ir assist with flash off ?

[road warrior]

I photograph live bands, its always dark of course, whilst available light is always a problem, my main problem is focusing, is there a way of using the ir assist on the 430ex without setting off the flash. I dont want to use flash as it washes out the stage colours. Another problem is that ir assist is only available on full auto mode, and on the various idiot modes on my 400d and 300d, and as it is full auto, it takes away my asa1600 because it sets off the flash and therefore doesnt need asa1600. double jepardy. I know canon makes a very expensive ir assist for wireless flash, but there mush be a cheaper way..
i hope that all makes sense. basically i need ir without flash going off.

[Lotto]

Don't think the XT bodies has a custom function to turn off the flash. You can alway put the 430 to manual mode and lowest power, and turn the flash head straight up or backward.

[road warrior]

Don't think the XT bodies has a custom function to turn off the flash. You can alway put the 430 to manual mode and lowest power, and turn the flash head straight up or backward.

yes they have, but that is not my problem. tried all that, any activity of the flash automatically sets the exposure for flash, and remember i am standing with people around me, the flash in their faces will antaganise them.
i want the flash function on, i just dont want the gun to actually flash, i just want a better autofocus, and so i only want the ir assist, not the flash.

[Titus213]

Have you checked custom function 5 on the camera?

[nadtz]

IR assist shouldn't be available in the auto modes only. Ive done exactly what Lotto mentioned in manual modes on both camera and flash with my metz.

[PacAce]

yes they have, but that is not my problem. tried all that, any activity of the flash automatically sets the exposure for flash, and remember i am standing with people around me, the flash in their faces will antaganise them.
i want the flash function on, i just dont want the gun to actually flash, i just want a better autofocus, and so i only want the ir assist, not the flash.

Unfortunately, with the 400D and the 300D, there is no option to disable the firing of the flash like there is with the xxD cameras (even the 1D series cameras didn't have it until the Mark III came along). And the disabling of the flash is one function that can't be set via the flash either, like it can be for the enabling/disabling of the IR assist beam.

[DeCeccoNET]

Have you tried setting the flash for manual mode at the lowest setting so your camera's exposure settings remain indipendant, and then using somthing like an omnibounce filter painted black (or stuffed with black paper)?

In my opinion this should alow you to indipendantly set the camera, and the flash which will fire regardless, but the light will be compleatly phyisically blocked, and the IR funtion should remain enabled for focusing....

The other more expensive option would be a ST-E2 transmitter, which I have used quite a bit to provide focus assist without need for a flash. I think they are going for around $220 these days. I also seem to recall the 580ex can easilly fit your bill as well if you set it as a master but assign it to a group that you will not be using when you actually take the picture. Focus asist will definitly be enabled in this situation.

[nadtz]

Well first he should figure out why the flash isn't working properly outside of the magic modes, that at least should be working. As for blinding people around you, cover the flash head, you don't need it for assist, just the red emitter on the front of the flash.

[Xerox]

Manual focus. Problem solved. :)

[nadtz]

AF is very useful when shooting shows and the like, with the lights and movement it can be hard to tell if youhave it right in manual (specially with my bad eyes).

[Titus213]

I would think it shouldn't be necessary to disable one function (and a useful one) to enable another.

[road warrior]

thank you fellas for your replies, I am somewhat confused as, for no reason at all, the ir has started to work on all modes, which is worrying as it would indicate either something is wrong, or was wrong.
can anybody say for sure, (either way) whether it should - or should not work in all modes on my 400d, or indeed if the problem lies in the 430ex, or even the off camera cable which I use permanantly. Ok I can eliminate the cable by putting it on shoe, but any ideas would be helpful.
Anyway, for now, I have discovered a work-around, use flat batteries.... the ir works fine as it doesnt need much power, but the flash has to recycle and so i can get 10 shots in before it powers back up.
The flaw in the "cover the head up" system, is that when the camera senses the flash is powered on, it makes the exposure based on that, so when no light is emitted the photo is underexposed big time, but when the batteries are tired, the flash gun doesnt flag the camera and say "i am ready" and so the correct exposure is made by the camera, so ir but no flash..result.. (sort of)

[jrsforums]

thank you fellas for your replies, I am somewhat confused as, for no reason at all, the ir has started to work on all modes, which is worrying as it would indicate either something is wrong, or was wrong.
can anybody say for sure, (either way) whether it should - or should not work in all modes on my 400d, or indeed if the problem lies in the 430ex, or even the off camera cable which I use permanantly. Ok I can eliminate the cable by putting it on shoe, but any ideas would be helpful.
Anyway, for now, I have discovered a work-around, use flat batteries.... the ir works fine as it doesnt need much power, but the flash has to recycle and so i can get 10 shots in before it powers back up.
The flaw in the "cover the head up" system, is that when the camera senses the flash is powered on, it makes the exposure based on that, so when no light is emitted the photo is underexposed big time, but when the batteries are tired, the flash gun doesnt flag the camera and say "i am ready" and so the correct exposure is made by the camera, so ir but no flash..result.. (sort of)

I believe that the AF assist is only emitted when needed. I am not sure if it is only below a certain EC level or if the camera "requests" it when AF cannot also be achieved due to low contrast.

