Cactus V6 II with Pentax 645D - HSS

andyononlaw · July 2016

Hi Cacuts,

I'm a Pentax 645D user and own the following different brands of lights. May I ask if it is possible to use the V6 II with any of those lights in HSS?

1) Paul C Buff - Einstein E640

2) Godox - V850 (1st version)

3) Nissin - Di866

4) Nissin - Di866 Mark II

Thanks

Andy

Antonio · August 2016

Hi Andy,

We haven't tested the 645D but the 645Z works, tested by one of our Hong Kong dealer.

Paul C Buff cannot support HSS as its flash duration is too short, for studio strobe it needs to be 1/100s at t0.1, but the E640's Flash Duration (t.1) - in Color Mode

from 1/588 to 1/8,000 second.

Godox V850 is a manual flash, it does not do TTL nor HSS, so it cannot do HSS with the V6 II.

Both Nissin models should not be a problem.

Thanks!

EdCody · August 2016

Antonio,

The Godox V850 is a manual flash without TTL but it does do HSS.

EdCody · August 2016

Class A · August 2016

EdCody,

the V850 does HSS but I believe only through their proprietary trigger system. One needs a "Cells II" transmitter and the latter is only offered for Canon and Nikon.

It should be possible to use the V6II on the 645D and connect it to a Godox transmitter (the standard FT-16 would do) via a cable. That way one should be able to achieve HSS with the V850, but wihtout remote power control through the V6II.

If there is a way to manually engage HSS on the V850 (as there is on the RF60) then it might be possible to use it for HSS photography with just the V6II, however remote power and zoom control would still not work.

C88 · August 2016

You can manually engage HSS on the V850 by pressing the correct button pattern on the back of the V850.

Antonio · August 2016

@C88

You can manually engage HSS on the V850 by pressing the correct button pattern on the back of the V850.

Yes it works!
We were able to shoot above camera's x-sync speed on the V850 on the V6 II.

FYI this is just like the case with the Profoto B1 where we tested by connecteing the V6 II to B1's 3.5mm port via sync cable, and by enabling HSS mode, it works above camera's x-sync speed.

Thanks for sharing your setup info.

@andyononlaw @EdCody

andyononlaw · September 2016

Thanks for all your comments guys, I'll have to pop over to my local distributors and test it out. Will let you all know for any updates.

Cheers

Pablovi · September 2016

Thanks for all your comments guys, I'll have to pop over to my local distributors and test it out. Will let you all know for any updates.

Cheers

Hi, did you managed to test it? I'm interested as well, since I own a Pentax 645D, unfortunately there's no Cactus reseller or distributor in my country, so I can't test it, I would have to buy two, to see if it works...

So, can you please tell me if you did make it work?

Thanks in advanced.

Antonio · September 2016

Hello all,

Good news!

One of our dealer tested the Pentax 645Z and HSS works on the Cactus V6 II!
For the test we used a Metz 58 AF-2 (for Canon) set on V6 II RX unit.

I suppose the 645D runs on the same P-TTL system so it should work as well.

Thank you!

Pablovi · September 2016

Hello all,

Good news!

One of our dealer tested the Pentax 645Z and HSS works on the Cactus V6 II!
For the test we used a Metz 58 AF-2 (for Canon) set on V6 II RX unit.

I suppose the 645D runs on the same P-TTL system so it should work as well.

Thank you!

Thanks! I'll order a Cactus V6ii right away.

Antonio · September 2016

Cool! Thank you, @Pablovi

Pablovi · September 2016

I can verify that the Cactus V6ii works with the Pentax 645D and the Godox AD360ii-C.

With only 1 Cactus V6ii, and the Godox X1 on top of it, it triggers the Godox Ad360II-C in HSS mode.

Settings are, Camera autodetect, detects as Pentax, Flash Canon, HSS normal.

Here's proof, notice the 1/400 of a second on a Pentax 645D which is impossible without HSS.

https://flic.kr/p/MuJfPx

Antonio · September 2016

Aww, a cute kitty!

Can we share it on our Facebook page?

I think other Pentax 645D owners would be happy to know about having off-camera HSS.

Thanks!

Pablovi · September 2016

Aww, a cute kitty!
Can we share it on our Facebook page?

