Cactus V6IIs + Sony HVL-F60M Flash + Sony A6300 - Problem shooting HSS

davidYYC

What I want:

I want to manually control the power output of the strobe when mounted off-camera at shutter speeds above the camera's max sync speed. The target shot is outdoors in bright sunlight, wide open aperture, no ND filters, low ISO, and high shutter speed - classic HSS.

I do not want the camera/flash to automatically decide the power settings. I want control of the situation!

Cactus literature and camera store salesperson both say this will work with my camera/flash setup.

My Setup:

1) Cactus V6IIs with latest firmware + Sony update

2) Sony A6300 and Sony A7Sii with all firmware updates applied

3) Sony HVL-F60M Strobe unit (The strobe supports HSS and works fine when mounted directly on the camera)

My Problem:

I have tried every possible setting on the camera, the strobe, and the Cactus V6IIs to get this to work properly. If the flash does fire, it usually causes banding when the shutter speed is above its sync speed meaning it isn't working properly at HSS. The flash appears to fire at high shutter speeds but I have no power control.

Can anyone, "ANYONE", help? Before you ask, yes, I have read the instruction manual and looked on-line. I'm ready to box them up and send them back.

What I really need is a settings recipe for each device that will make this work or, someone at Cactus to tell me that it just won't work.

Calgary, Canada

davidYYC

Let me just add: 1 V6IIs (TX) on the camera and 1 V6IIs (RX) on the strobe.

lansa301

@davidYYC

Hi, please confirm us which firmware do you have installed. The lates one is SON.1.xxx

With that Firmware you have bot options, remote TTL and fully manual control.

Set your HVL-F60M flash on TTL mode and be sure that the HSS is on.

Please remember that the SONY flash only activate the HSS when the head is tilted to 0° or-5°. Any other position will deactivate the HSS option.

Set your camera to your desired values: ISO 100, aperture wide opened or stepped down, proper shutter speed to expose the background.

If is already attached, turn on the V6IIS (Tx). Push once the group button to switch from remote TTL to Manual. Set the Flash Profile to SONY F60M. You can leave it on auto, But I got better results using the specific profile.

Turn on the SONY flash.

If is already attached turn on the V6IIS (Rx).

Set your values (Power level and zoom head) on the V6IIS attached to your camera.

Be sure that the camera is on Fill flash. You can use Slow or rear sync. Avoid the Remote Flash option. This one is intended to transmit via IR the SONY proprietary optical remote control.

Take a picture. Readjust the power level and zoom head according to your desire exposure.

I have tried the system with an SLT-A37 (via an adapter) and I use it constantly with an ILCA-77M2 and a DSC-RX1 and it works.

davidYYC

Yes, I loaded the latest SON firmware.

After a few restarts and continued playing around with the settings it now works.

Camera in TTL, Flash in HSS, Cactus sync mode = normal HSS.

The frustration stems from the fact that the correct configuration was properly set yet it didn't work. Ultimately, some sequence on turning the camera/Cactus/flash units off and on again was the ticket.

It is working as expected now.

Thanks.

-D

Antonio

Thanks @davidYYC for the update. So no more banding issues?

When you say "Camera in TTL, Flash in HSS", could you clarify what are the exact settings?

Because now I cannot get it too work!

I just tested a A7 II with a HVL-F60M and when I set the flash group from TTL to M (manual control) on the V6 IIs TX unit, I also see a shadow banding covering the bottom half of the image. 

The F60M was mounted on V6 IIs, SON.1.001, Group A, Channel 1. The flash was set to TTL mode, HSS is on.

I am surprised that this does not work as we must have tested a similar setup before. 

Can other Sony users comment? Are you getting any banding issues with flash group set to M?

FYI in when flash group is set to TTL, HSS works beautifully.

R&D will out a solution as soon as they can. If you have any additional information please let us know.

Thank you for your understanding during this time.

lansa301

@Antonio

Interesting. I will test it today but I do not noticed before.

I will be back soon.

lansa301

Yes, the issue is true with focal plane shutter cameras, like my ILCA-77M2.
The Flash HVL-F60M flash is out of sync once the V6IIS is switched to Manual and the shutter speed is over the normal max sync speed (1/250 for my camera). E-Front Curtain is turned on.
I had tried on my normal settings: Group A, Channel 15 and with a freshly installed firmware: Group A, Channel 1.
Also the RF60X (Group lost all communication on same case if I replaced the OCF.
Everything works fine if the V6IIS is leaved on TTL.
Obviously using a leaf shutter camera, like my RX1, there is no out of sync issue. But I am surprised that I do not lost communication with the RF60X using the RX1.
@Antonio I am sending you a PM with the details and more info.

Antonio

Thanks @lansa301, so far we find that the banding only happen when all the flash groups are in M, or only one is in M with other groups off. In other words, if none of the flash groups are in TTL, then banding kicks in. 

Now about focal plane shutter, we will have to run more test to compare. 

Thank you.

lansa301

@Antonio

A 2 milliseconds delay bring back the proper flash sync on the whole shutter speed range, from 1/320 to 1/8000.

The flash sync speed of my ILCA-77M2 is 1/250.

It is a detour until this issue is solved.

Antonio

Thanks for the tips on an interim workaround. We shall have a fix ASAP.