Can't get LV5 to reliably connect to V6IIs units

nicols

I've just purchased the LV5 laser trigger and 2 v6IIs transceivers and am having big problems getting them to reliably connect with the LV5 wirelessly. I've got it to work a couple of times but it took several hours between attempts to get them to talk to each other again. I realise you need to set the channel on the LV5 sensor before turning on and I also found out on this forum that the order you switch on the flash / Rx / Tx is also important... but I can't seem to find the right combination with the LV5 to get this to work.

The second problem is that after purchasing this setup, I'm not sure it actually does what I want (and because of the problem above, I can't test it properly). I want to set up a beam with the LV5 which when broken, sets off a flash on an Rx unit an exact set of milliseconds later delay.. but to use a second v6IIs in Tx mode to adjust the delay between shots (i.e. to use it as a remote for the delay settings, not as a trigger) - can I do this and not lose the link with the LV5.

Really need some help with this please.

Scott

nicols

I finally found a sequence of initializing the various devices that worked for me - 

1. set up the laser trigger sensor first and switch on

2. turn on the laser and check for the green light on sensor and test to check the light goes red then back to green

3. mount one v6iis on sony flash and one on sony camera

4. turn on the flash gun (ttl mode)

5. turn on flash v6iis to rx mode

6. turn on camera v6iis to tx mode

7. take a test shot with the camera to confirm the the tx fires the rx flash - not doing this seems to cause problems for some reason

8. THEN test the laser trigger - flash now fires

9. THEN remove the trigger from the camera

I've also noticed that the flash going to sleep can cause connection issues and just waking up the flash unit up is not always enough to reactivate the system - at which point, turning off the flash and v6IIs units and then repeating the above procedure from step 4 seems to bring everything back

Class A

Why do you want to delay the flash?

Do you want to achieve that the flash coincides with the camera taking the shot (with shutter lag causing the camera to be always later than an undelayed flash)?

If the above is what you want, you should try to use the "RELAY" mode of the V6II. You could then trigger the camera with the LV5 and then let the camera trigger the flash (while it takes the shot).

For this to work, you need to set the channel of the LV5 to 1, and the channels of the two V6II units to 2. You can actually use other channel numbers, but the LV5 channel must always be one lower than the V6II channels.

You then need to put the on-camera V6II into "relay" mode and not only put it on the hot-shoe of the camera but also connect it to the remote trigger port of the camera.

The LV5 will then trigger the on-camera V6II (which "listens" on channel 1), the on-camera V6II will trigger the camera, the camera will take a shot and trigger the on-camera V6II, and finally, the latter will trigger the flash (via the V6II that is attached to the flash).

nicols

Hi 

I was trying to use the lasers amd triggers for water drop splashes... I set the camera to a 4 second exposure, started the shot, a water drop then breaks the beam and the flash fires x number of milliseconds later. Varying the flash delay allowed me to photograph at different stages as the splash developed... I'm still perfecting it but at one point I actually had 95% hit rate for several 100 shots... and then I ran into the flash sleep and initialisation problem so it got pretty frustrating for a while until I worked out the order...

I will look into the relay mode function when I test this again at the weekend

thanks

Scott

Class A

If you simply want to delay the triggering then you can set that delay on the LV5 as well. You don't need a V6II to achieve such a delay.

nicols

Hi

the problem with the delay system on the lv5 is that it is very limited with fixed settings e.g. you can't set say 150 ms... just 100 or 200 which is the difference between being before a water drop hitting the target and the splash collapsing completely. I also the think the dial is way too fiddly in terms of tiny writing, the numbers are also slightly offset compared to the marker so its difficult to see them when the unit is in place and check to see what you set. Also, combining the radio channel/delay and freeze all on the same dial means you can just see which each has been set to - if in doubt or you can't remember, you have to shut down and reset all three. If the unit gets updated, it really needs a better interface for changing those 3 functions - the laser and sensor itself works ok.

I'm now getting on better with the v6IIs and like their flexibility but the lv5 laser has been disappointing

scott

Antonio

Hello Scott,

Thank you very much for sharing your experience with the LV5. We will definitely consider the points you mentioned when we develop future products.

For smaller adjustments of delay, perhaps the V6 II is the better candidate.  

Please let us know if you require further assistance with your setup.

Thank you.