Cactus Image’s Kickstarter campaign for their ‘palm-sized’ TTL location flash, the RQ250 Wireless Monolight, has failed to reach its funding target. The Hong Kong company hoped to raise HK$780,000 (€86,000) to make bring the portable light into production, but fell short of the goal, with only HK$605,822 (€67,000; 78% of the total) pledged by backers.
The disappointing result means the Cactus RQ250 will not be getting manufactured, at least not in the near future.
Cactus said in a message to fans: “We are sorry to let you know that the RQ250 Wireless Monolight project on Kickstarter was not successfully funded. With a heavy heart, we hereby announce that the RQ250 project is now suspended. That said, the adventure does not end here. Now it’s time for us to focus on other projects on hand.”
“We would like to take this opportunity to extend a big THANK YOU to our Kickstarter backers, distributors and dealers for showing your genuine support to the project.”
Had it gone ahead, the RQ250 would have been a TTL battery flash with wider camera support than any before it: offering TTL and high-speed sync control to Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Sigma and Sony users. See our TTL studio flash compatibility table to see how the rest of the competition compares.
The end of the crowdfunding drive came just a few days before the announcement of the Profoto B10, another 250Ws battery flash at a higher price point.
Update: it may be too soon to mourn the loss of the RQ250, however. The new Aurora Dante 400 will have a built-in Cactus V6 radio and many similar features.