# YN-622C and 580EX II MAJOR issues



## mbigelowphotographer (Jul 19, 2014)

I've been having MAJOR problems with the Yongnuo YN-622C and my 580EX IIs. I have two 580EX IIs and both of them have now gone out on me, multiple times. One of them has gone out at LEAST 5 times. I'm honestly starting to lose track now. I keep sending them back to Canon for repair.

Anyways, after reading an article that was posted by a company that was doing testing for this same problem with Pocketwizards, I figured that it was an inherent problem with the 580EX II and using it with off-camera high-speed sync, or off-camera ETTL. The thing is, I wasn't using them with HSS, nor was I "cranking" away on them.

So anyways, I decided that I would try out the YN-622C on-camera, with the 580EX II on top of it. No HSS. No fast shooting. So just a basic pass-through mode, both of them mounted on-camera. STILL went out on me -- after ONE shot!! The 580EX II is doing the same thing.....AGAIN. It seems to be firing the pre-flash at full power and then the ETTL exposure comes out completely dark. Then, in manual mode, it fires full power.

Every time Canon repairs them, they say that they are replacing the battery housing and battery door......? What the heck. How could the YN-622C be causing this problem?

I'm BEYOND frustrated with this. I'm ready to throw those flashes in the garbage disposal.


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## privatebydesign (Jul 19, 2014)

Do you have issues just using your 580EX II's on your camera and via Canon optical triggering.

The PocketWizard issue, that they tried to blame on Canon, was due to their "overclocking" the IGBT circuit, it was not an issue for people who didn't use Pocket Wizards and it resulted in the flash tube damage, not battery housing and door.

I absolutely don't trust Yongnuo, third party reverse engineering is fraught with problems and if I had one issue with it once I wouldn't give them a second chance.

If they are still under warranty I'd class them as lemons and demand an exchange. If they are not then I'd sell them and upgrade to the 600-EX-RT's, which are good value when compared to any other flash and full wireless triggering system out there. If you can't afford the 600 then I'd be tempted to go all YN, there are less issues with all one make, though there are lots of third party options to choose from, Godox, Phottix etc etc.

If it is only a problem when you use the YN's then why blame Canon? Yongnuo are a bargain basement, third party, reverse engineered, Chinese hack, with zero quality control and a huge catalog of problems and issues that impact complete models or are limited to a short production run, they have their place but you seem to have a bad set.


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## keithfullermusic (Jul 19, 2014)

privatebydesign said:


> Do you have issues just using your 580EX II's on your camera and via Canon optical triggering.
> 
> The PocketWizard issue, that they tried to blame on Canon, was due to their "overclocking" the IGBT circuit, it was not an issue for people who didn't use Pocket Wizards and it resulted in the flash tube damage, not battery housing and door.
> 
> ...



i'm hesitant to say anything here, but this response is close to nonsense. do you use yongnuo gear? if so, have you had these sorts of issues (ie. flashes breaking)? also, you hear about people bashing the things online because people who are unhappy are the ones who write things online. if i trusted everyone who bashed equipment online i don't think i'd ever buy anything from anyone.

the fact is that YN-622C's are cheaper than the alternatives, and the quality is a little low on certain things. however, they do nearly everything that the pocket wizards do at about 5 times the price. should i not use them because they are "cheap?" should i fork over all my money to canon on their wireless system?

according to you, i should bash kias because compared to ferraris they are garbage.

i am glad that there are companies out there reverse engineering things, otherwise we'd all be forced to pay outrageous prices for things - but i guess you like that.

anyway - if your triggers are causing that, that stinks. i've used those triggers with canon flashes for a long time, and i know plenty of other professionals who have used them, and i've never heard of anything like that. either way, i wouldn't keep sending them back to canon. either get new triggers or get new flashes, because it sounds like you're just throwing money away.


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## privatebydesign (Jul 19, 2014)

keithfullermusic said:


> privatebydesign said:
> 
> 
> > Do you have issues just using your 580EX II's on your camera and via Canon optical triggering.
> ...



