Yongnuo RF-603 N3 2.4GHz Wireless Flash Trigger/Wireless Shutter Release Transceiver Kit for Nikon D90/D3100/D5000/D7000

by Yongnuo

• Works as a wireless shutter release control to trigger your camera
• Transceiver System - works as a wireless flash trigger and receiver
• Each RF-603 is designed to work as trigger and as receiver
• Compatible with Nikon D90/D3100/D5000/D7000 Series cameras for shutter release control
• Includes (2) RF-603 transceivers (1) N3 shutter release cord

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 1.5 inches ; 7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B004YW79F4
• Item model number: RF-603N3
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (151 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 2, 2011

Product Description

The brand new RF-603 is a remote shutter release as well as a multi-functional radio flash trigger which can synchronously trigger flashes and studio strobes. Through the transceiver based system each item can be used flexibly as a trigger or a receiver. Only 2 AAA batteries are required as power source for each item. The 2.4GHz wireless frequency is suitable in most countries and guarantees high speed, distance and stability. Within capacious areas, the remote control distance may reach to 100m. The synchronization speed can reach to 1/320, depending on the situation it may reach to 1/250 or less. A set consist of 2 equal transceivers. Both of them can be a receiver as well as transmitter. It can trigger 1 flash with one set, since one serves as trigger and one as receiver. You can also buy additional transceivers to trigger 2 or more flashes at the same time. Includes (2) RF-603 transceivers (1) N3 shutter release cord

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 106 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent May 5, 2011

By R. R. Garcia

Amazon Verified Purchase

Let me start by saying that this product works just like the manufacturer says it does.

This is an affordable solution for those of you looking to trigger your camera remotely using a radio transmitter or fire off strobes, speedlights and/or flashes with a wireless transmitter.

This units a transceivers, which means they can act as transmitter or receiver.

One thing to keep in mind. I have tested this using a Nikon D7000 and a Nikon D90. I tested each camera independently with the following speedlights: Nikon SB-700, SB-800, SB-900. The speedlights fired every time. I also fired the camera remotely using the same setup.

I put one on the hot-shoe in the camera and another in the speedlight as normal. The funny thing is that if you connect the supplied wire from the camera to the transceiver when you press the shutter in the camera it fires the speedlight and vice versa. When you press the test button in the transceiver attached to the speedlight it fires the camera and the speedlight, you can't ask for more on this price range.

This setup is not TTL. You have no wireless control about the speedlight power from the camera. You have to set your speedlight to manual mode and adjust the power setting to whatever you need. This will fire the speedlight in sync to the highest sync speed of your camera. In the Nikon D7000 is 1/250, faster than that and you will get the expected black bar on the bottom of the frame if you are framed horizontally. That also means, of course, that it doesn't support FP High Speed Sync. All things I can live with because when I need one I typically don't need the other. I am still using the Nikon CLS but its nice to have this kind of range and capability if you need it for this price.

If you absolutely need this feature, go see Pocket Wizard they have your solution for $219-$199 a pop.

I got six of this puppies for all my speedlights and both my cameras. You can't beat it for the price.

If you are contemplating the possibility of buying one, go right ahead, you won't feel bad about it.

This is an awesome price for these capabilities. You have a PC connection and that gives you extra flexibility in case you want to hook them up to a strobe.

April 27, 2012 Update.
Hello all, this is an update to add a few things. These transceivers are still working great.

I have purchased the more advanced Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 flash triggers to my bag-o-tricks. I purchased three of them for now. I am not writing this here to brag but to tell you how you can still use these Yongnuo RF-603's along with the PW stuff.

**Why in the world would he want to do that? I know right, crazy talk? Keep reading!**

The PW Flex TT5 system has a drawback that has been well identified through out the several training videos in their website and others. The Flex system is not able to trigger the camera remotely while maintaining TTL communication between camera and flashes faster than one frame every two seconds. That may not be a problem for most people but I always try to work around tech problems even if they don't affect me now that way I have an answer for when it bites me in the future.

