Phottix Odins, monolights, and HSS

[V8Beast]

Maybe I'm on crack, but I thought people have successfully used the Odins to high-speed sync monolights? I tried HSS with the Alien Bees today but no workie Am I doing something wrong?

The way I understand it, in HSS mode the Odins are supposed to trigger the monolights to fire right before the shutter opens. All I got was a black exposure.

 

[Loswr]

http://www.paulcbuff-techforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2455

 

[V8Beast]

http://www.paulcbuff-techforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2455

To plagiarize what someone posted in that link:

"Remember that Hyper-sync (PW) and Highspeed Sync (Canon) are two completely different things.
The first is a tweak to X sync timing that permits taking best advantage of a strobe tube's tail after the main burst. Essentially making the strobe a short duration continuous light source."

I thought that's what the Odins are supposed to do, but perhaps I'm mistaken. I wouldn't expect a monolight to pulse like a Speedlight in HSS. That would be insane

 

[jonathan7007]

Are the Einsteins perhaps different in this regard than the Alien Bees?

 

[Loswr]

Are the Einsteins perhaps different in this regard than the Alien Bees?

Yes. Different from most other monolights, actually.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-10053-10715

 

[Stickman]

Maybe I'm on crack, but I thought people have successfully used the Odins to high-speed sync monolights? I tried HSS with the Alien Bees today but no workie Am I doing something wrong?

The way I understand it, in HSS mode the Odins are supposed to trigger the monolights to fire right before the shutter opens. All I got was a black exposure.

The Phottix don't work with certain Canon cameras, but of course they don't tell you that when you buy them.

In general, I have been highly underwhelmed with the Phottix Odins. I picked up four last year, and have been sitting on them for the past 6 months waiting for Phottix to try and get their act together.

The units eat batteries, and won't synch at higher speeds. I'm not sure I would call them a total, utter, and absolute failure, but I can say that it was money wasted for me. The company talk of "upgrades" to the system seem to be nothing more than a PR move to ride out a defective product.

 

[V8Beast]

The Phottix don't work with certain Canon cameras, but of course they don't tell you that when you buy them.

That blows. I assume the 5D3 is one of those Canon bodies I'll try the "manual hack" method to see if I can get the Bees to sync up.

 

[Stickman]

That blows. I assume the 5D3 is one of those Canon bodies I'll try the "manual hack" method to see if I can get the Bees to sync up.

I'm not sure about the 5D3, but the 1Dx certainly doesn't work with the Phottix. Since they both came out around the same time with similar design features, I would guess its possible. If that is what you are using that would seem to confirm it.

Phottix keeps hinting that they are coming out with new features for everyone with their next firmware update, but as I've told them, just get the current body Canon cameras to work. Add extra features later AFTER your lineup is functional.

I would really like to see this system work, but so far it is nothing but money ill spent.

 

[wickidwombat]

Maybe I'm on crack, but I thought people have successfully used the Odins to high-speed sync monolights? I tried HSS with the Alien Bees today but no workie Am I doing something wrong?

The way I understand it, in HSS mode the Odins are supposed to trigger the monolights to fire right before the shutter opens. All I got was a black exposure.

works great with my elinchroms
I got a couple of these kits, 400w per head is fine for my needs and with 4 of them i can do pretty much anything i want now.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/906651-REG/elinchrom_el_20852kit_d_lite_rx_4_400w.html

 

[wickidwombat]

Maybe I'm on crack, but I thought people have successfully used the Odins to high-speed sync monolights? I tried HSS with the Alien Bees today but no workie Am I doing something wrong?

The way I understand it, in HSS mode the Odins are supposed to trigger the monolights to fire right before the shutter opens. All I got was a black exposure.

The Phottix don't work with certain Canon cameras, but of course they don't tell you that when you buy them.

In general, I have been highly underwhelmed with the Phottix Odins. I picked up four last year, and have been sitting on them for the past 6 months waiting for Phottix to try and get their act together.

The units eat batteries, and won't synch at higher speeds. I'm not sure I would call them a total, utter, and absolute failure, but I can say that it was money wasted for me. The company talk of "upgrades" to the system seem to be nothing more than a PR move to ride out a defective product.

really? mine work fine on
5Dmk2
5Dmk3
1Dmk3
EOS-M and
600D

i havent tried them with my elan 7 yet but i would assume they work with that too

 

[V8Beast]

works great with my elinchroms
I got a couple of these kits, 400w per head is fine for my needs and with 4 of them i can do pretty much anything i want now.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/906651-REG/elinchrom_el_20852kit_d_lite_rx_4_400w.html

Thanks for the info! The good news is that the Odins and HSS works with Elinchroms. The bad news is that I might have to get a new set of Elinchroms. Damn you ;D

 

[wickidwombat]

works great with my elinchroms
I got a couple of these kits, 400w per head is fine for my needs and with 4 of them i can do pretty much anything i want now.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/906651-REG/elinchrom_el_20852kit_d_lite_rx_4_400w.html

Thanks for the info! The good news is that the Odins and HSS works with Elinchroms. The bad news is that I might have to get a new set of Elinchroms. Damn you ;D

if you do grab a stratto 2 reciever and a 3.5mm audio splitter cable to fire them and save the spendy odin recievers for your speedlights which you can still mix in.

i've been meaning to do a detailed tutorial on this since it comes up quite alot but just havent had time

 

[V8Beast]

if you do grab a stratto 2 reciever and a 3.5mm audio splitter cable to fire them and save the spendy odin recievers for your speedlights which you can still mix in.

i've been meaning to do a detailed tutorial on this since it comes up quite alot but just havent had time

That's a great money-saving tip. I wonder why HSS will work with Elinchrom lights but not the Bees. Weird. I'm spoiled by the money/performance ratio you get from the Bees, so the Elinchroms are really going to hurt my wallet.

