User Manual Wireless Flash RF60
3 Table of Contents 1. Getting to Know your RF60 3 2. Caution and Warnings 4 4. Package Content 6 5. Nomenclature 7 6. LCD Panel 8 7. Getting Started 8 8. On-camera Operation: Local Mode 18 14 9. Wireless Flash: Master and Slave Modes 20 15 10. Group Aliases 25 11. Advanced Operation 27 12. Personalizing the RF60 38 13. Working with Cactus Triggers 43 36 14. External Power 45 15. Forming the Capacitor 46 16. USB Connection 47 17. Optional Accessories 47 18.
4 5 2. Caution and Warnings 3. Major Specifications Before using the product, read the following precautions to ensure correct and safe use and to help prevent damage of the Cactus RF60. – Guide Number (ISO 100): 1. Turn OFF all your equipments (Cactus units, cameras, etc.) before changing batteries or making connection. 2. Remove batteries and switch off in this instruction manual. 4. Do not permanently store the product in a high temperature environment (i.e.
6 7 4. Package Content 5. Nomenclature WIDE ANGLE DIFFUSER AND BOUNCE CARD Cactus Flash RF60 Cactus Flash Carrying Case FC-3 FRESNEL LENS TRIPOD MOUNT 3.
8 9 6. LCD Panel GROUP PANEL TEXT AREA ZOOM LEVEL POWER LEVEL INCREMENT POWER LEVEL HSS SYMPATHY MODE OPERATING MODES SELECTION INDICATORS STATUS BAR CHANNEL BEEP INDICATOR OPTICAL SLAVE HIGH TEMPERATURE WARNING BATTERY LEVEL DELAY INDICATOR 7. Getting Started 7.1 2. Install the batteries. Make sure the positive (+) and negative (-) battery contacts are properly oriented as shown in the compartment. Inserting Batteries 1.
10 11 Replace batteries immediately when you see the blinking signal. The indicator is not applicable to Ni-MH battery. locking wheel on the mounting foot to the right until it is loosened. remove the batteries to prevent possible damages from battery corrosion. 7.2 Attaching to and detaching from the Camera 7.3 Turning the Flash on 1. Switch the On/Off Switch to ON, locking wheel on the mounting foot to the left until it locks. Section 12.3).
12 13 ready indicator stays red and the output. - Press the Test Caution: 1. not used, after a certain period behind the subject for a more natural-looking shot. This is called Tip: hitting the subject with direct subject. off automatically. However, the batteries discharge over a long period of time may damage the Therefore, 2. in short intervals, the inner overheating prevention function may be activated to prolong the recycling time to about 8–20 seconds.
14 7.5 15 Using the Wide Angle Diffuser Bounce Card and Wide Angle Diffuser There is a bounce card and wide angle diffuser set built in the RF60. The bounce card and wide angle diffuser can be used separately or at the same time. Tip: The bounce card is useful in 1. Pull out the wide angle diffuser some of the light towards the subject in order to create catch lights and/or soften strong shadows from the bounced light. shown. The bounce card will come out at the same time. 2.
16 7.7 17 Setting Channel When RF60 is in Master or Slave mode, they need to communicate in the same RF wireless channel with each other. To set the channel, press Menu. Use the + or - button to select the RF channel. Press Menu to go back to the main screen. The selected channel will be shown on the LCD panel. 7.8 Natvigating the Menu menu options on the RF60. To change a menu option: 1. Press the Menu button to access 2. Press the Next button to change the menu subject in the sequence. 3.
18 19 8. On-camera Operation: Local Mode The power levels available for adjustment are: 1/1 Set up the RF60 in Local mode In the main screen, the power level is shown on the left while the zoom level is shown on the right. The selection indicator will be shown at either the power level or zoom level. Press the Next button to switch the selection indicator in order to adjust a setting of an item. 8.1 Adjusting the Power Level 8.2 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/2+0.3 1/4+0.3 1/8+0.3 1/16+0.3 1/32+0.3 1/64+0.
20 21 9. Wireless Flash: Master and Slave Modes With a built-in RF (Radio Frequency) module, the RF60 has the ability to communicate with other RF60 units RF60 wirelessly, set up one RF60 in Master mode and the other RF60 units in Slave mode. 9.1 Setting up the RF60 Slave 1. Make sure that the RF60 units that you want to control through S mode (see Section 7.6). 2. Set the units to the same RF channel (see Section 7.7). 9.2 Commanding with the RF60 Master 1.
22 23 Changing parameters of a particular Slave group 6. To select a particular group for remote control, press Group and the group selection indicator will go to group A. 7. Press Group 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 A B C D 8. Adjust the power level of the group using the + or – button. Press Next to adjust the zoom level, also with the + or – button.
24 25 Turn on and off a Slave group particular group, turn the group off by selecting the group (see steps 2 and 3) and press and hold the Next button. The screen will show in the centre row. Note: The RF60 Master can also be turned off by pressing and holding the Next button in the Master group. Once turned off, the RF60 Master will 10. Group Aliases The RF60 comes with a list of pre-set group aliases to choose from for the particular slave groups according to the purpose of each.
26 27 11. Advanced Operation 11.1 Multi Flash In Multi mode, a rapid series of 3. Press Next or Menu alias and exit. 4. Repeat steps 1-3 to set aliases in all the Cactus RF60s. To prevent confusion, make sure that you have set the same alias for the same group in all RF60 units. capture multiple images of a moving subject in a single frame. In Multi mode, you can change the: Flash frequency per second in Hz Power level Zoom level 5.
