645Z and Canon 580ex HSS

Phred

I cannot get the HSS to work on the Canon 580ex.

I can get the power to vary up and down but not HSS.

I have tried the flash set to E-TTL and TTL.

On initial set up, I had the camera V6 TX set to camera system Pentax and flash system Canon...but that did not work. I had to set the V6 TX flash system to Pentax for the 580 to work.

Currently, I have the camera V6 TX set to Camera System Pentax and flash system Pentax. The V6 RX is set to flash system Canon with AUTO. Everything works fine up to max synch...anything higher, and I then get black lines at top of exposure. The flash is set to HSS as is the TX module.

Any ideas?

Its the same with the 550ex as well. Although the band at top of exposure on the 550 stays minimal up to 1/4000. On the 580, the band gets worse as speed increases.

Also, the Pentax 540FGZ II works fine in all respects on the RX...power up/down and HS works fine.

With three Canon flashes, I really wanted this to work rather than buying more Pentax gear.

Antonio

Hello @Phred,

Did you switch on the HSS function on your 580EX?

Same thing for the 550EX.

You should see a HSS flash icon on the flash LCD display once it is turned on.

Check and see if this fixes the problem?

Thanks!

Phred

Hi Antonio,

Yes, the HSS was on for both flashes...confirmed.

Phred

Antonio

Did you let V6 II to auto-detect the flash system?

Auto-detect is the default setting. If you didn't manually choose the flash system / profile, remember to always power on device from top to bottom and that is:

1. Switch on the flash
2. Set it to TTL mode
3. Turn on the HSS function on the flash
4. Switch on the V6 II to RX mode.

The V6 II should detect both your Canon flashes as Canon and apply an AUTO flash profile.

See if this works.

erik604

Looking forward to the result of this combo. Can't get the 645z working with 580ex2 either.

Class A

@Phred: Have you updated the firmware version on your V6II units yet?

The latest one is V1.1.006, I believe.
Make sure to use the same firmware version on all units. I just had a problem (with HSS triggering) running V1.1.006 on the transmitter but V1.1.005 on the receiver. After I updated the receiver as well, the problem went away. Can't say with 100% certainty that the different firmware versions were indeed causing the problem, but I definitely recommend using one of the later firmware versions.

N.B., if you are running an older firmware version, you won't see it displayed in the PREFERENCES menu. In this case, just keep holding down the A and D buttons (but no other buttons) when turning on the V6II to check the firmware version.

Phred

Update:

So I have two Pentax flashes working perfectly (I bought a second 540)...but would like to still use the 580ex for my background light.

Firmware on all three Cactus is V1.1.005.

The 580ex photos still shows a black bar at the top of the image. No matter what the shutter is set to ABOVE normal synch of 1/160. The black bar stays the same amount from 1/250 all the way up to 1/4000. At normal synch, the bar is gone (makes sense, no HSS).

I tried all of the above items recommended by Antonio...no change. The cactus did detect and set the receiver to Canon and I can control the power setting. Flash is set to ETTL and HSS. If I force camera to TTL using configuration, I can't set the HSS. Maybe that's it? The manual says a "Type B Camera" would use TTL...and says that the HSS is not possible with a Type B camera and TTL. So setting the TTL makes HSS not possible. So should the Cactus work with the ETTL setting and HHS?

I am a bit hesitant to upgrade firmware because I have it all working with my two Pentax 540's...and don't want to lose that...and I don't think upgrading them to the 006 will make a difference?? Maybe I'm wrong?

Class A

I don't know whether V1.1.006 would improve anything.

However, if you experience anything being worse after the upgrade to V1.1.006 it is very easy to downgrade to V1.1.005 again. Just check for the available firmware versions with the Firmware Updater and choose "V1.1.005" to downgrade to V1.1.005 again.

Phred

Updated all three Cactus to V1.1.006...no change on the 580EX...still a band up high during HSS.

Antonio

We really want to help but we don't have any 645 in the studio.

So the Pentax AF-540FGZ are working perfectly without any banding?

Antonio

Update!

We will be getting our hands on a 645Z next week so we will find out soon. Please bear with us during this time.

Thank you.

Phred

Thanks...I hope we can get this to work...

And yes, the two AF-540FGZ II's work great up to 1/4000 with no banding.