[Hyperfocal]

Hello all,

I am new happy Pentax user. I sold my Canon gear and bought a nice K-S2 with a couple of good primes.

As I am in a budget, I am considering using 3 old Canon flashes I still have around, instead of buying new flashes. I've found that by using 4 Cactus V6 I can remotely trigger these 3 flashes from my Pentax K-S2; unfortunately, 4 Cactus V6 are outside my possibilities (in the EU they are not as affordable as in the US). 4 Yongnuo RF-603 are within my budget but I don't know if they will work with my configuration.

I am happy setting the flashes power manually with my light meter, so no need to set the power remotely. TTL is also not necessary.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Thank you very much!

[THoog]

Welcome to the forum!

If your flashes can operate as manual flashes (triggered by the hotshoe center pin only, or via PC-sync cable), the RF-603 should work. I've used them in a similar manner with old Pentax and Viviitar flashes.

There are four versions of the RF-603, two for Canon, and two for Nikon. You will need one unit of the Nikon version to work as the transmitter on your K-S2 (the Nikon hotshoe pins are more similar to Pentax than the Canon version). I have been able to get the "II C" version to work on Pentax, but others have had problems; I generally just say avoid both of the Canon versions as your transmitter. All versions work together, so you can use any of them for receivers. You will see kits labeled "C1", "N2", etc. - that's to indicate what shutter release cable comes with a pair of transceivers. The K-S2 doesn't have a wired shutter release port, so it really doesn't matter which cable you get.

[jatrax]

Can the Canon flashes be set to optical slave?
Or are your distances close enough that an inexpensive optical slave trigger would work?
If so you might be able to work with two cactus v6 and two optical triggers or slave mode on the flashes.

[Hyperfocal]

Thank you THoog and Jatrax,

I think the distance should not be a problem, I expect no more than 10 meters (aprox. 32 feet) from the camera to the rear flash.

All my flashes can work in optical slave; actually, that's how I used them with the canon. I can even set the output power in optical slave, as long as I have an optical master.

Jatrax, can you elaborate a little bit more?, I didn't fully understand, but your idea looks promising.

THoog. Thanks for your idea. If I understood correctly, It would be 1 RF-603 Nikon for the camera and 3 RF-603 for the flashes, isn't it?.

---------- Post added 03-20-16 at 10:24 AM ----------

Thank you THoog and Jatrax,

I think the distance should not be a problem, I expect no more than 10 meters (aprox. 32 feet) from the camera to the rear flash.

All my flashes can work in optical slave; actually, that's how I used them with the canon. I can even set the output power in optical slave, as long as I have an optical master.

Jatrax, can you elaborate a little bit more?, I didn't fully understand, but your idea looks promising.

THoog. Thanks for your idea. If I understood correctly, It would be 1 RF-603 Nikon for the camera and 3 RF-603 for the flashes, isn't it?.

Sorry, the 3 RF-603 for the flashes should be Canon, isn't it?.

[THoog]

THoog. Thanks for your idea. If I understood correctly, It would be 1 RF-603 Nikon for the camera and 3 RF-603 for the flashes, isn't it?.

That's correct.

Sorry, the 3 RF-603 for the flashes should be Canon, isn't it?.

It should not matter which version is used for the flash - the receiver doesn't don't do any communication with the flash, apart from the center pin. It only matters for the camera end, because there is a wake-up signal that is passed on one of the other pins.

[jatrax]

Optical slave is not the same as Canon ttl which is what you are thinking of, that will not work.
What I have used are called slave triggers, some flashes such as my Nikon sb-26 also have that option built in. Basically the flash or trigger watches for a flash and fires in sympathy. No control all manual.
If your flashes have this mode I thought using a pair of cactus v6 triggers to fire the first flash and the rest would fire on the flash of the first. I use this all the time. I have cactus v5 triggers to fire my main studio strobe and all supporting flashes set to slave or equipped with a slave trigger.
Not as sophisticated as dedicated ttl or the cactus v6 solution but it works and is reliable as long as all the flashes can see each other.
Search on strobist optical slaves for more info. And check your flash manual to see if this is supported.

[Hyperfocal]

Optical slave is not the same as Canon ttl which is what you are thinking of, that will not work.
What I have used are called slave triggers, some flashes such as my Nikon sb-26 also have that option built in. Basically the flash or trigger watches for a flash and fires in sympathy. No control all manual.
If your flashes have this mode I thought using a pair of cactus v6 triggers to fire the first flash and the rest would fire on the flash of the first. I use this all the time. I have cactus v5 triggers to fire my main studio strobe and all supporting flashes set to slave or equipped with a slave trigger.
Not as sophisticated as dedicated ttl or the cactus v6 solution but it works and is reliable as long as all the flashes can see each other.
Search on strobist optical slaves for more info. And check your flash manual to see if this is supported.