Keith,

Look through my posting history, I am a heavy user of Yongnuo gear, I love their RF-602/603/603II/603III triggers, I have nothing but contempt for their "efforts" with the YN-E3-RT. Specifically YN are showing all the signs of spreading their R&D way too far, they have a terrible mismatch of triggers and flashes and they all have a variety of compatibility issues bith with each other and different Canon cameras, and to add a "studio flash" and a 50 mm f1.4 clone into the mix just exacerbates the problems of support and quality control they already have.

If you want a quality third party 600 then the Phottix Mitros+ demonstrates how cheaply it can be done such that it actually works. 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1011942-REG/phottix_ph80371_mitros_ttl_trigger.html

I am an even heavier user of cheap, I find the 50 f1.4 a vastly better buy than the 1.2 for example. But unless you are just playing with the gear then reliability is a very important factor in flash use, I have found the more feature rich YN products to be wanting, this is not an "internet" opinion, it is my own born from my personal experiences with YN gear I have bought myself.


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## jdramirez (Jul 28, 2014)

I had five 622c's... I returned the first pair because one, not sure which, only worked as a receiver... so when I used that one, the flash would fire on full... so not good. This was with ettl. 

The next three I had worked fine... but I didn't like the yongnuos, except for the ir beam that was sent out. 

I've since upgraded to 600ex-rt's and a e3-rt... or what ever it is called.


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## troppobash (Aug 13, 2014)

I am looking into to buying YN 622c transceivers and would like to ask peoples experience with them.

* Has anyone used the canon flash menu on a 5DMII or MIII via the 622C to remotely adjust manual settings on the YN 500/565/568 flashes?
* What about the YN 560 TX and YN 560 III flashes...I believe that the YN 560 TX can adjust all the settings on the YN560III flashes - does anyone have experience with this system?
* Can the YN 622C manually adjust the YN560III flashes?

Thanks in advance


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## FEBS (Aug 13, 2014)

troppobash said:


> I am looking into to buying YN 622c transceivers and would like to ask peoples experience with them.
> 
> * Has anyone used the canon flash menu on a 5DMII or MIII via the 622C to remotely adjust manual settings on the YN 500/565/568 flashes? *Yes, yes that works very good. Do use it wit 565 and 568*
> * What about the YN 560 TX and YN 560 III flashes...I believe that the YN 560 TX can adjust all the settings on the YN560III flashes - does anyone have experience with this system? *I think no one yet, as the product is announced, but not yet available in the market*
> ...


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## troppobash (Aug 13, 2014)

Thank you for reply. Very helpful.


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## dlleno (Sep 11, 2014)

I have four YN-622Cs and three YN-568EX II flashes for my 5D3. zero issues -- the system doesn't miss a beat and has worked flawlessly. 

The value proposition for third party flash equipment includes taking the risk of compatibility -- especially if you purchase from a no-name ebay snakester who has accumulated old inventory, does not have a return policy, and you don't establish compatibility commitments up front. 

I wrote a review of the 568EX II flash and included in that review I made mention of how important it is to purchase from a reputable supplier such as thephotogadget.com. Before I ventured into the Chinese flash territory I confirmed that there was a return policy and that my compatibility needs were met, including optical slave functionality. Right now I wouldn't trust anyone except for thephotogadget.com 

I have endured issues with Canon repair as well -- took them four times to get my 17-55 right and they displayed outright arrogance and unresponsiveness to their failures. I think they must have have employed a couple of monkeys just following instructions by rote, without any real knowledge and certainly no ownership to test for full functionality. my experience was almost enough to make me switch to nikon it was that horrible. In the end I got it fixed right and I'm still with Canon  .. 

Since it appears you are already financially committed repairing your 580EX I can only suggest to hold Canon's feet to the fire and test full optical master/slave capability, even if it means going to a camera shop to see if another used 580 will work with yours. Prove that it works with Canon before you test with third party stuff. Unfortunately Canon can't accept third party hardware as part of the measure of success. 

When my 580EX died I decided to go with all Yongnuo hardware. What would have cost me nearly $2K in Canon cost me under $700.


