AF assist and external flash qns

moimoi · 24th June 2008

hi everyone,

would appreciate some help.

i own oly e500. the AF assist shoots out flashes of bright light from the built in flash whcih is quite glaring and distrubing if i use it to shoot people. is it the same for other oly models? or which other cameras uses this for AF?

would also like to know if any external flashes by olympus uses infrared beam for AF assist. or any other compatible 3rd party flash.

thank you so much

spidey89 · 25th June 2008

Originally Posted by moimoi

hi everyone,

would appreciate some help.

i own oly e500. the AF assist shoots out flashes of bright light from the built in flash whcih is quite glaring and distrubing if i use it to shoot people. is it the same for other oly models? or which other cameras uses this for AF?

would also like to know if any external flashes by olympus uses infrared beam for AF assist. or any other compatible 3rd party flash.

thank you so much

Basically,all models except E-1 does that,You can use the Olympus flashes FL36/R and FL50/R to use the red light for auto focus

dennisc · 25th June 2008

Yeh it's rude to point it at someone's face with the beam. I either point it somewhere or use a small torch to assist my focus anyways. But if it needs AF I'll use full manual focus+settings anyway.

zac08 · 25th June 2008

Possible to turn that off in the menu??

I know my camera supports that. But mebbe you can check your manual to see if you can switch it off.

moimoi · 25th June 2008

hi thanks for the reply.

yar it can be turned off. just that i need it sometimes. manual focus is a bit difficult cos the viewfinder is quite small.

am also thinking of using a small torch actually.

another qn. any 3rd party flash compatible with oly cameras that have the IR AF beam? with a good auto sensor for the falsh intensity

24th June 2008	#1
moimoi New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 40	AF assist and external flash qns hi everyone, would appreciate some help. i own oly e500. the AF assist shoots out flashes of bright light from the built in flash whcih is quite glaring and distrubing if i use it to shoot people. is it the same for other oly models? or which other cameras uses this for AF? would also like to know if any external flashes by olympus uses infrared beam for AF assist. or any other compatible 3rd party flash. thank you so much

25th June 2008	#3
dennisc Workshop/Shoot Organiser Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Freezing Upp Thomson/Mandai! Posts: 1,435	Re: AF assist and external flash qns Yeh it's rude to point it at someone's face with the beam. I either point it somewhere or use a small torch to assist my focus anyways. But if it needs AF I'll use full manual focus+settings anyway. Last edited by dennisc; 25th June 2008 at 12:29 PM.

25th June 2008	#4
zac08 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: East Posts: 10,953	Re: AF assist and external flash qns Possible to turn that off in the menu?? I know my camera supports that. But mebbe you can check your manual to see if you can switch it off. __________________ Michael Lim My Flickr Site APAD 2009

25th June 2008	#5
moimoi New Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 40	Re: AF assist and external flash qns hi thanks for the reply. yar it can be turned off. just that i need it sometimes. manual focus is a bit difficult cos the viewfinder is quite small. am also thinking of using a small torch actually. another qn. any 3rd party flash compatible with oly cameras that have the IR AF beam? with a good auto sensor for the falsh intensity