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Nissin Di700 (Nikon) on top of V6 makes flash display blink

bfqrstbfqrst
in V6 Questions
Hi guys,

well the title sort of says it... I recently got a couple of V6 to connect my Nissin Di700 to my D750. I am trying to debug some misfires but that is a topic for V6 Problems... I'm aware of the D750 hotshoe situation..

Here's the question: In order to rule out the V6 <-> Di700 connection, is it normal or expected behaviour for the Nissin flash to alternate and blink every couple of seconds? Is there anything I should be aware of regarding this combo? V6 firmware is up to date, flash is on TTL, flash is switched on before the V6 is set to RX...

Cheers

Comments

  • AntonioAntonio
    Hello @bfqrst

    It's normal as the Di700 requires a signal every so often to confirm that there is indeed an established connection with a camera, otherwise it would go into power saving mode.  A manual flash trigger like the V6 won't be doing this on its own so we had to build that into the flash profile.

    Thank you.
    Antonio Lao
    Brand Manager
    _____________

    To help us better help you, always state the exact firmware version installed on your Cactus device(s), such as: "1.1.013", "NIK.A.001", "v.103", or "A06".

    TTL or HSS not working on Cactus V6 II and V6 IIs? Be sure to check hot shoe connectivity by doing the <CAMERA INFO> check.

    Feel free to suggest an improvement or share product ideas. Contact us directly at info@cactus-image.com.  At Cactus, we listen. 
  • bfqrstbfqrst
    Hi Antonio,

    thank you very much for the insight. I guess that rules out the Di700 / V6 combo more or less... I will compare the behaviour (misfire-wise) to a RF60 which is scheduled to arrive any day soon. Any trouble I might have I will post to problems...

    Again, thanks!

    Cheers
  • Class AClass A
    Hi bfqrst,

    why are you concluding that the Di700 / V6 combo doesn't work?

    I understood Antonio as saying that they built in regular communication with the flash into the flash profile so that the Di700 does not go to sleep.

    Have you tried to fire the Di700 at different power levels using a remote V6 transmitter and the latter's power level dial and test button?
  • bfqrstbfqrst
    Hi Class A,

    I guess you got me wrong... I was ruling out the Di700 / V6 combo as being the culprit for the misfires. To put it the other way around: I think the aforementioned combo is NOT responsible for the misfires I'm experiencing. Anyway, that statement holds true the day before yesterday...

    As I stated earlier, I was scheduled to get a RF60. Well it arrived. To exclude the D750 from the equation I fired both of the flashes from the V6 test fire button. The RF60 flashed every single time, whereas the Di700 / V6 combo misfired fairly often. Bummer!

    So here's what we got: 
    1. The new hotshoe of the D750 might play a role in all this, but not necessarily in this particular case or setup (since I testfired from the V6s test button and still got misfires on the Di700 / V6)
    2. Di700 <=> V6 communication works as designed according to Antonio
    3. Doublechecked channels, groups, tried different power levels, range levels on the V6s
    I then focused on the Di700 and the blinking pattern since I subjectively got the impression, that 
    • the flash is misfiring more often right after changing power levels
    • and in situations where the flash display blinks (aka the V6 sends the stay alive ping)
    The latter seems to be the problem according to my tests! Every time the lower row blinks (the flash receives the ping) and you try to fire the flash in that exact instance, it chokes! I was able to sync my fire command to the blinking and I reproduced the misfires 100% of the time!

    My preliminary conclusion: The "stay alive ping" emitted by the V6 somehow interferes with the incoming fire signal!

    I am aware that this thread belongs to problems so please feel free to move the post. @Antonio I sure hope you guys (or anybody else for that matter) can reproduce this and what is more important, fix or work around this...

    Thanks!
  • bfqrstbfqrst
    Hi Class A,

    I guess you got me wrong... I was ruling out the Di700 / V6 combo as being the culprit for the misfires. To put it the other way around: I think the aforementioned combo is NOT responsible for the misfires I'm experiencing. Anyway, that statement holds true the day before yesterday...

    As I stated earlier, I was scheduled to get a RF60. Well it arrived. To exclude the D750 from the equation I fired both of the flashes from the V6 test fire button. The RF60 flashed every single time, whereas the Di700 / V6 combo misfired fairly often. Bummer!

    So here's what we got: 
    1. The new hotshoe of the D750 might play a role in all this, but not necessarily in this particular case or setup (since I testfired from the V6s test button and still got misfires on the Di700 / V6)
    2. Di700 <=> V6 communication works as designed according to Antonio
    3. Doublechecked channels, groups, tried different power levels, range levels on the V6s
    I then focused on the Di700 and the blinking pattern since I subjectively got the impression, that 
    • the flash is misfiring more often right after changing power levels
    • and in situations where the flash display blinks (aka the V6 sends the stay alive ping)
    The latter seems to be the problem according to my tests! Every time the lower row blinks (the flash receives the ping) and you try to fire the flash in that exact instance, it chokes! I was able to sync my fire command to the blinking and I reproduced the misfires 100% of the time!

    My preliminary conclusion: The "stay alive ping" emitted by the V6 somehow interferes with the incoming fire signal!

    I am aware that this thread belongs to problems so please feel free to move the post. @Antonio I sure hope you guys (or anybody else for that matter) can reproduce this and what is more important, fix or work around this...

    Thanks!
    Hey guys,

    is anybody able to reproduce or confirm this?

    Thanks
  • AntonioAntonio
    @bfqrst

    It's a problem rooted in the Di700 and at the moment this cannot be fixed by firmware update.

    FYI the flash requires a signal every 0.5s so the V6 needs to sends a signal at that interval. However the signal from the V6 is extremely short and your chances of hitting it with a trigger signal is very low and you should only occassionally

    We look forward to fixing this problem in our next model.

    Thanks again for your understanding.
    Antonio Lao
    Brand Manager
    _____________

    To help us better help you, always state the exact firmware version installed on your Cactus device(s), such as: "1.1.013", "NIK.A.001", "v.103", or "A06".

    TTL or HSS not working on Cactus V6 II and V6 IIs? Be sure to check hot shoe connectivity by doing the <CAMERA INFO> check.

    Feel free to suggest an improvement or share product ideas. Contact us directly at info@cactus-image.com.  At Cactus, we listen. 
  • bfqrstbfqrst
    @Antonio

    with all due respect for your hard work guys, I did hit that fragment of a second consecutively on multiple occasions. It was that often, that everybody noticed. Models, assistants you name it. I can exclude hardware failure because I bought 4 V6s... Furthermore I doubt that that the signal is all that short because I can hit literally every single time I want, now that I found out how to reproduce it.

    I know it's hard to guarantee compatibility with every brand and every model but when I read Di700 on your website I rely that this information is correct and accurate. As I learned now the Di700 is not fully supported. And by "not fully" I mean triggering reliably, aka the most basic of the features! What sucks even more is that I cannot return the 4 V6s, I can only return the RF60...

    Not cool, not cool at all!
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