Speedlight Compatibility Guide: Nikon and Canon Flash by Camera

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Flash compatibility is where secondhand gear shopping goes wrong quietly. A Speedlite or Speedlight can slide onto your hot shoe and still be missing the thing you bought it for: TTL metering, a wireless role, or a menu you can drive from the camera.

This guide covers Canon's 430EX II, 600EX II-RT, 320EX and 430EX III-RT, the EL-series flashes that appear in Canon's current compatibility table, and Nikon's SB-700, SB-800 and SB-5000. It is based on manufacturer specifications and documentation, not our own testing. Where a maker does not say something, we say so instead of guessing, and every output figure below is a manufacturer claim. For a wider look at what to buy, the best speedlights and external flashes guide is the companion piece.

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The three questions that decide everything

Before comparing guide numbers, answer these in order.

1. Is the flash from your camera's own system? Canon bodies speak E-TTL II, Nikon bodies speak i-TTL under its Creative Lighting System (CLS). Each is a maker's own protocol.
2. Does the foot match the shoe? Canon's recent bodies use a Multi-Function Shoe, and some flashes need an adapter to sit on it.
3. Does your shutter mode allow flash? Silent and electronic shutters change the answer, and the rule differs by brand and even by body.

Mixing Canon and Nikon: what the manuals actually say

Neither maker lists the other brand's flashes as supported, so the rules come from what each camera does with a flash outside its own system.

Nikon states that i-TTL flash control is not available with flash units that do not support CLS, though such a flash can still be used without i-TTL. Canon's manuals say flash photography is supported with its EL and EX series Speedlites; other Canon units fire at full output in the A-TTL and TTL modes, and non-Canon compact flashes sync at fixed maximum shutter speeds. On the EOS R3, for example, Canon's manual gives 1/200 s with the mechanical shutter, 1/250 s with electronic first-curtain and 1/180 s in electronic mode for non-Canon flashes.

In practice, a flash on a body from the other brand is a manual or basic sync flash: you set power on the flash itself and judge exposure with a test shot. If you need cross-brand TTL, that is a job for a third-party radio system. Godox, for one, sells its X2T trigger in separate versions per camera brand and tells buyers to pick the one that matches their camera. Our flash accessories, diffusers and triggers guide covers that side.

Canon: shoes, adapters and who needs what

Canon's EOS R, R5, R6 and R100 have a conventional hot shoe. The EOS R3, R7, R10, R6 Mark II, R8, R50, R5 Mark II, R1, R50 V and R6 Mark III have the Multi-Function Shoe, which Canon describes as 21 pins for compatible accessories and 5 pins for X-sync and communication.

Canon's manuals for these bodies state that the Speedlite EL-1, 600EX II-RT, 600EX-RT and 580EX II, the ST-E3-RT transmitter and the OC-E3 off-camera cord cannot mount directly on the Multi-Function Shoe. They need the Multi-Function Shoe Adapter AD-E1, sold separately. Canon's pages do not say why.

Check the Canon Multi-Function Shoe Adapter AD-E1 on Amazon.

Canon also publishes a compatible-flash table, dated September 2026. Condensed, it says:

Two things to take from it. The AD-E1 requirement for the 600EX II-RT applies to the R3, R7, R10, R6 Mark II, R8, R50, R5 Mark II, R1 and newer bodies such as the R50 V and R6 Mark III. And the 430EX II and 320EX do not appear in Canon's table at all, so "fits and works fully" is something Canon does not document for them. Canon's table and manuals do not cover the EOS R5 C, so check Canon's page for that body.

Canon flashes, one at a time

Speedlite 430EX II: the plain E-TTL workhorse

Canon's manual gives a guide number of 43 m (141 ft) at 105 mm, with coverage from 24 to 105 mm and a wide panel that takes it to 14 mm. Power is four AA batteries. It works as an optical slave only, with four channels and groups A, B and C, so a master has to reach it by light, not radio. High-speed sync is supported.

Its autofocus assist is an infrared beam. Canon's R-series manuals describe the Speedlite firing an intermittent AF-assist beam instead, and owners report that the infrared beam is not what you get on mirrorless bodies.

Check the Canon Speedlite 430EX II on Amazon.

Speedlite 600EX II-RT: radio and weather resistance

This is the flagship of the older generation: GN 60 m (197 ft) at 200 mm, 54 m at 105 mm and 15 m at 14 mm, with zoom coverage of 20 to 200 mm. Canon claims dust and water resistance equivalent to its EOS-1D series cameras, delivered by a rubber adapter at the foot.

