Universal wireless radio transmitter that can trigger Elinchrom studio strobes, Yongnuo speedlites and Godox flash

Question

I have a pair of Elinchrom D-Lite-2 IT 200Ws studio strobes. The strobes have built-In Skyport wireless receivers and the set came with a Elinchrom Skyport ECO transmitter. This transmitter broke during my latest photoshoot so I am in the market for a new transmitter.

I also have two Yongnuo YN600EX-RT II Speedlites which have built-in receivers compatible with Canon's 2.4 GHz radio flash trigger system and E-TTL / E-TTL II metering and a Yongnuo YN-E3-RT Speedlite transmitter.

In the near future, I might also buy a Godox AD200 flash.

I'm searching for a universal wireless radio transmitter that can trigger all these different branded studio strobes and flashes from a Canon 6D camera.

What my research has learned already:

Elinchrom Transmitter PRO

The Elinchrom Transmitter PRO is compatible with the three previous generations of flash units (including the EL-Skyport Transceiver RX module for Style RX, Digitial RX, and Ranger RX systems, the integrated EL-Skyport modules for D-Lite RX, BRX, ELC Pro HD and ELB series.).

I have the non-RX version of the D-lite kit, so not completely sure if this is compatible. No word on compatibility with the Yongnuo and Godox flashes.

Radiopopper JrX

The JrX Transmitter is compatible with any camera body with a standard hotshoe. The JrX Receiver is compatible with most all studio strobes and handheld flashes with appropriate sync cable. JrX Receivers are shipped with 3.5mm cable, 2.5mm and 1/4 inch sync adapters.

This seems to be compatible with my setup, but it seems that I would need to buy separate receiver units for my strobes and flashes, even though they have built-in receivers.

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Any suggestion what would be the best transmitter for my use case? I'm open to use other brands or models than the transmitters listed above.

Answer 1

Your built-in receivers all use different "languages" to interpret the signals they receive via radio. There is no transmitter that "speaks" RT (Canon/Yongnuo RT), EL (Elinchrom), and X1 (Godox). In fact, there's no transmitter that even "speaks" two of the three. They're all separate protocols. Expecting one transmitter to transmit in all three protocols at the same time would be like expecting a person to speak in one language and be understood simultaneously by three different people: one who speaks only English, one who speaks only Hungarian, and one who speaks only Mandarin.

The best you're going to be able to do is choose one of the three systems for your transmitter to directly communicate with the flash(es) using that same protocol. You would then use add-on receivers that use that same system connected to the other flashes via hot shoe/hot foot or PC connectors. You'll only have E-TTL, HSS, remote zoom/power control capability, etc. with either the RT or Godox flash(es) if you select one of those protocols as your transmitter. The others will only receive a signal to "fire" and all settings will need to be made directly via each flash's control panel.

You may want to note that right now, Godox stands above the rest as they offer a single triggering protocol (X1) that covers their manual-only speedlights, TTL speedlights, bare bulb flashes (manual or TTL), and studio strobes (manual or TTL).¹ Also note that though the transmitters come in Nikon/Canon/Sony/etc. "flavors" because the pins must line up with the pin patterns on the camera's hot shoe, Godox receivers in many of their flashes can auto-switch between Nikon/Canon/Sony/etc. versions of the Godox X1 transmitter. Godox receivers with a hot shoe that attach to the hot foot of a TTl flash are similarly limited by the pin pattern, but they can all manually "fire" anything with a PC port via the PC connection on the receiver. The Godox protocols are also used by several other "branding labels" of gear made by Godox. The most notable is Adorama's Flashpoint nameplate that is made by Godox and is fully cross compatible with Godox gear. There are others, both in the U.S, and in other countries.

The Canon RT system only covers Canon RT speedlights and their third party clones. The Elinchrom system is limited to Elinchrom strobes, all of which seem to be studio monolights. Different Elinchrom "flavors" may or may not be compatible with each other.

Also note that flashes, transmitters, and receivers that use one of Yongnuo's other protocols (YN560/RF605/RF603 and YN622) are not compatible with Yongnuo's RT clones. Yongnuo's RT clones do work with Canon's RT devices and should work with other third party RT devices since they're all reverse engineered to be compatible with Canon's RT devices, although there are some reports that this is not always the case with other third party RT clones.

_{¹ Godox did use a couple of earlier protocols before rolling out the 2.4 GHz X1 system several years ago. They used other lower frequency radio bands, though, so it's easier to tell them apart. If it is not 2.4 GHz, it's not X1 compatible.}

Answer 2

I'm searching for a universal wireless radio transmitter that can trigger all these different branded studio strobes and flashes from a Canon 6D camera.

There is no such beast, if you want full function (TTL/HSS from the speedlights, and remote power control over everything). You either have to go with a manual-only trigger setup and give up power control, or "stack" triggers (i.e., put the transmitter for one system on a receiver of the other).

This is why Profoto, Phottix, Godox, Jinbei, etc. are moving to systems that include speedlights and studio strobes with an integrated built-in radio triggering system. But the huge drawback is that you have to get everything in that specific system, so the radio communication protocols match.

Phottix and Jinbei, however, do make studio strobe triggering systems that are compatible with Canon's RT system. But AFAIK, the Jinbei system's RT cloning is not compatible with Yongnuo's RT cloning.

If you don't need remote power control over the Elinchroms, I'd say trade in the Yongnuo RT gear for Godox TT685-C/V860II-C speedlights and a Flashpoint R2 Pro II Canon transmitter, which also works with the AD200. Then cable some Godox X1R-C receivers to the Elinchroms. This would let you sync everything together, and you'd maintain TTL/HSS/remote power control over the speedlights and AD200.

You will be missing remote wake-up, shutter release from the camera hotshoe/flash, and being able to use a single unit as both camera shutter receiver and flash transmitter in moving to Godox from Yongnuo, but being able to integrate the Godox AD200 and speedlights into the system may be worth it.