[Class A]

2 second recycle time is not much shorter than what I get with eneloops inside the RF60 already!

Yep, seems like it is mainly geared towards long battery life.

I'm pretty sure other packs will make the RF60 faster. Would be cool to hear someone report about their experience.

[awaldram]

Hi Class A quick question re the RF-60 3.5mm sync port

Can the port be used as an output as well as an input.?

I.e with the flash in wireless slave can I sue the port to fire and additional flash/strobe

The reason I ask is I'm going to use the V6's in a similar manner firing the Metz hammers off the sync port and additional power controlled flash off the hot shoe this will allow me to use the auto thyristor on the Metz and control 'top off' manually.

If the Rf60's can do this they may be a better option than a couple of additional v6's

[zosxavius]

Hi Class A quick question re the RF-60 3.5mm sync port

Can the port be used as an output as well as an input.?

I.e with the flash in wireless slave can I sue the port to fire and additional flash/strobe

The reason I ask is I'm going to use the V6's in a similar manner firing the Metz hammers off the sync port and additional power controlled flash off the hot shoe this will allow me to use the auto thyristor on the Metz and control 'top off' manually.

If the Rf60's can do this they may be a better option than a couple of additional v6's

Its doubtful. The receiving end of a sych port is just an open circuit that the camera closes on its end and the flash fires. If you take a paper clip and close the circuit on the flash yourself you will see that. The solution you need is probably more triggers.

[awaldram]

Its doubtful. The receiving end of a sych port is just an open circuit that the camera closes on its end and the flash fires. If you take a paper clip and close the circuit on the flash yourself you will see that. The solution you need is probably more triggers.

Think you probably right having just proved the concept with my V6's must say I'm impressed how 'integrated' it workd

Metz 45 set in auto iso 100 f5.6 connect via pc sync and ttl controlled flash on v6 shoe

I get steady controlled light and I'm able to use the remote power control to

1 control refresh rate of flashes
2 control ambient to subject

I think used in anger with brollies and softboxes I'll have more light control than I know what todo with being able to up/down highlights.catchlights and fill on the fly.

So feel two more v6's in my future

[Class A]

Can the port be used as an output as well as an input.?

The RF60's port only works as an input at the moment.

The V6's port supports both input and output at the same time, but only in Tx mode.
In Rx mode, the V6's port only works as an output port and that will have to stay that way so that it can deal with high trigger voltages.

During the beta test phase I asked whether it would be possible to also make the RF60's port an output port and the answer was something like "We'll have to look into it". I think it wasn't high priority enough to become resolved and I didn't think it was a make or break feature so I didn't follow it up.

You could make a respective feature request at the Cactus community forum.

The reason I ask is I'm going to use the V6's in a similar manner firing the Metz hammers off the sync port and additional power controlled flash off the hot shoe this will allow me to use the auto thyristor on the Metz and control 'top off' manually.

Do I understand you correctly that you were planning to fire the Metz from the RF60's sync port?

Even if that worked (it doesn't for now) then I'd be very tempted to get a V6 for the remote power control because a receiving RF60 would definitely not be able to do that via the sync-cable.

[awaldram]

Thanks Class A

I've proved the v6's will do what I want.
It's slicker than I thought the metz set to 'auto' and use pc-sync and a ttl flash remotely controlled from same V6 allows me to finely control both ambient/fill and also power ratio of the flashes in use .

I've built 3.5mm>female pc for both v6's and plan on getting a couple more units.

[Class A]

It's slicker than I thought the metz set to 'auto' and use pc-sync and a ttl flash remotely controlled from same V6 allows me to finely control both ambient/fill and also power ratio of the flashes in use .

I've never tried to mix "Auto" and manual. I've been using all manual control so far.

I might try how "Auto" will work as a self-adjusting key light perhaps. Seems like an interesting idea.

I cannot quite yet image to leave the simplicity and consistency of "full manual", but perhaps a single "Auto" flash thrown into the mix could work better than I think it can.

[choong_dc]

Hold on a second guys, i am confuse. Help me out here.
I got a K3 with a 540FGZ II. So, if I get a V6 and mount it on my K3 hotshoe with the pentax 540FGZII on it, i can actually do HSS with a couple of RF60 banded together? Is this correct?

[Class A]

So, if I get a V6 and mount it on my K3 hotshoe with the pentax 540FGZII on it, i can actually do HSS with a couple of RF60 banded together?

Yes.

You unfortunately cannot remote control the power of your 540FGZII since the V6 -- at this point in time -- only supports the older "FGZ" models but not the "FGZ II" models.

However, if you use your 540FGZII on-camera, you can use its pre-flash (or main flash) to optically trigger RF60 flashes in HSS mode directly, or -- much better -- trigger a V6 close to the flash optically and use the latter to trigger all off-camera RF60.

[choong_dc]

THanks Class A for the reply. What if I purchase a YN622C and place on the V6 [with cable]and mount it on K3 hotshoe. Do you think it will trigger the RF60 in HSS mode when the Shutter speed exceed sync speed?

[Class A]

What if I purchase a YN622C and place on the V6 [with cable]and mount it on K3 hotshoe. Do you think it will trigger the RF60 in HSS mode when the Shutter speed exceed sync speed?

I cannot see how the YN622C would cooperate with your K-3, since it is made for Canon cameras.

It speaks E-TTL, not P-TTL.

Perhaps, one day, there will be a trigger that speaks P-TTL and then no more tricks with optical triggering will be necessary and second-curtain sync will be automatically supported as well, but for now there is no other way then feeding of the pre-flash or main flash of an HSS-capable P-TTL flash.

[klaus123]

Does anybod have experiences with the dedicated Cactus Softbox for that flash?

[choong_dc]

Hi Class A. Well i thought that the V6 could read the YN622C and then the K3 could read from the V6 [since the YN622 is mounted on the V6 as the V6 is sandwich between the YN622 and the k3]. Just a thought that it might work... i guess i pressed my luck too hard...

[Class A]

Well i thought that the V6 could read the YN622C and then the K3 could read from the V6 [since the YN622 is mounted on the V6 as the V6 is sandwich between the YN622 and the k3]. Just a thought that it might work.

Well, the V6 does not translate from E-TTL to P-TTL, it simply passes the signals through.

Hence, equipment that isn't compatible with Pentax (such as the YN622C) will still not play with a Pentax camera.

[choong_dc]

Hi CLass A,

Thanks for the reply. Yep I just ordered the the V6 and RF60s. I finally figured out how to get it to go wireless... since i got 2 pentax fgzII flashes, I'll stick both with the Aokatec system and place the receiver near the RF60 to trigger the HSS.... thats my idea. Not sure it'd work but heck its worth a try. if not, then i'll probably use them in optical..... KUDOS to your review.