Parts List

15
1.Power-on and Power-off
Set the power switch to [ON] position, the
speedlite will turn on and start charging. After
turned on, the [Charging Indicator] will bright
with red light which indicates it can flash.
If the battery is low, and the speedlite cannot
be fully charged in 25s, the <Charging
Indicator> will bright with blue light, the LCD screen shows low-battery
icon, and the speedlite will shut down automatically. At this moment,
please change batteries.
2.Key Lock Function
Slide [Power Switch] to <LOCK> position, the
[ ]and buttons of speedlite will be locked.
This function prevents the selected
parameters from being changed accidentally.
3.Test Flash
When the charging indicator turns red,
pressing [ ] button to test if the flash is
normal or not.
4.ETTL Mode
Short press [MODE] button to set the flash
mode as ETTL mode. In ETTL mode, the light
measuring system of the camera can detect
the flash lighting reflected from the subject,
adjust the flash output amount automatically
and makes the subject and the background
expose evenly. YN686EX-RT supports FEC, FEB, high-speed sync,
second-curtain sync, exposure lock, aperture preview, menu access of
Canon camera, etc.
In ETTL mode, the flash intensity can be compensated. The
compensation range is -3EV~+3EV; the accuracy is 1/3EV or 1/2EV.
5.M Mode
Short press [MODE] button to set the flash
mode as M mode. In M mode, the flash
intensity can be asjusted according to your
own need. By short presssing functional
button [ ], after <Flash Output> is
highlighted, the flash output power can be
adjusted when you rotate [ ]. Adjustement
range of flash output in M mode is 1/128~1/1.
The output can be divided into 8 grades.
Each grade has maximum 3 grades for find
adjustment. With 1/3EV as adjustment
increment, there are totally 22 grades for fine
adjustment. In shooting, you just need to set flash output, adjust the
camera and press camera shutter, the flash fires when it receives sync
signal from the camera.
6.Multi (Stroboscopic) Mode
Short press [MODE] button to set the flash
mode as Multi (stroboscopic) mode. In Multi
mode, the speedlite fires according to the
selected flash output, flash frequency and
number of flashes. The setting method of
flash output is same as setting method in M
mode. The flash output range is
1/128-1/64-1/32-1/16-1/8-1/4. Select number
of flashes through functional button [ ]
and select flash frequency through [ ]
button. Enter into parameter setting status
and rotate [ ] to adjust number of flashes
and flash frequency. The range of number of flashes is 1~100; the range
of flash frequency is 1~100.
When the overheat warning appears,the recycling time may be increased.
When the overheat warning appears,please lower flash rate or output level
appropriately.
When you take out the batteries after sequential flash,please be careful that
the batteries are very hot.
7.ZOOM: Setting Flash Range
Automatically zooming: Short press [
] button, wait for the focal length value
highlighted on the LCD screen and adjust the
coverage range through [ ]. When < >
displays at the left side of <ZOOM> button,
put the speedlite on the camera, the flash
light cup will move back and forth along with the change of the focal
length of the lens to fit different flash coverage range (Defaults to
35mm).
Manually Set the zooming position: Press[ ] button to select
focal length value, and adjust the focal length value with [ ] button.
When < > displays at the left side of [ZOOM] icon, the flash coverage
(24, 28, 35, 50, 70, 80, 105，200mm) can be manually adjusted.
8.Camera Menu (Supports newer versions of Canon
cameras only)
For the newer versions of Canon cameras which supports ETTL,you can
operate the flash through the camera menu.On the Flash Control
Menu,you can set relevant parameters of the flash through “External
flash func. Settings” or “External Flash C.Fn settings” ,for
example,ETTL switching mode,M mode,MULTI mode,Gr mode,Wireless
Flash mode,Synchronization method, Exposure bracketing,Exposure
compensation ,zoom and self-defined functions.
9.AF -Assist Beam
When it is difficult to autofocus on the subject
in low-light or low-contrast shooting
environment,the flash will activate the built-in
AF-Assist Beam to help autofocus,the
AF-Assist Beam can be set to be enable or
disable.
10.Modeling Flash
When the camera’ s depth-of-field preview button is pressed,the flash
fires continuously for approx.1 second,this feature is called “Modeling
Flash” .For detailed operation,please refer to the user manual of the
camera.
11. Power Saving Mode
This product is designed with power saving
mode,and the power saving mode can be
achieved by setting self-defined function,for
detailed settings,please refer to subsequent
“Self-defined function setting” chapter.When
the power saving mode is on ,the flash will
keep idle for a while and go to sleep,in sleeping mode,the flash keeps
idle for a while and powers off automatically.
If the flash is in sleeping mode,you can half press the shutter of the
camera or press[ ]to wake up the flash.
