Got a 7D coming. Radiopopper question

[wondershots]

Well, I finally have a Canon 7D coming. Arrives on 3/23. I can't wait!

I see that the popup flash can control Canon flashes. I have the original radio poppers and they work great with the ST-E2. So the obvious question is, is there a way to attach the Radio Popper transmitter to the 7D popup flash? Does it even work? I'd be interested to see if anyone has tried it and what the result was.

[PeteQ]

The PX mounts that the Nikon pop-up folks use sit in the hot shoe but when you put anything in the hot shoe on the 7D there is a pin that gets depressed and disables the pop-up flash thereby preventing the Radiopopper transmitter from doing it's job. I have heard you can do a bit of trimming with a blade to the current mount and make it work but that is more of a diy thing and since I haven't done it myself I cannot speak to what is involved. If I had a 7D I know I would break out a dremel and give it a go on the plastic mount!

Actually, I should be able to give more info next week as I will be playing with this very set-up...

[wondershots]

Cool. Thanks Pete.

Originally Posted by PeteQ

The PX mounts that the Nikon pop-up folks use sit in the hot shoe but when you put anything in the hot shoe on the 7D there is a pin that gets depressed and disables the pop-up flash thereby preventing the Radiopopper transmitter from doing it's job. I have heard you can do a bit of trimming with a blade to the current mount and make it work but that is more of a diy thing and since I haven't done it myself I cannot speak to what is involved. If I had a 7D I know I would break out a dremel and give it a go on the plastic mount!

Actually, I should be able to give more info next week as I will be playing with this very set-up...

[MyKey]

Great timing on this question as I just purchased several 7D's for the business and I have been playing around with the RadioPopper PopUp mounts to work with them.

The issue lies within the hotshoe, if you look on the right side of the hotshoe (lens pointing away from you) you will see the metal hotshoe itself with a ramp pushing upward that when something is mounted in the hotshoe gets pushed down. When this happens you will see a small little pin (7D it is on the right side) that gets pushed down that de-activates the pop up flash.

So now knowing what needs to be done or more to the point not be done (the pin pushed down) you have to thin out the right "claw" of the RadioPopper mount.

I first clipped it off and while it worked it needs to be almost perfect cut or if you go to deep you will make the mount useless as it will fall out of the hotshoe.

So then I took a sharp knife and thinned out the mount which worked, so the next I used a drimmle tool to smooth out the plastic.

You MUST NOT thin down the other side (left side) of the pop up mount, or the mount will push down on the pin. If this does happen just put some tape around the center to keep the mount high and the plastic off the ramp and pin.

Do this and it works great, the 7D has 5 full stops up and down (+5 -5) for the first time in a Canon camera so having the pop up mount work with the RadioPopper is a powerful tool.

Hope it helps and I will post pictures later if you need more help. I am on my way to teach 5 day class at Triangle School on Wireless Flash Methods (I have Pete coming down to assist us with the class - hence why he said he would be playing with the set up) then directly down to AfterDark-Miami so I wont be back for about 10 days. However the studio is open and I will answer PM's and Emails when I can so please feel free to ask away!

Congrats on the purchase the 7D is an amazing camera for Off Camera Shooters like myself!

[wondershots]

Mike,

Thanks for the detailed response! I wasn't even thinking about the RP popup mounts. I have the 1st gen RP's and I guess I was thinking that maybe it was possible to get them to work by attaching the transmitter to the popup with some gaffer tape. Probably not the most elegant solution, if it even works.

Guess it's time for me to upgrade my Radiopoppers. Probably won't sell my ST-E2 either.

Originally Posted by MyKey

Great timing on this question as I just purchased several 7D's for the business and I have been playing around with the RadioPopper PopUp mounts to work with them.

The issue lies within the hotshoe, if you look on the right side of the hotshoe (lens pointing away from you) you will see the metal hotshoe itself with a ramp pushing upward that when something is mounted in the hotshoe gets pushed down. When this happens you will see a small little pin (7D it is on the right side) that gets pushed down that de-activates the pop up flash.

So now knowing what needs to be done or more to the point not be done (the pin pushed down) you have to thin out the right "claw" of the RadioPopper mount.

I first clipped it off and while it worked it needs to be almost perfect cut or if you go to deep you will make the mount useless as it will fall out of the hotshoe.

So then I took a sharp knife and thinned out the mount which worked, so the next I used a drimmle tool to smooth out the plastic.

You MUST NOT thin down the other side (left side) of the pop up mount, or the mount will push down on the pin. If this does happen just put some tape around the center to keep the mount high and the plastic off the ramp and pin.

Do this and it works great, the 7D has 5 full stops up and down (+5 -5) for the first time in a Canon camera so having the pop up mount work with the RadioPopper is a powerful tool.

Hope it helps and I will post pictures later if you need more help. I am on my way to teach 5 day class at Triangle School on Wireless Flash Methods (I have Pete coming down to assist us with the class - hence why he said he would be playing with the set up) then directly down to AfterDark-Miami so I wont be back for about 10 days. However the studio is open and I will answer PM's and Emails when I can so please feel free to ask away!

Congrats on the purchase the 7D is an amazing camera for Off Camera Shooters like myself!

[PeteQ]

Hey Jim,

I am assisting Mike and Cody with a course and they are going over some things about the 7D and Radiopopper use. Here are a couple of shots of the Radiopopper hotshoe mount that Mike has modified to work with the Canon 7D. The mount is upside down in the image and you can get an idea of what he had to shape to make it work. Mike will probably chime in later but this should give you an idea.

[wondershots]

Thanks Pete!

[PeteQ]

No problem Jim, but we are looking at a possible high speed sync issue on the 7D as it appears that the pop-up flash does not support HSS. That means you can't control remotes in HSS mode which may be an issue. We JUST found this and it's VERY PRELIMINARY AND WE ARE LOOKING IT OVER... More to come as we find out....

On edit: Yes, it appears high speed sync is not supported with the pop up flash as the master.

[wondershots]

That's sad. It's also sad that I'm finding out limitations of my new camera body before I even take one shot with it. :-(

Oh well, I'm sure I'm still going to be blown away by it in general.

[wondershots]

Funny, a google search on "Canon 7d wireless flash control radiopopper" and this thread that I started comes up first on the list. So, anyone using the pop-up flash control with 1st gen Radiopoppers?