That's correct.
It should not matter which version is used for the flash - the receiver doesn't don't do any communication with the flash, apart from the center pin. It only matters for the camera end, because there is a wake-up signal that is passed on one of the other pins.

Thank you very much Jatrax and THoog.

Indeed, one of my flashes is a Canon 580EX, the other two are Nissin Di-622. The Di-622 can only work as slave and the 580EX as either master or slave. You can assign them to groups and control their output power via the built-in flash (of some Canon cameras), or by using the 580EX as master.

If I understood correctly, with one Cactus V6 in the Pentax and the other in the 580EX, I can fire the 580EX as master and let it control the other two Di-622. However, it's still unclear to me if this solution has any advantages over using 4 RF-603, whereas the laters are cheaper.

Thanks again.

[THoog]

If I understood correctly, with one Cactus V6 in the Pentax and the other in the 580EX, I can fire the 580EX as master and let it control the other two Di-622. However, it's still unclear to me if this solution has any advantages over using 4 RF-603, whereas the laters are cheaper.

If you slave the Di-622s off the 580EX, then you should be able to just use two RF-603s to fire the 580EX.

[jatrax]

I think you are still confusing Canon master/slave ttl with optical slave that I am talking about. You will not be able to control the slaves beyond sending the fire signal.

But if four rf-603 are cheaper than 2 cactus units then there is no advantage except remote power control of the flash actually connected to the v6.

[sandbasser]

Check eBay for "iShoot PT-04". I got a kit with 1 transmitter and 4 receivers for $35 with free shipping. I only have 3 flashes currently but I figured 3 out of 4 would work

And they work great, from both my old MX film camera and my K-x DSLR!!!

But, they only trigger the flash manually they do NOT allow zooming or remotely controlling other features of the flashes.

EDIT: PLEASE!!! my recommendation is not for everyone...a photographer who earns his living with camera and light, or a serious amateur should obviously go with a more professional solution.I'm retired on a limited budget and love cheap gadgets.

[Hyperfocal]

Thank you very much to all. Now I have a better understanding of the possibilities and the capabilities of the different alternatives.

At the end, I will buy the RF-603, they are more or less the same price than the iShoot PT-04 and cheaper than the Cactus V6 while giving me the same functionality. They also have good reviews everywhere.

I am not a professional photographer and I don't use the flashes so often. I think the the RF-603 solution is good enough for my purposes. I will just set the power manually with the aid of my old trusted light meter.

Thanks again for your help!

[Class A]

At the end, I will buy the RF-603, they are more or less the same price than the iShoot PT-04 and cheaper than the Cactus V6 while giving me the same functionality.

"Same functionality"?

They won't give you remote power control, no delay options, no quick group control with dedicated buttons, etc., the list goes on. You may not need the extra functionality of the V6, but it is certainly not the same as what the RF-603 offers.

[Hyperfocal]

"Same functionality"?

They won't give you remote power control, no delay options, no quick group control with dedicated buttons, etc., the list goes on. You may not need the extra functionality of the V6, but it is certainly not the same as what the RF-603 offers.

You're right, I haven't been clear enough. 4 Cactus V6 provide lots of great functionality; just in my concrete situation, with limited budget, in which I have to decide over 4 RF-603 or 2 Cactus V6, I favored 4 RF-603. I prefer to trigger my 3 flashes via radio frequency than trigger just 1 via radio frequency and the rest via optical slave. I am taking into account that, by using 2 Cactus, just the one controlled by the Cactus will have all the functionality you describe, the other two will have to work in manual.

Buying 2 Cactus V6 now and then saving for another 2 is a good approach; however, I am not a professional photographer and I think 4 RF-603 is good enough for my needs and it's cheaper.

Thanks for pointing out the functionality the Cactus provide.

[Class A]

Buying 2 Cactus V6 now and then saving for another 2 is a good approach; however, I am not a professional photographer and I think 4 RF-603 is good enough for my needs and it's cheaper.

Sure, makes sense.

Personally, I wouldn't want to miss remote power control anymore because it is so much quicker and I'm more likely to try different settings because they can be so easily achieved. But I fully understand that simple triggers can be sufficient.

Thanks for pointing out the functionality the Cactus provide.

No worries.

[sandbasser]

OP

FYI there's a listing in the Marketplace for a Cactus v4. Check it out...

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/24-photographic-equipment-sale/311884-sal...rice-drop.html