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Author Topic: Straight Forward Flash For Olympus?  (Read 2083 times)

LeonD

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Straight Forward Flash For Olympus?
« on: July 06, 2017, 09:40:45 am »

Last month I had a Nikon DSLR, Lumopro LP180R flash and Phottix Odin (for Nikon) transmitter.  Everything worked perfectly.  I was able to wirelessly trigger the flash and control the power/zoom.

Now, the Nikon has been replaced with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mk2.  I'd like the same functionality as before.  To be able to trigger multiple flashes wirelessly and control the power/zoom of the flash from the camera.  I do not need/want TTL, HSS or any other flash acronym.

I'm guessing I can't get that functionality with what I have now.  Is there something I can add to what I have (i.e. special receiver)?  Possibly a different flash?  Or do I need to replace both the flash and transmitter?

Thanks.
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paulster

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Re: Straight Forward Flash For Olympus?
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2017, 11:11:12 am »

It looks like the Phottix Odin and Strato triggers are only available dedicated, so you're seemingly out of luck to get a non-camera-specific Phottix trigger.

The easiest option is to use some masking tape and tape off the pins other than the center pin and see if the trigger will play nicely with your Olympus.  That'll essentially make it a dumb trigger that simply fires the flash signal.  You'll lose TTL and HSS, but you said you're not interested in these.  It does depend on whether the trigger will be happy working with a camera with the data connections disabled though.

Other options are to consider a Cactus V6 II used as a format converter, with the Phottix trigger stacked atop.  Your camera will talk Olympus to the V6 II, and the V6 II will talk Nikon to the Phottix trigger.  Not expressly supported by the manufacturer, but lots of people are making similar setups work.

You could also use any wireless triggers with a receiver on the flash hotshoe, but you'll lose remote power and zoom control.

The other option is to use a V6 II as a trigger again, but then use a V6 II receiver connected to a supported flash (which can be Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Metz, etc.) and get full control that way.  Or use the Cactus RF60x flash which has a built-in radio receiver so you'd only need the corresponding transmitter.
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LeonD

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Re: Straight Forward Flash For Olympus?
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2017, 01:16:41 pm »

Thanks for the reply.

I like the Cactus V6 II solution.  I didn't mention it in my original post because it's not a priority but I also shoot with Fuji.  The Cactus V6 II is compatible with both Fuji and Olympus.  And looking at Cactus' literature, so is the Nissin i60.  It seems like I'd be able to use both the same transmitter and flash with both camera systems.
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TonyVentourisPhotography

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Re: Straight Forward Flash For Olympus?
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2017, 07:21:50 am »

I pretty much always use manual flash and mix hotshot lights off camera with strobes.  I use pocket wizard plus x usually.  They work on everything.  I also use a set of canon tt5 pocket wizards with canon speedlights when I need to adjust power remotely.  They work in manual trigger mode on all the Olympus models so far. 

Photofoto air triggers are now made for Olympus too.  I've heard word that a few other brands are going to be releasing full support soon too for Olympus... we'll see.
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