Oly e-M1mii + V6II + Broncolor RFS2.2/Siros L
I currently don't own any Cactus or Broncolor equipment to test but I'm curious if this sounds possible before I start purchasing equipment.
I'm very interested in getting some Siros L's, TTL would be nice but more importantly I want HS/HSS. Broncolor doesn't make the RFS2.2 for Olympus nor do they plan on it any time soon. They only make the RFS2.2 for Canon, Nikon, Fuji, and Sony...so basically everyone except Olympus haha.
With that being said, If I were to get a Cactus V6 II, then get an RFS2.2 (Canon or Nikon etc version) on top of it, do you think it would work to control the Siros L?
I'm sure I could get it to work fine with short shutter speeds to 1/250, but as mentioned above I'm really interested in HS.
Comments
Brand Manager
Brand Manager
Even if you don't get the Siros lights to support HS by stacking triggers, you'll most likely get it to work by using V6 II receivers into each Siros. That's essentially what I do with my Mobil packs.
Your best bet is to find somewhere that stocks both products and test it though, because this is definitely uncharted territory.
My Mobil packs have a long flash duration by default, so they are essentially in HS mode permanently and work for high-speed sync. My Graft packs, on the other hand, have really short flash durations, so they don't work at all, but since I don't use them outside it isn't an issue.
I'd be really surprised if the Siros L's didn't work in at least one of these two scenarios, but it's a big investment to make to discover that they don't!
While I had
the Olympus cameras, I tested the bron RFS 2.2 for Nikon on top of the V6 II.
Before bron released the RFS2.2 last year, I used the V6II with an RFS2.1 on
top to trigger my Nikon and sync up to 1/8,000.
At first it
didn’t work – I enabled TTL Passthrough via the menu (this was how it worked
with the Nikon before) and then turned on the RFS. I had HS enabled on the bron
Siros. Sync worked up to 1/200s, but then I was getting black bands across the
bottom at faster shutter speeds.
I turned TTL Passthrough OFF and tried again.
Success! The EM-5 and EM-10 both synced up to 1/4,000s with no black bars. I
couldn’t test the Panasonic as a customer had it, but I would assume the same
result.
Brand Manager
Brand Manager
bringing this one back to life... Broncolor has a WiFi app that allows you to control the setting of the Siros. Do you think that would work in both scenarios:
scenario 1: using two cactus V6II transceivers, one on camera and one on flash using sync cable
scenario 2: RFS2.2 stacked on top of cactus V6II on camera
Also, lets assume that functionally both scenarios work. Would there be any reason to choose scenario 1 over scenario 2?
All I can think of is scenario 2 might be a little annoying and look funny with the stacked trigger. Obviously that's just aesthetics but important to note.
The best method is to connect one Cactus V6 II to each device, camera and flash.
Too bad we can't test for you as we do not have the RFS2.2.
Thanks!
Brand Manager
I wish you could test it too I'm about to make a very expensive trial order, I'm ordering a Broncolor Siros 800 L, feel free to send me some V6II's to test it with Olympus
On the Siros lamps the power is adjusted in 0.1 increments such as 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, etc up to 10.0
On the V6 II (and many other triggers) it's 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, etc...
Do you know how that would correlate from the V6 II to the Siros? and if I changed the power on the Siros directly from 4.3 to 5.7 would the V6 II see that change automatically or would I have to make the change on the V6 II as well?
The V6 II cannot adjust the power of a Siros or any other studio strobe / monolight that is not made by Cactus. You will have to use Bron's own transmitter to control its power output.
Thanks!
Brand Manager
I know, it is an expensive trial order, I really want this to work! I'll have 30 days to test out the Siros though and will be able to return if i can't get it to work. Closest dealer that has the Siros L is a 3-4 hour drive. There's a rental studio that rents Bron but not the Siros L.
Thanks for confirming the V6 II cannot adjust the power on these. I'll have some parts and pieces on Friday and will report back with my findings on it's functions.
So with one cactus on the camera and one on the strobe, it's just sending the flash signal only...I'm thinking I'll be able to still adjust the strobe with the WiFi app, so that'll be pretty handy. I'll know more this weekend
And yes, you can always have the Bron remote in your pocket or use their WiFi app. Though for your purpose, like our Canadian distributor mentioned, you may have to trigger stack to make it work.
Do keep us posted!
Thanks!
Brand Manager
the Siros L won't be here until tomorrow but for starters I received a Cactus V6 II and a Broncolor RFS2.2 (Nikon). I'm first going to attempt settings for stacking the RFS2.2 on top of the V6 II. I just installed the Multi-brand HSS firmware and not the Olympus TTL firmware. Do you think that would be the best firmware to start with in testing?
Test Case #1 -- Broncolor RFS2.2 (Nikon) stacked on top of V6 II
RFS2.2 has latest firmware at this time, v1.62
V6 II has latest cross-brand HSS firmware, v1.1.013
Non-HS mode:
This basically worked right out of the box. Turned camera on first, then turned on V6 II, then turned on RFS2.2. Took my first photo at 1/250 and f/8 and BAM, flash fired and photo looked great! Took a bunch more photos and they all worked, I was playing with a few settings on the V6 II and accidentally changed the "Camera System" from Auto to Pentax and it stopped working. Took me a bit to figure out what I did haha. I then changed it to Olympus(M43) instead of Auto and it starting working again. At this time I also went ahead and changed the "Flash System" to Nikon since it's a Nikon transceiver stacked on top. It worked before without it but I just figured i'd set it to what it was instead of having it guess or have to think about it.
HS Mode:
Moment of truth right here, I was nervous/excited haha. bumped it up to 1/1000 and big black strip across the image, darn, but somewhat expected. In normal conditions where you'd just have the RFS2.2 you turn on HS mode on the Siros L itself as well as on the RFS2.2. So I enabled HS mode on the Siros L, then enabled it on the RFS2.2.
The V6 II, "Sync Mode" was already in Normal HSS so I left it as is. Re-took a photo at 1/1000 and BAM, perfect! took a few more and it was spot on. Then tested at 1/2000, 1/4000, and lastly 1/8000. every single time was spot on!!!
So, I can confidently say at this time that HS up to 1/8000 seems to work perfectly with the RFS 2.2N stacked on top of the V6 II on the Olympus E-M1 mkii camera.
I can adjust the strobe power with the RFS2.2N as well as through the mobile app.
I'm super happy with the results however I would still like to do further testing. It's already a little annoying having the stacked triggers on top of this relatively small and light camera. I understood this going into it but I'm still interested in next testing an extra V6 II connected via sync cord to the Siros L. The drawback here would be not being able to control the strobe power as easy but I'd still have the mobile app and also extra costs for multiple transceivers down the rode. However, at this time I only have the one Siros L but still need to consider that.
I've attached a funny looking photo of my stacked triggers for your amusement
I was nervous reading your reply too. And yes with the triggers stacked it doesn't look very smart. But at least it works!
Thank you very much for sharing your results!
Brand Manager