Phottix Odin 2 advice if possible please.

[john_macpherson]

I have a (Canon fit) Phottix Odin 2 and two receivers. They’ve not had a huge amount of use but all have worked fine when I have used them, however recently I realised that the auto flash zoom function does not work.

 

The AUTO option does not even appear on the transmitter’s lcd menu.

 

Going through the Odin set up I can press the ZOOM button on the transmitter and choose any one of the flash groups, and rotate the dial from 20 to 200mm to enable M (manual) zooming and any selected flash will zoom as expected so that proves the communication between transmitter, receiver and flash is ok (and ALL other flash functions work).. 

 

I can take the flash off the Odin set up and simply use it as normal on top of the camera and it will zoom as expected when a lens focal length is changed. So that proves nothing is wrong with the flash or camera communication signals. 

 

I’ve tried several cameras and various zoom lenses (all Canon EF), and three different flashguns (all Canon)  and cannot get any auto zoom function. I’ve ensured the flashes themselves are set to Auto zoom so thats not the problem either.

 

I’ve removed the Odin and done a reset and removed and replaced the batteries but I still cannot set Auto on the zoom function on the transmitter lcd. 

 

Oddly the LCD menu display does not show the Auto (zoom) as an option as the manual states it should in the list of Zoom function.

 

However diving into various Phottix online manuals I’ve found very conflicting advice, with one manual saying “unlike Odin 1 system there is no auto zoom feature, flash zoom must be adjusted manually, it will not change as lens focal distance is changed.” whilst another states the opposite, and even (very helpfully!) shows a picture of the AUTO option in the lcd display! See enclosed screen grabs, highlights in yellow are mine.

 

Any suggestions what’s going on? Have I pressed something inadvertently thats screwed this up?

 

[rodeo_joe1]

Well, using auto-zoom with off-camera flashes seems an odd requirement to me anyway. Since an off-camera lighting setup is unlikely to benefit from the beam widening or narrowing as the lens is zoomed. 

The Odin 2 doesn't appear to allow a flash to be fitted on-camera while the transmitter's in use anyway; which makes auto-zoom an even less useful feature.

I must admit that the instructions seem contradictory. The manual says that Auto-zoom must be enabled on the remote flashes in order to enable any type of remote control of the flash zoom, but then says that the selected flash group will zoom with the camera lens unless the manual zoom option is selected on the transmitter. Huh? 

Perhaps a firmware upgrade deleted the remote auto-zoom option? Because frankly, it could be more of a nuisance than a help IMO. 

[john_macpherson]

12 hours ago, rodeo_joe1 said:

Well, using auto-zoom with off-camera flashes seems an odd requirement to me anyway. Since an off-camera lighting setup is unlikely to benefit from the beam widening or narrowing as the lens is zoomed. 

The Odin 2 doesn't appear to allow a flash to be fitted on-camera while the transmitter's in use anyway; which makes auto-zoom an even less useful feature.

I must admit that the instructions seem contradictory. The manual says that Auto-zoom must be enabled on the remote flashes in order to enable any type of remote control of the flash zoom, but then says that the selected flash group will zoom with the camera lens unless the manual zoom option is selected on the transmitter. Huh? 

Perhaps a firmware upgrade deleted the remote auto-zoom option? Because frankly, it could be more of a nuisance than a help IMO. 

Thanks Joe, yes the instructions do seem contradictory! 

I've not done a firmware upgrade so whatever has disabled it (as I seem to recall it DID work previously) must be a fairly simple and obvious thing (but not so so simple and obvious that my pea brain can detect it!)

Aye I understand the whole beam-wideness issues etc but for some nature/landscape-related creative work (during both daytime and twilight) the ability to alter the flashes width relative to subject size/location (some static some moving) can be useful. 

[rodeo_joe1]

Ah, OK. I get the scenario now, I think. The flash(es) are off-camera but nearby, while the subject is fairly distant - right? As in moody outdoor night-time wedding portraits or such? 

Not my personal 'bag' but I see the application.

I'd go through all the Setup steps checking what's going on with the flashes at every stage. Does the transmitter really put the remote flash into Auto-zoom mode? Or does it have to be enabled manually on the flash beforehand? Do the available functions vary depending on the group chosen? 

Or maybe something simple like a camera setting that disables Auto-zoom?

What about Googling the problem? I've solved some really obscure issues by having a good rummage on the Internet. 

This probably doesn't help, but I had an issue where remote flash firing was unreliable and intermittent. It turned out that the flashes were actually too close(!) to the TX and there was a setting for close usage that had to be enabled. Issue solved, but it took some digging in the instruction manual and TX menu to find it. I also found that one model of flash wouldn't fire some of my slave radio triggers, but another model from the same make would. Even though I could see the pilot LED on the triggers flash when the rogue flash was fired. Sometimes gear gets too 'sophisticated' for its own, or its owner's good. 

Edited November 26 by rodeo_joe1

[john_macpherson]

Thanks again Joe.

I've googled and read a lot of stuff but nothing that addresses this inconsistency. Yes flash-side changes can disable this Auto function, so I tried all those permutations and still no joy. Curiously if the issue is a receiver-side issue you would expect the transmitter to be able to set Auto if no flashes are 'connected' or switched on, but no that didn't work either. 

I even reset the transmitter, changed batteries, wiped all the settings and re-installed a connection the the receivers but still no Auto function. 

I've emailed both the vendor and Phottix so hopefully one of them will reply.

Thanks anyway!   If I find out anything useful I'll update this thread so any other puzzled users might find it as an answer if they trawl the web for some advice.