The New CACTUS V5's "Transceiver" Duo

I just ordered another set (bringing my total of triggers to 6) and a shutter release cable. A few things I noticed/modified to make them work better for me.

1. It looks like they changed a few things. The battery door seems it has a different latch. The half press button is a bit more sturdy. The hot shoe is still rigid, and you really have to jam the flash in there.

I had the hardest time finding the first channel in the dark for these triggers. The green numbers on the black dial is almost impossible. All I did was take a silver sharpie and colored in the side of the dial where the 1 is, and now it is MUCH easier to see.

I also put some blue painters tape on the top of the flash and numbered them. This way, when one trigger's batteries die, I will know which one it is and which ones to replace.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #12346353
I just ordered another set (bringing my total of triggers to 6) and a shutter release cable. A few things I noticed/modified to make them work better for me.

1. It looks like they changed a few things. The battery door seems it has a different latch. The half press button is a bit more sturdy. The hot shoe is still rigid, and you really have to jam the flash in there.

I had the hardest time finding the first channel in the dark for these triggers. The green numbers on the black dial is almost impossible. All I did was take a silver sharpie and colored in the side of the dial where the 1 is, and now it is MUCH easier to see.

I also put some blue painters tape on the top of the flash and numbered them. This way, when one trigger's batteries die, I will know which one it is and which ones to replace.

Great tips. I find the numbers hard to see as well. And the doors seem easy to latch back (I tend to "accidentally" do that a lot) without having to pull it all the way like their Youtube vids suggest. Thanks.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #12346353
I also put some blue painters tape on the top of the flash and numbered them. This way, when one trigger's batteries die, I will know which one it is and which ones to replace.

I have mine numbered on the bottom with white paint marker and the tops of each have the appropriate number of white dots right behind the hotshoe. I always use the #1 on my camera and #2-4 are set to those channels so I can control them independently or all at once from my camera mounted Cactus transceiver. I really like this feature as it lets me meter each flash independantly and I can have one flash per room in an event and control them each seperately or all at once.

Good ideas, everyone!

Ordered 2 sets last Thursday night and received them yesterday. I have to say they put the RF-602's to shame on looks, build quality and packaging so far. Think I'll order another couple of sets tonight.

DM1975 wrote in post #12346438
I have mine numbered on the bottom with white paint marker and the tops of each have the appropriate number of white dots right behind the hotshoe. I always use the #1 on my camera and #2-4 are set to those channels so I can control them independently or all at once from my camera mounted Cactus transceiver. I really like this feature as it lets me meter each flash independantly and I can have one flash per room in an event and control them each seperately or all at once.

Wow, I never even thought about dropping a flash in each room and having the ability to switch depending on where you are. Very cool use.

CptTripps wrote in post #12352532
Wow, I never even thought about dropping a flash in each room and having the ability to switch depending on where you are. Very cool use.

I would have just used one bounce on camera with TTL but the three rooms join so having them all set off at once really evened out the lighting sometimes.

i just ordered a 2 sets cant wait to use them

just got mine, im having compatibility problem with my YN 468. anyone else having same problem?

=(

edited:

sorry my bad. apparently it was my effin battery. 100% working now. the only problem is mounting the flash to the trigger, it was really tight!

Has anyone had problems with misfires or bad buildup of heat after prolonged use? I had heard from someone that they had been experiencing this with theirs and they have been using the Cowboy triggers instead.

DM1975 wrote in post #12365185
Has anyone had problems with misfires or bad buildup of heat after prolonged use? I had heard from someone that they had been experiencing this with theirs and they have been using the Cowboy triggers instead.

There is no heat generated by the electronics. When set for receive they only draw 22mA normally and only 28mA when they fire. That is less than a 1/10th of a watt.

And no misfires since I got them in December.

This is what I was thinking as well but he said that under heavy use they heat up and begin to fail. Mine have been flawless but I am also not popping them every few seconds or so for an hour or more.

DM1975 wrote in post #12368039
This is what I was thinking as well but he said that under heavy use they heat up and begin to fail. Mine have been flawless but I am also not popping them every few seconds or so for an hour or more.

And who is he?

I did a review of the V5 and tested them with a pulse generator to see the maximum frame rate they could handle. The V5 was able to do 39 frames per second without missing frames. 39 frames per second is a hell of a lot of heavy continuous use as far as I'm concerned.

The current consumption does go up since the circuit is turning on the status LED but this is a minimal increase. On the receiver (which uses more power than when set for a transmitter) the normal current is 22mA and goes up to 28mA when firing. There is not enough heat here to measure.

rudy_216 wrote in post #12369952
And who is he?

I aint gonna drop names but he is probably going to be named as a Canon POL here soon. Good guy and good photographer, but I do not agree with his thoughts on the Cactus V5. I love mine and see no issues with them at all. I just wanted to ask others about this as I am very aware that I do not know everything.

Interesting piece of information here...

DM1975 wrote in post #12369974
I aint gonna drop names but he is probably going to be named as a Canon POL here soon. Good guy and good photographer, but I do not agree with his thoughts on the Cactus V5. I love mine and see no issues with them at all. I just wanted to ask others about this as I am very aware that I do not know everything.