[awscreo]

Hi. I was wondering, is there a native flash for K-1 that supports high-speed sync, and can be used off camera with some sort of a trigger?
Or maybe there's some sort of a third party cheaper system that does that?

I'm not really looking at the pro-grade hss systems with power sources and stuff, just a normal hotshoe speedlight.

Thanks!

[FantasticMrFox]

Not as far as I know, but Yongnuo announced they have one underway for release in early 2017.

[boriscleto]

Both the AF 540FGZ II and AF 360FGZ II support HSS.

pentax flash | B&H Photo Video

There are third party flash guns that support it as well.

Off camera? I don't know...

On Camera Flashes | B&H Photo Video

[lithedreamer]

Hi. I was wondering, is there a native flash for K-1 that supports high-speed sync, and can be used off camera with some sort of a trigger?
Or maybe there's some sort of a third party cheaper system that does that?

I'm not really looking at the pro-grade hss systems with power sources and stuff, just a normal hotshoe speedlight.

Thanks!

The Cactus V6 II triggers support HSS off-camera. They're also releasing a new flash, the rf60x (with radios built-in), in early January, those will include HSS off-camera.

[W.j.christy]

The older version of the AF -540 FGZ supports high speed sync as well. The older af 360 fgz I am not sure if it does. you can pick up these flash relatively cheap these days too.

there are also the ACON triggers that support both P-ttl and high speed sync.

I think there are some triggers being developed by adorama for pentax that may support P-TTL and HSS for the future.

[awscreo]

Thanks for info) I'll have a look at prices, see if anything suits my budget. I'm really interested in the new yn flashes though, I've heard good things about the brand (never actually owned any of their products though), mainly that they are a good bang for the buck. Maybe it makes sense to wait for updates from them before buying anything.

[mcgregni]

Pentax and other 'Dedicated System' flashes (eg Metz /Tumax / Bolt / Sigma) offer models with HSS. The general principle is that for Wireless working with HSS you need two Accessory Flashes with the capability (one on the camera hotshoe performing the 'Master or Control' role), and the communication is through Optical Triggering signals. Line of Sight and distance limitations need to be considered. These limitations can be significant outdoors in bright light, although pointing the control flash head at the slave units 'light detector' will help a lot, and generally its reliable up to 4-5 meters.


If you need to work at greater distances than this, or the angles involved prevent a direct line of sight, then a radio trigger is the next consideration. The most obvious budget trigger available for this is the Acon R930, which provides a 'P-TTL Cord' equivalent functioning via radio signals. You use a single off-camera Dedicated System flash with an Acon receiver unit attached, and the Acon transmitter unit on the camera hotshoe (so not needing the 2nd flash unit). The advantage to this approach is that you can use a P-TTL flash, with automatic flash exposures. The P-TTL flash is ideal also for on-camera flash working.

[Class A]

The Cactus V6 II triggers support HSS off-camera. They're also releasing a new flash, the rf60x (with radios built-in), in early January, those will include HSS off-camera.

The current RF60 (no "x") also already supports HSS off-camera (with a V6II trigger on-camera).
It seems to be sold out at places, though.

When paired with a V6II in receiver mode, any (supported) flash that is HSS-capable can also be used as an HSS off-camera flash. Event the flash system could be a different one (Canon, Nikon, etc.)

[lithedreamer]

The current RF60 (no "x") also already supports HSS off-camera (with a V6II trigger on-camera).
It seems to be sold out at places, though.

When paired with a V6II in receiver mode, any (supported) flash that is HSS-capable can also be used as an HSS off-camera flash. Event the flash system could be a different one (Canon, Nikon, etc.)

Huh, thanks for correcting me. What's new about the 'x' version?

[Class A]

What's new about the 'x' version?

I don't know.

Cactus have not invited me to beta test the RF60x, so I'll have to wait till the official release as well.

[lithedreamer]

I don't know.

Cactus have not invited me to beta test the RF60x, so I'll have to wait till the official release as well.

I compared the released specs on B&H's page, and the main benefits seem to be some better support for HSS with the V6 II triggers, and much faster refresh times.

Oh, hey! You're the guy who wrote the RF60 article for PF, right? Thank you for that! It's part of what got me into flash photography, oddly enough.

[Class A]

I compared the released specs on B&H's page, and the main benefits seem to be some better support for HSS with the V6 II triggers, and much faster refresh times.

