Cactus RF60 Review

Conclusion

Pentax Compatible Being brand-agnostic is one of the strengths of the RF60 & V6 system.

The Cactus RF60 belongs to a new species of radio-controlled external flashes. Soon flashes that do not offer remote power control will have a very hard time surviving in the market as photographers will embrace this new level of convenience/productivity at very affordable prices.

Camera manufacturers have been neglecting radio-controlled flashes for a long time now and only started to offer corresponding products. The Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT, for instance, finally frees photographers from the need to establish line of sight and combat strong sunlight. However it costs $549 and a corresponding on-camera trigger, the Canon ST-E3-RT, will set one back another $470.

The Cactus RF60 on the other hand, while not a P-TTL flash, represents very good value for its $175 price (also available from Adorama for $174.95 and free shipping). In particular when considering it in combination with a V6 on-camera radio trigger that can remotely control power levels of not only the RF60 but many other flash models, including legacy TTL models.

With the RF60's special semi-automatic HSS and second-curtain sync features, it does by no means provide the convenience of the native P-TTL versions of these features, but a dedicated photographer at least has the opportunity to get second-curtain sync and HSS from non-TTL off-camera flashes.

Pros:

• +  powerful flash with remote power control in 1/3 stop steps
• +  RF60 master can manage up to four groups
• +  RF60 master can remote control zoom settings on other RF60
• +  RF60 master, in combination with V6 receivers, can remote control the power of other flashes models across all brands
• +  special features such as semi-automatic HSS and a second-curtain sync supporting delay timer
• +  very good user interface, beating Canon and Metz for ease of use
• +  battery level indicator
• +  four triggering options (hot-shoe, 3.5mm port, optical, radio)
• +  tripod mounting option
• +  proper on/off switch
• +  settings are memorised, even after power loss
• +  compatible to V5/LV5
• +  very good build quality and exemplary internal design
• +  flash stand and carrying bag included
• +  very good user manual (no “Chinglish”)
• +  brand-agnostic, i.e., fully Pentax compatible

Cons:

• −  locking wheel instead of lever-type locking mechanism
• −  flash head cannot slightly tilt down when facing forward
• −  battery level indicator optimised for Alkaline batteries instead of NiMH rechargeables

I considered adding “no P-TTL support” to the “Cons” list, but decided against it because P-TTL brings so little to the table that it would not be worth paying the price for the extra development required. If you have not read the Introduction yet, please do so now regarding arguments as to why many professionals use their flashes in manual mode.

The RF60 has so many positives that it is hard to pick out a few highlights. The ability to remote control power levels and zoom settings of other RF60 surely stands out. So does the ability to remote control the power levels of selected digital TTL flash models and many analogue TTL flash models across all brands by adding Cactus V6 transceivers to these flashes. As a pair, the RF60 and V6 have so much going for them that they will be very hard to dismiss when one is shopping for a new flash.

The RF60 is, to the best of my knowledge, the first flash to add features like a High-Speed Sync and “delayed triggering” that make it possible to use advanced features like second-curtain sync (“Trailing Curtain Sync” in P-TTL speak) and HSS without paying the premium associated with dedicated P-TTL flashes. While these RF60 features are not fully automated unlike their P-TTL counterparts and one P-TTL flash will be required for HSS to make a Pentax camera go beyond a shutter speed of 1/180s and still provide a flash trigger, the dedicated photographer still gets to enjoy them with only some manual adjusting required.

With respect to the user interface, the Cactus RF60 deserves very high praise. Surely one could argue that incorporating a master mode on the basis of so few buttons is rather ambitious and there are indeed a few minor areas where one could imagine an even more elegant solution but in general – and in particular where it counts – the RF60 shines in terms of enabling quick access to parameters and configurations. All flash user interfaces I could compare the RF60 to, including those by Canon and Metz, are left behind by the proverbial country mile.

The overall impression I gained was overwhelmingly positive and there are only a few small areas where improvements would have been appreciated:

The locking wheel of the Cactus RF60 is very serviceable – it is far more comfortable to use than that on the V5, for instance – and presents no real issues in practice. Nevertheless, a lever-type locking mechanism would have meant even more comfort and a tad more speed

As elaborated in the “Handling” section, the fact that the flash head does not support a slight downwards tilt like many other flash heads do, can be a bit of an inconvenience, but should not pose a problem in most cases.

I was not sure whether criticising the battery level indicator for being optimised for Alkaline batteries was fair or not. After all, it is hard to reliably detect the remaining capacity of NiMH cells because the latter keep a very constant voltage level for a long time and then very suddenly drop to unusable levels close to the end.

Summarising, the Cactus RF60 compares very well against competitor models. It is very well featured and just plain and simple a joy to use. I find it hard to convey just how satisfying it is to operate the RF60 with its excellent buttons and straightforward user interface. Its display is also easier to read than any other flash display I personally used.

In particular in combination with the upcoming Cactus V6 transceiver, the RF60 forms an extremely attractive package enabling remote power control for many P-TTL/i-TTL/ETTL, and legacy TTL flashes in a brand-agnostic manner.

In a nutshell, the RF60 has become my favourite flash and will replace both my Canon 540EZ and Metz 58-AF2. In combination with an on-camera V6 there is nothing left to be desired.

The RF60 shows how flashes should have been equipped and made a long time ago. At last, a formidable incarnation is now available. I expect all serious flash photographers all over the world and across all brands to take a very serious look at the innovative and highly useful RF60 and V6 system.

If you have any questions about the RF60, I will try to answer them in the respective Cactus RF60 discussion thread.

© All images featured in this review were created by the author, Class A, and are copyrighted.