[S-Man]

I was having the same problem when I was shooting a wedding last week.
I was using a 70-200 IS and was having major problems autofocusing. I was shooting in manual mode, and was using bounce-flash. I was getting very upset that the AF Assist beam was not firing on my 430. It would have helped immensely and I would not have missed some shots.
Why does the AF assist beam not fire when in manual mode? I really need to use it!
Thanks

[PacAce]

I was having the same problem when I was shooting a wedding last week.
I was using a 70-200 IS and was having major problems autofocusing. I was shooting in manual mode, and was using bounce-flash. I was getting very upset that the AF Assist beam was not firing on my 430. It would have helped immensely and I would not have missed some shots.
Why does the AF assist beam not fire when in manual mode? I really need to use it!
Thanks

The purpose of the AF assist beam is to help the camera in auto focusing in dim lighting. When you switch the lens to manual focus mode, the camera no longer has to auto focus the lens so it doesn't need to have the AF assist beam emitted from the flash. That's how it was designed.

[evilr00t]

Try insulating one of the Canon E-TTL flash foot's contacts (I think the lower left one.) That should make the flash act as if it's just a TTL flash; the flash shouldn't fire anymore. Unfortunately, I think only one of the AF assist lights will come on in TTL mode, instead of all of them. You should be able to use the central AF point though. http://eosdoc.com/manuals/?q=EX-M-TTL

[Bob D.]

" I was shooting in manual mode,"

The purpose of the AF assist beam is to help the camera in auto focusing in dim lighting. When you switch the lens to manual focus mode, the camera no longer has to auto focus the lens so it doesn't need to have the AF assist beam emitted from the flash. That's how it was designed.

I think the manual mode he is talking about is exposure, not focus.

[S-Man]

" I was shooting in manual mode,"



I think the manual mode he is talking about is exposure, not focus.

Thank you for clearing that up. Yes, the camera was in 'manual' mode, not the lens. It was quite vexing...I didn't know the 70-200 2.8L would 'focus-hunt' as much as it was. I was beginning to wonder if I rented a faulty lens...

[PacAce]

" I was shooting in manual mode,"



I think the manual mode he is talking about is exposure, not focus.
Sorry, did I misread the previous post? Rereading it again, it looks like maybe I did. But the thing is, shooting the camera in manual mode shouldn't make any difference as far as AF assist is concerned.

[PacAce]

Thank you for clearing that up. Yes, the camera was in 'manual' mode, not the lens. It was quite vexing...I didn't know the 70-200 2.8L would 'focus-hunt' as much as it was. I was beginning to wonder if I rented a faulty lens...

Sorry for misreading your post. As stated in the previous post, setting the camera to manual mode should affect how your AF assist beam works. Did the you try working the camera in one of the other modes to see if it really was the manual mode that was making the AF assist beam not work?

[S-Man]

Actually I did. I put it on the green box- "full auto" and the red beams started shinin'... Tv, Av, and M however produced no AF-Assist...:(

[PacAce]

Actually I did. I put it on the green box- "full auto" and the red beams started shinin'... Tv, Av, and M however produced no AF-Assist...:(
In that case, I'll wager a nickel that you had your camera in AIServo mode (assuming AF assist was not turned off on your camera via a custom function).

[S-Man]

Awwwwww:oops:....I'll have to fill out an I.O. You Slip on this one...Your a genius...I, on the other hand, possess an intelligence level that hovers below mediocrity...
Thank you so much!

P.S. I like A.I. Servo because of the constant movement during weddings. On "One-Shot" I get alot of OOF shots due to the slightly changing DOF, especially when I'm shooting wide open.

[PacAce]

Awwwwww:oops:....I'll have to fill out an I.O. You Slip on this one...Your a genius...I, on the other hand, possess an intelligence level that hovers below mediocrity...
Thank you so much!

P.S. I like A.I. Servo because of the constant movement during weddings. On "One-Shot" I get alot of OOF shots due to the slightly changing DOF, especially when I'm shooting wide open.
No, I'm no genius although it was kind of you to say so. The geniuses in my family are my sister and brother. I, on the other hand, am just an average Joe who learns things from experience, meaning I was in your shoe once myself trying to figure out why my darn AF assist light wasn't turning on and pulling my hair out in the process. Thanks for the nickel. I'll go out and buy me some hair growth formula. ;) :lol: