Still having problems with Cactus v6ii and Fujifilm X-Pro2

tr4driver · October 2016

I really, really want these to work, but I'm still having issues (separate from the new Fujifilm firmware compatibility issues). My issues seem to be connectivity related. I've tried everything, but I just can't seem to get a consistent connection between the Cactus unit and the X-Pro2 hotshoe. I have removed the hotshoe spring, and that helps a little, but I still don't get a consistent recognition of the Fujifilm camera by the Cactus unit when I turn on the Cactus unit. I get a blank camera icon instead of a icon with an "F" in it.

Has anyone else had this issue and if so, were you able to remedy it?

Thanks,

Kurt

Antonio · October 2016

Hi Kurt,

I am sure you half-press the shutter release button while switching on the V6 II to TX mode?

Say at 0.1s you switch on the V6 II to TX mode
At 0.5s you see on the LCD it's detecting, half-press the shutter button a couple times.

I prefer this method than simply pressing (2-3 consecutive half-presses) rather than holding down the shutter button during the entire process. Although technically while you holded it at the half press position the camera should remain active - and the V6 II will be able to "see" it.

Hope this helps with your X-Pro2.

tr4driver · October 2016

Nothing seems to work. And on the rare occasion that it does recognize the camera and come up with the "F" in the icon, the flash will not fire. I decided to try them with my Nikon D800 as well. One of the units would not recognize the D800 at all. The other one would, and when it did, they functioned correctly. I tried the unit that I successfully had working with my D800 on my X-Pro2 again, and it would not recognize the X-Pro2. Could my units somehow be defective? I've owned several flashes and two other wireless transmitters, and have honestly never had any connectivity problems before.

Thanks,

Kurt

tr4driver · October 2016

After messing around with it some more, I did briefly have everything working correctly with HSS up to 1/1000 second. I decided to swap the RX and TX units. The TX unit came up with the "F" in the icon, but would not fire the flash at all. I removed it and reseated it. The icon came up blank. Removed and reseated. Icon came up with an "F", flash wouldn't fire. Swapped RX and TX units, and it worked. Could it be a problem with the hotshoe on the one unit? I'm going to test some more because I know I have swapped them back and force multiple times, and this was the first time in the latest go-round that I received repeatable results.

Thanks,

Kurt

Antonio · October 2016

Hi Kurt,

Ah, that could be what's causing the problem. Label your V6 II units so you will be sure to know which one you should use for the TX unit. You may send us the one with possible defect hot shoe later on so we can take a look, possibly after we release an official firmware version supporting Fujifilm X-T2 and new camear firmware.

Thank you.

tr4driver · October 2016

Thanks for your help Antonio. I have labeled the units, and plan to do some further testing. This has been a bit of a frustrating experience, and difficult to troubleshoot, but I think I'm narrowing it down. I do appreciate your assistance.

I do have some additional feedback regarding my experience with the beta version of the firmware. After I got the units working last night, and did some testing with the X-Pro2 (latest firmware) and the V6 II units (beta firmware) to see how the HSS would work. I only tested at 1/1000 second, but here's what I noticed. If I half pressed the shutter and waited for the camera to focus before fully depressing the shutter release, the flash fired and everything looked fine; however, if I simply pressed down on the shutter release fully (with no half press), the camera would focus prior to releasing the shutter (I have it set to focus priority), but the flash would not fire. I'm not sure if the units behaved this way prior to the firmware updates or not, since I don't normally shoot this way. I tried this several times and got the same results.

again, thanks for your help.

Kurt

Antonio · October 2016

Thanks for your your comments in the other thread.

Since you could even get the V6 II to recognize the camera as Fujifilm, it does not seem to be a hot shoe connection issue but purely to do with firmware / timing specifically with the X-Pro2.

I will ask R&D to check if similar behaviours can be replicated on the X-Pro1.

In the meantime if you encounter other problems please do not hesitate to let us know.

Thank you.

BenofW · October 2016

Antonio,

I recently posted that i was unable to get HSS working between my Xpro2 and Canon 580EX II. Id like to note that i was able to get this working using a different flash profile. The Yongnuo 568EX II profile seems to be driving the Canon flash in HSS. Up to 1/8000 without issue. I thought i would share this for your work on the firmware.

Thanks,

Ben

Antonio · October 2016

...Id like to note that i was able to get this working using a different flash profile. The Yongnuo 568EX II profile seems to be driving the Canon flash in HSS. Up to 1/8000 without issue. ...

Thanks Ben, which firmware version are you running on your V6 II?

Still having problems with Cactus v6ii and Fujifilm X-Pro2

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