[mcgregni]

I don't think the RF60x can act as a Tx for TTL or HSS,as it only has a single pin... only the V6II can.

[Class A]

There is no reason to put a V6 ii on your camera and then the RF60x.

There is a reason which is that using an RF60X as a master directly on the camera won't give one the option to fire any of the flashes with HSS or use P-TTL for any of the flashes.

Use a different ttl flash on the V6ii off camera (Canon, Nikon, Pentax...j. With the lastest firmware all will work with Pentax cameras as ttl flashes.

That's not true. If you want to use off-camera flashes as (P-)TTL flashes then they cannot be from Canon, Nikon, etc. They must support the Pentax P-TTL system. As far as Pentax support is concerned, the "X" (for "cross") in "X-TTL" does not really apply.

[Cactus]

Can you share any more info on that case?

The idea is to have the same sort of controls / UI experience and multi-brand functionality of the V6 II on a speedlight. It's probably still too early to comment but that's the direction.

I've just got my set of RF60X and V6II, and its joy to play with

That's awesome to hear. Thank you!

Still waiting for that stronger 250Ws strobe

We can't wait either. Right now we are running rigorous tests on it for color consistency and power outputs. It's not smooth sailing per se due to our requirement but the process has been fun and satisfying for our R&D team.

Thanks for your interest in the RQ250.

---------- Post added 04-18-18 at 09:03 PM ----------

It worked in my test.

Oh wow, that's great to know!

---------- Post added 04-18-18 at 09:17 PM ----------

The Cactus RF60x is not only a flash, it’s a transmitter. There is no reason to put a V6 ii on your camera and then the RF60x. Buy two RF60x’s, one on and one off camera or one RF60x and one V6ii. Use a different ttl flash on the V6ii off camera (Canon, Nikon, Pentax...j. With the lastest firmware all will work with Pentax cameras as ttl flashes.

That's correct, just keep in mind that RF60X acting as transmitter (master flash) does not support HSS nor TTL - both on-camera and off-camera flash units. So such a setup is perfect if you don't need them.

The Cactus system ROCKS!

Gotta agree with you on this

[khardur]

Have you set your V6II transmitter's "WORK RANGE" to "SHORT"?

If not, it should make a huge difference.

Yes, and I still find that, at extremely short distances (within 3 ft) that there are times I have to adjust my position, that holding the camera "vertical" instead of "horizontal" results in a misfire or two, depending on the position.. and (anecdotally) I could get it to recur until I adjust my position a little bit.

I never had it happen enough to require me to set up some sort of formal test though. (FWIW, I was macro shooting snowflakes, so I was working very close to the flashes, probably ~ 1 ft.)

[Reed]

Check if have current firmware in both V6ii and Rf60x I have used mine as close as top hotshoe(taped over to block the contacts) of V6ii and it works like a charm.

[BruceBanner]

Bit late to this, just wanted to ask (as I've never tried and didn't want to break anything lol), can I mount my RF60x directly on my K-1 (by passing the V6ii entirely) and somehow get some kind of functionality out of the RF60x? Not even some kind of Manual mode flash perhaps?

[mcgregni]

The RF60x is a single pin flash type, so it does not receive information from the camera, only a basic trigger signal. So it functions as a manual mode flash when directly on the camera. You operate it in L (Local) mode and set the power output directly on the flash controls. There is no HSS in this configuration. You can use things like multi mode and delays I believe, if wanted.

Also the RF60x has a "Master" mode available, which is to act as transmitter and controller for other RF60x units, or V6/V6II receivers. The flash does not emit any light output itself in Master mode.

---

Last edited by mcgregni; 10-14-2018 at 08:49 AM.

[BruceBanner]

The RF60x is a single pin flash type, so it does not receive information from the camera, only a basic trigger signal. So it functions as a manual mode flash when directly on the camera. You operate it in L (Local) mode and set the power output directly on the flash controls. There is no HSS in this configuration. You can use things like multi mode and delays I believe, if wanted.

Also the RF60x has a "Master" mode available, which is to act as transmitter and controller for other RF60x units, or V6/V6II receivers. The flash does not emit any light output itself in Master mode.

The reason I ask is I saw a cool 'ring flash softbox' last night that would really only work with a flash set up on a cameras hotshoe as standard. This softbox seems well received, and currently the only flash I have for sitting on the K-1 is the RF60x, so I either need to get a new flash just for this set up purpose or deal with Manual mode only and no HSS with it. I knew putting the RF60x directly on the camera would suffer some features, I guessed pretty much what you suggested (a manual flash mode affair), does stacking it on top of a V6ii help at all to push any more features my way? Again I'm guessing not really as I seem to recall asking this a few months back which is why I went the custom bracket route for 'running and gunning' with a RF60x to get full compatibility.

[inkista]

If I use a Canon compatible flash (Godox), ...

