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Hi: I second shot a wedding reception last Saturday and my on-camera Canon Speedlite 600EX flash (on a Canon 5DM3) was triggering the lead photographer's two Godox off camera flashes (she had a Nikon camera -- not sure of the details of the lead's flash set-up).

The back-story: I had one off-camera flash and noticed I was triggering the lead's flashes but not the other way around. I tried various settings (ETTL, manual, optical, radio, different channels, etc.) just to experiment. Nothing worked. I finally took my off-camera flash down and off entirely.

My on-camera flash still triggered the lead's Godox system. I have no idea how this is possible because it was strictly on camera flash only in manual mode.

Does anyone ever experience this? What did I miss?

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  • Even when using a 600EX-RT on camera in manual mode, it still may be set to send a radio "fire" signal. Godox receivers can be set to fire on both Canon and Nikon radio/optical protocols. Some wedding shooters use them specifically so that more than one photographer with different systems can share the same off camera flashes.
    – Michael C
    May 14, 2019 at 9:23

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The reason you were triggering the other flashes is that the other photographer is a rookie.

She was probably using the flashes as optical slaves... bad decision.

Even if she was using a radio signal she could easily set up a different radio frequency.

It is a rookie mistake leaving the flashes as the frequency 1. Because most likely other nonprofessional photographers that happen to use the same system will not change the frequency.

Even if your flash is sending more radio signals than a neutron star... the professional thing to do, if she noticed that the flashes have been triggered by someone else is talking to the other photographers, especially if you are the second aboard.

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  • Some Godox receivers can be set to fire on both Canon and Nikon radio protocols using Godox transmitters. Some wedding shooters use them specifically so that more than one photographer with different systems can share the same off camera flashes. Since the second was not using a Godox radio transmitter, the primary may have intended for the second to be able to share the off camera flashes and thus set them to be optically triggered. But you're probably correct that it was an unintended consequence of using "dumb" optical slave mode.
    – Michael C
    May 14, 2019 at 9:27

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