Photography News Issue 55

Photography News | Issue 55 | photographynews.co.uk

First tests

Cactus Flash Transceiver V6 II £89.99

Specs

Triggers flash photography are commonplace and available at various price points depending on what features you need, the kit you have and how you want to work. At the most basic level, a trigger does no more than fires the flash. Climb the evolutionary ladder of the trigger world, though, and life becomes significantly more interesting and the latest triggers can do the sort of heavy lifting that was unheard of a few years ago. Take, for example, the Cactus V6II. You get (in most cases) wireless, TTL control, high speed sync up to 1/8000sec and TTL pass through so you can mount the trigger on the camera and then the flash onto the trigger and enjoy the unit’s TTL functionality. None of this, of course, is new or innovative but the thing about this Cactus is that it works across different camera platforms. It is the world’s first trigger to offer compatibility with Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax cameras and flashguns in one unit. You might have spotted that Sony is missing from that list and there is a dedicated unit just for that brand. This is a real, practical and possibly money-saving benefit. While many people use just one system, more and more photographers (including me) have more than one brand, perhaps running amirrorless systemalongside their DSLR kit. This is where this Cactus comes into its own and means you can brand hop with impunity. Trigger set-up and handling are good but I wouldn’t say intuitive. The unithassomanyfeaturesandthereare so many options that I would advise downloading the full PDF manual off the Cactus website and printing the thing out and stashing it (or the pdf) in the camera bag for ready reference. Become a regular user and you won’t need it, but if you are an occasional user, it will get plenty of use. A quick start guide is available too but this is two pages full of menus, icons and set- up options but minimal quick start advice. A good read of the manual, in a quiet room, with the units and your camera/flashgun is the way to go. Another point on set-up is to make sure the firmware is up to date, not just for the Cactus itself but that it is equippedwith the latest camera brand firmware. The unit has a mini USB for this and an updater app is available for wireless

Price £89.99 Compatible cameras

This is an edited list, please see the website for full camera/flashgun

listing. There is a dedicated version for Sony cameras.

• Canon EOS-1D XMkII, 5DMk IV, 6D • FujifilmX-H1, X-T2, X-Pro2, GFX 50s • Nikon D810, D750 • Olympus OM-D E-M1 II, E-M5 II • Panasonic DMC-GX8, GH4, GH5 • Pentax K-1, K-3, K-3 II • Sigma dp2 Quattro, sd Quattro Working frequency 2.4GHz Number of channels 16 Number of groups Four Max working distance 100m High speed sync Yes, normal HSS, power sync Max sync speed 1/8000sec Camera voltage Up to 6V Flash voltage Up to 300V Power supply Two AA cells Interfaces Mini USB, minijack Dimensions (lxwxh) 79x77x48mm Weight 96g (no batteries) Contact Swains.co.uk Cactus-image.com

The Cactus V6 II is a very well appointed trigger system that offers plenty of creative potential, and its cross brand ability puts it ahead of rivals. A pair of triggers costs £180 which seems impressive value for the facilities on offer. Pros Impressive compatibility with long list of camera/flash models, versatile, AF assist LED built-in, LCD readout and TTL. The claimed wireless working range is 100mand certainly I had no problems in a 30m long office or with the two units working in separate rooms. Adjusting output and zoom head coverage worked well so long as you remember to turn off the groups that you do not want to adjust. I did get the odd strange thing happening. For example, having started with Nikon I tried the units on various cameras finishing on an Olympus before going back to my Nikon D810/SB-900 duo. Then I found the menu did not have the option of setting the camera system to Nikon – the options were Olympus and Others – nor did camera auto detect work (holding down the shutter button while switching the unit on in TX). I got the power and zoom control working so I knew the units were talking to each other but the flash refused to fire, even after a factory reset. Normal service was resumed after reinstalling the Nikon firmware in both units. Small point, but it goes to show you have to work a little with these units if you system hop. All told, though, once you get familiar with the Cactus, performance and handling rate highly. WC Verdict

on the website so the process is easy. I mention this because I checked and found an update for the unit but I couldn’t get it working and that was when I realised the camera brand firmware needed updating too. Once I got the D810/SB-900/ Cactus V6 II combination working, though, I was impressed with how the units worked. The on/off switch chooses whether you want a unit working as a transmitter (on the camera) or receiver (fitted with the flashgun) and you have four quickly selectable groups (A, B, C, D) and 16 channels. Output can be adjusted in 0.3EV steps and you can change output in all the active groups in one go, or just deselect groups when you want to adjust power in one or two. I tried a pair of Cactus V6 IIs on a Canon EOS 6D Mark II, Fujifilm X-T2, Nikon D810 and Olympus OMD 5D Mark II. I am not blessed with flashguns of everybrandand I had two for this test. A Cactus RF60X and my own Nikon Speedlight SB-900. The latter I got working with each camera, albeit with just flash triggering and no remote output or zoom head adjustment. With the Nikon DSLR/ flashgun combination, however, I got the full monty including zoom head control, flash sync up to 1/8000sec

It is the world’s first trigger to offer compatibility with Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax cameras

Below left The on/off switch means you either select TX (transmission) or RX (receiver) operation. Below Two buttons and the scroll wheel let you set menu functions.

Images The Cactus’s LCD panel toggles between the interface to adjust power output (top) and the flashgun’s zoom head. In these examples, all four groups are active on channel 1.

Cons You have to read the instructions, firmware issue