HELP! I just bought studio lighting and can't figure it out

[Amy4]

Hi,
First off, I have a Canon Digi Rebel XTi, and just bought two Interfit Paterson 300 w/s strobes. Also bought a Safe Sync shoe adaptor - here's the link to that:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=245292&is=REG

Last night set it all up for the first time, put camera in manual mode, put my flash down, and tried to shoot (had safe sync on, sync cord plugged in and in back of strobe, and flash wouldn't go off. Hit test button on side of safe sync and still nothing. Reversed the way the safe sync was on the camera, still nothing. Tried another sync cord, nothing.

Strobes would go off by pressing the test button on the back of the strobe, so I know they work, but neither of them worked when pressing the shutter button....!

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have tried everything I know to do. Could it be that I bought a crummy $50 safe sync?

this is my first time with studio lighting so it very well could just be me :)

PLEASE HELP!

[PacAce]

Have you tried unplugging the sync cord from the shoe adapter and manually shorting the pc plug center pin to the outer ground contact with a pin or paper clip? If the flash goes off by doing this, then it's a good bet that your adapter isn't working. If the flash doesn't go off, then it's either the sync cord or the sync socket on the strobe itself (have you tried plugging the sync cord into the other strobe?).

[Amy4]

I havent' tried doing the paper clip thing, my husband said he'd thought of that but was scared it would mess something up...

I did try the sync cord into both of the strobes, neither of which worked.

I also had another sync cord, it didn't work either.

One more question - do you know if I need to set anything differently in my camera, or does it automatically know to signal the lighting?

Thanks for the help!

[Mark_48]

If it's the Stellar 300 strobe, according to the specs on their website the trigger voltage is 4.3 volts. Possibly too low of a voltage trigger the Wein maybe?

http://www.interfitphotographic.com/Lighitng/Lighting%20index.htm

[SkipD]

I suspect Mark is right.

Try shorting the camera end of the cable from the flash unit. If that triggers the flash, then go to most any local camera store and buy a conventional hotshoe-to-PC adapter for about $10 (U.S.). That should then solve the problem.

[Titus213]

FYI - you shouldn't do any damage by shorting the cable at the camera end. That's basically what the camera does - when it's working that is.....