7D focus assust beam not firing

[marfie]

When in full auto, CA or the 3 custom settings the focus assist beam fires but when in P, Av, Tv or M the beam does not fire. It is enabled in C.FnIII Autofocus/Drive menu 11 - AF-assist beam firing. It is the same behaviour for internal and an attached Speedlite.

From the manual I see that it is supposed to be selectable but I can't find any other options for it. Does anyone know where I should look?

I have upgraded the firmware to 2.0.3

Thanks

Paul

[cicopo]

According to my downloaded manual C Fn 111-11 has 4 possible settings PLUS there's a note about using external Speedlights which says that IF one is set for no assist beam it will over ride what the camera is set to. What option have you set & is it possible that if using a Speedlight it's firing an infrared assist instead of normal white light blips.

[amfoto1 · Accepted solution]

Is the camera set to AI Servo focus mode?

I believe Focus Assist only works in One Shot focus mode.

The camera might default to One Shot in full auto, CA and the custom settings, but be set to AI Servo in P, Av, Tv and M.

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM 

[marfie]

Alan

You are right with I believe Focus Assist only works in One Shot focus mode.

I guess there is some logic in limiting it to One Shot. If the subject is moving (the reason for selecting AI Servo, but not the reason for leaving it on AI Servo) then the focus assist beam is not going to give good results.

I will have a look through the manual to see if this gets mentioned any where.

C1, C2 and C3 are all set to One Shot.

Now that I know about this it hopefully won't take me by surprise next time.

Thanks