[shyrsio]

Sad to hear this!

[Breakfastographer]

I know what that text does, but would caution that it will get everything...need big hard drive...and might be shut down if detected as a denial of service attack.

I pulled a gig before I had to stop, seems to have gotten most of the important stuff like manuals. It ended up digging deep into the community (forums) part, seems like there's a lot of stuff there and it might take a while to archive it all. Hoping I haven't missed anything by not progressing to whatever part may or may not come after the community section.

But no DDoS protection issues - maybe my connection is just too slow, which in this case would be a good thing.

---------- Post added 12-18-20 at 06:15 PM ----------

I'm not even convinced it will work. The updater for Cactus is an installer and the actual update is then installed directly to the flash or trigger, by means of the installer. The installer does not collect the update from the website, but probably somewhere off a server.

Weeeellll, technically you could capture the traffic and configure your hosts file to pull the file from localhost, i.e. a server running on your machine. That way, the installer would still work - it would think it's connecting to the remote server when in fact it's just connecting back to your own machine.

But you're right - I wouldn't have captured the file from whichever server it needs to come from as I didn't run any of the downloaded software, nor do I know if it will let me do that without having the relevant gear with old firmware on it.

But perhaps they'll be responsive to feedback, and publish the files? It would be a way to bow out with grace.

[MarkJerling]

But you're right - I wouldn't have captured the file from whichever server it needs to come from as I didn't run any of the downloaded software, nor do I know if it will let me do that without having the relevant gear with old firmware on it.

But perhaps they'll be responsive to feedback, and publish the files? It would be a way to bow out with grace.

I'll ask.

[pschlute]

Sad news. I will continue to use my Cactus triggers for a while yet....I hope.

[UncleVanya]

I really like the v6 non-pttl options to control multiple manual flashes.

[Class A]

I'm not even convinced it will work. The updater for Cactus is an installer and the actual update is then installed directly to the flash or trigger, by means of the installer. The installer does not collect the update from the website, but probably somewhere off a server.

There should not be a problem running firmware updates, even when the server is down.

The Cactus firmware updater downloads a new firmware version to the local updater installation folder and then updates devices using that local file. The file always has the same name (per Cactus device, that is), so all one has to do is to replace the default firmware file the updater comes with with the latest firmware (using the standard generic name the default file has) and then update the device.

You should, however, download any firmware versions you plan to use later now. Just select them in the firmware updater and then copy the downloaded file (e.g., "CactusV6II.fir" to another place, preferably renaming it to "CactusV6II_PEN.A.002.fir" or similar. You then only need to rename it back to the original name, if you want to use it later.

[Class A]

Needless to say, I'm really disappointed to hear this.

Yes, very sad indeed.

The nail in the coffin was the lacklustre interest for the RQ250 (Cactus' version of the Godox AD 200). People thought it was too expensive. This portable off-camera flash had a great design that sadly I haven't seen copied by anyone yet. Ergonomics would have been better compared to the AD 200, not in the least due to the fact that the Cactus triggers are quicker to operate than the Godox equivalents. Only the Flashpoint R2 MarkII comes close to allowing the efficient handling the Cactus triggers enable.

Cactus makes / made great products and it's sad to see them exit the market.

Agreed.

They listened to photographers and were excellent in taking good advice on board. Unfortunately, towards the end it appears their capacity to capitalise on the input they received seemed to have very much diminished. The TTL firmware variant for the V6II could have been simpler to use and should have been more reliable from the start. Nevertheless, Cactus was an awesome company and it pains me much to see them close.

[Class A]

Also, once you required multiple flashes it required lots of AA battery recharging assuming you used re-chargeable batteries.

Yes, but that was mainly owed to the AA batteries of the flash.

At least having the trigger use its own batteries made it possible not to drain the flash's batteries for radio reception purposes during a shoot. The radio receiver module in a flash consumes a considerable amount of energy so while "all-in-one" flashes are much more convenient, everything else being equal, one should get a bit more life out of a flash+receiver combination.

[MarkJerling]

While the website is still up and running, I have gone and done firmware updates to the latest firmware for both the RF60 flash and for the V6II transceivers.
Happy to report that the update process is easy and worked faultlessly with all units.

[BarryE]

It is sad as their products work so well for me. I now have 4 flash units and 4 triggers. One trigger sits on the camera and one on my Pentax flash. This leaves two spare for adding any further flashes I may need later if I have a failure. It's the triggers that are key to ensuring my investment in this system lasts . I felt very exposed when I only had two triggers, so I found some used ones. They are still a few to be found.

[UncleVanya]

It is sad as their products work so well for me. I now have 4 flash units and 4 triggers. One trigger sits on the camera and one on my Pentax flash. This leaves two spare for adding any further flashes I may need later if I have a failure. It's the triggers that are key to ensuring my investment in this system lasts . I felt very exposed when I only had two triggers, so I found some used ones. They are still a few to be found.

I have three v6 triggers, a sigma flash, a cactus flash, and two Pentax flashes that are modern and have p-TTL, but I prefer the v6 manual mode for difficult lighting. Very sad indeed.

[Breakfastographer]

While the website is still up and running, I have gone and done firmware updates to the latest firmware for both the RF60 flash and for the V6II transceivers.
Happy to report that the update process is easy and worked faultlessly with all units.

Just on the off chance... check your %TEMP% directory (assuming Windows). The downloaded assets might still be there. Or somewhere else on your hard drive - this may even be configurable in the software (haven't tested). If it's configurable, that's a plus because then it's basically telling you where the files might be.

[bobbotron]

Ah no! I have at least three of their flashes and a number of triggers. Most unfortunate, it's one of the best manual systems. Damn.

[Class A]

The downloaded assets might still be there.

Downloaded firmware files are always stored in the Cactus Firmware Updater installation directory.
They have generic names like "CactusV6II.fir".
As a result, unless one renames the files, they get overriden every time a certain firmware version is selected and downloaded via the Firmware Updater.

[Breakfastographer]

@Class A: Do you already have a comprehensive collection of these files?