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## drjlo (Sep 12, 2014)

dlleno said:


> I have four YN-622Cs and three YN-568EX II flashes for my 5D3. zero issues -- the system doesn't miss a beat and has worked flawlessly.
> 
> 
> When my 580EX died I decided to go with all Yongnuo hardware. What would have cost me nearly $2K in Canon cost me under $700.



I have a bunch of YN-622C's which I use with Canon 580EX II, 430EX II, Yongnuo 578EX II, which all work with no issues. 

I will say I cannot say the same for Pixel Kings, which definitely had issues.


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## bergstrom (Apr 29, 2016)

I've had my 622c's for a while. bought 3, 1 on camera and 2 on flash, but today my canon 580 ex2 wouldn't stop firing while connected. Have no idea what I did, but has to actually pull out the batteries to knock it off. Has anyone ideas on reasanable priced, but great tranceivers with hss in case i switch from yongnuo They would have to be compatible with my canon 580 ex2's and my yongnup 568 flashes. 

Thanks.


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## ninjapeps (Apr 29, 2016)

bergstrom said:


> I've had my 622c's for a while. bought 3, 1 on camera and 2 on flash, but today my canon 580 ex2 wouldn't stop firing while connected. Have no idea what I did, but has to actually pull out the batteries to knock it off.



This happened to me, too. I just replaced the batteries with fresh ones and the problem went away.


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## Hector1970 (Apr 29, 2016)

I have had very good experience with Yongnuo.
Very reliable and much cheaper than Canon.
The Yongnuo YN-622N is really excellent for strobist work and controlling multiple flashes. 
Really easy to use and control. Very impressed with it to be honest.
I have Canon flashes too (2 x 580 exII's) .
I can't really see the advantage of them over the Yongnuo. 
Maybe over time they will be more reliable / robust.
If I was starting again I think I'd buy a Yongnuo controller and just Yongnuo flashes.
It would be much cheaper than Canon.
For all most people use a flash for its a much more economical solution.
For strobists who use adjust manually it's a great option.

As to the problem you are having I've no idea what's wrong.
I'm not clear if you have no problem triggering with the flash on top of the camera and it's just a wireless trigger issue. I don't understand how batteries would have such an impact unless they are flat or somehow underpowered.


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## bergstrom (Apr 29, 2016)

Ninja, I'll change the batteries and se if that makes a difference.


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## triggermike (Apr 29, 2016)

Not sure if you have isolated the problem as being the triggers or the flash? Does the flash work OK when mounted directly to the hotshoe - all the time?

The 580 EXII has a history of going in and out of ETTL randomly - and the problem from most reasonable accounts seems to be loose wiring inside unit.


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## rfdesigner (Apr 29, 2016)

mbigelowphotographer said:


> I've been having MAJOR problems with the Yongnuo YN-622C and my 580EX IIs. I have two 580EX IIs and both of them have now gone out on me, multiple times. One of them has gone out at LEAST 5 times. I'm honestly starting to lose track now. I keep sending them back to Canon for repair.
> 
> Anyways, after reading an article that was posted by a company that was doing testing for this same problem with Pocketwizards, I figured that it was an inherent problem with the 580EX II and using it with off-camera high-speed sync, or off-camera ETTL. The thing is, I wasn't using them with HSS, nor was I "cranking" away on them.
> 
> ...



As far as I can tell from your description, you haven't isolated the canon flashes from the yongnuo trigger.. I would want to try them with a canon trigger.. if you can get them to blow with a canon trigger then it's a canon only problem.

One issue I can think of is that the yongnuo trigger might demand higher radio power levels from the slave flashes and this is causing problems (maybe due to poorer frequency accuracy, poorer RF filters, poorer firmware timing etc.... possibly causing excess peak currents, but I would hope the canon flashes are protected from this internally.

Any way I look at it, I'd like to exclude the non-canon trigger... at least for test purposes, can you borrow a canon one from somewhere.

Also maybe the flashes are getting cooked on something else, then blowing when going remote.. is your camera's hotshoe ok?

I trying to think how you are getting problems but others aren't.


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