430ex vs 580ex AF assist light?

[midnight_rider]

Is the Af assist light better on the 580 ex2 than it is on the 430ex mk1?

[DDCSD]

Sorta, but not really. The 580EXII covers more AF points (for a 1 series camera). Range is the same for both though.

580EXII
AF Assist Beam
Built-in; covers all focus points in EOS cameras with 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, or 45 AF points; Distance range - 2 to 32.8 feet (0.6 to 10m) at center; 2 to 16.4 feet (0.6 to 5m) at periphery

430EX
AF Assist Beam
Built-in; covers all focus points in EOS cameras up to 9 AF points
Effective range:
At center: Approx. 2.3-32.8 ft./0.7-10m
Periphery: Approx. 2.3-16.4 ft./0.7-5m (in total darkness)

[midnight_rider]

Thanks Derek,
So the only advantage AF wise is on the 1D series.

[DDCSD]

Thanks Derek,
So the only advantage AF wise is on the 1D series.

That's how I'm reading it. I've never used a 580EXII though, just the 430EX.

[midnight_rider]

That's how I'm reading it. I've never used a 580EXII though, just the 430EX.

do you by chance have any tips for speeding up focus in low light? I mainly use a 50 1.4 indoors. I have thought about going to nikon for the at assist light but I am very partial to my 40d

[PacAce]

do you by chance have any tips for speeding up focus in low light? I mainly use a 50 1.4 indoors. I have thought about going to nikon for the at assist light but I am very partial to my 40d

Seems kind of silly to be switching camera brands just for the AF assist light but I'm sure people have switched brands for sillier reasons. :D ;) :lol:

What kind of issues are you having with your low light focusing? What flash are you using? What lens? How far are your subjects when you experience focusing issues? What AF mode are you using? The more information you provide us relating to your focusing problem, the better we may be able to help you. :)

[midnight_rider]

My normal low light set up is a 40D, 50mm f/1.4 and a 430ex mk1.
I typically have the mode in one shot with the center AF point selected. I changed to al servo mode with the center af point to help some but it seems slower that way. I do change to the top left or right af point on occasion (When in portrait mode). My main issue is just slow focus. My subject ( normally kids ) moves a lot but is on average 12 feet away.

[PacAce]

My normal low light set up is a 40D, 50mm f/1.4 and a 430ex mk1.
I typically have the mode in one shot with the center AF point selected. I changed to al servo mode with the center af point to help some but it seems slower that way. I do change to the top left or right af point on occasion (When in portrait mode). My main issue is just slow focus. My subject ( normally kids ) moves a lot but is on average 12 feet away.
It seems like what you are experiencing is normal behavior and not really an issue, per se, when using the AF assist light. It takes time for the camera to determine that the lighting is low enough to require an AF assist light, turn on the beam and then focus on the generated beam pattern. Unfortunately, that's the nature of the beast when focusing using the AF assist light. You would experience the same "sluggishness" even with a Nikon camera.

Short of turning up the ambient or room lighting, using a continuous spot light pointed at the subjects, and/or maybe trying to focus manually using a smaller aperture (for deeper DOF) and zone focusing, there probably isn't much that can be done about the slower focusing in dim lighting.

[DDCSD]

To note, the AF assist lamp doesn't come on when in AI Servo.

I've never used the 50 1.4, but I've heard that it isn't the quickest lens to focus. Not that it's very slow, just that its not the fastest.

[midnight_rider]

thanks Leo.
Derek, what is a fast focusing low light lens?

[DDCSD]

thanks Leo.
Derek, what is a fast focusing low light lens?

I'm not all that familiar with anything other than the 50 1.8 (not fast :)), and the 85 1.8 (very fast). 85mm is fairly long indoors on a 1.6 cropper though.

You'd be better off asking that question in a new thread in the lens section. I'm certainly not qualified to give you an educated answer.

What I did was buy a 1DMkIIn. Fixed most of my low light focusing problems! ;)