Wireless trigger Sony new hotshoe / Yongnuo rf-603

Warning: Manual only, no TTL/ADI

Tutorial: Wireless trigger Yongnuo rf-603 on A99
This short tutorial is for people who can't wait (like me) for third party manufacturers, or even sony, to come with a fully compatible wireless trigger set for the Sony A99. With the adapter supplied with the a99, you can use your old shoe flash as well. This tutorial combines 2 good on wireless in 1, but is specific for the Yongnuo 603 trigger set. All credits to the people who have posted these tutorials, which inspired me to combine them.

Sorry for the bad photos, it was done in a rush.



These are:

Modifying the master trigger

Modifying the slave for SONY Multi Interface Standard hotshoe

Step 1: Get a YongNuo 603
To get this done you'll need to order either a Nikon or Canon version of the YongNuo 603. Soon you'll realise there are subversions of them as well. For Nikon for example there is the YongNuo rf-603 N1 and the N3. Don't worry, except for a different cable, the devices are all the same.

Step 2: Get a 120 Kilo Ohm or 130 Kilo Ohm resistor
So I went in the shop and ordered one for 10 cents. First question was, how many watts does it have to be.. I couldn't recall seeing it on the tutorial so I decided to give the 0,25W a try. They used the 0.6W version, could be more safe.

Step 3: Equipment
Be sure to have a Soldering Iron, Soldering flux, Soldering.
And a multipurpose tool (in europe we have Dremel) This can be used to carve away plastic and iron in a simple way. If not, a sharp knive and an Ironsaw + vile could do it.

Step 4: Decide Master / Slave
Now you should decide which trigger will be the master to sit on top of the A99 always. This will be the one the resistor will be soldered in.

The slave's hotshoe will be modified to fit the male Sony Multi Interface hot shoe from the adapter (or of course a new flash like 60M).


Left the slave with carved away metal from the hotshoe and plastic left to the hotshoe.


Step 5: The master
First see the "Modifying the master trigger" tutorial before you continue.

So, open up the master trigger. Unscrewing is really easy, 3 screws, and thats it. Open up and loosen the PC sync from both parts. Thats how you can fold it open without breaking the wires. Now solder in the resistor between VIN and J6 connector. Be sure the legs of the resistor don't touch other metal then the two connectors mentioned.

Close it up, and you are done! Fire away if you have Standard flashes
When closing be aware of the - battery spring

Step 6: The slave
This step has to be repeated for every trigger that you will put a sony Multi interface standard hotshoe flash/adapter on.

First look at the movie "Modifying the slave for SONY Multi Interface Standard hotshoe"

Now open up the slave trigger. 3 screws. Then remove the female hotshoe holder. 4 screws. After that you can remove the female hotshoe from the trigger. Now with a knife remove the plastic where the extention of the sony Multi interface will be. don't make it bigger then 2-3 millimeters, more then that and you're left with a hole. Secondly carve aways the metal in the opening of the hotshou. You'll see that this prevents the hotshoe moving all the way up. This needs to be done because the triggerpins need to be aligned, else it won't fire. Close everything again.

Now slip on the MI-Hotshoe


Then slip on the flash (my old Metz flash with Minolta hotshoe! Yeah)


Step 7: Check the green lights
You have probably seen the 4 jumpers in each of the triggers, make sure they're in the same order on both of them

Now switch both master and slave on. and you should all green lights



Beware, although the master fits on the A99 with no problem, Push it all the way in, and then pull it back until you feel a bump. Then you'll get the green lights

Last but not least. Shutterspeed at 1/160 works great, above there is banding, but thats what I have to live with. I'm a happy user at least!!! Have fun!

I'm a lousy beginner noob with flashes.. so here is my first shot with the A99/Yongnuo 603 with a Minolta shoe Metz 44 flash and the Multishoe to Minolta shoe adapter! That's a load, but it works very good.

If someone already has radio triggers, and has more than one flash using the new Sony shoe, why not just get additional adapters to use with the triggers rather than buying a new set of radio controllers, the parts to modify them, and the time it takes to make the modifications? More than likely someone using radio triggers today will still have at least one or more Sony (or Minolta) flashes using the "old" Minolta iISO shoe, which will natively fit on their existing radio triggers.

If someone has gone "all in" on the new Sony ISO-based shoe-mount flashes, and is looking to get a set of radio triggers, then the modification described above might make sense, at least for those technically capable of making the modifications required (which of course will void the warranty on the radio triggers). For most, I suspect, additional adapters will be the easier solution to work with the iISO shoe-based trigger systems now available.

Maybe some day someone will make a radio trigger system based on the new Sony ISO-based flash shoe, but I suspect it will be quite a while, not until there are a sufficient number of such cameras and flashes in use. Given the overheating issue the F60 flash has, it's going to take even longer than one might normally expect (I suspect sales of the F60 will be adversely affected by the overheating issue).

It works!!!!

20 years since I soldered anything together, and these connections are small. And, I highly recommend putting the screws back in before extensive testing so you don't end up soldering even more of them back together after ripping them apart.

It works as advertised. Tested with an A99 and a Maxxum 2800 AF. Time to find some cheap 4000s, or maybe spend a few dollars on the YN 560 III with the built in radio.

I can confirm that the canon version also works with the mod, it is exactly the same trigger, only the iso connections are a bit different layout. But still the centerpin is in the same location.
Made these for someone on an other forum!


MR master, and the slave


Here the canons with an extra nikon slave lol, they all work together

i have a sony a65. I'm saving up for an a 99. I wish to use an onboard flash without any adaptors attached to the a 99 so that i can bounce flash at weddings and use ttl/hss. I also wish to use the pc sync output of the a99 too trigger 603 external flashes. For my use optical flash is not an option. I don't wish to use an adaptor on the a99 because i want a solid fit of a sony flash direct to the camera. on another forum i was told that by using the a99 sync out to a 3.5 input into the 603 the a99 signal could go through the transmitter and trigger external flashs. Thus i could enjoy on board flash using bounce lighting plus triggering external flashes. Could anyone try this for me. You would need a pc sync out cable to 3.5 connection to the 3.5 input socket on the side of the 603. i tried connecting pc out of the camera to the pc connection on the 603 but this connection is pc sync out only. Any assistance or advice would be greatly appreciated.

yes you are right. I plan on using the f60m. the external flashes are 20 to 30 mts away and would have no real influence on exposure for the shots I have planned. I didn't state clearly that I want to attach a modded 603 to the pc out of the a99. I have tried this and it doesn't work because the pc sync socket on the 603 is signal out only. I'm just curious to know whether the 3.5 socket takes signal in. Thanks for your quick response. When I get the a99 I'll keep experimenting. Thanks.

Hi,

Does the same modification apply to RF 603-II as well ??

Or can it be directly used with sony MI shoe of my a58 ??

I want to use it with my Off camera flash(YN 560-III) in manual mode only.

Pls reply.