Need help. 580ex II Focus Assist Lamp not lighting up.

Hello all. New to the forums. I just got a 580ex II earlier today and to my dismay, the FA lamp isn't lighting up when it's attached to my 50D. I'm pretty sure that the FA was working because I tried it out at the store with a different body (500D) and it lit up fine. Verified in the custom functions of the flash that it's set to light up and the 50D is on one shot AF mode. Is there something I missed in the settings? I'm kinda leaning that the problem may be with my 50D but I'm hoping that there's something I can do before I have Canon look at it.

Would appreciate any help you good folks can give.

Welcome to POTN!

There is a custom function on the camera to turn the AF assist beam on or off. It should be on by default.

Also on most bodies you must set the auto focus system to "One Shot".

Thanks guys but I tried those already and it still isn't lighting up.

Are you sure it is dark enough to make the AF assist necessary?

The AF won't turn on unless the ambient light is dim enough to make focusing without the AF assist difficult.

You've probably done this, but it doesn't hurt to suggest again. Go to a dark room.

Camera in manual... ISO 200, 1/60 Shutter Speed , Aperture f/5.6, One Shot, Center Focus Point

Camera Custom Function III-5 should be 0 or 2.

Flash Custom Function 08 should be 0.

Yup. It's pretty dark in my room right now. Turned off the room lights so it's just my laptop screen thats providing light. Pointed to dark areas in the room and sadly no red AF assist showing. I just hear the kit lens hunting for focus.

Update:

Jacuff, you're a lifesaver! I completely missed the "Camera Custom Function III-5 should be 0 or 2." step. For some reason it was set at "1". AF assist is a go! Thanks for all the help guys! Truly appreciate it!

the AF assist light will only work when in One-Shot AF. it won't light in continuous drive modes.

Curtis N wrote in post #8897247
Welcome to POTN!

There is a custom function on the camera to turn the AF assist beam on or off. It should be on by default.

Hey Curtis, my apologies. Somehow my mind read "custom function on the flash" when I read your post so I thought I had done that already. Was really late at night where I am when I started the thread.Thank you again.

jacuff wrote in post #8897556
You've probably done this, but it doesn't hurt to suggest again. Go to a dark room.

Camera in manual... ISO 200, 1/60 Shutter Speed , Aperture f/5.6, One Shot, Center Focus Point

Camera Custom Function III-5 should be 0 or 2.

Flash Custom Function 08 should be 0.

I just registered for the forums just to say THANK YOU! You are a life saver, for some reason I kept adjusting the settings in the camera and it just wouldn't take, manually changing the custom function in the flash fixed it.

Thank you all! This was great info that saved me as well!

Chris

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