EOS R flash: The new FF mirrorless Canon, EOS R, will have its own speedlite. Will the old DSLR speedlites such as the 600 EX-RT work on the new body?

crphoto8 Loc: Anaheim, California

The new FF mirrorless Canon, EOS R, will have its own speedlite. Will the old DSLR speedlites such as the 600 EX-RT work on the new body?

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

crphoto8 wrote:

The new FF mirrorless Canon, EOS R, will have its own speedlite. Will the old DSLR speedlites such as the 600 EX-RT work on the new body?

Until we see the specs it will be hard to know, but I would guess that they will, it would be a bad decision to break compatibility when the whole R introduction is a system level move. I'm not going to try it, but in theory my 300TL flash ( mated to the 1986 T90 ) would work on my Canon DSLRs, although clearly not in E-TTL modes. The voltages seem to be fine, and with a cheap trigger in between older flashes work fine.

I have three 580 EX flashes, and if they didn't work it would make me question Canon's business sense.

BebuLamar

Peterff wrote:

Until we see the specs it will be hard to know, bu... (show quote)

I am quite sure your 580 would work but the question does it work in E-TTL? If Canon just figure out how to do TTL with their new R camera they may want to do it differently. While I don't think so but what if they figured out how to do TTL flash without using preflash? That would be a big plus and is worth the risk of incompatibility with the old flashes.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

crphoto8 wrote:

The new FF mirrorless Canon, EOS R, will have its own speedlite. Will the old DSLR speedlites such as the 600 EX-RT work on the new body?

All EX speedlights do work with all EOS cameras!

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

BebuLamar wrote:

I am quite sure your 580 would work but the question does it work in E-TTL? If Canon just figure out how to do TTL with their new R camera they may want to do it differently. While I don't think so but what if they figured out how to do TTL flash without using preflash? That would be a big plus and is worth the risk of incompatibility with the old flashes.

My 580 EX II and 580 EX flashes work exceptionally well with E-TTL, but the communication is optical not radio, although I haven't yet experienced a problem. I was referring to an old (1986) 300TL flash designed to work with the T90. I'm not going to attempt it with an EOS DSLR, but the voltages seem to be safe, although it clearly wouldn't with E-TTL. If Canon can work safely with a product designed in 1986, I expect that modern flash units can do well with the new EOS R system. The 30 year old flash (300TL) works very well with a remote Yongnuo radio trigger in manual mode.

The OP is unlikely to have problems with a 600 EX-RT, but until the specs are published we do not know.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

crphoto8 wrote:

The new FF mirrorless Canon, EOS R, will have its own speedlite. Will the old DSLR speedlites such as the 600 EX-RT work on the new body?

Yes, Canon has announced a new flash... the 470EX AI.

No, it is not exclusive to the EOS R. The new flash is usable with all Canon DSLRs, all Canon mirrorless cameras and probably all the G and G_X Powershot models with a hot shoe.

And the EOS R is ETTL/ETTL II capable, so all Canon EX flashes are fully usable with it.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

amfoto1 wrote:

Yes, Canon has announced a new flash... the 470EX AI.

No, it is not exclusive to the EOS R. The new flash is usable with all Canon DSLRs, all Canon mirrorless cameras and probably all the G and G_X Powershot models with a hot shoe.

And the EOS R is ETTL/ETTL II capable, so all Canon EX flashes are fully usable with it.

I've got the new 470EX AI flash. Its main claim to fame is its bounce capabilities, which are quite amazing. It's also a really nice standard flash unit, not real big like the 600EX-RT but powerful enough to get the job done for most applications. I really like it.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

crphoto8 wrote:

The new FF mirrorless Canon, EOS R, will have its own speedlite. Will the old DSLR speedlites such as the 600 EX-RT work on the new body?

According to Canon yes they will.

AlfredU Loc: Mooresville, NC

Architect1776 wrote:

According to Canon yes they will.

And that is what I read also.

Haydon

rmorrison1116 wrote:

I've got the new 470EX AI flash. Its main claim to fame is its bounce capabilities, which are quite amazing. It's also a really nice standard flash unit, not real big like the 600EX-RT but powerful enough to get the job done for most applications. I really like it.

I think it's an interesting piece of marketing and will aid beginners initially learning bounce flash. At the same time, I believe automated functions can inhibit your ability to learn. It really depends on your dependency :) I'm a little old school and prefer to learn the hard way and struggle. Neil van Niekerk said it best. Point the head in the same direction as the nose is pointed and try to bounce off walls whenever available.

crphoto8 Loc: Anaheim, California

Thanks everybody for your responses. I'll hold on to my 600 EX while selling the 5D Mk3 system.