Flash randomly does not fire
I have recently purchased V6 trigger and RF60 flash. They both worked fine for a week, until yesterday when the RF60 started to randomly refuse to fire.
Setup is Nikon d750, settings were manual: F9, shutter at 1/250 (Flash setup to High Speed Sync (Auto FP)), as I always shoot. But also tried with shutterspeed 1/150 just in case - problem persisted.
Batteries on both the remote and flash were freshly fully charged, so ruling out low-power. Shoot was indoors, ambient temperature was room temperatures.
On some shots the flash would fire on other it would not. No specific situation to think of as the reason. Between each shot there were always more than 10 seconds - and the flash always gave the "ready" beep before I would fire. Flash power was 1/16 to 1/2 the problem wouldn't seem to be affected by flash power.
Firing the flash with the on-flash test button would fire the flash.
Firing the flash with the V6 remote's test button would also fire the flash.
I noticed that if the flash would refuse to fire for 5 or 6 shots in a row and if I press the test button on either the remote or the flash - for the next shot the flash would fire OK for a few shots then stop firing again.
I thought the Cactus was more reliable than that.
P.S. distance between the flash and the remote was 1 meter.
Setup is Nikon d750, settings were manual: F9, shutter at 1/250 (Flash setup to High Speed Sync (Auto FP)), as I always shoot. But also tried with shutterspeed 1/150 just in case - problem persisted.
Batteries on both the remote and flash were freshly fully charged, so ruling out low-power. Shoot was indoors, ambient temperature was room temperatures.
On some shots the flash would fire on other it would not. No specific situation to think of as the reason. Between each shot there were always more than 10 seconds - and the flash always gave the "ready" beep before I would fire. Flash power was 1/16 to 1/2 the problem wouldn't seem to be affected by flash power.
Firing the flash with the on-flash test button would fire the flash.
Firing the flash with the V6 remote's test button would also fire the flash.
I noticed that if the flash would refuse to fire for 5 or 6 shots in a row and if I press the test button on either the remote or the flash - for the next shot the flash would fire OK for a few shots then stop firing again.
I thought the Cactus was more reliable than that.
P.S. distance between the flash and the remote was 1 meter.
Comments
Your D750 is the one to take the blame, unfortunately.
I guess you haven't heard that the hot shoe on the D750 is out of spec from what all other Nikon cameras. Below are a few extenal links for your reference:
- http://petapixel.com/2015/05/05/nikon-d750-hot-shoe-reportedly-causing-problems-by-being-slightly-too-long/
- http://www.dpreview.com/articles/3382341752/phottix-highlights-compatibility-issues-with-nikon-d750-hotshoe
- https://fstoppers.com/originals/stop-fighting-hot-shoe-your-nikon-d750-110295
You might have an older version hot shoe on your V6 that's preventing it to sync all the time. However even our new batch (since around Nov 2015) of hot shoes may still have issues with the D750 because the tolerance is so tiny.http://www.cactus-image.com/community/discussion/817/news-on-nikon-d750-and-ttl-pass-through-january-2016/p1
You may send yours back for a check-up and we will switch out the best hot shoe plate for pairing with a D750.
Here's our address for repairs and RMAs:
Harvest One Ltd.
11A, Block 2, Koon Wah Mirror Factory (6th) Industrial Building,
7-9 Ho Tin Street, Tuen Mun,
New Territories,
HONG KONG
[ RMA: Nikon D750 ]
If you have any questions please feel free to post a reply below or email us directly at info@cactus-image.com
Thank you.
Brand Manager
I found the workaround provided by a user in link 3 to be what I'll use. Hong Kong is too far for me to send and receive. Your help and invitation for further service is appreciated. Looking forward to the day when Cactus will have fully operational branch in Europe.
Thank you!
Brand Manager