Polaroid Ring Flash

Ozymndius

I purchased the Polaroid ring flash to do some macro photography. The flash doesn't go off when I take a picture no matter how dark the subject is. I'm relatively new to photography in general and I'm wondering if I just don't have something set correctly on the Canon Rebel T3i.

bruto

Does the flash have a test button?

If this flash has a manual or automatic (non-ttl) setting, I'd try switching the camera to manual mode, and the flash to manual mode, and firing a test shot. It does not matter if the exposure is right, as all you need to do here is to determine if the flash is functioning. If it fires, then you need to figure out how your camera relates to flash, especially if you're using TTL settings (no help from me here as I do not know how Canon does this). If it does not fire manually, I'd guess there's a defect in the flash itself.

PBked

Hi @OZYMNDIUS,
As @BRUTO said, most flash units will have a test button and should fire whether attached to the camera or not. Check the menu settings to make sure external flash settings are correct. Most non-Canon flashes will synchronize up to 1/200th.
Please be aware that non-Canon flashes will not work in Live View shooting.
Regards,
PBked

Ozymndius

@BRUTO and @PBKED, thanks, the light does work. It was the Live View thing, works fine now. Thanks so much for the response, much appreciated!