External AF beam?

I was wondering if there is such thing as an External AF beam? or something similar. The 40d burst flash to help focus is rather disctracting.
I read the 530ex has a AF beam, is that a burst flash as well?

No (they do have AF Assist beams but they are not burst flashes) the Canon Speedlites and the ST-E2 Transmitter use a red light that lights up on the front of the flash, which is not as distracting as the on board flash pulse.

if you get a external flash unit as a 580ii ... it will emit a red light for the AF assist beam

Thank you for the fast response.
OHH nice, gives me a good reason to buy the ST-E2 Transmitter.

Don't you already have a 430EX?

The 430EX has an AF Assist Beam. If you just want to use the AF Assist Beam without flash, you can go into the 40D Flash Control menu and disable flash firing.

Re read my 430 manual, i must have read the Custom functions wrong. i had the Beam set wrong. Thanks for the help