Pixiq

Promised as the new generation of flash radio triggers, the Phottix Odin just arrived and I am having a ball.  Absolute control at my finger tips without having to move near the flashes most of the time. I could not believe it!

If it's specifications you need, please go to the Phottix page and check the numbers. They are all there and the web is a good place to just go from point A to B with a click and read. For some reason we use browsers...

Now, if you want the most important part of the story, look at the chart I am publishing with this article. It shows some of the possibilities of the Phottix Flash Trigger device they call Odin.  If you're familiar with the "language" you'll see the possibilities. I've written here before about the Helios that become named after a Nordic god, but now it's time to tell of my experience.

First things first, Phottix was kind enough to send me samples with an extra receiver, so I could use the Odin TCU (Trigger Control Unit) and it's receiver with an extra unit. A camera and two flashes are all I need to get most of my work done. Sometimes even one flash does it, and that's the start kit I advise people to get, but soon you'll want to have two flashes. So, with Christmas at the door, maybe you should consider this piece of equipment, if you already have flashes and need a way to freely move them around.

Before you ask, let me say - and my chart confirms it - that the Phottix does it all: TTL, manual, high-speed synch (up to 1/8000 on my EOS 50D) , second curtain a.s.o.. I did a sequence of images with my fatty Homer as the subject, just to confirm everything, but I am not showing them all here. Rather have some different pictures from the stuff I usually do and these notes, that tell you the rest. I am quite familiar with the Atlas radio triggers from Phottix, so I am sure the Odin with the new receivers will work at long distances too, something I'll explore when I've a chance to work outside, in Nature, one of these days. I just used the last days to explore things around home, to write this article.

What I wanted to confirm first was the high speed synch options, because they really open a new world of possibilities that the manual triggers like the Atlas can't cope with. This is working perfectly, so I went to explore the options I had with different flashes. Remember, the  Phottix Odin system is a Canon only equipment  for the moment. I tried to use my old Speedlite 430 EZ, which I use in manual mode with the Atlas triggers, and I still can use it here, but no miracles: I still have to change zoom or power setting by hand on the flash. But there's a good thing about the Odin: it can get my 430 EZ back to life, what is great because this old flash tends to go to sleep very quickly... and there's no way to program it otherwise. So, this means I can keep using this oldie in my new setting. Even in high speed synch...

The best good news with the Odin is that I can use my Speedlite 420 EX in ways I could not use it before. The 420 EX is a unit that was made for "snapshooting", so it does not let you control power settings directly on the flash. And although it works in E-TTL with a master flash like my 580 EX II, it does not work in manual and does not let you zoom the head manually. Well, when in communication with Odin it does everything and does it perfectly. So besides being able to use it more frequently - I like to use my flashes in manual - I can now control the output from 1/1 all the way down, and also work in full TTL with ratios between groups A and B when I want to too. This means the Odin might be the best buy for people that has an old 420 EX and does not know exactly what to do with it.

This leads me to agree with Phottix when they say the Odin frees us from proprietary flash systems. As far as I've experienced now, this is the best lighting system I've tried lately, and I am curious to explore further into the possibilities, because I feel I've just touched the surface.

What's the trick behind the Odin TCU? Well, once on the hot shoe of the camera it works like a Flash Commander or as if a flash was there, but a more intelligent one, from my point of view. The interface is so easy to understand if you're used to the regular interfaces you'll not even need the manual. And it's a pure joy to keep pressing buttons to get everything ready and then get the results you expect.

Phottix says photographers are going to leave manual modes behind with this but I am not completely sure. What Odin makes, if you already enjoy working in manual, is to make it even more fun. Suddenly you feel like a puppeteer controlling from the shadows.

Looking at other photographers explorations of Odin I found that they all agree: this has some of the best TTL around and surely is a piece of equipment you'll come to desire if you like to work with strobes. And, for now, if you're a Canon user. Lucky us! The price is just right and will convince people looking to explore further this "all round" option. Check the Phottix Odin at their store.

The Odin TCU is a nice looking box that sits atop your flash and lets you control everything. It does not have a focusing aid light but I did not feel any need for it. If your flashes are not hidden inside soft boxes or behind diffusers, the red light beam from them will do the trick, if they're pointing in the right direction... I mean the subject. If not, you'll usually have enough light to grab focus. I hope. I usually do.

The receivers are just the usual stuff: they look like the Phottix Strato receivers, but they're made for Odin. Good news is that you can also use your Stratos if you already have some, although they will not work in TTL, just in Manual. No problem, I would say, because it's in manual that all the fun is. But that's just me.