Cactus RF60X User Manual

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User Manual

Wireless

Flash

RF60X

Table of Contents

Summary of Contents for Cactus RF60X

Page 1 User Manual Wireless Flash RF60X...
Page 2: Table Of Contents
Table of Contents 1. Getting to Know your RF60X 2. Caution and Warnings 3. Major Specif ications 4. Package Contents 5. Nomenclature 6. LCD Panel 7. Getting Started 8. On-camera Operation: Local Mode 9. Wireless Flash: Master and Slave Modes 10.
Page 3: Getting To Know Your Rf60X
1. Getting to Know your RF60X Thank you for purchasing the Cactus Wireless Flash RF60X. The RF60X is unique among other flashes available in the market. With a built- in transmitter and receiver, it not only receives wireless signals, but also functions as a commander to control other RF60X or RF60.
Page 4: Caution And Warnings
2. Caution and Warnings Before using the product, read the following instructions to ensure correct and safe use and to help prevent damage of the Cactus RF60X. 1. Turn OFF all your equipment (Cactus units, cameras, etc. ) before changing batteries or making a connection.
Page 5: Major Specifications
3. Major Specifications – Guide Number (ISO 100) : Zoom (mm) GN (meter) GN (feet) – Motor zooms: 24 mm – 28 mm – 35 mm – 50 mm – 70 mm – 80 mm – 105 mm – Power levels (22 in total) : 1/16 1/32 1/64...
Page 6: Package Contents
4. Package Contents Carrying Case FC-3 Flash RF60X Flash Stand FS-2 User Manual...
Page 7: Nomenclature
5. Nomenclature WIDE ANGLE DIFFUSER FRESNEL LENS AND BOUNCE CARD AF-ASSIST LIGHT TRIPOD MOUNT 3.5 mm CONNECTOR OPTICAL SENSOR USB PORT EXTERNAL POWER CONNECTOR CONNECTOR COVER CONNECTOR COVER HOT SHOE LOCKING WHEEL HOT SHOE CONTACT MOUNTING FOOT BOUNCE ANGLE INDICATOR BATTERY COMPARTMENT LCD PANEL DOOR...
Page 8: Lcd Panel
6. LCD Panel TEXT AREA GROUP PANEL SELECTION INDICATORS ZOOM LEVEL POWER LEVEL POWER LEVEL INCREMENT HSS SYMPATHY MODE STATUS OPERATING MODES CHANNEL BEEP INDICATOR BATTERY LEVEL OPTICAL SLAVE DELAY INDICATOR HIGH TEMPERATURE WARNING 7. Getting Started Inserting Batteries 1. Using your thumb, press on the battery compartment door and slide it open in the direction shown by the arrow.
Page 9 2. Install the batteries. Make sure the positive (+) and negative (-) battery contacts are properly oriented as shown in the compartment. 3. Slide the battery compartment door in the direction shown by the arrow to close it. Caution: 1. Use a new set of AA batteries of the same brand and type.
Page 10 when around 50% of the battery power has been consumed, and the indicator will blink when the flash does not have enough power to f ire. Replace batteries immediately when you see the blinking signal. The indicator is not applicable to Ni-MH battery.
Page 11 3. To detach the flash, rotate the locking wheel on the mounting foot to the right until it is loosened. Turning the Flash On 1. Switch the On/Off Switch to ON. The flash starts charging. 2. Check that the flash is ready. - The flash-ready indicator blinks in red, indicating that the flash is ready for quick flash (see...
Page 12 2. The overheating protection of the RF60X may stop the flash from f iring after a number of full power flashes have been f ired in short intervals. The temperature...
Page 13 Make sure the flash head is suff iciently angled away from the subject. The flash head of the RF60X can be tilted up to a vertical angle of 90˚ , with click stops at 30˚ , 60˚ , 75˚ , and down at 15˚...
Page 14 Bounce Card and Wide Angle Diffuser There is a bounce card and wide angle diffuser set built in the RF60X. The bounce card and wide angle diffuser can be used separately or at the same time. Tip: The bounce card is useful in...
Page 15 The flash will illuminate at 18 mm coverage. Choosing the Operating Mode There are three operating modes in the RF60X, namely Local, Master, and Slave. Upon switching on the RF60X, press the button to choose the appropriate mode. The mode indicator...
Page 16 Setting the Channel and the Radio ID When the RF60X units are in the Master or Slave mode, they need to communicate in the same RF wireless channel with each other. To set the channel, press . Then press the button until <CH>...
