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I have two groups of Yongnuo flashes, the YN-560 IV, a YN-560-TX controller, a RF-605C wireless flash trigger transceiver, and a Sony A7R.

Group A contains the main light (two or three YN-560 IVs), while Group B contains a back light (one YN-560 IV). An RF-605 transceiver is attached to the hotshoe of the camera and a shutter release cable to the camera's S2 connector. The RF-605 is set to TX mode.

When I push the button of the shutter cable all flashes fire, regardless of what grouping is preset on the transceiver. Even if detached from the hot shoe, the transceiver fires all flashes in all groups.

Controlling the power and zoom parameters of the groups works as expected, but firing does not.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Are they set to be triggered by IR vs Radio? \$\endgroup\$
    – dpollitt
    Commented Dec 28, 2015 at 20:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ Just for clarity--are you using the YN-560-TX as an in-hand shutter remote/transmitter, and the RF-605 on-camera as a shutter-release receiver, cabled to the camera's cable release port? On the YN-560-TX have you turned off the group you don't want firing? What "transceiver"(YN-560-TX or RF-605?) is firing all flashes in all groups. And why aren't you using the YN-560-TX on the camera hotshoe? \$\endgroup\$
    – inkista
    Commented Dec 28, 2015 at 20:48
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    \$\begingroup\$ >the transceiver fires all flashes in all groups. Controlling the parameters power and zoom of the groups works as expected, but firing does not. Is not firing all flashes the expected behaviour? You have groups to set power, not timing. I'm posting this as an option, becouse I understand you want "consecutive shoots" One option is that you use bulb and firing them in manual mode. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rafael
    Commented Dec 28, 2015 at 21:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ When you say "regardless of what grouping is preset"--do you mean you have Group A set to M and Group B set to --, or something else? \$\endgroup\$
    – inkista
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 0:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ @inkista 1. I use the YN-560-TX only to set poweerr and zoom. I use a cable to release the shutter. 2. If I set it like A to M and b to -- it works, but I have to set A to -- and B to M for the second shot. This is what I wanted to avoid, by setting the 605 for the first shot to A and the second shot to B, but this does not work. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerrit Schulze
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 21:31

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With remote flash, groups are used to have separate power settings for each group (e.g., Group A shoots at full power, while Group B shoots at 1/2 power, to have 1:2 ratios between your key and fill, etc.), not for separate firing. To switch which lights are firing, you have to manually turn groups on and off between shots.

I'd recommend using the YN-560-TX on-camera on the hotshoe, because it has the easiest interface to manipulate the group settings. As you cycle through the Mode for each group with the MODE button, it will go through M, MULTI, and --. -- means the group is turned off. To alternate between group A and B, you'd have to set Group A to M and Group B to -- for the first shot, and then Group A to -- and Group B to M for the second.

You can use the cable with the YN-560-TX on the camera's hotshoe, and then use the RF-605 in-hand as your remote, if you don't want to use the camera shutter button. The YN-560-TX can be a receiver for the shutter, while simultaneously being a transmitter for the flashes.

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Addendum: The RF-605 should work the way you're envisioning: i.e., if the icon is on/off for the group on the TX-mode 605 on camera, then only those groups should fire, however, in a Flickr discussion thread, someone posted an email from Yongnuo where they state the grouping function on early copies (pre-Nov 2014) of the triggers doesn't work.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for your answer and I will mark your answer as most helpful. This works and it is the way I do it since I asked the question. However, I have read that apart from grouping flashes to adjust power, it should be possible to fire groups separately with the RF-605 with the buttons A/D B/E C/F. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerrit Schulze
    Commented Dec 29, 2015 at 22:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @GerritSchulze Thanks. I updated my answer with a Flickr thread post I found. May not apply to your triggers. Not sure where the datecode sticker is on the RF-605s--probably the battery compartment. \$\endgroup\$
    – inkista
    Commented Dec 30, 2015 at 1:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for the update. I was stumbling upon the same sentence in the manual of the RF605 and thought this applies to me. However in the meantime I worked out a solution and I don't think, the limitation mentioned in the Flickr thread post applies to my triggers: I need to put an extra RF605 under each flash YN560-IV (even though it has a remote built-in), set all RF605s to TRX and activate the icon for the group they belong to. The on-camera RF605 has to be set to the group A for the first shot and then to B for the second shot. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gerrit Schulze
    Commented Dec 31, 2015 at 10:24

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