yo, congrats on the R6 Mark II, it's literally such a beast of a camera. I moved to the RF system last year and honestly, I was worried about the flash compatibility too. For your situation, I would suggest going the Godox route if ur trying to save some serious money. Basically, the Canon Speedlite EL-5 is great but it's like $400, which is kinda wild when u can get the Godox V860III-C Speedlight for around $230. I've been using the V860III for my event gigs and it hasn't missed a beat. The TTL is super accurate and HSS works perfectly for those bright outdoor portrait sessions. The battery life on the V860 series is also lowkey insane compared to AA batteries. For a trigger, I highly recommend the Godox XProII-C TTL Wireless Flash Trigger. It’s usually about $90 and it feels way more intuitive than the older models. I havent had any glitching at all on my R6, so the communication seems solid. Plus, if u ever wanna upgrade to a bigger strobe like the Godox AD200Pro TTL Pocket Flash (which is amazing for outdoor stuff and costs about $350), it all works on the same system. Idk, i think the value prop for Godox is just too good to ignore compared to the native Canon stuff. Ur basically getting like 95% of the performance for half the price lol. Anyway, hope that helps u decide! cheers

Totally agree with the above! Godox is seriously hard to beat for the price point. If you want a solid setup without spending thousands, look at the Godox V860III-C Flash for Canon. It has a lithium battery that lasts forever compared to AA's, which is literally a lifesaver for long events. Plus, the Godox X3-C Wireless Flash Trigger is super compact and looks great on mirrorless bodies. Quick tip tho: since the R6II has that new multi-function shoe, you should probably grab the Canon AD-E1 Multi-Function Shoe Adapter. It basically ensures that the third-party pins make a perfect connection and keeps everything weather-sealed. It's a small investment that prevents a lot of weird TTL glitches I've seen people run into! gl!

Just catching up on this thread and honestly... the struggle is so real. I've been shooting Canon for decades and this transition to the RF multi-function shoe has been one of the most annoying hurdles. It's not just about the mount; it's the way the pins communicate now. If you dont have everything perfectly lined up, the TTL just flakes out at the worst possible moments during a shoot. I've spent way too much time comparing these systems and they all have their own sets of headaches:

• The Profoto A10 AirTTL-C is a powerhouse, but paying that much just to get reliable HSS feels like a kick in the teeth.
• I tried the Westcott FJ80 II Speedlight because of the universal compatibility, but even with the Westcott FJ-X3m Universal Wireless Flash Trigger, I still get nervous about the physical connection on the R6 II shoe.
• Even moving to the high-end Canon Speedlite EL-1 meant dealing with a massive price jump just to avoid using adapters. It really feels like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place where you either pay the Canon tax or spend your weekends troubleshooting firmware. It's totally okay to feel overwhelmed because, frankly, the industry hasn't made this swap easy for us veterans at all. You're definitely not alone in being annoyed by it.

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Gonna try this over the weekend. Will report back if it works!

sooo, I saw this earlier and literally had to chime in because the technical jump to the RF system is honestly huge! The R6 Mark II is fantastic, but the way it talks to flashes via that new multi-function shoe is totally different from the old DSLR days. Technically, you're dealing with a much faster data bus now... which is why some folks see 'glitching' when using older third-party stuff that hasn't had the firmware updated for the newer R-series protocols. In my experience, you can definitely get away with non-Canon brands for TTL and HSS, but the reliability often depends on how you're using them. I've been using a third-party setup for about two years now and it's mostly great, but I did have to learn some workarounds for the way mirrorless cameras handle pre-flash and exposure simulation. I mean, the sync speed is one thing, but getting the AF assist beam to work is a whole other story with mirrorless sensors!! To give you a really precise recommendation tho, I need to know a couple things:
- Are you planning on doing mostly on-camera bounce for the events, or are you looking for a system that can manage like 3 or 4 lights at once for those outdoor portraits?
- Do you tend to shoot in high-speed burst mode (like 12+ fps) while using flash? Basically, the R6 II can fire faster than most flashes can recycle, so knowing your pace helps. If you're doing heavy HSS outdoors in the sun, that also changes the power requirements big time. Let me know your workflow and I'll break down the technical specs of the kit I'm currently running! 👍

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