What’s Your Preference?

candleman · #1 (**permalink**) 01-14-2011, 09:12 AM

This Christmas holiday season I had the privilege of being a part of testing the CactusV5 by Gadget Infinity

I have three of the Cactus V4 receivers, and have used them without any real issues for almost two years now.

SO, what's new in the V5?
Here's a summary of the cool stuff, which I will expand on later in the review.
GadgetInfinity's video Teaser:

The Cactus V5's new features:

New “Transceiver” Design
Multi Channel Triggering
new ejecable battery compartment
“FST” Frequency Self Tune
16 Channels in the 2.4 GHz Spectrum
Ability to act as a wireless Shutter release
triggers camera mounted flash
a screw lock on the foot
low battery/status indicators
Support Sync speeds up to 1/1000 (depending on your cameras max sync speed)
Maximum effective distance: 100 meters (conservative as you wil find out)
Operating temperature: -20ºC to +50ºC

Brian Hursey has listed all the Specs, and package contents here and here is an actual unboxing.

Transceiver?
Every V5 unit is exactly the same. There is no dedicated receiver and no dedicated transmiter.
Any of the V5 units can be set to be a Rx or Tx at any time by flicking the switch on the side.
I think it's a useful feature. If my V4 transmitter dies, my entire system is useless.
The V5 however, any of the transceivers could be swapped out and used as the transmitter. So instead of the entire studio being useless, you only lose one strobe.

Build Quality:
The build quality is significantly better than the V4.
It feels solid and yet is not much heavier than it's predecessor despite the size difference.
The V4 features an annoying aerial on the Tx, which often got caught on camera straps and made me worry about it being broken during a shoot. The V5 has no external aerials that can be broken off at the most inconvenient of moments and has a much cleaner design.
Drop tests have shown that it can survive several 1m falls without loosing reliability. I have not tested this myself though.

Ejectable battery compartment:
This design is much better than the V4.
The V4 has a tenancy to slip off when on the stand. (I'll explain later)
To eject the battery tray, you just push on it and it clicks out.
Brian Hursey made a video about the battery compartment here:
YouTube - Cactus v5 Battery Compartment

The V4 has an annoying L1028 battery that you need a screwdriver to get out. In saying that in the 2 years I've been using the V4 Transmitter, I've changed the battery in it twice, and this weekend will be the third time. So, the V5 has done away with this minor annoyance

Speaking of batteries, I have noticed they do chew through much more power than the V4's, obvious seeing as it operates in 2.4Ghz Spectrum

Frequency Self Tune & Reliability:
GadgetInfinity set out to provide a reliable trigger at an affordable price
This I thought the inclusion if an intelligent frequency tuning was pretty cool.
Essentially the new V5 automatically adjusts the frequency in extreme temperature shifts. So, when you walk out into the snow for bridal portraits after being in the reception hall, in theory you should have no problems with the triggering.

One can test a group of flashes one at a time too.
On the Transceivers is a numbered dial ranging from 1-16.
The first five numbers are blue, and indicate Multi-channel triggering. This will allow you to test one flash at a time by setting the Tx to the corresponding channel you have set the flash in question to.
Simply set one Rx to each of the blue numbered channels, and as you want to test that flash on it's own, set the TX on the camera to that number. To fire the entire group, simply set the Tx back to 1 and all the flashes on the blue "Multi Channel" channel will fire.

FST is always in operation and it adjusts for temperature changes only, this operates in the background activley.

So, seeing as GadgetInfinity wanted to create something reliable, we tested it's reliability.
There are some other testers who tested the flash indoors, then went outside in the snow. One tester named "Lytfyre", at -10ºC he got 100% firing out to 110m. Impressive huh?.

I gave it another test, in reliability. (low speed)
I tested it over a period of time and a number of flashes in creating a time lapse of my kids opening their christmas presents. 385 consecutive flashes over 1 hour and 17 minutes and there were no misfires.

A High speed reliability test:
I threw a potato masher through the air, shooting at 7fps and it didn't miss a beat on any of the 10 attempts I made. After doing this, I realised what I thought was a brilliant plan turned out to be futile. Another tester who happens to be an electronics engineer figured out it can handle up to 39FPS without dropping a frame.
Rudy's Rants: Cactus V5, radio flash trigger by Gadget Infinity

Odd thing is, It won't trigger if the Rx is closer than 1 ft to the Tx.... it simply doesn't work. The manual states this so it is known. However, if you're working with the flash so close to the camera, use a sync cable instead.

