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cactus v6

Cactus has ceased trading – but apparently they didn’t tell anybody for three months

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This only seems to be coming out now, which isn’t much of a surprise as the popularity of Cactus triggers and lights has taken a bit of a beating the last few years – what with Godox bursting onto the scene covering everything from entry-level budget speedlights to honking big location strobes. So Cactus has kind of fallen by the wayside.

But Cactus, the company that failed to crowdfund the Cactus RQ250 strobe – a competitor to the Godox AD200 – a couple of years ago has now left the building. According to an email response sent out to one of their customers recently, Cactus actually ceased trading in December 2020, but they just didn’t tell anybody and nobody seemed to really notice.

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Cactus completes its cross-platform X-TTL system by adding Canon flash support

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It’s been a little over a year now since Cactus first announced their cross-platform X-TTL system. It came with a flurry of firmware updates to let you get HSS & TTL compatibility across multiple brands of camera and flash. These updates added support for Fuji, Sony, Sigma, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax. But you’ll note that there’s a big name missing from that list.

Cactus’ new firmware update adds that name, by offering support for Canon wireless flash. The new firmware for the Cactus V6 II transceiver allows it to wirelessly communicate TTL information between a Canon or Cactus flash and a Canon camera.

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I Just Sold My Pocket Wizards – What About You?

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Back in 2006 when I first started getting serious about photography, I found Strobist.com and was instantly hooked. I followed every tip and technique that David Hobby had to offer from the beginning and it didn’t take long before I had a set of six Nikon SB-800’s and was lighting everything Strobist style.

Eventually, I saved up enough cash to invest in a set of Pocket Wizards (if they were what David Hobby used – they were what I needed) – and when the Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 and Flex TT5 were released I upgraded to a brand new set (here is the original review from Strobist).

However, since then I have been using my Pocket Wizards less and less – up to the point that I finally decided to sell them.

Here’s why…

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Pouring rain is your shot at spectacular portraits

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Pouring rain can be an excuse to stay home and do nothing. It can also be a great opportunity to go outside and use the elements at your advantage. Japan based photographer Ilko Allexandroff (interview) is maybe the master of shooting stunning portraits in the rain. You know what, it only takes perseverance and some knowledge to turn a rainy night into your playground.

Ilko uses a very consistent 2 lights setup, a soft(ish) front light and a hard backlight. The front light – a Nissin MG8000 with a 60×60 foldable softbox – lights the model, while the backlight – another Nissin – does a double duty. It freezes the rain drops and provides a kicker light. Both lights are triggered using a Cactus V6 trigger.

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White Water Kayaking Photos – Surprisingly More Difficult Than You Might Think

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I can’t believe that its late August and summer is almost over.  It seems that every year I have a list of summer time photo sessions that I never get around to.

One thing I have had on my list for a while now is white water kayaking photos.

There is a world class white water course just down the road from one of the cottages we spend time at every summer, yet somehow I never end up with enough time to get out and photograph the kayakers.

Well, this summer I finally made time for it – and as it turns out, white water kayaking photos are surprisingly much more difficult than you might think!

In this article, I will share the thought process, camera settings and post production behind this series white water kayaking photos.

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DIYP Reviews the Cactus V6 Wireless Flash Radio Trigger System

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Most photographers have a mix of gear from many different brands.

For example, it is not uncommon for a photographer to have both Canon and Nikon camera bodies, a mix of Canon and Nikon speedlite strobes, maybe some third party speedlite strobes like Yongnuo or Nissin and studio strobes.

If that is you, you will want to check out the new Cactus V6 wireless flash radio triggers.  According to Cactus:

The Cactus V6 is the World’s First wireless flash trigger that works ON ANY CAMERA (with a standard hot shoe or PC Sync port) to control power output, wirelessly, of Canon, Nikon and Pentax’s system flashes ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

We put the Cactus V6 triggers through their paces – read on for our review of the Cactus V6 wireless flash radio trigger system.

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