Wireless Triggers - Cactus V4 Radio Slave?
Jeremy Winterberg
Registered Users Posts: 1,233 Major grins
The new Cactus V4 Slave Wireless Hotshoe triggers...
I have the V2s right now... but I seem to have lost my receiver unit and haven't been able to find it for weeks... So, I desperately need to either find it now, or replace it. I think I might have taken it with me on my trip to Arizona, and it probably fell out of my camera bag :cry
I would love to get the Paul C. Buff ones... but $120 for a set (or however much it is) is out of the question right now.
And I don't really like the V2s because its not very sturdy in my opinion. Too many times have I seen my 580EXII start to tilt down while shooting (It can't handle the raw manliness of the EXII:bow )... which is unacceptable! Otherwise I would just purchase another receiver unit and save some money.
So, my questions are... Has anybody tried them? Do you like them? Are they reliable as far as when you take a picture it is triggered everytime?
This will sort of be my "buffer" until I purchase ACTUAL studio lighting (yay alien bees!) and when i do that I'm going to splurge and get the paul c buff ones. hopefully the commander transmitter will be out by then.
I have the V2s right now... but I seem to have lost my receiver unit and haven't been able to find it for weeks... So, I desperately need to either find it now, or replace it. I think I might have taken it with me on my trip to Arizona, and it probably fell out of my camera bag :cry
I would love to get the Paul C. Buff ones... but $120 for a set (or however much it is) is out of the question right now.
And I don't really like the V2s because its not very sturdy in my opinion. Too many times have I seen my 580EXII start to tilt down while shooting (It can't handle the raw manliness of the EXII:bow )... which is unacceptable! Otherwise I would just purchase another receiver unit and save some money.
So, my questions are... Has anybody tried them? Do you like them? Are they reliable as far as when you take a picture it is triggered everytime?
This will sort of be my "buffer" until I purchase ACTUAL studio lighting (yay alien bees!) and when i do that I'm going to splurge and get the paul c buff ones. hopefully the commander transmitter will be out by then.
Jer
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I've got a set and have been happy with them. Had a few that didn't flash but nothing that had me upset.
www.photograpes.com
photograpes.smugmug.com
[AMG]photos
[Yashica Lynx 14E | Canon 30D | Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 | 540ez | Cactus V4s]
The CyberSyncs came in today, and I discovered I have NO IDEA how to get the receiver to work with the 430EX. I feel like I must be missing something very elementary, but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is.
Any ideas would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
Paul
Well, if I'm correct you need either a 1/8", 1/4", or PC connection on your flash... which I don't think the 430EX has any of those.
You could look into getting a hot shoe converter like this http://www.adorama.com/FAHSPCA.html But I'm sure you could find something cheaper... thats just an example.
that is a decent price but yeah they are all over ebay for less.......
Is there a specific model I need for the 430EX? I've heard that Canon flashes are not "universal" flashes...
I think any shoe mount adapter would work. By non-universal they mean, it will only work on canon bodies and not nikon, olympus, sony, etc... But the shoe mount adapter will work for it...
Like Art said, check Ebay... they should be pretty cheap on there... I wouldn't pay more than a couple bucks. the one I linked to on adorama was the first link i found in google, but I wouldn't pay anything more than $9.
I do not think so.....all flashes from the time of the troglodytes use the center pin as the trigger.....so any adapter that makes a connection to the center pin will fire the flash.....it fires it......does not allow it to communicate to the camera or other flashes as far as i know.....then the cable from the radio trigger connect to the pc outlet which is connected only to the center pin connection of the shoe....which in some cases i the whole metal part of the shoe...................
Remeber you will need to be in manual mode to use this set up
I'm a Nikon shooter, and have an SB 600 and an SB 800. All of my shots are limited to the SB 600 as the main and SB 800 for fill, on the camera shoe, as a commander. It's great in doors and in studio set ups, but this is not reliable outdoors where the portability of the shoemount flashes shines best. In a many of the shots that I've done out doors, the flash just doesn't fire consistently enough for my taste.
So, I'm ready for the next step, wireless triggers. Pocket Wizzards are out of the question. They are way too pricey, and Radio poppers cost even more.
Looking online for a 'cheaper' solution, I came accross the V4's. After various hours of research and reading. It appears as if the V4's don't work well on the SB 800's shoe mount. Lot's of reports of it getting stuck. That can easily be remidied with some velcro and a PC sync chord.
