Cactus V6 II cannot control flash power

geirole · December 2016

Hello,

I just purchased two V6 II transceivers and one RF60 flash unit.

My camera is Fujifilm X-Pro2.

Yesterday I found out that with shutter speed at 1/250 or 1/125 I did not get any light from my Sigma EF-530 DG (for Nikon) or my Fuji EF-42 flash. At 1/60 it worked ok.

Then I upgraded the firmware in the V6II to 1.1.106, the most recent, as far as I can see.

With this new firmware I cannot control the flash output to 1/2, 1/4 etc. It seems like the flash gives the correct amount of light to get a correctly exposed photo, even if the power is set to 1/128.

Maybe I have made some wrong settings on the V6 II.

With the V6II on the camera and the RF60 flash, everything works fine.

The problem is with the Fuji flash and the Sigma for Nikon flash.

Another problem is with the Nikon SB-800. It does not work at all with the V6II. To solve that problem I set it to SU-4 and let it fire on the light blink from the other flashes. But then I have to run over to flash in order to adjust the flash output.

I hope there is an easy solution to this problem.

Best regards from

Geir

Pigy · December 2016

geirole sorry to also jump in on your post but maybe we can both get answered I have the same problem and can't control power output of my off camera Canon flashes from V611 from my Fuji X-T1.

geirole · December 2016

Hi Pigy,

No problem, you're welcome. :-)

Which firmware version do you have on the V6 II?

I am tempted to go back to an earlier firmware version just to check and see what happens. I am quite certain that the power output could be controlled before I did the firmware upgrade.

Cheers,

Geir

geirole · December 2016

I should maybe add that auto detect of camera and flash does not work with my V6 II. I have tried with some quite well know flash units, such as Nikon SB-800, Sigma EF-530DG and Fuji EF-42. With all of them I have to set make and model manually. Same with camera detect. I have tried with Nikon D700, Canon G1X, Fujifilm X-E2 and X-Pro2. Maybe I do something wrong. It is frustrating. The only thing that works is the V6II (TX on camea) together with a remote RF60.

Cheers,

Geir

Pigy · December 2016

Geir I am sure that I had them working before. I bought 3 initially to see how they performed and was happy with them so bought another two. Set them up for a shoot and now none of them work properly. They fire the flash but no control of power. Plus now the y won't fire in HSS. I think I am going to do a factory reset and start again and see if that works. I also manually selected the flashes on each V6 plus tried auto detect still won't work. This could be a massive problem for me if I was in the field doing a shoot. Luckily I still have my pocket wizards and as the shoot was indoors I didn't need the HSS which is the only reason I bought the Cactus triggers.

geirole · December 2016

Hi again, Pigy.

I am not into HSS yet since I struggle with the more fundamental problem of power control of non-Cactus flash units.

I had some progress though: After a factory reset, the V6 II now detects the brand of the flash (Fuji or Nikon. My Sigma EF-530DG is designed for Nikon, so it comes up as Nikon, which is correct, I guess). But it does not find out which exact model of that brand. There is just says auto when I scroll through the settings.

The V6 II that I put on the camera does still not detect which camera is there. It says "Other".

In another thread here I read that it might help to teach the V6 II HSS, even if one is not going to do HSS. This might be because some flash devices uses the HSS protocol to control the power. I will try that tonight.

It is very frustrating when stuff does not work as it is supposed to do.

Cheers,

Geir

Antonio · December 2016

Hey @geirole,

I am surprised to hear you the V6 II (1.1.006) could not detect the flashes.

Did you switch on the flash first, set it to TTL, and then switch V6 II to RX mode?

...With this new firmware I cannot control the flash output to 1/2, 1/4 etc. It seems like the flash gives the correct amount of light to get a correctly exposed photo, even if the power is set to 1/128.

Which flash model is giving you this problem?
.
.
.

...Yesterday I found out that with shutter speed at 1/250 or 1/125 I did not get any light from my Sigma EF-530 DG (for Nikon) or my Fuji EF-42 flash. At 1/60 it worked ok.

Is your SIGMA flash a DG ST or DG SUPER?

... My Sigma EF-530DG is designed for Nikon, so it comes up as Nikon, which is correct, I guess). But it does not find out which exact model of that brand. There is just says auto when I scroll through the settings.

That is correct. Auto-detecting a flash would first identify the flash system (Nikon) then it will apply an AUTO flash profile.
.
.
.

...In another thread here I read that it might help to teach the V6 II HSS, even if one is not going to do HSS. This might be because some flash devices uses the HSS protocol to control the power. I will try that tonight.