You've already been told that no, a Godox -C speedlight will not work in TTL/HSS, etc. on a Pentax hotshoe. And this is for the simple reason that the Canon electronic flash signalling protocol used by Canon for TTL is different than that of Pentax for P-TTL, but on top of that, the pins on the foot won't match the contacts on the flash hotshoe:



So, signals, other than the one for sync (that big contact in the center, which is part of the ISO standard, and to which all digital camera hotshoes now conform), won't even be exchanged. This is also the reason for the RF-60x (and Godox TT600/V850II) not working in TTL/HSS on the hotshoe or being able to be a TTL/HSS radio master. They only have that single sync pin, so can't receive any TTL/HSS commands via the foot, so can't pass them along as a radio transmitter. The only thing you can tell a single-pin flash to do through the foot is when to fire.

However. Godox is very likely to eventually roll out TTL/HSS speedlights for Pentax. They've already announced the TT350-P. This is a good indication they'll follow that up with TT685-P, V860II-P, and V350-P releases. (All the non-Canon/Nikon "flavors" of Godox speedlights had the TT350 introduced as the first model for that flavor).

And in the Godox system, all the speedlights have transceivers in them, so they can be both an on-camera speedlight as well as a radio transmitter for other off-camera Godox flashes.

... how does the X-TTL work? Does it work on-camera (mounted on top of V60II)?

How the cross-brand TTL capability in the Godox system works is that any of the built-in radio transceivers or receivers in the Godox lights in the 2.4GHz X system can automatically switch among all of the supported TTL/HSS schemes. Provided the flash has been firmware upgraded to do so. At this time, in the Godox system, only the AD600 strobes have had these firmware upgrade published. Over time, we should eventually see the AD200, AD360II, TT685, V860II, TT350, and V350 models receive similar firmware updates. For the -O/-F rollout, it took about three months from the time of the release of the X1T units for all the firmware upgrades to be rolled out. With -S gear, it was about a year. So it could be a while.

Without the firmware updates, you should have remote power control and possibly HSS. The TT600 and AD200, but not the AD360II, are performing HSS with the XPro-P based on this report.

The Godox X1R receivers are NOT like the Cactus V6II units; they do not support cross-brand TTL, and will only do TTL in their dedicated flavor. And right now, they only come in the -C, -N, and -S flavors. So, adding legacy P-TTL flashes into a Godox scheme, at this time, will not work like it will with the Cactus V6II system. You have to get Godox lights with the built-in triggers. But those lights also include the AD200 and AD360II bare bulb flashes, the AD600/AD600 Pro battery-powered monolights, and the QTII, QSII, GSII, DPII, and SKII series of AC-powered monolights.

But whatever goes on the camera hotshoe as your transmitter unit has to be in the -P flavor, so that the footpins and hotshoe contacts match and the camera TTL/HSS signalling can be interpreted by the unit. Off-camera speedlights, however, can be Godox flashes in any of the six supported "flavors" (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Olympus/Panasonic, Pentax).

I currently use a TT685-C (Canon) in TTL/HSS with remote power control with an XPro-C transmitter on my Canon 5DMkII, an XPro-F on my Fuji X100T, and an XPro-O on my Panasonic GX-7. I don't need to get a new light for each camera system. And the flash is capable of switching between systems even in the same shoot, so long as all the transmitters are set for a multi-user scenario.

[BruceBanner]

The RF60x is a single pin flash type, so it does not receive information from the camera, only a basic trigger signal. So it functions as a manual mode flash when directly on the camera. You operate it in L (Local) mode and set the power output directly on the flash controls. There is no HSS in this configuration. You can use things like multi mode and delays I believe, if wanted.

Also the RF60x has a "Master" mode available, which is to act as transmitter and controller for other RF60x units, or V6/V6II receivers. The flash does not emit any light output itself in Master mode.

If I wanted to avoid the cost of buying a whole new flash just for the purpose of using this particular softbox and I already own a V6ii and RF60x, could I perhaps somehow put some tape down in the hotshoe on the top of the v6ii and then simply dock my rf60x on top, would that work?
I realise the communication between the two might be flakey, even in short range mode. With my flash bracket for example I have come to learn that much of my frustrations on whether the unit will fire or not comes from the placement of the ref60x on that bracket, sometimes it's ok with it, sometimes not. When not it can be a subtle couple of cm shift in a certain direction (made possible via having the flash mounted on a ballhead) and then voila! It works

I'm just curious to know if this works or not and been attempted before, if successful what kinda material/contact was used in the v6ii to stop the pins working and effectively make it a cold shoe?

You've already been told that no, a Godox -C speedlight will not work in TTL/HSS, etc. on a Pentax hotshoe. And this is for the simple reason that the Canon electronic flash signalling protocol used by Canon for TTL is different than that of Pentax for P-TTL, but on top of that, the pins on the foot won't match the contacts on the flash hotshoe:

Attachment 426995

So, signals, other than the one for sync (that big contact in the center, which is part of the ISO standard, and to which all digital camera hotshoes now conform), won't even be exchanged. This is also the reason for the RF-60x (and Godox TT600/V850II) not working in TTL/HSS on the hotshoe or being able to be a TTL/HSS radio master. They only have that single sync pin, so can't receive any TTL/HSS commands via the foot, so can't pass them along as a radio transmitter. The only thing you can tell a single-pin flash to do through the foot is when to fire.

