I just ordered mine a few weeks ago. I ordered a set and 2 extra receivers.
Initial thoughts (physical aspects):
- Packaging is quite excellent with good blister protection and well-laid out products. Products are not cramped or anything. Box is sturdy and nice
- Plastic construction is "so-so." Don't expect this anywhere near the durability of PocketWizard. But as a whole, these units can last as long as you take good care of them.
- Battery doors are ok but not spectacular
- Buttons and switches have a nice feel to it. I hope they last long
- LCD screen is cleanly laid out.
- There is no instruction manual/booklet. Instead, it comes with a CD containing the manual in PDF format
Impressions on Usage:
- Works right away out of the box. No glitch whatsoever. Definitely miles apart from Pixel Kings in terms of ease of use
- The transmitter looks very much like the Nikon SU-800 where modes per grooup can be changed from TTL to Manual. However, the Manual mode is useless since you set the flash units simply to on, and if you set it to Manual, the transmitter cannot control the fash units remotely anymore. Whereas with the Nikon Su800, you'd have to set your flash to remote - which allows the transmitter to control the Flash in TTL, Manual or AA mode.
- EV compensation in TTL mode of the transmitter works flawlessly.
- High Speed sync work
Overall, I like the Odins. I bought them so that I can shoot wirelessly without "line of sight" and the work flawlessly. If you are buying this so that you can control your flash in Manual mode, don't get this. Instead look somewhere else - like Cactus V5 that echostoreph.com is selling.
brimichaels wrote:
I just ordered mine a few weeks ago. I ordered a set and 2 extra receivers.
- The transmitter looks very much like the Nikon SU-800 where modes per grooup can be changed from TTL to Manual. However, the Manual mode is useless since you set the flash units simply to on, and if you set it to Manual, the transmitter cannot control the fash units remotely anymore. Whereas with the Nikon Su800, you'd have to set your flash to remote - which allows the transmitter to control the Flash in TTL, Manual or AA mode.
Overall, I like the Odins. I bought them so that I can shoot wirelessly without "line of sight" and the work flawlessly. If you are buying this so that you can control your flash in Manual mode, don't get this. Instead look somewhere else - like Cactus V5 that echostoreph.com is selling....Show more →
You need to reread the directions. You absolutely can set flash mode to manual with the controller and change the power from the controller as well. You do not change the mode on the flash, it should always be set to "on". (Not manual or slave).
Again, you should be able to set the mode to TTL or manual or off, or any combination of these modes if you have multiple groups. so one group could be in TTL mode while another is in manual mode. You can change the mode at any time as well.
I've had the Nikon Odins for several weeks and have used manual mode on shoots. So it is certainly a feature that is available. You simply are not using them correctly if you cannot get manual mode to work.
I guess I should clarify that it works with TTL compatible flashes. If you are trying to control a cheap manual only flash, then you will not be able to have all these other features. The reality is that the controller and receivers mimic a TTL body for the off camera flashes. So the flashes think they are getting information from the body directly. If the flash cannot communicate via TTL language, then none of this works correctly. This is also why the off camera flashes are set to "on" and not another mode like slave mode.
mehrdad sadat wrote:
where do u order one of these in US?, thx
I had to order direct from Phottix and have them shipped from Hong Kong. Shipping was very reasonable and it only took about a week for me to receive the units.
As far as I know, there is no US distributor for the Nikon version yet. Adorama carries the Canon version, so it might be worth a call to the store to see if they have any of the Nikon versions in stock. Perhaps the website just hasn't been updated.
Smridevan wrote:
So does the transmitter on the Odins essentially have all functionalities of the AC3 controller of the pocketwizard?
Yes and more. You can change both the mode (ie Off, TTL, or manual) as well as change the power of any/all of the three zones in 1/3 stop increments. That functionality matches the functionality of the AC-3. But you can also control the flash's zoom control as well as turn the autofocus assist on/off with the Odin system as well. As far as I know, you do not have that functionality with the Pocket Wizard system.
Smridevan wrote:
Cool, thanks! Any advantages that the PW TT5 has that the Odins doesn't?
The Pocket Wizards will work with some of the studio light manufacturers (namely the Elinchrom RX flashes with the PowerST4 and Einstein™ flashes with the PowerMC2). When you purchase the correct receivers for those lights you will be able to control the power settings of the lights right from the AC-3 or transmitter unit.
The Pocket Wizards can also be set up in a remote camera trigger configuration which is pretty nice. This allows you to set up a remote camera and use the pocket wizards to trigger it. The Odins do not have that capability and are designed as a flash trigger only.
Both the PW and Odins will work with their respective brand's cheaper "dumb" triggers as well (Odin Stratos and the PW Plus systems). So if you have some non-TTL flashes that you want to control, you can buy the cheaper triggers and mix them into the system with TTL flashes and the more expensive full feature TTL receivers. Of course you loose the ability to change the power settings for flashes attached to those types of triggers, but you can certainly save some $$ doing that when you have non-TTL flashes to control.
Smridevan wrote:
Cool, thanks! Any advantages that the PW TT5 has that the Odins doesn't?
I forgot another feature that the PW has that the Odin does not have. The PW have their proprietary "hyper sync" adjustments which allow you to playing with the flash timings in an attempt to maximize the flash sync speed and get speeds over the normal sync speeds. The results are dependent on the equipment used, but it does seem to work.
Is there a manual for the Phottix Odin? My unit did not come with a manual. It came with a CD but I didn't bother installing it. What's on the CD anyways?
Quick question for owners of the Phottix Odin, when the transmitter is off and you press the on/off button briefly without holding it, does the LCD flash on for a second before turning off? It turns on fine when I hold the button but it's kind of disconcerting for it to act like that.
