[jake14mw]

What are those small annoyances?

I identified a few minor issues in my review myself, but am curious about what you think.

If I remember correctly, my annoyances are similar to what you had in your review.

The main thing to me in a trigger system is that it needs to be reliable. The V5s are great in this regard. If the flash does not fire, I know I’m doing something wrong. Also, the feature set in them is very nice. Overall, I’m very satisfied, but it would be great if some physical design issues would be addressed:

1. Channel selector dial is hard to read, and too easily can get accidentally changed
2. The transmitter/receiver switch is too small, hard to read, and hard to be sure you stopped in the off position in the middle
3. The hot shoe locking dial is hard to get at in some applications.
4. The tripod screw mount being offset is awkward and mounting it to wide based items is sometimes difficult
5. The position of the battery door is too easy to accidentally open when pushing the trigger into the hot shoe.

[Class A]

If I remember correctly, my annoyances are similar to what you had in your review.

Yes, there is large overlap. Thanks for sharing your points.

I'm optimistic that a number of these issues will be addressed by the upcoming V6 design.

[Class A]

Why is it that Yongnuo products (previously the RF-602 and now the YN-560) require hardware modification before they work with Pentax equipment?

Some of the YN 560 flashes are reported to freeze on a Pentax camera unless you perform a hardware modification.

[snake]

I thought that was over, as the company themselves rewired the flashes to work on Pentax without issue?

[Class A]

I thought that was over, as the company themselves rewired the flashes to work on Pentax without issue?

Could well be, but I don't know.

Apparently there were some YN-560 II that needed a modification and others that didn't. The YN-560 III may not need any modification.

Would be good to hear from YN-560 III users whether they had any lock-ups on camera.

[snake]

Could well be, but I don't know.

Apparently there were some YN-560 II that needed a modification and others that didn't. The YN-560 III may not need any modification.

Would be good to hear from YN-560 III users whether they had any lock-ups on camera.

I've seen exposed pics, including in the links posted here, displaying the factory-installed resistors. Unless the company is completely stupid, I can't imagine they'd not figure out how to make the III work with Pentax if they figured it out, finally, on the II.

I'm on the fence about buying a II or III right now. The II has dropped in price by about 20% and the III is only about 20 EUR more. the other factor is I'll be nearly exclusively bounce flashing with the K-5, so I don't know how it will behave there.

[Jaypod]

Well fellow Pentaxians, looks like the RF-603 II triggers have finally been released! Can't seem to find them in the UK yet but is early days I guess. Can't wait to try a set of these, more info on flashhavoc here: YONGNUO RF-603 II – Now Available | FLASH HAVOC - looks like this page was only updated last week.

I'm interested to find out how these work with my K5II but oddly enough it looks like we'll need to get the C1 (Canon) version and not the (N1) Nikon variant..
The list of improved features looks good too, interested to know if they work reliably at 1/180..
Anyone got hold of a set yet?

[kdre]

I'm interested to find out how these work with my K5II but oddly enough it looks like we'll need to get the C1 (Canon) version and not the (N1) Nikon variant..

why do you think that?

[Jaypod]

@kdre - Well, looking at the article on the FlashHavoc site underneath the 'Versions' section there is a link for 'More version details'.
In here, listed under the C1 Version are: Pentax K20D / K200D / K10D / K100D.

I've assumed that this would also imply Kr, K7, K5 etc. But as assumption is the mother of all '%*$£-ups', I've most likely got the wrong end of the stick here and that isn't the case at all - please correct me if I'm wrong

They also mention:

The RF-603 II come in separate Canon and Nikon versions, though this is mainly for the flash wake up feature

Am I right in thinking that flash wake up activated by a half-press of the shutter button in conjunction with having the correct pin configuration between the flash and the camera's hot-shoe, so actually the Nikon version would be a better fit?

I currently use CowboyStudio triggers along with YN560ii's and when they go to sleep I just manually fire the test button on the transmitter to wake them up so its not really a deal breaker if this never works - I take it the 603's do have a 'Test' button?

[Joojoo2010]

Jaypod: in first generation RF-603 it was needed to get Nikon version so i think u r right. But nikon cables do not work with pentax, correct cable would be one found in canon C1 version. Need to find seller who is willing to change nikon cable to canon c1 cable for free.

[THoog]

The C1 cable is what you need for Pentax cameras that have a wired remote port (K100D, K-7, K-5, K-30...). The K-m, K-x, K-r, and K-01 only have IR ports, so there is no cable that will work with them.

As Joojoo2010 says, on the previous version, only the RF-603N would ever detect a Pentax camera (and only when the camera was "awake"). The new RF-603 II has a switch to force it into TX mode. I've ordered one of the RF-603C II transceivers to see if it will work on a Pentax.

[Jaypod]

Thanks guys, that's really helpful information
THoog - please let us know how you get on with the new RF-603 II when you get your hands on it. Very, very interested to hear your results. Looks like these are only available in the States so far.

[THoog]

Will do.

Just to summarize my experience so far: the RF-603N (Nikon) will detect the 'wake up' signal on a Pentax camera and go into 'Transmit' mode. However, only the Canon "C1" set includes a cable with 2.5mm plugs at both ends. If you don't plan to control a camera remotely or if you already have a 2.5mm/2.5mm cable, then you don't need a C1 set or cable. I have a N1 set, and I'm thinking making a DIY cable to control IR-only bodies using the Nikon cable and a IR remote with a 'focus' button.

I haven't had any problems sync'ing a YN-560 III and a K-5II at 1/180 - all the misfires I've seen were either because the flash hadn't charged completely (old batteries), or because the camera had gone to sleep and I didn't wait long enough between half-pressing and firing - the RF-603N hadn't made it into 'Transmit' mode yet. I was going to hardwire an extra RF-603N in TX mode when the RF-603 II finally became available, so I'm going to wait for that. The 603 II has an extra position for the power switch, which is TX-only.

In my experiments with remote-firing a camera (using another body to keep a RF-603N in TX mode), it seemed like there were some handshaking issues - then I realized it was because the 'slave' body was awake, which was waking up its RF-603N and causing an argument over who was the transmitter. Once the slave body went to sleep, then I could get control of it. This can be fixed either by taking the transceiver off the hotshoe of the slave camera, or (I think) only using a Canon-version RF-603 on the slave. We'll see how the 603 II changes things. EDIT: Even easier fix: don't put the 'control' unit on a body, and just use it as a fob. When you press the button, it will go in TX mode.

[Class A]

Well fellow Pentaxians, looks like the RF-603 II triggers have finally been released!

Personally, I'd wait a bit longer and wait for the dedicated YN-560 transmitter so that you can control power remotely. Being able to set the power of your flashes remotely via radio signals will be such a timesaver and both Yongnuo and Cactus are about to launch respective triggers.

I personally don't see the point of getting new triggers without this capability at this point (unless you need something super urgently).

No issues whatsoever with the Cactus V5 and triggering Pentax cameras, BTW. I sometimes wonder why people bother with Yongnuo issues when a trouble-free product is available. I have nothing against Yongnuo but compatibility to Pentax does not seem to be high on their priority list at all.

[THoog]

No issues whatsoever with the Cactus V5 and triggering Pentax cameras, BTW. I sometimes wonder why people bother with Yongnuo issues when a trouble-free product is available.

For me, the answer is: (1) less than half the price and (2) any issues I had, I figured out in less than a minute, which I expect the first time for any new gadget. For my circumstances, the YNs are a trouble-free product.