| Author: | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2015 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,131 | | Review Date: January 21, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | remote control, versatility, reliability (when connected properly) | | Cons: | mounting connection | |
have acquired a few of these on the used market generally around 20-30 bucks which is really nice compared to full/new price and prolly would have not purchased otherwise....it's neat to progress through the use of them and their capabilities making them very useful tools
as designed for x-sync or slower these units are great and a huge step up from simple radio triggers (i.e. cowboy triggers which have reviews here of PF and the neewer/wansen triggers that I own which are the same)
however 1 cactus v6 is the cost of a cheap radio trigger system and you need a minimum of 2 unless you are using a RF60 flash/es….so the extra cost worth the features reckon so since I got them
getting set up or started is the most problematic part for me.....it always has something to do with mounting and getting a proper connection whether on the camera (TX) or mounting the flash (RX) but once I get confirmation of good connections......good to go!!
I have only used up to 4 flashes at one time and it is amazingly easy to adjust power of all of them individually or in a group from the camera in my hands or tripod without going to each flash or specific flash to make an adjustment and have consistent light shot to shot as the power is set manually no p-ttl mystery of flash exposure shot to shot.....this makes setting up a scene work out quite smoothly and a little less chaotic
besides the af360 & af540 I have been able to use a variety of flashes
pentax af200fg and af240ft
promaster 7500edf (om/Olympus & cn/canon)
vivitar df-372 (Nikon)
Bell & Howell z1080af (Nikon & Canon)
platinum pt-dflext1 (Nikon & Canon)
sadly as noted elsewhere the af500ftz is NOT compatible
"second/rear curtain sync" is nicely accomplished (not dependent on p-ttl only) using the Delay mode setting the appropriate time which matches the exposure time.....1 second exposure 1 second delay.....1/8 exposure 125ms delay etc
| | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2011 Location: Copenhagen Posts: 510 | | Review Date: August 18, 2018 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: N/A |
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Note: Cactus 6V: Custom Flash Profile does not work with Pentax AF-500 or -330 FTZ.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2014 Posts: 272 | | Review Date: April 2, 2017 | Not Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 1 |
| Pros: | None | | Cons: | Won't work as advertised with Metz flashes | |
I prefer using Metz flashes as they are easy to upgrade the firmware on. I've never had a problem with Metz and I use them on both my Canon and Pentax cameras. I heard that the Cactus V6 would allow me to trigger the Metz flashes as well as control the output level so I was excited to purchase them. I bought four: one for the camera and three for my flashes.
I first tested the system on my Pentax K-3 and I had issues getting the flash to fire every time. After some troubleshooting I got it to work but the output level was not remotely controllable so the supposed advantage was neutralized. At least the Cactus V6 worked as a remote so I took it out to the field on a shoot. Once in the field it would not work like it did at my house. I switched from using my K-1 to my K-3 and the same errors popped up. The flash would simply NOT trigger every time. I switched modes, changed camera settings, turned everything on and off but I had no luck. When it worked the results were great... but the system malfunctioned more often than it should have.
I set up the system again for portrait shots. I figured that inside in the studio they would work well but I was sadly mistaken. I still had misfires, the output level was not working properly, and the flash would fire once and then take an unacceptable amount of troubleshooting to work again. I ended up wasting far too much time trying to get the system to work.
I contacted Cactus tech support, I put posts here on Pentaxforums, and I read multiple troubleshooting trees and watched multiple videos. No matter what I could not get the Cactus V6 to work properly with three different Metz flashes. After being disappointed so many times in the Cactus V6 I just gave up and ordered optically triggered monolights that work every single time. I don't have time to waste on trying to get these things to work properly. They are unreliable to say the least and my experience with them was very frustrating.
Update: Cactus has gone out of business. Good riddance. Their products were nothing but low quality electronic trash.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2016 Location: Roi-et, Thailand Posts: 773
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 15, 2016 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Inexpensive, tough (I drop them a lot), does what says on box | | Cons: | None and I'm reaching at that | |
Got six RF60's, a V6 and a V6II trigger that go with Manfrotto 5001B nano stands and a bunch of Westcott Halo's, Orb's, 7ft parabolics' and shoot-thru brolly's etc. Makes for a very light weight, versatile system.
Was going to go down the bigger strobe route, but it's all too heavy.
I highly recommend getting additional power in the form of Godox PB960 ProPac's with the Canon power cables (these fit the RF60's external power socket).
Also, for handheld off-camera flash, I built a handheld rig using bits and piece from SmallRig (superb quality, available on Amazon). Now I can have 3No. RF60's handheld, combined with Rogue Flashbender2 and Rogue flash gels et.al.
Cannot fault the Cactus system, especially since the V6II HSS came out.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2014 Location: Newfoundland Posts: 501
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 15, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Price, Ease of use, Control 4 groups, Robust, Control flash output up to 1/10 increments | | Cons: | None | |
I bought the V6 transceivers after reading the Pentax Forums review. Awesome units at a very affordable price. Work seamlessly with a K-5II and AF360FGZ. I purchased Cactus RF60 flashes after the fact. Controlling 3 flashes from the camera is amazing. Great products. I will buy more Cactus items as a result.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: March, 2011 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 1,216
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 15, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Powerful, inexpensive, adds flash "groups" to any brand | | Cons: | A bit large | |
A brilliant little device that adds brand-agnostic remote power control over TTL speedlights. It addresses a major shortcoming of the Pentax flash system, namely, it adds flash "groups" or "zones". In plain english it let's you adjust power levels of individual lights, independent from one another, from the camera position. It is a HUGE time saver for location shooting as it saves you from having to walk over to the light, possibly pull it down off it's bracket, or out of it's softbox, and change the power, before doing the same for the next light, and the next.
It's important to understand that while, for the most part, the Cactus V6 requires speedlights that support the old analog TTL protocol, the unit itself does not transmit TTL information. It is merely using the old quench circuitry that allowed a strobe to shut off mid burst. The Cactus V6 is a manual flash system. To some, manual flash is a frightening notion, but for others it is the preferred method of flash exposure. Manual exposure will yield consistent results from frame to frame, as long as the flash-to-subject distance remains the same. Living, as we do, in the age of LCD screens, it is remarkably easy to master manual flash, just take a shot, and evaluate the results, then make changes as necessary. Thanks to the Cactus V6, you can now do that quickly and easily.
Canon and Nikon shooters have had access to similar functionality for years through the industry-standard, albeit expensive, Pocket Wizard system. Being a smaller player in the camera market, Pentax doesn't enjoy the same third-party support as the big two. This gizmo is the best thing to happen to the Pentax flash system since... well, quite possibly, ever.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: August, 2008 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 11,251
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 13, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $54.95
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | brand-agnostic power level control (plus zoom with RF60), very good usability, feature-packed | | Cons: | tripod thread location not ideal | |
In-Depth Review
P.S.: The review by Obin Robinson is very unhelpful/misleading. All his Metz flashes were incompatible with the Cactus V6. It is unreasonable to expect a trigger to work with flashes it doesn't support. None of the problems Obin mentioned occur with supported flashes.
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