[Tanzer]

Whether your flashes will support remote power control by the V6 depends on whether they have a TTL mode and at least two power levels below 1/1 power, unless they are supported by a predefined profile already.

From the review I thought "the flash needs to support at least two manual power levels" in total. Did you really mean three, including 1/1?

Not trying to nitpick, just wanted to clarify, since I have a few flashes that support 2 levels, usually just 1/1 and 1/4, or 1/1 and 1/16.

Thanks for all the information and the really helpful Q&A, this is a great service to the PF community. If only Ricoh would be so engaging ...

[maxfield_photo]

Just ordered mine. Two Cactus V6s and two RF60s, they're in stock and shipping. Whoohoo!!

[jake14mw]

Just ordered mine. Two Cactus V6s and two RF60s, they're in stock and shipping. Whoohoo!!

Great news. I really respect your practical knowledge in this area, so please come back and give us some impressions when you start to use them.

[Class A]

From the review I thought "the flash needs to support at least two manual power levels" in total. Did you really mean three, including 1/1?

Thanks for pointing out this ambiguity in the description.

I really meant "two standard levels below full power". I don't write "three manual levels" because it is not necessary to being able to select full power. I have added "standard" because an odd level like "1/12" won't help. It needs to be one of the standard "1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16,..." sequence.

Perhaps Cactus will provide more flexible support in the future, but for now these are the requirements.

Thanks for all the information and the really helpful Q&A, this is a great service to the PF community.

Thanks a lot, I'm glad if people find the review helpful.

[wed7]

Will the V6 support my Metz 58-1 and Metz 50 for remote adjustments? Thanks for this informative review

EDIT: I just found out on their website that the V6 does not support My Metz 58 AF-1. But rather the 58 AF-2 only. Shame.

[Class A]

I just found out on their website that the V6 does not support My Metz 58 AF-1.

The website only tells you about the predefined profiles.

However, you can easily create a profile yourself.

I'm 99.995% confident that you can profile the Metz 58 AF-1. You have the model for Pentax, right?

Many Metz flashes are compatible with the V6 even when they are not listed as supported with a predefined profile.

[wed7]

Thank you for reassuring, thanks to Cactus too for making this tech now possible to Pentax.

I'll have to wait till Adorama list it again.

[Class A]

I'll have to wait till Adorama list it again.

Adorama has been selling the RF60, but not the V6 yet.

I understand GadgetInfinity will remain the only source for V6s for at least until early June.

You can order with confidence from them, though. They really have a good service and there is a one-year manufacturer warranty.

[awaldram]

Hi Class A

You may wish to add an errata

The one weak area of these trigger (tx and RX close together) has been resolved in firmware 1.0.152

to quote

A new configurable option called WORK RANGE in the SUB-MENU. The option SHORT is offered for users who need to place the V6 TX very close to the V6 RX units (e.g. when shooting macro), while the option LONG is for normal shooting.

Users should update to this version as soon as they get the triggers as this is the first firmware where users created profiles will survive updates

[Class A]

You may wish to add an errata

Thanks a lot!

I actually had updated the "Conclusion" page very recently as soon as I noticed the availability of V1.0.152 before it had been officially documented, but still, thanks a lot.

Users should update to this version as soon as they get the triggers as this is the first firmware where users created profiles will survive updates

Good point.

It was possible to save profiles by copying them to another unit before, but not losing the profiles in the first place is much better.

[maxfield_photo]

Got my 2 V6s and 2 RF60s from Hong Kong yesterday. So far they seem to be working flawlessly. I'm very impressed with the system. The build quality is on a very high level, it's fairly intuitive to operate, but most importantly it adds a degree of flexibility to the Pentax flash system which was previously unobtainable.

Users should update to this version as soon as they get the triggers as this is the first firmware where users created profiles will survive updates

Doh!! Just got finished profiling my Metz 45-CL4. Maybe I can update one V6, then copy the profile over, and then update the other.

[Class A]

Maybe I can update one V6, then copy the profile over, and then update the other.

You can, indeed.

Hope you'll be having as much fun with remote level power control as I'm having. It feels a little bit like cheating, doesn't it?

P.S.: I'm adding the Metz 45-CL4 to the list of V6 compatible flashes. I'm assuming it is a "for Pentax" model. Please let me know if you encounter any problems with the profile, I'd remove it then again.

[awaldram]

You can, indeed.

Hope you'll be having as much fun with remote level power control as I'm having. It feels a little bit like cheating, doesn't it?

P.S.: I'm adding the Metz 45-CL4 to the list of V6 compatible flashes. I'm assuming it is a "for Pentax" model. Please let me know if you encounter any problems with the profile, I'd remove it then again.

You will need to differentiate netween the 45 CL4 and 45 CL4 Digital

Also you need to reference the SCA module in use and and revision number i.e 3702 M2 (Pentax sca 3000 series Rev2 (P-ttl)

sca with three figure i.e 310 (Canon) 371or 2 (pentax) are 300 series for non digital Hammer falshes those with /2 at the end are IR sender modiles i.e 374/2 , the 3000 series is the modern verison and is considerably easier to understand.

SCA 3102 for Canon system cameras (Canon E-TTL / E-TTL II)
SCA 3402 for Nikon system cameras (Nikon i-TTL / D-TTL)
SCA 3202 for Olympus/Panasonic system cameras (Olympus/Panasonic TTL)
SCA 3702 for Pentax system cameras (Pentax P-TTL)
SCA 3302 for Sony system cameras (Sony ADI TTL)
SCA 3502 for Leica cameras R/M (Leica TTL)
SCA 3045 digital connection cable between SCA 3002 adapter and 45 CL 4 digital

[maxfield_photo]

For reference, I profiled the Metz 45CL-4 Analog version using the SCA 3000 C cable and 3702 Pentax module. The combination works and provides TTL functionality, but not pTTL. I need to do a little more testing before publishing the official results, but I'll do so in the compatibility thread.

[Class A]

You will need to differentiate netween the 45 CL4 and 45 CL4 Digital

Thanks for that, and also to maxfield_photo for following up with the details.

You seem to know a lot about this particular Metz model. Do you own one of them to? Seems very powerful.