In all my tests I never experienced even one misfire of the triggers.

Camera Mounted Flash
The V5 now being of a Transceiver design, it is now capable of using on camera flash for fill, and off camera flash for edge light. Like this:

This makes shooting things like speeches, dances etc etc much easer for the strobist because now there is control and availability of on axis fill light.
I do wish it had TTL passthrough though.
The reason they didn't include this is because they would have needed to create versions of the V5 with different pin positions for each camera manufacturer. (something to that effect, I'm no techy)
This means, the flash is then only usable in manual mode. In thinking about it, the number of times I change FEC when using TTL to get the amount of fill I want, It's just as easy to adjust it in manual mode. So no real biggie unless you're in quickly changing light.
The Production version of the V5 will have a hole in the hotshoe for the SB600's locking pin, so the SB600 won't feel so loose and slip out. This is one of the changes that was made during the review process.

Wireless Shutter Release:
The V5 has a nifty feature in that it can focus the camera on a half press, and a full press will release. There is however the need to buy an additional cable which is not included in the pack.

When testing the D300s
On my D300s I always shoot with the AF turned OFF on the shutter release button, and I only use the AF-ON button to focus.
To make the V5 actually focus and take a picture, I had to re-enable the AF for the shutter release button on the camera. It then worked perfectly.
Heres the rig.

I then tested it in LIVE VIEW,
it also focused and took a picture as expected. Focus is slow as usual in live view, but that's a function of the camera.

I tested t on the D80 too, It functioned just as the manual describes, half press transmitter for focus, full press for taking the picture.
HOLD the button on the transmitter for 2 seconds, the green light will turn off and bulb mode will commence. Press the button on the transceiver and bulb mode will end.
Heres a little video:
YouTube - Cactus V5 Wireless Shutter Release

NOTE!
IF you are in high speed continuous shooting mode, and you hold the release button on the transmitter, the camera will stay in high speed shooting mode!!! To turn off the high speed shooting press the release button on the transmitter again. (just like you would to end bulb mode)
This is possibly a nice way to add a timelapse type feature to a camera without such a function built in. Sure, you will have no control over the framerate.. but you can still walk away from it and let it do it's thing.

I shot some of my first star trails with it as I had a cloudless and windless night & used the V5 Duo as a wireless shutter release on the D300s.

1275 seconds (21minutes) F/8

During the course of the evening, I tested the shutter release through a closed door.. that worked well. I didn't want light to spill into the room as I entered and exited the room.. so i shut the door and triggered the camera into bulb mode through the door.

I was outside for about 4 hours and it started getting cold and the battery on the Rx needed to be changed... it was blinking red

I went inside, changed to a freshly charged set of batteries in both the Tx, Rx and camera and then set-up a shot for a very long exposure (by now it was 1:30am)
I didn't want to leave my beloved D300s outside so I cleaned a window in a spare room in the house, set the camera on a tripod and drew the curtains on all the windows to the room.
I set to f/22, and my alarm clock for 4:30am, with a towel over the camera to preserve any heat, and stop the constant green light on top of the Rx attracting unwanted attention.

at 4:30 I woke up to find the camera dead, and the Rx on the camera blinking red..
It did save the image miraculously.
The Exif says 10061 seconds = 2hours 43minutes (i only just missed it!!)

The startrails are invisible.. but I have no idea what the white streak is.. I'm fairly sure there was no moon there when i walked in to see the camera at 4:30. I was still half asleep so I could be wrong. I e-mailed it to an astronomer at RNZAS and he said he believed t was either a very large meteor, or a piece of space junk.

So, what does this mean for the V5?
I was using fully charged 900Mah Energizer NiMh batteries.
Gadget infinity has said during their tests:

Quote:

On a fresh pair of GP AAA alkaline batteries (the ones included with V5 set), we have gotten an average of 12 hours non-stop V5 usage in bulb mode.

I haven't progressed testing that any further, in discussion with some of the chaps on the testers forum, we concluded that that it was probably the cameras battery that died and ended the exposure rather than the fault of the V5.
I have found through more extensive use, that even during the phase of the flashing red warning light, it is still functional and I didn't get a misfire when testing the flash even at 1/250th, Gadgetinfinity looked at it a bit harder and found that the low battery warning light was coming on a bit too early, so the ones you buy off the shelf should only give you a warning when the batteries truly are low.

