Is the Canon ST-E3-RT (Ver. 3) as bad as the reviews?

[jcass]

I've done some research and I'm hesitant to spend $$$ on a Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT (Ver. 3) given the reviews on B&H and Adorama. On the other hand, I'm also concerned that the Godox will not work with my Canon EL-5 speedlight with because of the new hotshoe design. So, I have two questions for folks with flash trigger knowledge and experience:

1. Is the ST-E3-RT as bad as the reviews in a WiFi environment?
2. Does the EL-5 work well on a Godox X1R-C TTL wireless receiver?

Here is my gear...

• R5 II
• 600EX-RT
• EL-5

My use cases:

• Outdoor portraits (not studio)
• Macro - main flash with a fill or backlight and would also like to focus stack if possible
• Landscape with off-camera fill lights

 

[Archibald]

My goodness, complicated.

I don't know much about the flash devices you mention, but your setup looks unwieldy.

No going back now I guess, but I would use a Godox speedlight in the hotshoe, and a Godox off-camera flash (AD200 for instance) in a softbox for off-camera use. Trigger it with the Godox X3 trigger - or use the Godox speedlight to trigger it.

Instead of the AD200, you could also use a speedlight in the softbox, but the light will be wimpy.

Your 600EX will work great for on-camera macro work. Make yourself a lens-mounted diffuser, and direct the flash onto that diffuser. It will help to use a snoot that is reflective on the inside. Extend it from the flash to the top of the diffuser. There are lots of designs and most of them work great.

The issues will be with off-camera use. Optical triggering is not reliable. Radio triggering is what you want to do. You are married to the Canon system, so the choices are limited.