 

[wickidwombat]

if you do grab a stratto 2 reciever and a 3.5mm audio splitter cable to fire them and save the spendy odin recievers for your speedlights which you can still mix in.

i've been meaning to do a detailed tutorial on this since it comes up quite alot but just havent had time

That's a great money-saving tip. I wonder why HSS will work with Elinchrom lights but not the Bees. Weird. I'm spoiled by the money/performance ratio you get from the Bees, so the Elinchroms are really going to hurt my wallet.

I'm not quite sure how it works exactly but from the detailed specs from B&H

Product Highlights
•Built-in Skyport Wireless Receiver
•Multi-voltage Monolight: 90-260VAC
•Recycling: 0.35-1.6 Sec. (115V)
•Flash Duration: 1/800 Sec (Full Power)
•5 Stop Power Variability in 1/10 Stops
•Pre-Flash Detector
•Fan-Cooled, Auto Dump
•Optional iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Apps
•Accepts 7-8 mm Umbrella Shafts
•Firmware Update Options

Its showing a full power blast is at 1/800 sec so any shutter speed faster than that could be completely lit within that if its timing the firing

 

[V8Beast]

I need to study up on the Elinchrom product line. Ideally I'd like more power than the D-Lite 400s, but then again, with HSS i could kill the ambient much more easily, which means I could open up the aperture more, which means I wouldn't need as much power in the first place. Hmmm.... The RX 600 heads are too expensive for my budget, but very appealing.

I'd be tempted to try to run these off a Vagabond since the Elinchrom power supplies are so costly.

 

[wickidwombat]

I need to study up on the Elinchrom product line. Ideally I'd like more power than the D-Lite 400s, but then again, with HSS i could kill the ambient much more easily, which means I could open up the aperture more, which means I wouldn't need as much power in the first place. Hmmm.... The RX 600 heads are too expensive for my budget, but very appealing.

I'd be tempted to try to run these off a Vagabond since the Elinchrom power supplies are so costly.

i built my own power pack

2 SLA golf buggy batteries in a lowepro nova 200 AW bag with a 1000W pure sign wave inverter and a power board. modified a set of jumper leads to wire it all upused decent quality auto terminals and electrical heat shrink to make it neat and tidy, good for a couple of hundred pops of 2 flashes at full power, cost about $400 including a trickle charger to keep the batteries full and healthy when not being used.

2 x 400W lights put out a fair bit of power

 

[V8Beast]

i built my own power pack

2 SLA golf buggy batteries in a lowepro nova 200 AW bag with a 1000W pure sign wave inverter and a power board. modified a set of jumper leads to wire it all upused decent quality auto terminals and electrical heat shrink to make it neat and tidy, good for a couple of hundred pops of 2 flashes at full power, cost about $400 including a trickle charger to keep the batteries full and healthy when not being used.

That's awesome. Sent you a PM

Has anyone tried one of these Tronix Explorer XT battery packs before? They're supposedly good for 400-480 pops at 500ws.

www.innovatronix.com/index.php/webshop/portable-battery-packs/tronix-explorer-xt-se-115v-60hz-detail

 

[Stickman]

really? mine work fine on
5Dmk2
5Dmk3
1Dmk3
EOS-M and
600D

i havent tried them with my elan 7 yet but i would assume they work with that too

Congratulations, I'm glad they work for you with your cameras. They don't work with the 1Dx.

 

[pwp]

I recall reading somewhere (maybe here!) that Yongnuo YN622C http://flashhavoc.com/yn622c_review/ will deliver HSS for Einsteins.
I'm hoping so as I have six Einsteins and searching for an HSS solution.
That's unfortunate that the Odins deliver for Elincrom but not Einstein...sigh...

Has anyone hooked up their Einsteins to Yongnuo YN622C's?

-PW

 

[risc32]

i built my own power pack

2 SLA golf buggy batteries in a lowepro nova 200 AW bag with a 1000W pure sign wave inverter and a power board. modified a set of jumper leads to wire it all upused decent quality auto terminals and electrical heat shrink to make it neat and tidy, good for a couple of hundred pops of 2 flashes at full power, cost about $400 including a trickle charger to keep the batteries full and healthy when not being used.

That's awesome. Sent you a PM

Has anyone tried one of these Tronix Explorer XT battery packs before? They're supposedly good for 400-480 pops at 500ws.

www.innovatronix.com/index.php/webshop/portable-battery-packs/tronix-explorer-xt-se-115v-60hz-detail

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-6468-7843 I know it's a bit dated, but you might find it useful. actually, there is some more current info on his site, just search for "tronix".

I've read over all that Elinchrom info and I don't see it written anywhere that it can do any sort of HSS stuff. With the way things are changing i wouldn't say it can't be done, but i don't see this kit doing it. actually the info for this stuff reads that the monolight can go as fast as 1/320th on enabled cameras. i don't know what enabled cameras means, i'd have to track that down. but then the trigger reads it will go to 1/250th so with that trigger anyway you are stuck a 1/250th.

- BTW-my odins work just fine with my 5d, 5dmk3. fine... no, they are awesome, i should have gotten them earlier.