Metz 58

The manual mentions just once the concept of manual hss, I also read some websites mentioning it regarding the metz flash , but I still didn't understand how to enable it. Any clue?

Hi, a quick look at the Manuals for both the Metz 58 AF-1 and 58 AF-2 shows only reference to "P-TTL HSS" ..... I couldn't see anything about Manual HSS. This is normal for the Pentax dedicated flash system, where HSS is part of the P-TTL protocol and requires P-TTL metering mode in conjunction with HSS .

Bear in mind that Metz make versions of these flashes for other camera systems also, so perhaps the situation is different with those .....maybe the references you've seen were not for Pentax dedicated models?

I think they mean that is possibile to manually change the output lower, but the flash must be still be on a camera or a ttl cord

The flash Manual is comprehensive and well explained. I think that if it were possible they would have covered it.

If you copy some of the sources you've seen to here or links perhaps we might get a better idea of what you're referring to.

If you search on Google for metz manual hss you will find a couple of reviews mentioning it. However they are for other brands so it may be like you said. In every case I asked to metz directly to clarify and they told me that hss works only with ttl.

I got my cactus now, trying to figure out all the features .

The reasons why I was hoping for the manual hss is that I have a spare metz which fell once and is not able to read the ttl info from the hot shoe anymore, so I hoped for a work around.

Its a great system and plenty of features .... I especially like the A B C D group buttons with the lights where you can switch each group on and off so easily from the camera position, allowing assessment of each individual flash one by one in isolation. If you have a P-TTL HSS flash for on-camera then you can straight away use Optical triggering for Manual HSS with the RF60, or of course if you have the V6II trigger then you have radio triggering for HSS. I hope you enjoy experimenting!

I hope too since they have been quite expensive

I did a quick test yesterday. The cactuses work quite well, I love them. I still think they are a bit too pricey for what they are, but hey, the technology tbh is quite useful and it must have been a pain to engineer all the protocols in one toy.

All that said, I noticed that the HSS option of my Metz 58 is not that powerful as you predicted. If I use an umbrella, I can't really underexpose that much. Surely not more than one stop anyway.

I did a self portrait for fun

Well that's fine, isn't it? Looks to be plenty of power there .... you've certainly got a good balance between the flash exposure on you and the ambient brightness on the buildings behind. Obviously if you went much further with the shutter speed to get the sky further down then the flash might start to struggle, but you are testing it to extremes there with the full sun right behind.

Its good to see some successful off-camera HSS Radio flash!