Are you referring to LEARN HSS?
That is only for Fujifilm and it's an action for the camera.

Please refer to the Quick Start Guide. It seems you got the functions mixed up and missing setup steps.

Antonio · December 2016

... They fire the flash but no control of power. Plus now the y won't fire in HSS. ...

What Canon system flash models are you using it with the two V6 II?
And did you turn on the HSS function on the flash?
Did you switch on the flash first if you use auto-detect?

Thanks!

Pigy · December 2016

Antonio I got it sorted. I did a factory reset and then went through the setup again and now all is working. Not sure why it all went haywire but at least if I have this problem again I will just reset and reinstall. Bit of a pain but still at least I have the solution.

geirole · December 2016

Hello Antonio,

Thank you for getting back. It might very well be that I missed some steps.

First of all I have to say that all works fine with V6 II on the camera (X-Pro2) and with the Cactus RF 60 flash. With this combination I can control the power output from 1/128 up to 1. So far, so good.

When I turn on the camera (X-Pro2), hold the shutter release half way down and then turn on the V6 II mounted on the camera, the V6 II does not detect the camera brand. I tried to remove the thin metal clip in the hot shoe, but it did not help.

The V6 II that has the flash mounted on it detects the brand of the flash, so this is OK.

For a while I had problems with the sync speed. It only worked at 1/60 or slower. Not at 1/125 or 1/250. Now it seems that it works fine at 1/250. But, as said before, I cannot control the output of any of the non-Cactus flashes I have: Nikon SB-800, Fuji EF-42 and Sigma (for Nikon) EF-530 DG (I have to check tonight if it is Super or ST).

Let's take one thing at the time. I am most keen to get my Nikon SB-800 to work.

What are the steps I have to go through on the camera-mounted V6 II and on the V6 II where the Nikon SB-800 is mounted?

I had a look at the Quick Start Guide, but I can't see which steps I have possibly left out.

At this stage I am not interested in HSS. I just want to take photos at 1/250 sec and be able to control the power from the V6 II on the camera.

Best regards from

Geir

geirole · December 2016

Hello Antonio,

My Sigma flash is a DG 530 Super.

Tonight, when I tried again, with the V6 II on my old Nikon D700, it detects Nikon (letter N inside the camera symbol). With my two Fuji cameras, X-Pro2 and X-E2, the V6 II does not detect the camera type. I have tried rotate the V6 II a bit in the hotshoe, and I have moved it a bit back out. Still no detection of camera.

I have FW 1.1.006 on the V6 II. And FW 2 on the X-Pro2.

After some trial and error I managed to have the V6 II detect that it sits on the Nikon D700. But I have to try and move the V6 II in and out and wiggle it a bit. When the V6 discovers the D700, then I can fire the SB-800 and I can control the power from the V6 II on the camera. Yippee, it works!

So far, so good with Nikon camera and Nikon flash.

With the Fuji X-E2 and X-Pro2 I have not yet managed to have the V6 II detect the camera.

If I set the camera to Fuji, I manage to let the SB-800 fire, but I cannot vary the power. It seems like the power is managed by the flash in some way because the scene gets correctly exposed no matter what power I choose.

I now suspect that the problem is related to the hot shoe.There might be one or more contacts that don't touch.

As said before, the X-Pro2 works fine with the Cactus RF60 and a V6 II on the camera. So this combination is maybe less critical.

I wonder what I can do to make the V6 II recognise the Fuji camera. I have taken out the thing spring in the hotshoe on the camera. That does not help.

Best regards from

Geir

Antonio · December 2016

Antonio I got it sorted. I did a factory reset and then went through the setup again and now all is working. Not sure why it all went haywire but at least if I have this problem again I will just reset and reinstall. Bit of a pain but still at least I have the solution.

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear it's working now.

Antonio · December 2016

... When I turn on the camera (X-Pro2), hold the shutter release half way down and then turn on the V6 II mounted on the camera, the V6 II does not detect the camera brand. I tried to remove the thin metal clip in the hot shoe, but it did not help.

There's no point in carrying on with your test if the V6 II could not detect the camera as Fujifilm.

As I often suggest to Fujifilm users, half-press the shutter button a couple times (like a double-click or even triple click) as you switch on the V6 II to TX mode. Don't just half-press and hold the shutter button.

See if this helps with the auto-detection.

Cheers!

geirole · December 2016

Hello Antionio,

Thank you for your quick response and follow-up.

Good news: I have had some significant progress.