Page 17 To change a menu option: 1. Press the button to access the f irst menu item. 2. Press the button to change the menu subject in the sequence. 3. Press the button to see each option of a menu item. The conf iguration of the menu item will change immediately.
Page 18 Applicable Menu item and Text shown modes corresponding options on LCD Beep Feedback BEEP √ √ √ - Off - OFF - Fn1: Quick Flash - Fn1 (QCK FL) - Fn2: Full Charge - Fn2 (READY) - Fn3: Insuff icient - Fn3 (WARN) Power Warning LCD Backlight...
Page 19: On-Camera Operation: Local Mode
8. On-camera Operation: Local Mode Set up the RF60X in Local mode when you work with one flash on the camera’s hot shoe. In the main screen, the power level is shown on the left while the zoom level is shown on the right. The selection indicator ►...
Page 20 The power levels available for adjustment are: 1/16 1/32 1/64 1/128 1/16 1/32 1/64 1/128 +0.3 +0.3 +0.3 +0.3 +0.3 +0.3 +0.3 1/16 1/32 1/64 1/128 +0.7 +0.7 +0.7 +0.7 +0.7 +0.7 +0.7 Adjusting the Zoom Level To adjust the zoom level, press until the selection indicator ►...
Page 21: Wireless Flash: Master And Slave Modes
9. Wireless Flash: Master and Slave Modes With a built-in Radio Frequency (RF) module, the RF60X has the ability to communicate with other RF60/RF60X units wirelessly. To control and f ire the RF60/RF60X wirelessly, set up one RF60X in Master mode and the other RF60/RF60X units in Slave mode.
Page 22 Commanding with the RF60X Master 1. Set the on-camera RF60X to mode by pressing (see Section 7 .6) . 2. Set the RF60X Master to the same channel as the RF60X Slave units (see Section 7 . 7) . 3. Check the group statuses on the group panel.
Page 23 Changing Parameters of a particular Slave Group To select a particular group for remote control, press the group selection indicator will go to group A. 7 . Press again to select the next group, i.e. , group B. Each press of the Group button will select the next group in the following sequence: Master...
Page 24 Changing Parameters of all Active Groups 9. You may also change settings for all active groups at the same time. To select all groups, press and hold the button. 10. The selection indicators of all groups will be on and the text area will show <ALL GP>...
Page 25 The screen will show <OFF> in the center row. Note: The RF60X Master can also be turned off by pressing and holding button in the Master group. Once turned off, the RF60X Master will not f ire, but it will still...
Page 26: Group Aliases
10. Group Aliases The RF60X comes with a list of pre-set group aliases to choose from for the particular slave groups according to the purpose of each. The chosen group alias will be shown in the text area next to the group panel.
Page 27 4. Repeat steps 1-3 to set aliases in all the Cactus RF60X units. To prevent confusion, make sure that you have set the same alias for the same group in all RF60X units. 5. The alias of each group will appear in Slave mode or Master mode whenever the group is selected.
Page 28: Advanced Operation
11. Advanced Operation 11.1 Multi Flash In Multi mode, a rapid series of flashes is f ired. It can be used to capture multiple images of a moving subject in a single frame. In Multi mode, you can change the: •...
Page 29 For example, if you wish to f ire a series of flashes that lasts for 0. 5 second at a frequency of 10 times per second (i.e. , 10Hz) , the number of flashes would be 5. Similarly if you wish to f ire 10 flashes at a frequency of 100Hz, the flash series would last for 0.1 second.
Page 30 12-14 15-19 20-50 60-199 Power 1/16 1/32 1/64 1/128 Notes: 1. Multi flash is most effective with a highly reflective subject against a dark background. 2. Multi flash is not supported at power level higher than 1/4. 3. The Multi flash may be useful when combined with a camera set to bulb mode.
Page 31 2. Press until the selection indicator ► points to the number of flashes, i.e. , the value before the hyphen. 3. Press to increase or decrease the number of flashes. 4. Press until the selection indicator ► points to the frequency of flashes (Hz) , i.e.