I had no idea that there are already official listings for the RF60x; thanks for pointing it out!

I'm not sure what makes you think that it has better support for HSS (with the V6II). The RF60 (with the latest V2.04 firmware update) already supports HSS with the V6II and PowerSync as well. They couldn't improve HSS support, if they tried.

Are you perhaps misreading the note about the "AF assist light" support to be about HSS?

From the info available on the listing, I think the following features are new (compared to the RF60):

• "Cooling mode": The RF60 has an overheating protection system already; this looks like a mode that attempts to stop overheating from occuring in the first place.
• Quicker recycling: If they are using the same measurement method then the recycling is 2.6 times faster. With Eneloops, I never needed 5s for recycling after a full power shot (~3.2s), so the quoted 1.9s may even be less when using Eneloops (rather than standard batteries).
• AF-assist light: Will most likely just activate in conjunction with a V6II as on off-camera AF-assist light. Anything else would require a system-specific hot-shoe and the specs don't mention that.
• Different Display: Seems like it will use the same "blue on dark" display as the V6II. From my measurements with the V6II, it uses less power when on, but always needs to be on, whereas the RF60's display also worked without a back-light.

Too bad they kept the 270°swivel range. I came up with a DIY tweak for the RF60 that easily extends that range and it shouldn't be hard to construct a mechanism that supports a 360° swivel range. Being able to tilt down the head (when front-facing) can also be handy at times. These limitations are not biggies, but not having them can be handy at times.

Oh, hey! You're the guy who wrote the RF60 article for PF, right?

Yes, I am.

Thank you for that! It's part of what got me into flash photography, oddly enough.

Much appreciated!

Although it was a lot of work, I had fun writing it. At the time I had seen many on the forum express that they don't need anything but an on-camera flash, hence my little excursion at the beginning of the review as to why taking one's flash off-camera is such a good idea.

[lithedreamer]

I had no idea that there are already official listings for the RF60x; thanks for pointing it out!

I'm not sure what makes you think that it has better support for HSS (with the V6II). The RF60 (with the latest V2.04 firmware update) already supports HSS with the V6II and PowerSync as well. They couldn't improve HSS support, if they tried.

Gotcha. I was just going off of the B&H descriptions:

RF60x:

Automatic wireless high-speed sync support while in slave mode for Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, and Sony when using the V6II or V6IIs transceiver


The RF60 talks about high-speed sync sympathy mode (with a TTL flash on-camera) but doesn't have the above line, probably because it was added recently?

[Class A]

The RF60 talks about high-speed sync sympathy mode (with a TTL flash on-camera) but doesn't have the above line, probably because it was added recently?

Yeah, the RF60 was released well before the V6II. At the time, it only supported standard sync with the V6.

When the V6II came out, Cactus released updates for the RF60 firmware that added the "Automatic wireless high-speed sync support" that the RF60x is now advertised with.

[howieb101]

Pentax and other 'Dedicated System' flashes (eg Metz /Tumax / Bolt / Sigma) offer models with HSS. The general principle is that for Wireless working with HSS you need two Accessory Flashes with the capability (one on the camera hotshoe performing the 'Master or Control' role), and the communication is through Optical Triggering signals. Line of Sight and distance limitations need to be considered. These limitations can be significant outdoors in bright light, although pointing the control flash head at the slave units 'light detector' will help a lot, and generally its reliable up to 4-5 meters.


If you need to work at greater distances than this, or the angles involved prevent a direct line of sight, then a radio trigger is the next consideration. The most obvious budget trigger available for this is the Acon R930, which provides a 'P-TTL Cord' equivalent functioning via radio signals. You use a single off-camera Dedicated System flash with an Acon receiver unit attached, and the Acon transmitter unit on the camera hotshoe (so not needing the 2nd flash unit). The advantage to this approach is that you can use a P-TTL flash, with automatic flash exposures. The P-TTL flash is ideal also for on-camera flash working.

There is also, technically a 3rd way by using a Cactus V6 II as a HSS enabler. If the other flash (or studio strobe) is capable of being input into HSS mode, you can use the native trigger of the flash (or strobe) mounted on the Cactus V6 II and trigger the flashes/strobes in HSS mode. There are already a number of documented cases of using the Cactus V6 II this way.

Note: This is HSS shot in manual mode not PTTL.

Howie Be