasional clients/gigs as time permits. I have to give credit where due, as this 600ex-rt system is a top performer on my list. Although some will rave that speedlites don't stand up to studio flash, I'll say from experience the 600 is darn close. Anyone who uses speedlites know to increase output/light intensity and recycle speeds you simply bundle more lights. Well this guy makes that job easy. A simple multi-mount flash bracket like the triple threat and your trusty transmitter, st-e3-rt, and you're off to the races. Oh wait, don't forget there's NO CORDS! My favorite part is that I can literally pack for practically any event with one bag and shave weight from that bag in the process. Let me see you do that with studio strobes!

I've been an international photographer for over 11 years now. Just switched back to Canon after 6 years with another brand. After all that time I just never bonded with the other brand. I love the quality I get with my Canon system over any other system I've ever used.

This flash has definitely exceeded my expectations. I have low light over half the year living in Alaska . The capabilities of this device are phenomenal. I just started in photography and this flash gives me the opportunity to expand. This new technology has the ability to sync and control multiple flashes with this device.

This was by far the best flash that I own. Recently, however, the "A" icon( for the Auto zoom for sensor size) seems to have just vanished, and only the "M" will display. I've come across a few other folks who have encountered this. Maybe there is a simple fix for this problem, but I haven't found it yet. If anyone here has encountered this, I'd sure appreciate your feedback.

This flash is absolutely amazing. I owned a 580EX prior to purchasing this flash. It was an upgrade that was well worth it. The flash is very powerful and having the wireless capabilities built into the flash has changed the way I shoot. I consider myself an advanced amateur and flash photography has been a bit intimidating at times. I took some classes with Canon and I am no longer intimidated with flash. When I couple this flash with the remote transmitter, I have been able to get so much more creative with my shooting. The only real downside I have is that the flash is a bit expensive. However, when considering the fact that you don't need to buy remote triggers such as Pocket Wizards, the overall value of this flash makes sense. I just purchased a refurbished 600EX-RT through Canon's online store. I'm excited about the options I'll have with two flash units now.

Knowing the importance of off-camera flash, I started out with a single 430EX II on my older camera via a hot shoe cable. But that only allowed me to scratch the surface. Recently moved up to a new camera and wanted to have much more flexibility and control, so purchased a single 600EX RT along with the ST-E3-RT transmitter. I now had a system that allowed me to create many more lighting situations with ease. The system is incredibly scalable, so picked up two more 600EX RT units. The ability to mix-and-match manual and ETTL is awesome. And not having to walk up to individual flashes to turn on/off or adjust power is a huge time-saver. I also really like the gel holder and have created quite a large collection now of custom-fit gels for it to include color correction, color effect, ND and diffusion. The menu system is organized very well; very easy to navigate and change settings. The implementation of radio features is solid. The ability to scan for best channel and usage of a custom pin greatly reduces issues. So far I haven't had misfires in my home where I have quite a bit of WiFi devices (though only a few are running at 2.4GHz now; most at 5GHz). Shooting with other photographers at a lighting workshop also went smoothly. Bottom line, these speedlites offer such a large set of features that are sure to appeal to a wide range of users. The ease of setup and usage really save time and give you much more freedom to create. One final note; very impressed that the units remember their settings in between usages. Whenever I turn on the transmitter and the speedlites, they automtically re-link and are in the same groups as they were when last used. Settings were even saved after swapping out batteries.

Love my 600 RT's. I own 6 of them and they have dramatically changed my location flash use in fashion, weddings and interior design photography. Wireless Range is very adequate. I have been able to fire up to 100' in some locations

The Speedlite 600EX-RT is a terrific flash. I have only had it for a few days but taken a hundred inside and outside shots experimenting with its settings. Perfect exposure in all scenario's. Great addition.

This is a reaction to the previous review below by njw1224 from Wheeling, WV. It seems that there is an over exposure problem when using multiple flash set-ups with the 600EX Rt/600EX. This can happen if there are three firing groups - A, B, and C. If a firing group C has been added and an over exposure results, avoid firing group C toward the main subject as this will likely cause the said overexposure. Alternatively, eliminate firing group C, and lump the extra slaves (from the now defunct firng group C) to firing group B or A. This works 99% of the time even if you point all flashes to the main subject. The phenomenon of over exposure in multi flash set-ups has been mentioned in pages 87 and 112 of the 600EX RT manual.

This flash is great for all the reasons you'd think it would be great. I bought three of them to use as master/slave units. I've been using them for about 6 weeks. Until yesterday I used them in mainly outdoor or fairly bright indoor conditions, and the multiple flash setups worked great and the radio feature was wonderful. Then comes yesterday - shooting a wedding. All went well with the brighter indoor shots and daylight outdoor shots. But when it came to the reception and the lights were turned really dark for the dancing portion of the evening, I began getting a fairly high percentage of extreme over-exposures - and I mean so blown out that they weren't recoverable (I even shoot in RAW mode). It was almost as if the lens aperture wasn't stopping down, so the sensor of the camera was getting the full blast of the flash. So my first thought was maybe I had a malfunctioning lens. So I switched lenses and had the same problem with the second lens. I'd say maybe one out of twelve shots was grossly overexposing to the point that the highlight detail was gone and the shot was unusable. That's too many bad shots for a professional to deal with. Again, I've only had this issue when using the multiple flash setups in really dark conditions like a wedding reception. And in case anyone's wondering, I use all Canon gear. No third party lenses, etc. that might interfere with the communication of the system. Needless to say I'm very disappointed because weddings are one of the main reasons I bought the 3-flash system. And if these flashes are inconsistent when used in really dark, contrasty settings, then that's a big negative strike against them.

I have most of the speedlites by Canon. I also have several other brands. This one was bought for my 5 D mk III, and qickly has become the favorite. The built quality is the best that I have seen, and the easy menu is a pleasure to work with. As far as performance goes, it is flawless and is also very good on batteris (even with some pretty heavy use). Fast recycling and consistant output is the best that I have had with self contained powered speedlite. Very, very happy with it.

I recently purchased 5-Canon Speedlites 600EX-RT’s to replace all my 5- 580EXII’s and I sold all my pocket radios receivers. Just as a measure for those who are contemplating to purchase the 600EX-RT’s I still have my first Canon 10D though all the 5D’s- 60D-1DMk 2n-1DKk III & IV. All of them sync at HHS and work flawlessly in all modes “except” the Group feature, & I have a way around that, but will post my findings’ as I have not had the time to-do so at the moment. Hopefully Canon might release a firmware to the existing models to add the group feature in use.

Makes pictures sharper. Expensive but worth every penny. A DVD would be helphul for NUBEEs like me.