[Class A]

I was a beta tester for Cactus again and just finished my Cactus V6 review.

If you find any typos in the review or have suggestions for improvement, I'd be grateful to be hearing from you.

If you have any questions regarding the Cactus V6 please post them here.

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Last edited by Class A; 04-24-2014 at 07:33 PM.

[schnitzer79]

brilliant review and very well detailed. ive been looking at various radio triggers recently and was basically thinking either go for the pt-04(cowboy studios) which is cheaper or spend a little more and get the cactus v5. im guessing the v6 isnt out yet and not sure how much it will cost.
so what are the main differences between the v6 and v5?
considering i have a pentax k-50 (which does not support TTL but only P-TTL) and using the nissin 280FX as explained in my other thread which is an old TTL flash, im assuming that I will have no issues with that setup.
very big bonus for me is also the support for higher voltage flashes since I have a couple lying around (but are non TTL).

[TRex1123]

Do you really think the trigger by itself will go for $54.95? Comparatively that price is pretty amazing.

I am extremely excited about this combo! I've been waiting for the v6 to come out to order it and the rf60.

Thanks for the review!

[jake14mw]

Class A,

Thanks again for another great review. I do have one question regarding using these triggers and/or the RF60 with HSS mode with Pentax. I do understand that in order to get the remote flash to trigger at all, I will need a HSS capable flash on camera like an AF 360FGZ. Then it sounds like I could use a special mode and set delays in order to get the remote flash to kind of behave like a HSS capable flash. Would you see this as really being useable for HSS with Pentax? Would the power level be remotely controllable?

I’m trying to figure out if this new Cactus system could be helpful in outdoor portraits where you want to use wide apertures and high shutter speeds. Thanks.

[Class A]

brilliant review and very well detailed.

Thanks!

im guessing the v6 isnt out yet and not sure how much it will cost.

As mentioned in the "Conclusions", the V6 will be $54.95.

Cactus write it will be "available in May". Shouldn't take longer than two weeks from now, but I don't really know.

so what are the main differences between the v6 and v5?

The most significant difference is that the V6 can remotely control the power levels of many flash models. It also has proper group control, whereas the V5 just had a "multi-channel" feature that did allowing singling out individual lights, but not creating arbitrary combinations.

There are too many more difference to mention here again. Please compare the reviews. The V6 review links to my V5 review in the "Introduction".

considering i have a pentax k-50 (which does not support TTL but only P-TTL) and using the nissin 280FX as explained in my other thread which is an old TTL flash, im assuming that I will have no issues with that setup.

You shouldn't have issues, but I'm not sure whether your Nissin 280FX supports two manual power settings (below 1/1).

Note that the camera does not need to be capable of anything. All the V6 needs from the camera is a hot-shoe that triggers any basic flash.

[Class A]

Do you really think the trigger by itself will go for $54.95?

I know it for a fact.

After a while the V6 should be sold at Adorama as well, just like the RF60 already is.

I am extremely excited about this combo!

Yes, same here!

In particular for Pentax users, the V6 fills a hole that has been there for way too long.

Thanks for the review!

You are welcome and I'm glad it was useful to you.

[Class A]

Thanks again for another great review.

Thanks, much appreciated.

A shout out to Adam who created the framework for publishing reviews like this one and allows me to use it.

I do understand that in order to get the remote flash to trigger at all, I will need a HSS capable flash on camera like an AF 360FGZ.

That's correct, if you want to go past 1/180s.

Then it sounds like I could use a special mode and set delays in order to get the remote flash to kind of behave like a HSS capable flash.

Yes, BTW, the Cactus RF60 supports the same principle.

You have to active optical triggering and select "trigger on first flash" so that the pre-flash isn't ignored.

You then set a certain delay, around 90ms, if I remember correctly, so that the V6 will trigger the off-camera flashes at the same time the main flash occurs.

Would you see this as really being useable for HSS with Pentax? Would the power level be remotely controllable?

Yes, I've done both in my testing.

The one catch is that the precise delay time you need to set depends a little bit on the aperture you are using. Small apertures take a little longer to close down and the main flash will therefore occur a little bit later.

As a result, you cannot just set one delay value and then never think about it again, but may need to adjust it depending on the aperture value. I haven't tested this aspect extensively so I haven't worked out the range of timing delays required. It definitely won't be a large range as the timing differences aren't big and you also have a bit of latitude, i.e., the timing does not have to be 100.0% accurate to light the entire frame and often a bit of banding at the top or bottom goes unnoticed (say when the top is just sky).

Don't forget that your remote flashes either need to fire at 1/1 in which case the flash pulse will be long enough to fill the frame, or need a way to manually activate HSS for lower power levels. The RF60 can do the latter; there may be more flash models with this ability, but I don't know any.