28 29 Hz 10 11 12-14 1/4 2 2 2 2 2 2 1/8 4 4 4 4 4 4 Power second at a frequency of 10 times per second (i.e., 10 Hz), the number of 15-19 20-50 60-199 1/16 8 8 8 8 8 8 1/32 20 20 20 18 16 12 1/64 50 40 40 35 30 20 1/128 70 70 60 50 40 40 Notes: 1. second. equal to the shutter speed. However, it may be necessary to use a longer against a dark background. 2. power level higher than 1/4. series duration in order to expose for ambient light.
30 31 3. Press + to increase or – to 11.1.2 Multi Flash in Master and Slave Modes An RF60 in Master mode will cause a Slave RF60 that uses the same RF channel to synchronize to Multi mode settings. 4. Press Next until the selection indicator points to the value after the hyphen. 5. Press + to increase or – to second. 1. To enter Multi mode on the RF60 Master, press Group until you see displayed as the group name. 2. Press the Multi/HSS button once.
32 33 supported in power levels higher than 1/4, any Slave RF60 set at power levels higher than 1/4 will 3. Multi mode and HSS Sympathy mode (see Section 11.2) are mutually exclusive options. Pressing the Multi/HSS button changes the sequence: Normal Flash Multi Flash HSS Sympathy Flash 4. On the RF60 Master, the Multi The selection will apply to the RF60 Master and all RF60 Slaves in the active group(s). 11.2 HSS Sympathy Mode The HSS Sympathy mode of the RF60 is maximum sync speed.
34 35 2. The continuous light output in HSS sympathy mode does not freeze would do. Instead, an HSS blur, much like a continuous light source would. In order to freeze motion using the HSS sympathy mode, you need to use high shutter speeds. 3. Increasing the shutter speed in HSS sympathy mode implies that decreases accordingly. Whenever changing the shutter speed, you also need to adjust turn into HSS sympathy mode automatically. 3. Position the RF60 Master with its optical sensor facing the TTL 4.
36 37 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 1. To turn on the optical trigger, press Menu then press the Next button until the text area shows (short form for optical slave). Use the + and – buttons to select S1 (FIRST) or S2 (MAIN) in the selection area. Press Next or Menu 2.
38 39 12. Personalizing Personalizingthe theRF60 RF60 12. 12.1 The LCD backlight of the RF60 turns on whenever any button is pressed. In order to conserve energy, there is a timer setting that automatically turns off the backlight. 1. To set the delay timer, press Menu then press the Next button until is displayed and the selection indicator points at the value in ms. 2. Use the + or – button to set the delay timer in milliseconds (ms) which is equal to 1/1000 second.
40 41 1. To enable or disable the quick press Menu, and then Next until the text area shows . Then use the + or – buttons to choose OFF and ON. 2. Press Next 1. press Menu, and press Next a few times until the text area shows . Then use the + or – buttons to choose from OFF, 3 min, 5min, 15 min, 30min, or 60 min. 2. The option will deactivate the sleep mode. 3. Press Next Menu 4. To wake up RF60 from sleep mode, press any button once.
42 43 13. Working with Cactus Triggers lower than the selected level. *Both Fn1 and Fn3 are only available for selection when the Quick Flash has been enabled (see Section 12.3). The RF60 is compatible with Cactus Wireless Flash Transceivers V6, V5, and Laser Trigger LV5. V6 V6 V5 CAMERA SENSOR RF60 EMITTER V5 13.1 Cactus V6 With the group function, the Cactus 1. press Menu, and press Next until the text area shows .
44 45 You may combine the RF60 with other TX (Master) RX (Slave) RF60 V6 example, assign a RF60 to group A, Canon 580EX (with a V6 RX) to group B, Nikon SB-900 (with another V6 RX) to group C. The V6 TX will be able to trigger them all and set their power levels in either relative or absolute power mode. Note in 4 groups. of Slaves (RX) in 4 groups. from 1/128 to 1/1 full power, with 0.3 and 0.7 increments between major power levels (in 1/3 EV power ratio).
46 47 With 4x AA alkaline battery With Cactus External Battery Pack EP-1 Charging time after a full power flash Number of full power flashes supported 5s 100 2s 200 For instructions on how to power the RF60 with the External Battery Pack EP-1, see the user manual of EP-1. 15. Forming the Capacitor not been used for a certain period of time, the capacitor may have lost its full potential to store electricity. capacitor as follows: 1. Switch on the RF60 in Local mode with fresh batteries. 3.
48 49 18. Troubleshooting Before reading this section, ensure that the Cactus RF60 has been set up correctly (follow the instructions in Sections 7-9 of this manual). Symptom Electrical contacts of If the problem persists after completing the troubleshooting steps, contact your seller directly for further assistance.
50 51 Symptom Possible Cause Solution Black frame appears in pictures or frame is only partially illuminated Shutter speed - Adjust the is faster than speed to the x-sync maximum limitation supported x-sync speed - Set up the RF60 in HSS Sympathy mode (see Section 11.
52 53 If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: antenna. equipment and receiver. a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. radio/TV technician for help.
54 55 Flash as determined by Harvest One Limited or authorized dealers. This limited warranty shall only apply if the Wireless Flash is used in conjunction with which items, Harvest One Limited, shall have no responsibility.
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