Such thing as an AF assist light? (That isn't on a flash or ST-E2)

Just wondering if there is any kind of light that does NOTHING more than AF assist. For times when you are in a dark place and shooting without a flash, and would rather not have the weight of the flash on your camera.

Something like just a little light that sits in your hotshoe that illuminates a pattern like the 580 would... without the 580. lol.

I've considered the ST-E2 but it's actually quite a bit bigger than I thought it was.

Is there such a thing in existence?

Looking for the same thing. It doesn't look good. Some people use a flashlight. Tempted to make my own and sell that, but I'm way too lazy to get that done. I'll probably end up just getting an ST-E2 since that's kind of the only option. I will be VERY happy if someone knows of an alternative.

IIRC, I remember seeing somewhere on here a hacked up hotshoe flash that had everything removed except for the AF-assist beam part. Hmm... let's see if I can find it. Even then, something smaller and purpose built would be great!

I've considered rigging up something to attach a small flashlight to the hotshoe mount with a tape switch to activate it.

I've seen something on ebay, but searching for it recently I haven't been able to find it again. In a word, yes, such a device exists, but finding it is another matter.

i've seen somoene w/an IR flashlight taped to their flash...and it's always on....

does that do the same thing???

Well, if you have an ST-E2, it's light and small and will work fine as a focus assist. You don't have to be using flashes to use it for a focus assist. It's kind of expensive to get for this purpose if you don't already have one though.

I was thinking the sme as sillyguy - what about a torch?

This looks kind of neat.

http://www.camerabrigh​t.com/x1-er-plus.htm
or hot shoe mounted
http://www.camerabrigh​t.com/hs1.htm

Might be a paint to turn off and on all the time though..

how about mounting something like this to the hotshoe?

http://cgi.ebay.com …10144495718QQcm​dZViewItem

its going to have the range, and it will give the AF something to AF on even in the dark!

just be careful where you point it!

^^ I bought one of those a few years back at the dollar store. It had 5 or 6 attachments for shaping the laser. All you need really. Too bad I tossed it when the batteries died.

A flashlight or LED video light would work... but it's definitely not what I'm looking for. A light that's always on is quite obtrusive to me, especially if you're trying to photograph candid moments.

I checked ebay and couldn't find any AF lights.

Like I said, the ST-E2 is too big. I'd want something a quarter of the size.

SillyGuy wrote in post #7991916
i've seen somoene w/an IR flashlight taped to their flash...and it's always on....

does that do the same thing???

An IR flashlight would be cool. People wouldn't be able to see it, but maybe the AF sensors could? But then there's the problem that IR light has a different wavelength and focusing via IR light would mean that it would probably not be accurate for visible light.

But it's made me hopeful to know that there is one that DOES exist! Now I just gotta find it!

What about a 220EX? Its cheap, and if you can find a used one, probably hack it up to your liking

picturecrazy wrote in post #7992239
A flashlight or LED video light would work... but it's definitely not what I'm looking for.
A light that's always on is quite obtrusive to me, especially if you're trying to photograph candid moment.

Hence my suggestion of a tape switch...

Canon used to include one on the camera bodies for some models. My Canon EOS Elan IIe had a focus assist light near the grip that would project a stripe pattern for focusing in low light. The newer bodies seem to work by strobing the pop-up flash in the most annoying possible way instead. The EOS D30 and D60 had built in focus assist lamps too but starting from the 10D the flash strobing was used instead. Does anyone know why Canon took this feature out of later digital bodies?