12. Overheat Protection
Sequential flash causes the increase of the internal temperature of the
speedlite,when the temperature reaches to a certain amount,the
overheat warning appears.
If the speedlite is used too frequently,the
overheat protection will be triggered,and the
LCD screen shows the icon of <overheat
protection>,with red and blue light of
[ recycling indicator light ] flashing
alternatively.When the overheat protection is
triggered,the speedlite will be locked, the
parameter cannot be adjusted and the
speedlite cannot flash.In this case,please
keep the speedlite idle for over 10 minutes
until the speedlite cools down for continual
use.In order not to affect shooting,please try
to use 1/4 output or lower output level when fast shooting is needed.
Overheat protection
13. Sound Prompt Function
Through the C.FN20 option of Self-defined setting,you can turn on or off
the sound prompt function.When this function is on,the speedlite will
make different sounds to remind the working mode,for the specific
sound method and meaning,please refer to “Component Description”
chapter.
14. Automatic Setting Saving
The speedlite will save the current settings automatically ,which is
convenient for your next use.
15. Clear Settings
Press the function button 2 and 3 at the same
time for about 2 seconds,apart from the
self-defined function setting,the parameters
SEL/
SET
such as the trigger mode,flash mode,flash brightness and focal length
will be restored to default setting.
16. Firmware Upgrade
This product supports firmware upgrade,please visit YONGNUO official
website www.hkyongnuo.com to download the latest update software
and firmware to upgrade the speedlite.The upgrading method is as
follows,
(1) Connect with the PC through
USB cord(USB cord is required to
buy separately)
(2) Turn off the speedlite,
press[MODE]until it enters the
upgrade interface.
(3) Enter upgrade software,
upgrade the speedlite according to
the software prompts.
1.Wireless Radio Transmission
The YN686EX-RT supports wireless radio transmission flash
shooting,realize wireless TTL,manual and stroboscopic function. As the
master unit,the speedlite can trigger the YONGNUO and Canon RT
series speedlites,such as the YN600EX-RT II/YN968EX-RT/600EX
II-RT/430EX III-RT;as the slave unit, the same YN686EX-RT can
respectively receive the YONGNUO and Canon RT series speedlites
and the wireless signal of YN600EX-RT II/YN968EX-RT/600EX
II-RT/YN-E3-RT/ST-E3-RT.
The flash mode,manual flash output,exposure compensation,exposure
bracketing,exposure locking and etc settings of the master unit will be
automatically transfer to each slave unit.
•Master unit setting
Long press the [Mode]button to enter the
trigger mode selected interface,rotate the[
] until the LCD displays the < >to
enter wireless radio master unit state.Short
press the [MODE] button to swift the flash
mode of the master unit.
•Slave unit settings
Long press the [Mode] button to enter the
trigger mode selected interface,rotate the[ ]
until the LCD displays the< >to
enter wireless radio slave unit state. When
the YN686EX-RT used as slave unit,the flash
mode will be totally controlled by the master unit.If the master unit and
slave unit are set the exposure compensation,the exposure
compensation value from both units will be superimposed.
•Transmission channel/Radio ID set
In public if there are other photographers in use of the wireless radio
multiple flash or other radio equipment, you can change the
transmission channel and radio ID to avoid the interference.The
YN686EX-RT is equipped with 15 physical channels,an automatic
channel and 10000 ID for option .
Channel setting: short press the[ ] button
to enter the channel setting state,rotate the [
] to choose “AUTO” or choose the suitable
channel from 1 to 15,short press the [SET]
button for save.
ID setting:short press the function button [
]to enter ID waiting state,rotate the [
]to choose the position need to change,short
press the [SET] button to enter the
responding ID position to adjust the state,then
rotate the [ ] to choose the required number
from 0 to 9,and short press the [SET] button
to save the setting,press the function button [
]to return to the wireless interface.
In the wireless radio transmission flash
shooting process, make sure the transmission
channel and ID setting of the master unit and slave unit are the
same,otherwise the flash could not work normally. When the master unit
and the slave unit make connection establishment, the <LINK>indicator
will be in green light.
•Scan the master unit transmission channel
You can scan the radio receiving state and automatically or manually set
the transmission channel of the master unit.
When the channel set to “AUTO” ,it will
automatically set the received signal
channel.When manually set the channel,you
can reset the transmission channel at the
same time in the reference scan results.
Scan setting: short press the function button[
]to enter the scan interface,the flash
LCD panel will display the scan results,the
higher the peak of which channel on the
chart,the stronger the radio the radio signals.
