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View Full Version : Autofocus assist beam

GenEOS
20th of January 2003 (Mon), 09:54
When is Streamlight or Insight going to make a light we can mount to these d30 and d60's to assist low light focusing....hehe...
Like they do for pistols and rifles.....

Could serve to get your subjects attention too!!!
redbutt
20th of January 2003 (Mon), 15:33
My Speedlite 420EX has a great AF assist built in to it. The 550EX does too.
Mr. Fogle
20th of January 2003 (Mon), 16:39
Ya I thought about one of those high intensity lights I used to mount under my shotgun. Maybe a portable 2,000,000candle power spot light.
redbutt
20th of January 2003 (Mon), 18:43
What's the word I looking for....ummm... Overkill?
Thomas
20th of January 2003 (Mon), 21:10
Try the Canon Speed Light Transmitter ST-E2.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/st-e2.shtml
I have one, and it does work!

Thomas
GenEOS
21st of January 2003 (Tue), 07:26
OK, I was just having a little fun with this post, but that assist gadget looks pretty darned cool. The only problem I see with leaving the flash on the camera for the assist beam, is that the flash will fire. If I need the assist beam without the flash, then this unit will do the trick...

Thanks for the reply.

So, Why did they switch to this white light instead of IR like in the past? Is it because there was no room in the flash area for a red-eye reduction lamp?
gregarpp
21st of January 2003 (Tue), 11:00
Do they work good when the flash is mounted on a bracket??

I have had no luck with these...
robertwgross
21st of January 2003 (Tue), 13:57
gregarpp wrote:
Do they work good when the flash is mounted on a bracket??

I have had no luck with these...

What are you using for a flash unit? Do you have it hooked up in some unusual fashion? What mode are you using in the camera, and what flash mode are you using in the flash?

What do you mean by "no luck"?

---Bob Gross---
gregarpp
21st of January 2003 (Tue), 14:24
When the flash is mounted on a bracket, the AF assist beam is not inline with the lens anymore.
It is close, but not the same as having the flash mounted on the camera.

My metz flashes leave the AF assist ontop of the camera, and the flash on the bracket.
This seems to work rather well.

How could this work?
Yeti Man
26th of January 2003 (Sun), 03:35
" The only problem I see with leaving the flash on the camera for the assist beam, is that the flash will fire. If I need the assist beam without the flash, then this unit will do the trick"

If you are using a 550ex, set custom function 2 on the flash to enable TTL instead of ETTL... no more flash on a D30/D60... The ST-E2 is a far better choice though, and it works great.
DVWarrior
26th of January 2003 (Sun), 08:12
Quote GenEOS

"OK, I was just having a little fun with this post, but that assist gadget looks pretty darned cool."

So the rules are different for you are they...you can muck about and I can't...just note this for the future.

The comment about the riffle is very American...we in the UK would not dream of having one let alone using one.

It seems to me if we are talking about low light surly it depends on subject matter and distance from the lens.
You aint trying to shoot moving targets in darkness...are you. A faster lens would also assist in dimmer set ups... if you are at a party and want some canded snapshots get a camera more suited to this purpose...a D30-60 is too good for beer to spill over !