Cactus V6IIs with Sony A9 / AF Assist Light

jimmygoose

Hi, looking to buy 2 x Cactus V6IIs with my Sony A9 & Nissin i60. Does anyone have any experience with the Sony A9 & Cactus V6IIs AF Assist Light.

Will the Sony A9 trigger the Cactus V6IIs AF Assist Light when there is little to no light e.g. a dancefloor?

Thanks Jamie

Class A

jimmygoose said:

Will the Sony A9 trigger the Cactus V6IIs AF Assist Light when there is little to no light e.g. a dancefloor?

EDIT: In general, the V6II AF-assist light will light up whenever the camera's built-in AF-assist light would light up. You'd also have same requirements (e.g., AF-S has to be selected).

So if you are unhappy with how a camera's built-in AF-assist light operates, you won't see an improvement with the V6IIs in terms of operating threshold. You would have the option to manually engage the V6II's AF-assist light, though, which is an advantage over built-in systems.

Thanks to raychan, who clarified that the V6IIs' AF-assist light does not work in automatic mode with the Sony A9.

raychan

Hello Jamie,

The V6 IIS AF assist light is good for DSLR Sony camera, such as A850. For those mirrorless model, such as A9 or A7. The AF assist light doesn't work because there is no AF signal though the camera top hot shoe.

If you have Sony original flash, like F580M, F60M or F43M to mount directly on Sony mirrorless camera, the AF assist light also cannot be enabled.

I hope this information helps.

fotowolf61

This is true currently, but it is not a hardware limitation. It is a software limitation as the new flash series like HVL-F45Rm and HVL-F60RM . They work only on E-Mount cams and support their AF-assist lamp. If cactus could tell (depending on flash profile) that either a HVL-F60M or HVL-F60RM is mounted on the cactus transceiver, this could solve the current AF assist issue with the E-Mount series. I am convinced it is just a software issue between A-Mount and E-Mount systems.

raychan

You're right.