I hear the range is 30 Meters That's about 98 or so feet. More distance than I'll need. I'm sure a hack will come out just like the V2s to increase the range.
The reliability is not bad from what I've read. Obviously the further away the receiver is from the transmitter, you'll have some no-fires. But nothing is worst than the line of sight limitations of Nikon's wireless lighting system. Who shoots TTL or iTTL anyway?
I belive you are still limited to your camera's flash sync speed. At 40 dollars for a transmitter/receiver set and 25 dollars for each additional receiver, you can't go wrong.
I'm going to go ahead an purchase these little bad boys and put them to a real world test and see how they make out. I'll report back here with my findings.
Nikon Shooter
It's all about the moment...
I have a pair of V2's, and have lengthened the transmitter's antenna as suggested on the web, but still find my distance limited to maybe 30-40 feet - not really that much better than I get from my ST_E2 with my Canon set up. And still with occasional misfires.
I found that if I wanted reliable, consistent, never miss, flash triggering, there was really only one answer, and you know what it is. Not cheap, not small, but always reliable. PWs.
I hope to hear that the V4s work like the PWs. True? Or not so much?
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
PF, I doubt they will work like Pocket Wizzards. LoL. But for 90 or so feet, they can't be beat. I also worked a little hack on my D40 that let's me flash sync to 1/4000!
I'm certain that witht he V4's I'll be able to control the flash, in manual mode of course, at those same sync speeds.
Nikon Shooter
It's all about the moment...
I've had mine for over a month now and am very happy with them- I wrote a short review at http://thecaptainnemo.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/cactus-v4-flash-trigger/
and I used them on a trip to mexico for cave photography I wrote briefly about that
http://thecaptainnemo.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/giant-caves-of-mexico/
Everyone at the ICS (international congress of speleology) in Texas that I showed them to was impressed with how well they worked- I plan to order more soon.
Not the value of V4s, but certainly reliable from all I've heard.
[AMG]photos
[Yashica Lynx 14E | Canon 30D | Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 | 540ez | Cactus V4s]
One transmitter with receiver, and two more receivers.
If I did it again, I'd order 2 Trans. with rec. and a spare rec.
That way I'd have one extra transmitter and an extra receiver for about $20 more.
My order was around $100. I'll be using it most of the time in a 30 x 30 foot studio, so
range should be no problem.
It says to allow up to 2 weeks for them to show up. After I get them, I'll do a quick write up.
P.S. the flashes that I'll be using with them will be 2 - 420EX canon flashes, and if I want a 3rd flash,
a sunpak 383.
I've been using hot lights in the studio, so I'm kind of excited to see how this setup will work.
Basking in the shadows of yesterday's triumphs'.
Nikon Shooter
It's all about the moment...
I put my sb 600 in the bathroom around the wall, about 40 feet from the foyer. Then my SB 800 around the wall in my bedroom (Soon to be studio) 60 feet away from the trigger. The max safe sync speed is 1/800th of a second. 1/1000th at f4.
They fired everytime through walls and such.
SOOC at 200MM, trigger 60 feet away from the furthest remote.
f5.6 at 1/800th of a sec. ISO 200
The only downfall of these bad boys is the sync speed. They have what appears to be a 1/1000 of a second reaction time. So any shutter speed over that, will produce a flashless frame. But 1/800th is more than enough I think. Some people are stuck with 1/250th because of their camera flash sync. They'll welcome these 3 or 4 stops of light to control the background better.
After reading on the internet about these triggers and remotes, I decided to use a PC cord to connect my SB 800 to the receiver. I've read about some horror stories about it not wanting to get off it. So I avoided that all together. But it went it nicely on my SB600 and acts as a flash base and caddy also.
For the price, can't be beat.
They also fit nicely in my strobist travel bag!
Nikon Shooter
It's all about the moment...
[AMG]photos
[Yashica Lynx 14E | Canon 30D | Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 | 540ez | Cactus V4s]
I have 2 Canon 420EX flashes.
I now have a Cactus V4 transmitter with 3 receivers.
I went to the studio to try them out with my Canon 5DMKII with a 28-105 lens,
and a old childhood friend.
Here's what I tried, what can I do, to do better.
First thing, check everything for batteries. One flash did, one didn't. Shit!
