canon 600ex rt dropping like flies

[Ltdave]

about a month-6 weeks ago, one of my Canon 600ex-rt speedlites stopped working in ETTL. i could pull the batteries and do a restart but as soon as i hit the shutter button for a pre-focus, the ETTL dropped out and i went straight to TTL. i removed it from my carry bag and put it in with my 'off camera' stuff because i use all that in manual mode.

out comes another of my 600s. these two had some use and were less likely to piss me off if something happened to them while i was out. well the wide-angle diffuser panel had a broken 'hinge nub' and the whole deal came out of the front of the speedlite. i attempted a repair and NOW, the speedlite is stuck with the zoom head at 14mm dispersion and i will NOT adjust either manually or automatically when mounted on a proper body.

i think it might have something to do with the part, so i ordered a replacement to see if a new complete panel will somehow 'trigger' the head to zoom as designed.

are the Godox/flashpoint speedlites really as good as everyone touts them to be or should i just go on ebay and pick up a couple of Canon branded replacements. i already had issues with one staying connected (even with matching green 'sync' lights with my St-E-Rt III canon trigger) and failure to fire.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I have a pair of Godox TT600 speedlites that are excellent for what I need them for (some tabletop stuff). The ones I have are no doubt outdated now and I only used them in manual mode, because I'm too stupid for anything else, but they worked just fine on all my Canon cameras, the 5D, the 1DIV, the R6, R6m2 and now my R5m2 (tried it out). I have so little experience with lights that I hardly know what ETTL is but I had those Godox lights for years and they always just work.

 

[Markuswelder]

Can't help you, but at some point in the near future, I'm going to get myself one of those small recently released smartwatch sized/styled X3 radio triggers, and an AD100 Pro. I'm quite happy at the moment with my Lumix FL360L flash, but I've always got it pointed in every direction other than straight ahead. So I thought I may as well go for a bit more power as well.

 

[Ltdave]

update

got the new diffusion panel, took the light apart again, installed it but.... it doesnt seem to be the right part. it doesnt come forward enough for the panel to actually flip down in front of the 'lens' as its supposed to do. its also still stuck on 14mm 'zoom' setting.

im going to have to off load these for parts pretty soon. getting too many needing just that little bit of TLC, i cant provide