Page 32 11.1.2 Multi Flash in Master and Slave Modes An RF60X in Master mode will cause a Slave RF60X that uses the same RF channel to synchronize to Multi mode settings. 1. To enter Multi mode on the RF60X Master, press until you see <MASTER>...
Page 33 RF60X Slaves in the active group(s) . HSS Flash 11.2 The HSS flash of the RF60X is designed to support flash photography at shutter speeds beyond a camera’s maximum sync speed. To this end, the RF60X will f ire...
Page 34 1. The output power of the HSS flash f ired by the RF60X is different from that of a normal flash. To compensate 1EV exposure loss in your camera setting, you need to increase the power level of a HSS flash by 2EVs.
Page 35 GN (meter) at 105 mm, ISO 100 Power Level Normal Flash HSS Flash 1/16 1/32 1/64 1/128 2. The continuous light output in HSS flash does not freeze a moving object as a normal flash would do. Instead, an HSS flash will cause motion blur, much like a continuous light source would.
Page 36 11.2.2 Automatic and Manual HSS The RF60X in Slave mode fully supports HSS with Canon, Fujif ilm, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax cameras when commanded by the V6 II; or HSS with Sony cameras when commanded by the V6 IIs transceiver.
Page 37 HSS Sympathy mode is for setting up manual HSS only. 11.2.4 Manual HSS: HSS Sympathy Mode To sync RF60X manually with a camera shutter faster than x-sync speed, you need a TTL flash with HSS / Auto FP capability.
Page 38 6. If the frame is not evenly illuminated from top to bottom, set the delay timer (see Section 11.4) of the RF60X Master to 10 ms and then 15 ms, 20 ms, etc. , until the flash fully f ills up the frame.
Page 39 • Camera brand: The following delay time ranges are suggested for different camera systems: Camera brand Suggested delay time Canon 52-64 ms Nikon 55-65 ms Sony 90-100 ms Olympus/Panasonic 65-75 ms Pentax 75-82 ms • F-number: The higher the f-number, the longer the delay time within the range of the particular camera system.
Page 40 <OPT SL> . Use the button to choose <OFF> . Press to conf irm. 11.4 Delay Timer Every RF60X is equipped with a delay timer that can be conf igured in either Master or Slave mode. The...
Page 41 delay timer delays the trigger response for the time period set. If you wish to f ire the flash a bit later than the f irst curtain sync to create a different lighting effect (e.g. to achieve a second curtain sync) , the delay timer helps you create the effect.
Page 42 AF-assist 11.5 The RF60X is equipped with an auto- focus (AF) assist LED. The power level of the AF-assist light can be adjusted to best suit your working environment.
Page 43 4. In Slave mode, the RF60X will synchronize the AF-assist command with the V6 II or V6 IIs in TX mode, or the RF60X in Master mode. No setup is required. Note: In AF-assist continuous mode, the LED light will switch off...
Page 44: Personalizing The Rf60X
Cooling Mode ON: The shortest flash recycle time will be applied only when the RF60X is within moderate temperatures. The cooling mode will regulate the recycle time with reference to the temperature inside the flash body.
Page 45 12.2 LCD Backlight The LCD backlight of the RF60X turns on whenever any button is pressed. In order to conserve energy, there is a timer setting that automatically turns off the backlight.
Page 46 3. Press to conf irm and conf igure other items, or press to conf irm and leave. 4. To wake up RF60X from sleep mode, press any button once. Note: Wireless triggering will not wake up RF60X Slave units remotely.
Page 47 RF60X even though the flash capacitor is not fully charged. However, the flash output may be lower than specif ied on the RF60X menu. Enable the quick flash option when speed is more important than the accuracy of power output. Disable the quick flash option when accuracy is your primary concern.
Page 48 (READY) : Full Charge RF60X beeps when the flash is ready to f ire at the specif ied level. Fn3* (WARN) : Insuff icient Power Warning RF60X beeps only when the flash has f ired a quick flash with a power level lower than the selected level.