I hope that clarifies the use of HSS.

Should I extend that part of the review a bit?

[jake14mw]

Thanks,

I understand the delay issue, but what I don't understand is if the power level is adjustable by the shooter with the RF60 in HSS mode. Since the pulse has to be long enough cover the whole shutter time, is lower power possible?

I looked back at your RF60 review, and saw this...
"Flash output levels change in HSS mode compared to the regular levels and are less predictable than they ideally should be. In combination with the need to figure out the correct delay for optimal use, this semi-automatic HSS mode requires quite a bit of dedication from the photographer to get results.

And to answer your question about if that part of the review should be expanded, I don't think you can cover everything in a review and keep it readable to people just looking for a review. I think the existing level of detail is excellent.

[Class A]

I understand the delay issue, but what I don't understand is if the power level is adjustable by the shooter with the RF60 in HSS mode. Since the pulse has to be long enough cover the whole shutter time, is lower power possible?

If the RF60 is in HSS mode it always does a "long" burst.

So you can do shots at lower power and still cover the whole frame.

Having said that, typically one wants to use HSS in daylight and hence has to match or even overpower the sun. So I think you'll typically be using very high levels anyhow. Unless your subject is in the shade and you only want to tame a bright background; in this situation lower levels would probably still be usable.

I've never used HSS for portraits myself yet, but I can see whether I can run a little test regarding which power levels make sense outdoors during the day once it gets bright again.

I looked back at your RF60 review, and saw this...
"Flash output levels change in HSS mode compared to the regular levels and are less predictable than they ideally should be. In combination with the need to figure out the correct delay for optimal use, this semi-automatic HSS mode requires quite a bit of dedication from the photographer to get results.

I wanted to make sure that no sees an "HSS"-label and thinks it is as straightforward as using a P-TLL flash.

Output levels naturally change because the energy required to produce a "long" burst takes away from the peak power. All speedlights have this "problem".

In terms of predictability I think in practice you'd be fine unless you are using a light meter and expect spot on exposure. The latter would work fine with the non-HSS mode, but IIRC, the HSS levels varied a little (not from shot to shot, but in terms of the differences between the levels).

And to answer your question about if that part of the review should be expanded, I don't think you can cover everything in a review and keep it readable to people just looking for a review. I think the existing level of detail is excellent.

Thanks for the nice feedback.

[jake14mw]

Thanks Class A,

Have you heard anything about the Yongnuo trigger that has been rumored to be supposed to be working with their YN-560 III flash? I just did some googling and didn't realize how many TTL triggers they have for Canon and Nikon. It would seem that making a non-TTL version that works for all camera types would not be that difficult. I didn't realize how much we were missing in the Pentax world.

[devorama]

Great review! I'm a little disappointed that the V6 does not support the newest versions of the Pentax flashes. Hopefully that will be rectified soon.

[Class A]

Have you heard anything about the Yongnuo trigger that has been rumored to be supposed to be working with their YN-560 III flash?

All I know is that it was announced for "end of 2013" but that there is still no sight of it.

It should be released eventually, but no one seems to know when.

I just did some googling and didn't realize how many TTL triggers they have for Canon and Nikon.

Yes, there are many and Canikon cameras have better flash support built in as well.

None of the existing TTL triggers for Canikon do brand-agnostic triggering of legacy TTL flashes and selected digital TTL flashes, though. Hence the V6 should be of interest to Caniokians as well.

[Class A]

Great review!

Thanks!

I'm a little disappointed that the V6 does not support the newest versions of the Pentax flashes.

Luckily firmware upgrades will able to rectify things like that. No promises for the FGZ II at this point, though.

Perhaps let them know that this would be important to you?

[Tanzer]

This is a really fantastic review. I don't recall reading something this detailed, yet clearly stated, in a long time.

One comment. After going through the procedures for setting up a custom profile on an analog TTL flash, I believe the flash would be set back to its full power setting, from that point on. You might just want to mention that for purposes of clarity. I think this custom profile feature is really awesome and will get a lot of attention.

Thanks!

[Class A]

This is a really fantastic review. I don't recall reading something this detailed, yet clearly stated, in a long time.

Thanks, much appreciated!

One comment. After going through the procedures for setting up a custom profile on an analog TTL flash, I believe the flash would be set back to its full power setting, from that point on. You might just want to mention that for purposes of clarity.

I'm not sure I fully understand your suggestion.

After you taught the manual power levels to the V6, it will ask you to put the flash back to TTL mode (and then does the rest automatically). You then don't have to do anything to the flash anymore. In TTL mode, there is no power setting and you are good to go.