External flash

RobMac

My wife recently bought a D3200. She also bought a Panasonic PL175 external flash that she wants to use with the camera. It installs correctly on the camera but does not seem to work no matter what we try. Are these two products incompatible or are we doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance.

R.

bruto

Do you mean a Polaroid PL 175? I don't find any reference to a Panasonic with that number, but there is a Polaroid.

If it's that one, then this should work correctly in the camera's manual mode, and should at least fire in other modes, though it will not work as a TTL flash and may not provide proper exposure except in M mode.

The first thing I'd do is find if the flash has a test button, and make sure it is working at all. If the test button does not fire the flash, then the problem is there. Make sure you have good batteries. Most flashes will make an audible whine when they're powering up. Listen closely for that.

I have read some reviews on this that note that it eats batteries even when sitting. You should probably remove the batteries when you're not using it. Double check the battery installation too.

The D3200 should fire almost any manual or old style auto exposure flash (or an incompatible TTL flash in non TTL settings) without fuss, even though you can only guarantee correct exposure with manual camera settings. About the only flashes I've had trouble with on Nikons are certain ones made for Minolta cameras, which mess up the shutter speeds even on manual. I regularly use non-dedicated flashes on my D3200.

If the flash fires with the test button but the camera does not fire it, make sure it's tightly installed on the shoe, and if that does not work, either the camera's shoe connection is bad (you can test with another flash if you can borrow one) or the flash is.