•The master flash on or forbid flash （ON/OFF）
When the YN686EX-RT as master unit to
process wireless radio transmission flash
shooting,you can choose if the master unit
participate in the flash or not. When the
master unit set to ON,the master unit will
participate the flash as Group A flash.Short
press the function button 4 to display < >,short press the
function button 1 [ ]to set the master unit to ON/OFF. <
>means the master unit flash ON， < >means the master unit
flash OFF。
•Use one to three slave units for transmission flash shooting
Short press the function button[ ] on
the slave unit and set the slave unit as any
group of group A,B,C.
Short press the function button on the master
unit to set the flash group,each short press[
],the setting change will change by:
RATIO OFF、RATIO A:B、RATIOA:B C（or
RATIO A:B:C）.Short press the function
button [ ] and rotate the [ ] to select the
flash group which need to set the flash ratio
and flash output,then short press the[
]button to enter the flash parameter
setting state,through rotate the [ ]to adjust the flash ratio,exposure
compensation or flash output of the group flash.
If you need larger output or hope for better
lighting,you can increase the number of speedlite
on one slave group for maximum total 15 units.
For example: if the three slave units set to group
A,they will be seen as one speedlite and
controlled by the master unit.
•Gr:set different flash mode and flash output on each group of
speedlite to process transmission flash shooting
Short press the [mode] button on the master
unit and set tot Gr mode, then set the slave
units group with different flash mode and
flash output through the master unit. When in
Gr mode flashing,up to 5 groups
（A/B/C/D/E/F） of speedlite can be triggered
at the same time.Short press the [
]button,rotate the [ ]to select the flash
group which need to set the parameter,short
press the [ ]button to select the flash
mode（ETTL、M、OFF）,short press the[
]button and rotate the [ ] to adjust the
exposure compensation and flash
output.After the parameter set press the [
]button to return to the shooting ready
state.
2.Optical Transmission
The YN686EX-RT supports optical transmission wireless flash
shooting,realize wireless TTL,manual and stroboscopic function.As
master unit,the speedlite can trigger the YONGNUO EX series
speedlite(excluding the YN585EX) through the wireless radio
transmission;as the slave unit, the same YN600EX-RT II can
respectively receive the wireless signal of YN686EX-RT、YN600EX-RT
(II)、YN568EX II、Canon 600EX（II）-RT、580EX II、7D/60D/600D
cameras built-in flash,Nikon built-in flash C command and optical
transmission wireless signal.
The flash mode,manual flash output,exposure compensation,exposure
bracketing,exposure locking and etc settings of the master unit will be
automatically transfer to each subordinate unit.
The YN686EX-RT in optical transmission wireless flash shooting,up the
supports A、B、C three groups of slave unit flash control,with total four
channels（CH1/2/3/4） for option.The setting method of flash grouping
and transmission channel is the same as the wireless radio transmission
flash shooting.
•Master unit setting
Long press the [Mode]button to enter the
trigger mode selected interface,rotate the[
] until the LCD displays the < >to
enter wireless radio master unit state.Short
press the [MODE] button to swift the flash
modes between the ETTL、M、MULTI three
flash modes.
•Slave unit settings
Long press the [Mode] button to enter the
trigger mode selected interface,rotate the[
] until the LCD displays the< >to
enter wireless radio slave unit state. When
the YN686EX-RT used as slave unit,there are Sc、Sn、S1、S2 four
trigger modes for option.
Sc/Sn trigger mode can respectively receive the
YN686EX-RT,YN600EX-RT(II),YN568EX II,Canon 600EX（II）
-RT,580EX II,7D/60D/600D cameras built-in flash,Nikon built-in flash C
command and optical transmission wireless signal,realize off camera
TTL and manual flash.When the YN686EX-RT in Sc/Sn trigger mode,the
flash mode and flash output of slave unit will be totally controlled by the
master unit.
Sc trigger mode:only accept the Canon optical transmission wireless
flash signal
Sn trigger mode:only accept the Nikon optical transmission wireless
flash signal
S1/S2 trigger mode is respectively suitable for the manual flash
environment and TTL flash environment.When the YN686EX-RTin
S1/S2 trigger mode, the flash mode will default to M mode, the setting
method of flash output is the same as set top M mode.
S1 mode: In this mode it will work with the first flash synchronously of
the master flash, with the result consistent with the use of radio slave. To
use this mode properly, the master flash should be set to manual
flash,should not use the TTL flash system with preflight function and the
red eye reduce function with multiflash.
S2 mode: It is also called “pre-flash cancel mode” . This mode is similar
with S1 mode, but it can neglect the pre-flash given by TTL flash.
Therefore, it can support the master flash working in TTL mode. In
particular, if S1 mode cannot flash properly and sync with your internal
flash, you can try to use S2 mode.
Overheat warning
Basic Function