I think other Pentax 645D owners would be happy to know about having off-camera HSS.

Thanks!

Sure! Thanks!

andyononlaw · October 2016

Sweet, thanks a bunch Pablovi for sharing his test result with us. It's definitely an awesome for 645D user to break the barrier of in-camera sync speed without breaking the bank to get crazy expensive flash.

Thanks a lot!!

howieb101 · November 2016

Hi andyononlaw.

Although I do not have the 645D, I have posted instructions on how to fire the Godox Ving 850 in HSS mode with a Pentax K3.

The principles should apply.

Here are the instructions with images if you are interested:
http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/125-flashes-lighting-studio/333936-pentax-hss-cactus-v6ii-godox-ving-850-flash-success.html

erik604 · December 2016

Glad to hear someone had the Pentax 645 working with HSS.

I was about to purchase a set, for 645z and Canon 430ex2 / 580 ex2 flash, however couldn't get it to work at the shop. Please let me know if anything isn't done correctly:

TX:
camera set to Pentax, shutter 1/160
Sync to normal HSS

Rx: flash to Canon

Flash: ettl w/hss on

I do see the flash triggering, but camera couldn't capture the flash duration, just a almost pitch black screen. Set camera shutter to 1/125, a blown out picture by the flash.

Also did some shots at 1/400 shutter, getting 1/3 picture illuminated by the flash.

Will "learn HSS feature" help resolve the issue?

Thanks,
Erik

Antonio · December 2016

... Will "learn HSS feature" help resolve the issue?

Hi Erik, LEARN HSS is only for Fujifilm.

Did you:

Half-press shutter button of the 645 as you switch the V6 II to TX mode?
First switch on the Canon flashes then the V6 II to RX mode?

Hope this helps.

dieseldave1976 · May 2017

Here is my successful test firing the Profoto B1 from the 645z.

Settings on Cactus V6II

TX mode

Camera system: Pentax

Flash system: Canon

Flash profile: Auto Canon

Test Video

Antonio · May 2017

Hello Dave,

Here is my successful test firing the Profoto B1 from the 645z.

Settings on Cactus V6II

TX mode
Camera system: Pentax
Flash system: Canon
Flash profile: Auto Canon

Test Video

Thanks so much for taking the time to put together the video.

I wonder if you could give us a hand with the 645Z? We need to tune the sync times just using your existing setup - Profoto's Air TTL remote (Canon version).

In the meantime let me send you a PM with instructions.

Thank you!

dieseldave1976 · May 2017

No problem. I'm happy to help ☺

Antonio · May 2017

Thanks for offering your help!

dougbolton · July 2017

I just purchased a Paul C Buff Einstein 640. The E640 does not support HSS.

The E640 has a feature whereby the unit will flash when it detects a flash from another source. But because the V6ii emit a Pre-Flash, the E640 fires prematurely and doesn't work with the V6ii as a "slave". It does work when an 1/8" male/male connector is used between a V6II and the E640, although one cannot control the amount of light with the V6II. It must be set manually on the E640.

I suspect that V6's would work as they do not have a pre flash.

Hint hint hint Cactus ------- why do you need a preflash if not using HSS. Should be easy enough to program in firmware...

paulster · July 2017

Pre-flash isn't for HSS, it's for TTL. The V6 II uses TTL communication protocol to talk to the flash in order to control the power, which is why the pre-flash gets fired.

Antonio · July 2017

@dougbolton, I guess the E640 does not have an S2 option (as found on speedlights) where it skips the first pre-flash and use the second flash for flash triggering.

And as @paulster said above, indeed we need pre-flash for HSS / TTL to function properly. Or more precisely, getting HSS requires riding on the TTL protocol.

But back to what you want to achieve, getting HSS with the E640... from memory this flash model has a pretty short flash duration, so if it does not have an option for you to set for long pulsing flash signal (the typical HSS /FP modes), then you are out of luck.

For studio strobes, it's either you get:

A) "Slow" strobe - long flash duration, longer than 1/100s at t0.1

or

"HSS strobe" - one that has the option of firing long-pulsing flash signal

Cheers!

Cactus V6 II with Pentax 645D - HSS

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