Page 49 To conf igure the beep option, press , and press until the text area shows <BEEP> . Then use the button to choose from OFF , Fn1 (QCK FL) , Fn2 (READY) or Fn3 (WARN) . 2. When choosing the options with button, the abbreviation for each option will be shown in the text area.
Page 50: Working With Cactus Triggers
RF60X/RF60 SENSOR EMITTER Cactus V6 Series 13.1 In Slave mode, the RF60X can be commanded by the Cactus V6 series (including V6 IIs, V6 II and V6) . In Master mode, the RF60X can command V6 only. 13.1.1 RF60X as Slave...
Page 51 1/10EV stop and communicate it with the RF60X; however, the RF60X would only display the nearest 1/3EV stop. You may combine an RF60X with other V6-compatible TTL flashes to form a manual flash control system. For example, assign a RF60X to group A,...
Page 52 1/10EV, 1/2EV and 1EV. X High Speed Synchronization (HSS) RF60X, V6 II, Not supported. RF60 V6 IIs 13.2 Cactus V5, LV5 The Cactus RF60X can work in pairs with the Cactus V5 or LV5. They all share the same 2.4 GHz, 16-channel platform.
Page 53: External Power
RF60X Master will trigger all V5s, independent of which group it considers active. Similarly, both the V5 and LV5 will trigger any RF60X Slave, independent of what group it has been assigned to. 14. External Power...
Page 54: Forming The Capacitor
When this occurs, you can “form” the capacitor as follows: 1. Switch on the RF60X in Local mode with fresh batteries. 2. Adjust the flash to full power. 3. Allow the ready light to glow 15 seconds to 20 seconds f irst.
Page 55: Optional Accessories
RF60X and start the upgrade. Please visit www.cactus-image.com/ rf60x.html for more information. Caution: Do not connect the RF60X to any AC power supply through the USB port. 17. Optional Accessories 1. Diffuser Cap DC-60 2. External Battery Pack EP-1 3.
Page 56 2. Flash power turns off by itself SYMPTOM POSSIBLE CAUSE SOLUTION LCD turns Sleep timer is - Press any button activated on the RF60X once to wake it up from sleep mode - Check the sleep timer conf iguration in the Menu and revise it (see Section 12.3)
Page 57 4. Slave flash does not f ire SYMPTOM POSSIBLE CAUSE SOLUTION Flash Ready Channel Set Slave flash to LED blinks mismatch the same channel or stays on, as the Master flash but the flash Group mismatch Make sure the does not group assigned to f ire the Slave flash has...
Page 58 - Set up the RF60X in Auto HSS or Manual HSS (see Section 11.2) Delay timer Turn off the delay has been set timer or adjust incorrectly the delay timer to...
Page 59: Notices
7 . Flash power lower than specif ied SYMPTOM POSSIBLE CAUSE SOLUTION Insuff icient Flash f ires - Turn off Quick Power when it is not Flash (see Warning fully charged Section 12.4) beeps (if - Allow the flash enabled) to recharge fully Ready Signal...
Page 60 Koon Wah Mirror Factory (6th) Industrial Bldg, 7-9 Ho Tin Street, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, declare under our own responsibility that the product: Cactus Wireless Flash RF60X is in conformity with the essential requirements and other relevant requirements of the R&TTE Directive...
Page 61 This product, Cactus Wireless Flash RF60X, is in conformity with the provisions of EU Council Directive: 1999/5/EC. The crossed-out wheeled bin means that within the European Union the product must be disposed separately at the end of the product cycle. Do not dispose thisproduct with other municipal waste.
Page 62: Warranty
Harvest One Limited with respect to the Cactus brand Wireless Flash purchased with this limited warranty. Your Cactus Wireless Flash RF60X or other contents, when delivered to you in new condition in its original container, is warranted against defects in materials or...
Page 63 OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL THERE BE RECOVERY OF ANY KIND AGAINST HARVEST ONE LIMITED GREATER IN AMOUNT THAN THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE CACTUS WIRELESS FLASH SOLD BY HARVEST ONE LIMITED OR ITS AUTHORIZED DEALERS AND CAUSING THE ALLEGED DAMAGE. WITHOUT...
Page 64 www.cactus-image.com...