Why is a shutter cable necessary to trigger a remote flash?

E

escape

New member
So, in order for my D5200 to trigger an off camera flash (via Yongnuo RF-603N ii wireless flash trigger), I have to connect a shutter cable from the camera's GPS port to the wireless transmitter's input jack.

Why is this cable necessary when the wireless transmitter is already sitting mounted on the hot shoe of the D5200? I guess the D5200 does not automatically pass on shutter signal via the hot shoe when there is no flash mounted on top of it? Is this normal? Or is there some setting in the D5200 that I can change, so that I can avoid having to connect this shutter cable?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
S

Skwaz

Senior Member
Hi have you tried without cable ? I have these on my 7100 and if you want to trigger the camera and flash using the Yongnuos you need the cable , if your firing camera by hand via shutter button I dont think you need the cable
hope this helps
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
escape said:
So, in order for my D5200 to trigger an off camera flash (via Yongnuo RF-603N ii wireless flash trigger), I have to connect a shutter cable from the camera's GPS port to the wireless transmitter's input jack.

Why is this cable necessary when the wireless transmitter is already sitting mounted on the hot shoe of the D5200? I guess the D5200 does not automatically pass on shutter signal via the hot shoe when there is no flash mounted on top of it? Is this normal? Or is there some setting in the D5200 that I can change, so that I can avoid having to connect this shutter cable?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


The Yongnuo RF-603N cable is not required to trigger a flash. The cable is a shutter cable, only used for its remote shutter feature, to be a remote shutter, to trigger the camera shutter from a remote unit. The cable is not used or needed for the remote flash feature (and the two features cannot be used together, at the same time). It is not about a Commander either. I have trouble making the remote shutter feature work, but the flash feature works easily here, with no cable.

I don't know why your unit seems to need the cable, but that is just a confusion. Make sure the switches on the unit on the camera hot shoe is set to be transmitter, and the unit on the remote flash is set to be a receiver. Both units have to be set to the same channel (switches in battery compartment, under the batteries). There are several RF-603 reviews online (how to use).
 
Last edited:
E

escape

New member
WayneF said:
Make sure the switches on the unit on the camera hot shoe is set to be transmitter, and the unit on the remote flash is set to be a receiver. Both units have to be set to the same channel (switches in battery compartment, under the batteries).
Click to expand...
That is exactly how I have it set up. Still doesn't work unless I connect that cable.


Also, strangely, if I mount a flash on top of the RF-603 that's mounted on D5200, that flash doesn't fire either. Something is not right.
 
E

escape

New member
OK, finally got it to work without the physical cable by putting both RF-603N gizmos to "TRX" mode.

The owner's manual suggested the unit on the camera be put in "TX" mode while the unit on the flash be put in "TRX" mode, which made sense, but when I did that, it didn't work. Go figure. Cheap Chinese junk.
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
I have discovered that the shutter cable feature needs Both units to be in TRX mode.

I am amazed at the low Chinese price, but as compared to others at much higher price, it ain't junk. Manuals might be improved.

Surprising to me the Chinese can sell and ship stuff to the US, for a lower price than it would cost me just to ship it back to China. :) That's of course terrible news for US manufacturing (if any still exists), but it gets a buyers attention.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I have Yongnuo triggers and flashes and they work great on my D7100. The ones I have are 1 - YN-622N-TX and 2 - YN-622N RX i-TTL LCD Wireless Flash Controller I really like this combination since I can control the power of both speedlights from the camera.
 
J

Jeff_J

Senior Member
I have a D5200 with a wireless radio transmitter on my camera (hotshoe) and two wireless receivers. They work fine with no extra cables or setup. Just need to make sure they are turned on. But mine are a "generic" China brand and not Yongnuo. I would be interested to see how this plays out, because I have been looking at Yongnuo for an on camera flash.
 
E

escape

New member
Well, this is the response I got from Yongnuo when I contacted them about this issue:
Dear User,


Thanks for your email!
For we haven't tested RF603NII with Nikon D5200, we are not sure if they are compatible. At present, Nikon cameras compatible with RF603NII are as below:
Nikon D3s, D3x, D3,D800、D700、D600, D300s, D300, D200, D100, D90, D80,D70s,D60,D7000,D5100,D5000,D3100,D3000,D40X


If possible, we kindly suggest you to test RF603NII with the cameras compatible to see if the same problem still exists.
Thank you very much for your great support for YONGNUO products! If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us again.


Best regards,


YONGNUO
Click to expand...
So basically, they are not guaranteeing compatibility with D5200. And I don't have another camera that I could test these on.
 
S

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
escape said:
The owner's manual suggested the unit on the camera be put in "TX" mode while the unit on the flash be put in "TRX" mode, which made sense, but when I did that, it didn't work. Go figure. Cheap Chinese junk.
Click to expand...

The TX/TRX switch must be a recent addition. My several year old 603s (I have 4) only have an on/off switch (and a fire button). I don't find mine to be junk. At $15 each for RF flash and shutter, they've done just fine.
 
E

escape

New member
UPDATE: I ordered another set of these triggers from Amazon, but from a different seller this time. This set came in a box with a "V1.2" designation. This new set works correctly as advertised with my D5200 (camera trigger in TX mode, flash trigger in TRX mode, and no shutter cable needed). The previous set was "V1.0".

DSC_2456.jpg


DSC_2457.jpg
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
FWIW, my RF-603 II is older and says V1.0, and it does not need the shutter cable for flash. It does generally need both units to be TRX instead of one being TX.
 
Top