Wireless is the reason to own one. Per Canon, radio runs on channels Auto and 1 to 15, with up to five groups and 15 units at roughly 30 m (98 ft) with no obstacles in the way. Its radio partners are the 600EX-RT, 430EX III-RT and the ST-E3-RT transmitter. Optical wireless uses four channels and groups A to C. It also works as a master or slave in both modes. Canon lists a bounce adapter, two colour filters and a mini stand in the box.

The catch on Multi-Function Shoe bodies is the AD-E1 covered above. As with any radio flash, test the link in the actual venue before an important job.

Check the Canon Speedlite 600EX II-RT on Amazon.

Speedlite 320EX: small, with a light attached

The 320EX is the odd one out. Canon rates it at GN 32 m (105 ft) at 50 mm and 24 m (79 ft) at 24 mm, and coverage is a manual switch between 24 and 50 mm. It bounces 90 degrees up, 180 degrees left and 90 degrees right, and works as an optical slave only (four channels, groups A to C). Canon's manual calls it a Type-A EOS flash, usable with E-TTL II and E-TTL cameras but not with film EOS TTL bodies. Manual flash power is set from the camera menu, not from the flash.

The built-in LED is rated at about 75 lux at 1 m. Canon's range table shows what that means at ISO 3200: roughly 4 m at f/1.4, 2 m at f/2.8, 1.4 m at f/4 and 1 m at f/5.6, for up to about 3.5 hours on alkaline cells. Treat it as a modeling and focus aid. For real continuous lighting, see our LED video lights and softbox kits guide, or the continuous LED versus speedlight comparison if you are deciding between the two approaches.

Check the Canon Speedlite 320EX on Amazon.

Speedlite 430EX III-RT: radio in a smaller body

The 430EX III-RT matches the 430EX II's GN 43 m (141 ft) at 105 mm and 24 to 105 mm coverage, adds radio sender and receiver duties plus an optical receiver, and bounces 90 degrees up, 150 degrees left and 180 degrees right. Radio reaches up to five groups and 15 units at about 30 m, per Canon. AF assist can be switched between a small-flash series and an infrared beam, recycle is 0.1 to 3.5 seconds, and it takes four AA batteries. The version without "-RT" has no radio.

Canon's table lists it as compatible with every body in it, with the single exception that the EOS R50 needs the AD-E1 even for this flash. Availability changes, so check the current listing.

Check the Canon Speedlite 430EX III-RT on Amazon.

The EL series: built for the Multi-Function Shoe

Canon's September 2026 table lists the EL-1, EL-1 Ver.2, EL-5, EL-5 Ver.2 and EL-10. Their appeal is a shoe designed for modern bodies; the price is that some of them do not fit older ones.

The EL-10 is the AA-battery mid-range model. Canon Asia gives GN 40 m (131.2 ft) at 105 mm, 24 to 105 mm zoom (14 mm with the wide panel), output from 1/1 down to 1/1024, and radio control of up to 15 receivers in five groups. It is for Multi-Function Shoe bodies only, and Canon's table marks it not compatible with the EOS R5, R6, R100 and the Kiss M2 and M50 II.

The EL-5 reaches GN 60 m (196.9 ft) at 200 mm with 24 to 200 mm coverage, runs on an LP-EL lithium-ion pack and controls 15 receivers in five groups. It carries the same compatibility warning as the EL-10, and Canon's table lists it at firmware 1.1.0 or later. The EL-1 Ver.2 is rated at GN 58 m at 200 mm, runs on the LP-EL pack only (no AA option), and needs the AD-E1 on Multi-Function Shoe bodies, just like the 600EX II-RT. Canon's table also lists an EL-5 Ver.2; see Canon's own page for its specifications.

Check the Canon Speedlite EL-10 on Amazon.

Nikon: i-TTL, CLS and the Z-series menu

Nikon's side is less about adapters and more about software. Every flash here fits the standard hot shoe, and the question is what the camera lets you control.

The key fact for Z-series owners: Nikon's Z8 and Z9 manuals say unified flash control, where you set flash control mode and output level in the camera's photo shooting menu under Flash control, works with the SB-5000, SB-500, SB-400 and SB-300. Settings for any other flash can only be changed with the flash's own controls. So a greyed-out or missing flash menu with an SB-700 or SB-800 mounted is expected behaviour, not a fault.

Speedlight SB-700: the tidy mid-range choice

Nikon's manual gives GN 28 m (92 ft) at ISO 100 and 39 m (128 ft) at ISO 200 with the head at 35 mm, FX format, standard pattern. Coverage is 24 to 120 mm on FX, with a wide panel taking it to 12, 14 or 17 mm depending on format, and three illumination patterns. It offers i-TTL, distance-priority manual and manual modes and runs on four AA batteries.