So, I tried it out with one flash. Batteries go quickly, but I don't know how fresh they were to begin with.
Tried shooting into an umbrella, worked OK.
Then tried it with a flash defuser. That worked OK also.
Oh oh, if I go over 1/160 shutter speed, I was getting this.
No problem, stay under that mark.
Wait, I'm planning on using this outdoors this Sunday at the Strobist Senior Shoot.
Would using a ND filter be the best way to control this, or did I miss something?
Anyhow, back to the shots.
Flash with defuser and a reflector. I think this worked pretty well.
Coming from using Hot Lights, the hot lights are way easier to use.
It's a WYSIWYG deal. Using flashes seems like a lot of guess work.
I will take all suggestions, and any help I can get.
Basking in the shadows of yesterday's triumphs'.
If this is the case, try it in manual mode at like.. 1/16-1/8 through the umbrella, your results will improve greatly... The TTL sensors on the flash, cannot meter correctly through the umbrella for one thing... and I'm not possitive on this, but I believe the flash cannot relay meter data with the camera's meter so it doesn't fire acurately when on wireless triggers.
Strobe lighting is not guesswork... when you get good with it its all calculated out perfectly. Light Meters help get it all perfect.
Anyways, I'm the OP and I haven't shared my results with these triggers yet... sad... I will post my official review next week.
As far as I can tell, there is no manual mode when the flash is off camera.
It's an older flash, and I think it's shooting full on every time.
Basking in the shadows of yesterday's triumphs'.
I did not believe you when you said it, but I did some research and yeah, no "manual" mode on it. But when off camera it fires full everytime like you said.
Actually it is a visualization thing.............here is what I mean..............you are used to using hotlights......wysiwyg..........using flash (strobe) and no modeling light just means you need to visualize where that light is going and it won't take long to get good at it......of course there are those gurus that actually do not need meters or modeling lights they can look at their lighting......be it the sun, a hotshoe strobe or what ever and know what it will take to get a good exposed shot.....
Does you camera allow you to use a "High Speed Sync"? If so then this will be more help probably than using ND filters of any kind.....or else stay under the 1/160 and regulate with aperture......being carful not to turn you BG black.....or just unaturally dark.
sine it seems that 1/160th is you top sync speed yes ND filters can help and you will find that ND fileters for your strobe (theatrical ND Gels less than 10/ sheet) are much cheaper than filters for your lens......
Hmmm, I don't have time for this shoot to get and try gels for the flashes, but that sounds like a good idea.
I have quite a few ND filters from shooting IR with my Sony 717 that will fit the lens I'll be using.
I'd rather take the shutter speed down with the filters and ISO so I can sill keep control (somewhat) of DOF.
Question:
The Cactus transmitter's battery, how long does it last?
Basking in the shadows of yesterday's triumphs'.
Not certain but I've been using mine a lot for the last couple of months- still going strong. I did pick up a couple extra batteries at an electronics store ($1.49) just in case though.
Here's a shot from Texas, I was very glad I had the cactus V4's here as several people were trying to take pictures at once and triggering each others optical slaves.
The first session I'm disregarding altogether because it was at 1pm and I was battling the sun the entire time (the senior chose the time, not me, I did not recommend it but it was the only time available for him).
However, the second was in a nice park. With lots of TREES! And it was at 3 so it was, still harsh light, but better than at 1.
This is the only setup shot I took, and its not that great of a shot. I was pressed for time because her mom brought two other siblings, and then the mom's brother showed up with a friend, and everyone was hot and wanted to leave... so I was in a hurry.
Say hello to Alex my assistant for the day. He accepts payment of pizza and mountain dew. The setup I had him carrying all day was a lightweight lightstand with an umbrella holder attachment, on top I have the cactus receiver screwed onto the umbrella holder, and my 580EX II mounted ontop of the receiver. This is an "out takes" picture obviously!
The Beautifull young lady he's firing the flash at is Mercedes, yes like the car. Its strange, I know, get over it!
As you can see in this picture the sun is coming from camera right, shining on her back, I used fill flash from the umbrella to lighten the shadow on her face. And I think I have done a nice job doing so. Sadly her sweat-shirt is blown, but I'm not too worried about that.
Edit: Just looked through the first session again, and I do have a picture where it shows the flash helping. This is Anthony.