Turning of the "flash flash it self"

How do I turn off the flash "light" it self so it only emits the been?

By the way I have 430 ex speedlite now.

I presume you're referring to the AF assist light.

No way that I know of with the camera bodies you have.

20D, 30D, 40D and some higher end cameras have a custom function to prevent the flash from firing.

Curtis N wrote in post #6205868
I presume you're referring to the AF assist light.

No way that I know of with the camera bodies you have.

20D, 30D, 40D and some higher end cameras have a custom function to prevent the flash from firing.

Sorry Curtis,

I own the 400D and the 450D, my mum is using my 400D and I'm using the 450.


I just purchased the flash 2 hours ago.

I think Curtis read it backwards - easy to do as the OP isn't clear. To keep the AF beam but turn the flash off I use the menus of my 40D. For earlier cameras it was a custom function.

Flash to manual mode at 1/64, turn the flash head pointing backward.

For clarification -
There is custom function on the 40D and some other bodies, but not on the 400D or 450D, that prevents the flash from firing but allows the AF assist beam to operate normally.

If this is not what the OP is trying to do, then I invite him to further explain his question.

Curtis N wrote in post #6206512
For clarification -
There is custom function on the 40D and some other bodies, but not on the 400D or 450D, that prevents the flash from firing but allows the AF assist beam to operate normally.

If this is not what the OP is trying to do, then I invite him to further explain his question.

I'm trying to set the 430 ex up so if I went to a blues club will not irritate the performers with a flash every 5 minutes or something to that effect.

So you want the AF assist beam but no flash? Don't know on your cameras. Does your flash have custom functions that can turn it off?

The manuals for the 400D and 450D do not include this in the list of Custom Functions, so the answer is "No, the flash cannot be suppressed by those cameras' menus.".

So, if the 430EX flash is being left on the camera, use the power switch to turn it off, and focus manually.

Both cameras have a menu Custom Function for turning off the auto-assist beam and leaving the flash functioning!

With the XTs, the flash can't be turned off but leave the focus assist active. Just set the 430 to minimum and tape up the flash head.

Could you perhaps tape the center of the contact on the flash to let everything except the "fire" command get through? This is just a guess, never tried it, hopefully it won't hurt anything.

The feature for turning off the flash on the 450D is not a custum function but a regular menu option, the 5th tab from the left. Select that tab, then select Flash control and then set Flash firing to Disable.

Unfortunately, there is no equivalent feature on the 400D, AFAIK.

Ah - didn't think of looking on the main menu!

The custom functions are a hangover from old binary switches, and the more that Canon moves them to standard menus, the better IMO.

Thanks guys and gals you really helped me out.