I recently reviewed the Phottix Cleon wireless remote, which was released by Phottix in February 2008. Since that time, Phottix have not been resting on their laurels, but were busy designing a new and improved version.

A new model, the Phottix Cleon II, was released earlier this year, in January 2009. It provides a number of improvements and enhancements since the Cleon.


This allows Phottix to manufacture a single model of receiver, and just provide different cables to suit different model cameras (this approach has also been taken with the Phottix Nikos digital timer remote).

I'll be taking a closer look at other differences between the Cleon and Cleon II in subsequent parts of this review.

A quick search on eBay indicates the Phottix Cleon II typically retails for about AUD$56 (approx USD$36), which is about AUD$10 more than the previous model Cleon.


Specifications (as listed on the packaging):

Name of Product	Transmitter	Receiver
Power	12V / 23A	3V / CR2
Life of Battery	up to 3 years	20,000 Times
Smart Code System	16 000 000 combination codes
Range	100m (320ft) without obstacles
Monitor Light	Two color LEDs	Two color LEDs
Frequency	433 MHz

To summarise the differences between Cleon and Cleon II, I've listed them in a table. Note that this table does not include functionality that exists in the Cleon and in the Cleon II; it only lists the differences between the two models.

Name of Product	Cleon	Cleon II
release date	February 2008	January 2009
frequency	315 MHz	433 MHz
number of channels	16 (set with DIP switches)	16,000,000 (preset in transmitter)
transmitter-camera cable	hard-wired into transmitter	removable with 2.5mm plug
transmitter antenna length	75 mm	125 mm
2S switch	configured on receiver	configured on transmitter
multiple frames option	none	configured on transmitter
receiver power switch	4-position slide switch	hold down on switch for 3 seconds
terminate wireless bulb mode	half-press on transmitter	half-press or full press on transmitter

The Cleon II supports 16,000,000 different channels, and I found that I had to synchronise the receiver and transmitter before they would communicate. Once this synchronisation operation has been completed, it shouldn't be necessary to re-synchronise each time you use the Cleon II.

• turn receiver on by holding down "set/power" button for ~3 seconds until right hand side LED turns on
• press "set/power" button on receiver 5 times until LED on left hand side flashes red
• press shutter button on transmitter
• LED on left hand side of receiver should turn off

Now that the synchronisation has been completed, half-depressing the shutter button on the transmitter should result in the LED on the left hand side of the receiver going green, and a full press of the button should result in this LED going red.

Note that multiple receivers can be programmed to respond to a single transmitter, allowing you to trigger multiple cameras with a single transmitter.

After removing the receiver's battery for several minutes, I re-installed it, and confirmed that the receiver was still synchronised to the transmitter, so it appears that the synchronisation is a once-off exercise that won't need to be repeated (unless you want to synchronise the receiver to a different transmitter).


As with the original Cleon, the receiver can be used as a dumb wired remote, using the shutter button on the receiver. Moving the receiver mode switch to "Hold" allows it to be used for long bulb-mode exposures without having to hold the shutter button down.
Note that there is no need to power on the receiver when using it as a wired remote.

• S/B - single exposures or bulb mode (hold transmitter button down for 3 seconds to lock the shutter open in bulb mode)
• 2S - single exposures with a 2 second delay
• multiple exposures - when triggered by transmitter, receiver will take 5 exposures

After having reviewed and compared the Cleon and Cleon II, I believe the Cleon II is definitely an improvement over the Cleon, for the following reasons:

• auto code setting with 16,000,000 possibilities, no DIP switches required
• no unnecessary power-off switch on transmitter
• receiver cable is not hard-wired into receiver
• 2S (2 second delay) mode is now selected on transmitter, not receiver
• 5 frame setting on transmitter
• transmitter antenna is longer, and should provide a longer range
• wireless bulb mode can be terminated with half-press or full press on transmitter 

However, with the Cleon II, either a full-press or a half-press on the transmitter button will terminate bulb mode, and this is a bit user-friendlier.


There's still no way to hang the receiver from your tripod if your camera's hotshoe is occupied with a flash or a flash trigger. However, that can be fairly easily rectified by drilling a small hole in the receiver case to attach a small lanyard, or tying something to the hotshoe adaptor on the receiver.

The Phottix Cleon II has numerous improvements over its predecessor, the Cleon, so if you are intending to purchase a Cleon, be sure to order the Cleon II, rather than the superseded Cleon.