SCREWLOCK ON FOOT
The V4 has no screwlock on the foot, So i had no choice but to buy these adjustable hot shoe mounts from Gadget infinity for all three strobes.
I was still learning, and I had no idea what to get.
Locally, NONE of the camera shops could give me an answer as to how I could use an umbrella swivel bracket with the type of foot the V4 Receiver has IE: without the screw to lock it to the hotshoe. So I bought these.

The only real compatability issue with the V5 for me personaly was, It just doesn't fit the adjustable hot shoe mount and it wiggles free easily. The V4 had lumps underneath which helped it not wiggle backwards out the adjustable shoe.

So, I'll need to buy more like these when I buy another set of V5's upon release, The ones on Gadget Infinity website look good as the distance between umbrella shaft and shoe are very short. (yay)

Personally, I like the cold shoe mount.... It's faster than unscrewing the receiver from a spigot every time. If I was going to be doing work from a moving car or something equally as fun, I would probably be thinking of a method of screwing it down. I should note that when mounting the Tx to a camera, the wheel is small and kinda hard to get to.

So, What's happening to the V4?
Its not being phased out, which is good. Because it's still a good reliable system. I've loved mine.

SUMMARY: (for people like me who just want the run-down)
The V5 overall is a pretty good bang for buck.
It's a very reliable system, and the test group used in various conditions and with various cameras with virtually a 100% fire rate even in snow. The FST seems to work!
The ability to mount a speedlight on top of the Tx, and trigger off camera flashes simultaneously is a good tool. It's a valuable tool for event work like weddings. I know I have plans to put them to use in the coming month using this method. The fact it is a wireless shutter release, and any transceiver can be substituted as a Tx or Rx at any time allows for slip ups like dropped equipment to easily be worked around unlike dedicated Rx/Tx systems.

It does have a few things that did bug me:

I have to buy new umbrella swivel brackets. (you may not though)
there is no TTL passthrough. I would have loved that. Although no other triggers I know of at this price offer TTL passthrough and all the other features the V5 does.
It's difficult to see Rx/OFF/Tx status and the button is kinda' fiddly.
Screw lock on the foot is too small and difficult to get to when on the camera.
the tripod mount under the V5 transceiver is virtually impossible to mount to a quick release plate. (i'll never use that though, and some top of the line TTL triggers don't even have one, but it does mount to a spigot.)

Note: During this Review:
Tx = Transmitter
Rx = Receiver
FEC=Flash Exposure Compensation

Pricing is set at:
Single Transceiver: US$34.95
DUO: US$59.95

Would you like to see a few other reviews and Discussions about the V5?
Cactus V5 radio flash trigger review - PentaxForums.com
motleypixel.com: Photography Forums and Lens Reviews

I hope this is somewhat useful of informative..

Arstine · #2 (**permalink**) 01-14-2011, 11:11 AM

I would be sold on upgrading from my V4s just on the Tx/Rx ability. But add in that it runs on AAAs, is in the 2.4GHz range, can shoot through, and is a decent price and I am sold.

I wonder if they will work with the very low voltage flashes like the Quantaray PZ-1s. The V4s won't fire them.

zona5101 · #3 (**permalink**) 01-14-2011, 12:40 PM

Quite the extensive write up. Thanks for this, obvious you put some effort into the review! They sure seem like a good item at a good price. Also from a personal note, good to hear your voice.

dlambert · #4 (**permalink**) 01-14-2011, 02:17 PM

Nice review. I've been eying the V4's for a while, and the additional capabilities of the V5 sweeten the deal a bit. Thanks for posting this.

candleman · #5 (**permalink**) 01-14-2011, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arstine

I would be sold on upgrading from my V4s just on the Tx/Rx ability. But add in that it runs on AAAs, is in the 2.4GHz range, can shoot through, and is a decent price and I am sold.

I wonder if they will work with the very low voltage flashes like the Quantaray PZ-1s. The V4s won't fire them.

apparently the V5 can trigger low voltage flashes, it doesn't use "rectifier circuitry" which allowed the V4's to handle reversed polarity flashes. I can't verify this myself... but that's just what another tester has said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zona5101

Quite the extensive write up. Thanks for this, obvious you put some effort into the review! They sure seem like a good item at a good price. Also from a personal note, good to hear your voice.

thank bud

listening to oneself sounds pretty strange.