Canon 1D Mk III AF assist problem

[Rob_Levin]

Has anyone had problems with the 1D3 and the auto assist function?

I am unable to achieve focus under low light conditions using the 580EX II or the 580EX. There is no problem when there is enough light to focus and the flash works correctly but as soon as it's too dark there is no assist light.

Both flashes work with my 30D under the same conditions so it's not the flash. The 1D3 does not seem to be communicating with the flash under low light conditions. I spent close on 2 hours with Canon support, reset all the special functions (I didn't have much time to screw anything up as I only got the body and flash on 7/20 ) with no finite results other than they want me to send the body in to them for the 1.0.9 software upgrade.

Other than the above problem I am thus far delighted with this baby.

[michaelnotar]

isnt there a CF in the 580 to turn on/off the AF assist. in a normally lit room or slightly darkened room, you should see the red pattern on a wall etc. do you?

[Rob_Levin]

I see it when I use either model of the 580EX with the 30D but not with the 1D3. I can take the 580 off the 1D3 and place it on the 30D with no changes and it works as advertised. I went through all the function settings with Canon trying to figure this out today.

[ArtPeslak]

I wonder if there is some communication issue between the 580Ex and the Mark III.

On a different issue, I tried using 2nd curtain synch with the 580 on my Mark III last night. I set second curtain on the flash with the button on the back and it was still firing with the front curtain. I then put the 580 on my 5D and it fired with 2nd curtain synch. I also tried to set 2nd curtain with the custom function on the mark III and the menu item kept telling me that I had to connect a flash that would communicate with the mark III. I will check with Canon on this.

[Rob_Levin]

My issue has been resolved.

It was in A1 Servo mode and the AF assist light will not fire in that mode. It needed to be in One Shot focusing mode.

Thanks to Sam Bennett on Fred Miranda for spotting that one.

[Rob_Levin]

Having spent hours trying to resolve this problem and once I saw how easy the mistake was to make I read the manual from cover to cover (my usual rule is - when all else fails, read the instructions) to see if, at any point, Canon actually says that the AF assist will not work in A1 Servo Mode. The manual does NOT address this at all. I then emailed Canon and the help desk confirmed that there is no warning about using A1 servo setting and AF assist in the manual. This seems to be something Canon missed when they wrote the manual.

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