Features
Specifications

Features

Overview: The Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT is an EOS-dedicated external flash unit that can be used as an on-camera flash, as a master unit, or as a slave unit. The "RT" designation means that it can be used with Radio Transmission wireless shooting. It can also be used with Optical Transmission wireless shooting. The 430EX III-RT weighs approximately 10.41 ounces without batteries, and comes with a mini stand, bounce adapter, color filter, and a Speedlite case.

Compatibility: The Speedlite 430EX III-RT is compatible with all Type-A Canon EOS cameras.

LCD: The monochrome 1-7/8"-wide LCD window shows information on the flash's status. Some of the data displayed on the LCD panel includes: ETTL/ETTL II auto-flash status, sync status (1st/2nd curtain, high-speed), charge indication, Automatic/Manual flash, Zoom Flash, Flash coverage, Flash exposure, Flash exposure compensation, Aperture, flash distance in meters or feet, flash coverage, bounce, Guide Number, Master/Slave status, and high temperature warning.

Shoe Mount: The 430EX III-RT flash mounts to the hot shoe on the top of your compatible Canon EOS camera. Flash trigger, exposure setting, and focal length (zoom) setting are transferred to the flash via the intelligent shoe.

Bounce Flash: The firing direction of the flash is adjustable, allowing you to bounce the light at different angles. The vertical angle can be set to 0° (straight forward), 45°, 60°, 75° and 90° (straight up). The horizontal angle is adjustable to 60°, 75°, 90°, 120°, and 150° either left or right, and to 180° to the right. The supplied Bounce Adapter can be placed over the flash head to diffuse the flash light and suppress shadows cast on the subject.

Flash-Ready Lamp: The Flash-ready lamp lights when the flash is ready to fire, green when ready for quick flash, red when ready for full flash. Depressing the Flash Ready lamp fires a test flash.

Fully Automatic Flash Shooting: When you set the camera's shooting mode to program AE or full auto, the E-TTL II/E-TTL fully automatic flash mode will make it easy to operate. Setting the camera's shooting mode to Tv (Shutter Priority), Av (Aperture Priority), or M (manual exposure) lets you use E-TTL II / E-TTL auto-flash that is suitable for each shooting mode.

Flash Exposure Compensation: You can adjust the flash output as easily as normal exposure compensation. Can be set up to +/- 3 stops in 1/3-stop increments. If flash exposure compensation has been set with both the Speedlite and the camera, the Speedlite's flash exposure amount will override the camera's.

FE (Flash Exposure) Lock: This lock enables you to lock the correct flash exposure for any part of the scene.

Shutter Synchronization: You can select the flash firing timing method as follows:

• 1st-curtain Sync: 1st-curtain sync is another name for normal flash shooting. The flash fires right after the shutter opens.
• 2nd-curtain Sync: This method captures the trajectory of the light sources of a moving subject, such as car lights, in a natural way. The flash fires right before the shutter closes and the exposure finishes. This mode is typically used with a slow shutter speed.
• High-speed Sync: This method lets you shoot with a flash with all shutter speeds, even at speeds that are faster than the maximum flash sync speed. This mode is convenient when you want to provide fill-flash when shooting in aperture-priority (Av) mode.

Wide Panel/Catchlight Panel: Located just above the flash head is the Wide Panel and Catchlight Panel. These panels are used at separate times. The Wide Panel folds down over the flash head, and casts the flash light at a wider angle than normal to avoid capturing the edges of the flash light in the photo. This lets you perform flash shooting with ultra-wide angle lenses with a focal length of up to 14mm. The Catchlight Panel is used when the flash head is turned upward at 90°. The Catchlight is typically used when shooting portraits to capture reflected light in a person's eyes to create a more vivid expression.

Flash Coverage: The flash coverage can be set to match the lens focal length from 24 mm to 105 mm. It can be set automatically, according to the focal length of the lens being used. You can manually set the flash coverage to 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 70mm, 80mm, or 105mm. Using wide panel, the coverage will be compatible with ultra wide-angle lenses as short as 14 mm.

Manual Flash: You can set the flash output from 1/128 power to 1/1 (full power) in 1/3-stop increments. Using a commercially available flash meter, you can determine the required flash output to obtain the correct flash exposure. Manual flash works best in Manual (M) and Aperture Priority (Av) shooting modes.

AF-Assist Beam: Under low-light or low-contrast conditions, when it is difficult to auto-focus on a subject, a series of small flashes, called the AF-Assist Beam, are emitted to help the camera focus. The AF-Assist beam is effective from 2.3' - 13.1' at the center and 2.3' to 11.5' at the periphery of the viewfinder.

Color Filter: When shooting with flash under incandescent lighting, sometimes unnatural, reddish colors appear on the subject background where the flash light does not reach. The supplied color filter, when attached to the flash head, causes automatic adjustments to be made by the camera's white balance function so that both the subject and background are photographed with the appropriate white balance.

Wireless Flash Photography: The Speedlite 430EX III-RT can be used for two types of wireless flash photography: Radio Transmission and Optical Transmission. The 430EX III-RT can be used as a Master or Slave during Radio Transmission shooting, and as a Slave only during Optical Transmission shooting.:

• Radio Transmission: You can easily perform wireless flash shooting in the same way as normal E-TTL II/E-TTL auto-flash shooting. Radio frequencies are emitted from the Master to the Slaves to trigger the flashes simultaneously. Wireless flash shooting can be performed with one Master and one Slave, or one Master and multiple Slaves (up to 15) that can be divided into up to 5 groups. All of the flash units must be capable of performing Radio Transmission flash shooting, and the transmission distance can be up to 98.4' (30 meters) away. In addition, you can photograph a subject with multiple cameras linked together through Radio Transmission. This is possible with EOS Digital cameras released in and after 2012 (except Rebel T5).
• Optical Transmission: The 430EX III-RT can be used as a Slave flash unit within a system using Optical Transmission. The Master device in the system must be equipped with the optical transmission wireless master function, including many upper-level Speedlite flashes and some EOS Digital cameras with built-in flash. During Optical Transmission wireless flash, the Slave unit will flash when it picks up the light from the master unit. The range from the Master to the Slave is approximately 32.8' (8 meters) outdoors and 39.4' (12 meters) indoors.

Batteries: The 430EX III-RT flash is powered by 4 AA batteries. Alkaline or Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) rechargeable batteries can be used. Canon's testing with alkaline batteries yields a recycle time of 0.1 to 3.5 seconds (0.1 to 2.5 sec for Quick Flash), and a flash count of 180 - 1200 (depending on flash settings). Battery life for Radio Transmission Wireless Shooting: approx. 9 continuous hours.

Auto Power Off: To save battery power, the power will turn off automatically after approximately 90 seconds of idle use. Pressing the camera's shutter button halfway or pressing the test flash button will wake up the flash.

Case: The supplied padded case houses and protects the Speedlite 430EX III-RT flash. There is also a small pocket inside the case, where you can store the supplied mini-stand. The case has a flap lined with a Velcro strip to secure the flash in place.

Specifications

Guide Number: Approx. 43/141.1 (at 105mm flash coverage, ISO 100, in meters/feet)

Flash Duration: Normal: approx. 1.8ms or less; Quick Flash: 2.3ms or less

Effective Range: Normal: 2.3 - 77.4 feet; Quick Flash: 2.3 - 44.6 feet

Recycle Time (normal flash): Normal: 0.1 - 3.5 sec.; 0.1 - 2.5 sec.