compatibility issues with cactus v6, godox ad200 and canon Eos 80D

[KimC]

Question: I have an eos 80D just purchased 2 cactus v6 transceivers and a Godox ad200. I have a speedlite 430ex11. I shoot Real Estate photos. I want to be able to use the godox to fill in light in say a different room, or diff parts of the room and then process them together “flambient” style. I also have a finicky canon rc6 remote. I can’t seem to get my ad200 to “sync, pair, communicate” with my camera to shoot. Is this even possible with my present gear? If so what are the exact settings on all devices? Thanks in advance

[shadowsports]

Hi KimC,

There's a good chance we can only help with advice on your Canon gear.  Compatibility with 3rd party gear is not guaranteed.  The Godox claims supports for Canon.  The cactus claims support for the 80D and 430EXII but not the Godox AD200.  If going 3rd party I would suggest sticking with one manufacturer (if possible or as much as you can)  The community has some flash experts, but I'm not sure if they've used hensel/cactus and godox equipment.

[deebatman316]

Your 3rd party transmitter is NOT compatible with your camera. This IS NOT Canon's problem. The 3rd party manufacturer has claimed compatibility with Canon. Only Canon's speedlite and transmitter are fully compatible with Canon's cameras.

[inkista]

Hopefully you've found a solution by now, but just in case, here's my advice:

Ditch the Cactus V6. All you can do to use one with an AD200 is cable it as a receiver, and that renders your AD200 into a manual-only light that you can only fire.

Get a Godox transmitter instead: a Godox XPro-C ($70) or XPro II-C ($90) would be my recommendations, but figure out what's going to work for you or if you need the hotshoe on top of the X2T-C ($60). That will let you remotely control the AD200 with full function. To do flambient shooting, you might also want to take advantage of the MASK function on the AD200, which will fire the flash on alternate shots. 

To add the 430EX II into the mix, you simply have to purchase a Godox X1R-C ($40) receiver unit to attach to its foot, and you should then be able to also remotely control it from the Godox transmitter.