The way I did it was assembling the PW with camera and flashes as PW recommends and then when all of that was done and all gizmos were talking to each other I proceeded to hook up the Yongnuo receiver to the camera via the GPS port as usual. I left it dangling from the camera and used another Yongnuo transceiver to trigger. It worked flawlessly. It was triggering as fast as I wanted with no noticeable delays. Notice that I never hooked up the Yongnuo gear with the PW gear. They only way the Yongnuo transceiver is hooked up to the camera is by the N3 cable as recommended by Yongnuo. This way you have radio TTL remote flash triggering along with radio camera triggering.

Anyone worried about RF interference? Its a valid concern. I looked at both operating frequencies and the PW (FCC- USA Version) operates between 340-354 MHz, the Yongnuo RF-603 operates at 2.4 GHz. The amount of space in the RF spectrum is so far apart that unless the devices are physically touching each other, there should not be any interference or frequency drift. (This is my opinion and experience, this information has not been professionally tested in a lab under controlled conditons).

Benefits from this setup:
-Mainly, NO delay between shutter press and camera triggering.
-Radio triggering on both systems, no line of sight issues.
-You leave camera in tripod and flashes in light stands and keep your Yongnuo trigger in your hand while working in a studio or on location. It also means that you don't have to buy an expensive PW radio to just trigger your camera.
-If you drop your Yongnuo trigger and it breaks is about $37 for a pair as opposed to $200 or so for a PW Flex.

I tried this setup with a Nikon D700 and Nikon D7000 along side my speed lights: SB-700, SB-800 and SB-900. I also own Yongnuo YN-560 flashes (about $65 each) and I use them as kickers and trigger them with the built in optical slave. Yes, while all the Nikon flashes fire in TTL. The Yongnuo flashes have two modes for optical (main flash, and M2 where the flash ignores the TTL pre-flash).

Now, this is what I call harmony across my entire camera bag. I don't like bickering inside the camera bag while I sleep at night.

Jan 8, 2013 Update.
Works with the Nikon D600 too.

Enjoy,
Rob

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great trigger due to price, size, and type of battery required. June 14, 2011

By R. M. Watt

Amazon Verified Purchase

Rob's review above is great but there are a couple of things I would like to add. The on/off switch is located in a bad position. It is located too near the hot shoe and necessitates that you turn the unit on before you mount a flash on it or use a key or other convenient object to reach the switch. You can bet your last dollar any new triggers made by Yongnuo will have the switch located on the side. This is a minor annoyance and shouldn't cause anyone not to purchase these triggers. On the plus side of things, these are fairly small, so I keep some attached to my flash at all times and a couple more in my shirt pocket. Another plus is that they use readily available AAA batteries. This is great in that some triggers use hard to find "non standard" batteries that are expensive. I have lots of charged Eneloops that I keep in a holder in my camera bag so I don't have to worry with buying batteries for the triggers all the time.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars SUPERB for setting up a home photo studio - HIGHLY RECOMMEND November 22, 2011

By Tech Sage

Amazon Verified Purchase

After much research including into expensive options such as Pocket Wizard, decided to give these affordable trigger units a try. Bought two for a simple home photo studio off-camera flash use - one unit on camera and one unit for flash. Units worked right out of the box with the default code set inside. The units performed so well (had only one miss over the course of several days) that I went ahead and procured two more so I can have two off-camera flashes. The battery life on the units units appear to be very good. My setup is around a Nikon D3100:

Camera: Nikon D3100 (set in Manual mode with A=f7.1 and S=1/200)
Flash units (2): Yongnuo YN560 (power level setup - 50)
Wireless flash trigger units (3): Youngnuo RF-603 (1 on camera and 2 for the flashes)
Hotshoe and Umbrella adapters (2): Calumet
Umbrella and background stand kit: Cowboy Studio

With the exception of the D3100, all the other parts in the above list were ordered from Amazon.

To be clear, these units DO NOT SUPPORT TTL, if that is important for your use. I set my flashes to Manual mode and played around with the power output levels to get the right expsoure for a f7.1/200 setting on the D3100. Mighty pleased with the picture quality. I have now added Umbrellas over my flashes to get even better lighting and completly eliminate shadows.

I would highly recommend this product - along with the companion YN-560 flashes from the same manufacturer - for any amateur photographer desiring to setup a decent home photo studio on a small budget (TOTAL COST excluding the D3100 of course ~$550.00).

Gave it 4 stars only because of the positioning of the on/off switch - which is difficult to access when flash is mounted on the unit. This is more a nuisance than a problem.