Using your procedure: half-pressing the shutter button several times just before turning on the V6 II makes the difference, obviously. Now I get the letter "F" inside the camera symbol. But not always. I have to rotate and wiggle the V6 II a bit sometimes. So I think the problem people have with this is somehow related to the hotshoe contacts.

I tried a few shots with my Nikon SB-800, and now the power adjustments I do have an effect. I am in business now. :-)

The bad news, however, is that this works only with one of my two V6 II. With the other one, I try and I try, in the same way as with the first one, but I never get the "F". What I notice is that when I try to fix the V6 II to the camera hotshoe with the lock lever, on this second V6 II, the lever does not move as far to the right as the good one. So again, probably a problem with the contacts. I have tried with and without the thin metal spring in the camera hotshoe. With the good V6 II, it works fine with our without the thin spring.

If you have an idea how I can fix the "bad" V6 II, I am keen to try. It is probably something mechanical that does not work so well between the V6 II and the Fuji X-Pro2.

This is not a serious problem, though, because the "bad" V6 II works fine as the remote unit connected to the flash.

So we can say that the problem is always solved.

The next step in my "experiments" will now be HSS.

Thank you very much for the good help so far.

Cheers,

Geir

geirole · December 2016

Hello again,

My one Cactus V6 II works ok now in TX mode in the camera's hot shoe. But I have found out that not only do you need to half-press the the shutter button. Sometimes I need to take a photo as I switch on the V6 II for the V6 II to detect my Fuji camera.

Yesterday, suddenly my flashes gave much more power than I had indicated on the V6 II on the camera. I had to switch everything off and on again in order to get back in business.

My other V6 II still does not work in TX mode. It works fine in RX mode, though.

Cheers,

Geir

Antonio · December 2016

Thanks Geir fo your updates.

Yes taking a photo certainly works as well. But you should be able to detect just by half pressing a few times - I call it - Triple Click.

The key is to keep the camera active during the auto-detection.

Some cameras stay active even when you just keep half-pressing the shutter button. On our X-Pro1 behaves different from other Fujifilm, it seems to go to sleep much sooner than a X-T1 / X-T2 because we could get away with one half-pressing during the auto-detect. This is probably the same on your X-Pro2.

geirole · December 2016

Hello again Antonio,

After a few tries and a reset I get both V6 II to detect my Nikon D700.

One the X-Pro2 it is only the one that works.

On the D700 I mange to lock the levers by about the same amount.

On X-Pro2 the one lever moves further than the other. The first detects the Fuji camera, the second not.

The hot shoe on the X-Pro2 is very low and level with the shutter speed dial. The lock lever gets stuck because it hits the shutter speed dial. The margin is very small. Had the shutter speed dial been one tenth of a millimer less high it would have fine. On the other hand, had it been one tenth of a millimeter higher, probably no specimen of V6 II would have worked.

Well, this is my theory.

The fact that both V6 II detect the Nikon is a good sign and shows that they both work well.

When you start to design the V6 III, maybe you design it so that the lock lever does not touch and scrape the shutter speed dial.

Best regards from

Geir

Antonio · December 2016

Hi Geir,

I am glad to hear you're able to detect your Nikon camera now.

As for your X-Pro2, have you tried not locking the Lever all the way?

...The hot shoe on the X-Pro2 is very low and level with the shutter speed dial. The lock lever gets stuck because it hits the shutter speed dial. The margin is very small. Had the shutter speed dial been one tenth of a millimer less high it would have fine. On the other hand, had it been one tenth of a millimeter higher, probably no specimen of V6 II would have worked.
Well, this is my theory.

Thanks for your comments. You are not the first to voice out about the Lock Lever. And to that note, we have already made a running change on the Lock Lever so the knob does not drop so low to avoid hitting camera dials, etc.

Besides the shorter thumb knob, we have also taken the opportunity to increase the friction area where the Lock contacts the camera hot shoe so it now grabs more confidently on the hot shoe. The increased width also minimize plastic scraping when rubbing the Lock aginst the metal hot shoe.

This version of the Lock Lever came in late November so it will hit stores soon.

geirole · December 2016

Thank you, Antonio, for your follow-up. I will probably buy a couple of more V6 IIs, so I will make sure I get the modified version.

Today I am going to try out the RF60 and my V6 IIs at a Christmas luch here at work. I will use the RF60 and a couple of more flash units pointing into the ceiling and hopefully get a good and even light. It is really nice that one can adjust the output power from the camera-mounted V6 II.

Cheers,

Geir

Cactus V6 II cannot control flash power

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