Flash with more power for HSS

Your new V6II is great with my Oly and Pana bodies, you have the only radio solution with HSS for the MFT system.

The RF60 is a great flash, but all manufacturers have at the end nearly the same power. With HSS and/or softboxes the power is often not enouh. At the moment I have not found a good solution for a flash with more power, HSS but not to big and heavy at reasonable price.

Just thinking: how much power could a Flash get, with 2x the size from the RF60? The energy could come from external battery pack, so stay with the 4 internal AA (less weight then 8 internal AA) .
How much size would a flash need to get a power of 80 or 90 with 50mm coverage?

Reinhard


Comments

  • The flash power depends on the size of capacitor, which is approximately 75W for RF60. It's not possible to get more power without hardware modification or from external battery pack.

    Using external battery pack helps to shorten the recycling time. It increases the voltage during charging. However, it has nothing to do with the max power of the flash.

    I hope that helps.
    Ray Chan

    Senior Product Specialist
     
    Cactus®
    Harvest One Limited
  • I was not talking about a bigger battery pack, I was thinking about a bigger flash, which uses the additional space for more flash power. The energy can come from an external pack.
    So my idea is a RF80 or RF90 as an additional product from you :-)
  • Reinhard,

    have you thought about using a multi-bracket to team up two or even three RF60?

    The combined GN would be about 80.

    Two RF60 would be about twice the size of a RF60, the only disadvantage would be that you'd have to deal with two units rather than one.

    I don't think one would get more than about GN 80 (at 105mm) even when using two standard tubes in combination in a single unit (but I could be wrong).

    For your purposes, would you want a regular flash with a zoom head, or rather a bare bulb unit in the style of a Godox Wistro AD180?
  • Two units might be a solution, but the handling with the special bracket could be a problem.
    A zoom head is not necessary, if the flash has the right output. I'm thinking more about a classic flashhead (just bigger) like the old Metz 60, which had GN 60 for 35mm. But with a zoomhead this flash would get 80/90 with longer focal length like 80 or 100 mm.
    With the barebulb design of the Witstro you always need an additional lightformer.

    That was the reason for starting this thread: what GN is possible with a bigger body, but not getting too big, like a studio head. At the moment there are a lot of flashes like the RF 60 from every manufacturer, but only very few with more power.
  • Hello @rbecker
    ...
    A zoom head is not necessary, if the flash has the right output. I'm thinking more about a classic flashhead (just bigger) like the old Metz 60, which had GN 60 for 35mm. But with a zoomhead this flash would get 80/90 with longer focal length like 80 or 100 mm.
    Oh the classic Metz with the iconic handles, similar to the new incarnation?
    http://www.metz-mecatech.de/en/lighting/flash-units/specialist-flash-units/mecablitz-76-mz-5-digital.html?mobile=1+led+antorcha

    I think due to the limited size of the flash tube inside the flash head casing, the power hits the ceiling within the accepted form and size. This is an interesting idea but the power to many, from say a GN60 to GN80 would only be a fractional increase when at around the same price (or less) you can have the likes of AD360, over 300Ws of power, which is 4 times of a typical speedlight.

    Like you said though, barebulbs appeal to those who will use a lighting modifier. And those who keep minimal gear would prefer a speedlight form factor.

    The question is, could GN80 satisfy people's crave for power?

    Hmm...
    Antonio Lao
    Brand Manager
    _____________

    To help us better help you, always state the exact firmware version installed on your Cactus device(s), such as: "1.1.013", "NIK.A.001", "v.103", or "A06".

    TTL or HSS not working on Cactus V6 II and V6 IIs? Be sure to check hot shoe connectivity by doing the <CAMERA INFO> check.

    Feel free to suggest an improvement or share product ideas. Contact us directly at info@cactus-image.com.  At Cactus, we listen. 
  • The problem is, that modern flashes with GN60 have this power at 100mm zoom or more. If you look at the GN output at 35mm its less then GN 40 most of the time.
    That is quite a difference to GN80!

    We are in a product idea forum, so why not combine both variants into one product? First we need a powerful masterunit, like the witstro, but with built in V6II receiver
  • Actually quite a few manufacturers list their GN when the zoom is at 200mm. A bit tricky as the norm is 105mm. But numbers sell.  A bigger tube in a bigger housing should technically work with more power.

    Built-in wireless is a given feature as that's our forte 
    Antonio Lao
    Brand Manager
    _____________

    To help us better help you, always state the exact firmware version installed on your Cactus device(s), such as: "1.1.013", "NIK.A.001", "v.103", or "A06".

    TTL or HSS not working on Cactus V6 II and V6 IIs? Be sure to check hot shoe connectivity by doing the <CAMERA INFO> check.

    Feel free to suggest an improvement or share product ideas. Contact us directly at info@cactus-image.com.  At Cactus, we listen. 
  • I love your new Mk2 trigger with my 2 RF60's in HSS but often I need more power.... I would love to see Cactus develop a flash unit similar to the Godox AD600 with HSS and remote power control. Will Cactus ever make such a unit? I don't want to keep mixing flash units and triggers all the time as it becomes expensive and complicated.. 

    MikeD  


  • Thanks @miked.

    Maybe, is the answer ;)
    Antonio Lao
    Brand Manager
    _____________

    To help us better help you, always state the exact firmware version installed on your Cactus device(s), such as: "1.1.013", "NIK.A.001", "v.103", or "A06".

    TTL or HSS not working on Cactus V6 II and V6 IIs? Be sure to check hot shoe connectivity by doing the <CAMERA INFO> check.

    Feel free to suggest an improvement or share product ideas. Contact us directly at info@cactus-image.com.  At Cactus, we listen. 
  • Does maybe become more "work in progress"?

  • Follow our social media for the latest products updates
    Antonio Lao
    Brand Manager
    _____________

    To help us better help you, always state the exact firmware version installed on your Cactus device(s), such as: "1.1.013", "NIK.A.001", "v.103", or "A06".

    TTL or HSS not working on Cactus V6 II and V6 IIs? Be sure to check hot shoe connectivity by doing the <CAMERA INFO> check.

    Feel free to suggest an improvement or share product ideas. Contact us directly at info@cactus-image.com.  At Cactus, we listen. 
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