However. Godox is very likely to eventually roll out TTL/HSS speedlights for Pentax. They've already announced the TT350-P. This is a good indication they'll follow that up with TT685-P, V860II-P, and V350-P releases. (All the non-Canon/Nikon "flavors" of Godox speedlights had the TT350 introduced as the first model for that flavor).

And in the Godox system, all the speedlights have transceivers in them, so they can be both an on-camera speedlight as well as a radio transmitter for other off-camera Godox flashes.



How the cross-brand TTL capability in the Godox system works is that any of the built-in radio transceivers or receivers in the Godox lights in the 2.4GHz X system can automatically switch among all of the supported TTL/HSS schemes. Provided the flash has been firmware upgraded to do so. At this time, in the Godox system, only the AD600 strobes have had these firmware upgrade published. Over time, we should eventually see the AD200, AD360II, TT685, V860II, TT350, and V350 models receive similar firmware updates. For the -O/-F rollout, it took about three months from the time of the release of the X1T units for all the firmware upgrades to be rolled out. With -S gear, it was about a year. So it could be a while.

Without the firmware updates, you should have remote power control and possibly HSS. The TT600 and AD200, but not the AD360II, are performing HSS with the XPro-P based on this report.

The Godox X1R receivers are NOT like the Cactus V6II units; they do not support cross-brand TTL, and will only do TTL in their dedicated flavor. And right now, they only come in the -C, -N, and -S flavors. So, adding legacy P-TTL flashes into a Godox scheme, at this time, will not work like it will with the Cactus V6II system. You have to get Godox lights with the built-in triggers. But those lights also include the AD200 and AD360II bare bulb flashes, the AD600/AD600 Pro battery-powered monolights, and the QTII, QSII, GSII, DPII, and SKII series of AC-powered monolights.

But whatever goes on the camera hotshoe as your transmitter unit has to be in the -P flavor, so that the footpins and hotshoe contacts match and the camera TTL/HSS signalling can be interpreted by the unit. Off-camera speedlights, however, can be Godox flashes in any of the six supported "flavors" (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Olympus/Panasonic, Pentax).

I currently use a TT685-C (Canon) in TTL/HSS with remote power control with an XPro-C transmitter on my Canon 5DMkII, an XPro-F on my Fuji X100T, and an XPro-O on my Panasonic GX-7. I don't need to get a new light for each camera system. And the flash is capable of switching between systems even in the same shoot, so long as all the transmitters are set for a multi-user scenario.

I too have seen all that Godox stuff, and with the TT350P on the way we can live in hope that Godox will start giving Pentax some love with the V350P and hopefully even a 680iiP! However it's a lot of 'maybes' and even then with firmware and bugs we're looking at a long turn around, and I have pending jobs on my radar coming up now, so I think I will have to stay with Cactus for quite some time (possibly investing in more v6ii triggers and the like).

[Class A]

...could I perhaps somehow put some tape down in the hotshoe on the top of the v6ii and then simply dock my rf60x on top, would that work?

Yes, that works.

I've tried it once and had no issues with the V6II configured to use the "SHORT" work range.

[BruceBanner]

Yes, that works.

I've tried it once and had no issues with the V6II configured to use the "SHORT" work range.

I wonder if the additional height of stacking the RF60x ontop of the v6ii will be a problem stuffing it through that ring flash soft box tho... it might even be better...

What did you use as tape to put down over the contacts, masking tape? Does it need to be something special, just to make sure the contacts really aren't talking to one another?

[Class A]

I used a piece of paper.

[kaseki]

I thought this might be an appropriate thread for the following observation:

Configuration: An on-camera (Pentax 645Z) V6II and three RF60X flashes located off camera, one flash each in groups A, B, and C, all with whatever Pentax relevant software was available in mid-September.

At first there seems to be no method of getting the flashes into TTL mode. There is no path that I found in the RF60X flash control menu. There is a path via the V6II controls, but this seems undocumented (at least in the downloadable version of the User Manual). If one clicks the designated group button for one of the groups, the display cycles from off [---], to manual [M], to ttl [TTL]. Once TTL is showing for a group on the V6II display, that group's RF60X flash display window shows "TTL" instead of the flash power fraction.

Shutter release seems to result in appropriate subject illumination, but I have a lot more testing to do to determine that actual dual pulse P-TTL is happening on all groups set to TTL.

[Class A]

There is a path via the V6II controls, but this seems undocumented (at least in the downloadable version of the User Manual).

There is the "Quick Start Guide" available from download pages (-> Pentax QSG.

I never understood why Cactus didn't update the regular manual to include the information required to properly operate the X-TTL variant of the V6II firmware.

BTW, in earlier firmwares the RF60(X) operated well in TTL mode even without showing "TTL" at the back. I found P-TTL with the RF60X to work much better than I expected it to be (I had no high opinion of P-TTL) but no doubt you'll run into various P-TTL issues. A common phenomenon is hitting a power range extreme (e.g., the flash cannot turn down the power anymore even though less light would be desirable in close up situations) and not noticing it.