I have now had a few more hours to experiment with the YN-560 Mk ii flashguns and believe that I have found a way to use them but it is not as I had originally hoped.
As an experiment I tried photographing milk splashes today as historically I have found that milk shows up lighting errors far more than the water (that may just be me).
I carried out the following tests using a set up very similar to the image posted yesterday the only real difference was that the catch tank was changed to a glass rather than the large tray.
My findings and conclusion, which are illustrated in the following images, are that there is a delay in firing the flashes when used at significantly reduced power i.e. 1/128 and 1/64 power settings and combined with either mixed makes or mixed trigger methods.
However if the YN-560’s are triggered with the Pixel King units and are not mixed with any of my Canon flashes I get good results. I therefore believe that there is a small but significant delay in the circuitry, and I feel that the Canon units are firing BEFORE the YN-560’s. This is based on the fact that I had a blue gel over my Canon 580 and in the close up image of the crown and fine droplets you can see the blue halo nearer the crown and then the solid white droplet as frozen by the YN-560 units which had no gels fitted.
I think I will be buying one more YN-560 and using them with my Pixel King triggers as that will protect my Canon flashes but should also get around the flash sync issues. Not what I really wanted but it is the only option I can see if I want to use 3 flashes and not use all of my Canon gear.
Test 1 – 2xCanon 580 + 1x Canon 430 wireless triggered and 2xYN560 Mk ii optically triggered
Close up showing the blue halo which leads me to believe the Canon gear is firing faster than the YN’s
Test 1 – 2xYN-5660 Mk ii triggered optically by onboard flash on 50D
It is easy to see the halo and duplication of droplets to the left and right at the top.
Test 3 – Combination of YN-560’s and Canon 430 all wirelessly triggered
Again the halo is very obvious
Test 4 – 2xYN-560 triggered by Pixel King radio triggers
Just to confirm the lack of halo this is a close up on the droplets (yes the DOF was getting soft but I think it proves the point)
My conclusion as noted above is that the Yongnuo units do not play well at high speed settings when used in combination with other makes of flashes and when used with varying trigger methods it seems to me that it is an all or nothing situation if you want high speed sync.
As an experiment I tried photographing milk splashes today as historically I have found that milk shows up lighting errors far more than the water (that may just be me).
I carried out the following tests using a set up very similar to the image posted yesterday the only real difference was that the catch tank was changed to a glass rather than the large tray.
- Same setup as yesterday i.e. 2x YN560 in front with a Canon 580 behind and hand held canon 430 the canon guns being triggered by my Pixel King radio trigger and the YN-560’s optically
- Triggering the 2xYN-560’s optically with my 50D’s onboard flash
- Combination of 2xYN-560’s and 1xCanon 430 all triggered by my Pixel King radio triggers
- Only the 2xYN-560 units triggered by my Pixel King radio triggers.
My findings and conclusion, which are illustrated in the following images, are that there is a delay in firing the flashes when used at significantly reduced power i.e. 1/128 and 1/64 power settings and combined with either mixed makes or mixed trigger methods.
However if the YN-560’s are triggered with the Pixel King units and are not mixed with any of my Canon flashes I get good results. I therefore believe that there is a small but significant delay in the circuitry, and I feel that the Canon units are firing BEFORE the YN-560’s. This is based on the fact that I had a blue gel over my Canon 580 and in the close up image of the crown and fine droplets you can see the blue halo nearer the crown and then the solid white droplet as frozen by the YN-560 units which had no gels fitted.
I think I will be buying one more YN-560 and using them with my Pixel King triggers as that will protect my Canon flashes but should also get around the flash sync issues. Not what I really wanted but it is the only option I can see if I want to use 3 flashes and not use all of my Canon gear.
Test 1 – 2xCanon 580 + 1x Canon 430 wireless triggered and 2xYN560 Mk ii optically triggered
Close up showing the blue halo which leads me to believe the Canon gear is firing faster than the YN’s
Test 1 – 2xYN-5660 Mk ii triggered optically by onboard flash on 50D
It is easy to see the halo and duplication of droplets to the left and right at the top.
Test 3 – Combination of YN-560’s and Canon 430 all wirelessly triggered
Again the halo is very obvious
Test 4 – 2xYN-560 triggered by Pixel King radio triggers
Just to confirm the lack of halo this is a close up on the droplets (yes the DOF was getting soft but I think it proves the point)
My conclusion as noted above is that the Yongnuo units do not play well at high speed settings when used in combination with other makes of flashes and when used with varying trigger methods it seems to me that it is an all or nothing situation if you want high speed sync.
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