Wireless is optical only. As a master it controls two groups (A and B) on four channels; as a remote it can serve up to three groups, and it supports SU-4 remote mode. The manual lists CLS compatibility for FX and DX digital SLRs except the D1 series and D100, plus the F6 and some COOLPIX models. On Z cameras, Nikon's Z9 flash page lists it as CLS-compatible with i-TTL and high-speed sync, but without unified control.

One behaviour worth knowing before a long session: the SB-700 has a thermal cut-out. Nikon says recycle time stretches by up to 15 seconds, and after that all operations are suspended until the unit cools.

Check the Nikon SB-700 on Amazon.

Speedlight SB-800: the backward-compatible veteran

The SB-800 covers more protocols than any other flash in this guide. Nikon's manual lists i-TTL for CLS cameras (the D3, D2 series, D300, D200, D80, D70, D60, D50, D40 and F6 among them), D-TTL for the D1 series and D100 only, and film TTL for the F5, F100, F90X, N80, N75, N65 and FM3A, as well as auto aperture, non-TTL auto, distance-priority manual, manual and repeating flash. Note that the D2 series belongs under i-TTL, not D-TTL.

Output is GN 38 m (125 ft) at 35 mm and 56 m (184 ft) at 105 mm, with a 24 to 105 mm zoom. A Diffusion Dome gives 14 mm. It acts as an optical master or remote with SU-4 type wireless, three groups (A, B, C) and four channels. On Z cameras it is listed with i-TTL and master or remote use, but no unified control. Nikon's manual for the later SB-900 and SB-910 shows no D-TTL or film TTL modes, which is what makes the SB-800 the bridge to older bodies. Nikon USA lists the SB-800 in its product archive.

If you see small flashes just before the main one, that is the preflash side of i-TTL metering; Nikon's manual lists monitor preflashes in its flash modes. Whether switching to non-TTL auto or manual removes them is not something Nikon states, so try it on your own setup.

Check the Nikon SB-800 on Amazon.

Speedlight SB-5000: radio for the Z era

The SB-5000 is the Nikon with radio. Nikon's manual gives GN 34.5 m (113 ft) at 35 mm FX and 55 m (180 ft) at 200 mm, with a 24 to 200 mm zoom and 14 mm with the wide panel. Radio range is about 30 m (98 ft), with six groups plus a master, and Nikon's pages describe up to 18 remote units. Optical works too, as a master with three groups. Radio remote operation needs a compatible camera plus a WR-R10 radio controller; Nikon's Z9 manual lists the WR-R10 and WR-R11a for Z bodies.

Stock changes, so check the current listing.

Check the Nikon SB-5000 on Amazon.

The rest of the Nikon line

The SB-910 and SB-900 manuals list the same CLS-compatible cameras as the SB-700 and document a thermal cut-out. The SU-800 is a master-only commander that controls three groups of SB-5000, SB-910, SB-900, SB-800, SB-700, SB-600, SB-500 and SB-R200 units.

Shutter modes: when the flash will not fire

A flash that sits dead on a mirrorless body is more often a shutter setting than a hardware fault. The details differ, so check your own manual.

Nikon: the Z9 manual says flash cannot be combined with silent mode, video recording, high-speed frame capture+ or HDR overlay. Turn those off before blaming the flash.

Canon: the answer depends on the body. The EOS R8 manual says flash photography is possible with electronic first-curtain (X-sync 1/200 s) and disabled with the fully electronic shutter, and it tells you to set the shutter mode to Elec. 1st-curtain. The EOS R6 Mark II specification table lists X-sync only for the mechanical shutter (1/200 s) and electronic first-curtain (1/250 s). The EOS R3 manual, as noted earlier, gives a slower sync speed for electronic mode with non-Canon flashes.

Electronic shutter modes are the first thing to check, and each maker's rule is its own.

Which one for which situation

On Canon, the 430EX II is the simple E-TTL fit for conventional-shoe bodies, though Canon's table does not list it. The 430EX III-RT adds radio with fewer adapter worries than the 600EX II-RT, and the EL series is built for the Multi-Function Shoe, as long as your body is not on its not-compatible list. On Nikon, the SB-700 is the straightforward optical choice, the SB-5000, SB-500, SB-400 and SB-300 are the ones you can set from a Z camera's menu, and the SB-800 is the bridge to D-TTL and film bodies.

For shaping the light, our guides on reflectors and diffusers and softbox versus umbrella modifiers pick up where compatibility stops.

Frequently asked questions