Connecting Yongnuo YN968EX-RT speedlight with a YN560IV off-camera

Question

I just starting using speedlights recently and to be honest it's very overwhelming. I have watched countless videos but I still do not have an answer, I was hoping someone here can explain it to me.

So my question is: I have two speedlights, a YN968EX-RT and another YN560IV. I also bought an YN560-TX trigger thinking that I would be able to use the trigger to control both flashes off-camera. Well, it didn't work for reasons that may be obvious to you, but I don't understand. I would like to know:

1. Why was I not able to connect both flashes with the YN560-TX trigger?
2. Is it at all possible to buy a trigger system that will enable me to remote control both these flashes, and which system can I buy?
3. If I buy the YN-E3-RT trigger will I be able to control both, or will I be able to control just the YN968EX-RT flash and then use the YN-560 in optical slave mode and have to change the output manually?

I would appreciate any links to forums or videos that can explain how the system works that makes these flashes connect.

Answer 1

Yongnuo has three separate mostly incompatible triggering systems:

• The manual-only 560 / 60x system [YN-560-TX, YN-560IV]
• The TTL/HSS capable 622 system [YN-622-TX, YN-685]
• The Canon RT system (cloned) [YN-E3-RT, YN-968EX-RT]

As you found out, these three systems are not directly compatible with each other. But the 622 system gear can be put into "603" mode, and used in the 560 triggering system. But the RT gear cannot. For the most part, you want to only use gear in one system together.

There is a completely different system where you can control both a $65 manual-only speedlight with a $110 TTL/HSS speedlight, and that's the Godox X (2.4 GHz) system. A Godox XPro can control both a TT600 and a TT685, and you'll have HSS and remote power control with both flashes, and TTL with the TT685, as well as expansion options that include larger lights, and compatibility with other camera brands.

See also: What are the Yongnuo flash naming conventions?