# 3rd-party AF assist for the 5D Mark III



## JustinTArthur (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm new to the world of flashes and transmitters and was thinking about grabbing the 600EX for the 5D Mark III, but mainly for the AF assist light. So I wanted to ask, do 3rd parties ever produce alternate AF assist lights? I've seen a few knock-offs of the ST-E2, but couldn't tell if they had AF assist or not.

I'm assuming the Canon ST-E2 itself is not an option as the 61-point AF is bound to have points at different places from the pattern in that unit.

It's been suggested that creating a matrix of NIR LEDs will do the trick, is this comparable to a patterned beam made for the camera's AF?

Thanks!


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## wickidwombat (Mar 13, 2012)

JustinTArthur said:


> I'm new to the world of flashes and transmitters and was thinking about grabbing the 600EX for the 5D Mark III, but mainly for the AF assist light. So I wanted to ask, do 3rd parties ever produce alternate AF assist lights? I've seen a few knock-offs of the ST-E2, but couldn't tell if they had AF assist or not.
> 
> I'm assuming the Canon ST-E2 itself is not an option as the 61-point AF is bound to have points at different places from the pattern in that unit.
> 
> ...


I have the Yongnuo ST-E2 copy which is better than the genuine its head can swivel
and the AF assist for it works wonders on the 5Dmk2
it works well for the 580exII i use and has very good range, lower light = better range
only problem is its still IR and needs line of sight
I think it was about $100 so pretty good value especially if you are starting out
it retains full eTTL control just like the genuine ST-E2


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## lfcfanatic (Apr 8, 2012)

I own 5D Mark II, 5D Mark III, Yongnuo STE2 and Speedlite 580EXII. Currently, I can get 5D Mark II, Yongnuo STE2 and 580EXII to work properly. AS for 5D Mark III, I can trigger 580EXII with Yongnuo STE2 but in my images, there's no any effect of flash on it. I saw from reviews that they took out AF assist beam from the latest STE3. A big downer I would say. Anybody managed to get 5D Mark III to work with Canon/Yongnuo STE2?


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## simonM (Apr 28, 2012)

I've also found that the Yongnuo ST-E2 doesn't work with the 5d iii and 580 flash, seems to be out of sync with the shutter.


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## Viggo (Apr 28, 2012)

How do you use a af-assist unit when using radio triggers? And is it ever really to dark for the 5d3 AF? I have shot in places where I can't see what I'm aiming at with out a problem, and it doesn't work in Servo anyways. When I use wireless flash I have a radio mounted on cam, no room for a assist-unit. And also if absolutely needed my triggers support af-assist wirelessly.


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## briansquibb (Apr 28, 2012)

I go for a low tech, small led light in the hotshoe. Enough light for AF, not enough to upset the lighting


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## Ryant (May 5, 2012)

I found that if you even have a simple pin light and point it at the subject you can get your camera to focus quickly in near dark. I found the mark iii will not focus well in low light situations on darker objects. This sort of thing makes me want to start a kickstarter project to create a dirt simple light that can mount to the hotshoe. Sometimes I want the flash but if I just want the af assist I would rather have something lightweigt and simple.


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## wickidwombat (May 31, 2012)

simonM said:


> I've also found that the Yongnuo ST-E2 doesn't work with the 5d iii and 580 flash, seems to be out of sync with the shutter.



woah really? i'll have to check mine 
I havent really uses the ST-E2 since i got the odins


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## drjlo (May 31, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> simonM said:
> 
> 
> > I've also found that the Yongnuo ST-E2 doesn't work with the 5d iii and 580 flash, seems to be out of sync with the shutter.
> ...



My Pixel Kings also go crazy when mounted on 5D MkIII. It's indicator light flashes continuously and does not trigger the off-camera flash. Sometimes if I dismount the flash, do a power cycle of everything in the chain, then remount the flash, it works for awhile. 

This should teach me not to mess with third party gear for Canon, which I should have learned but didn't after the last Sigma debacle..


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## briansquibb (May 31, 2012)

drjlo said:


> wickidwombat said:
> 
> 
> > simonM said:
> ...


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## etx (Jun 2, 2012)

Of course I wait until the day I need my Yongnuo ST-E2 on a wedding shoot. It does not work with the 5D mk3, it's out of sync. Guess I'll have to keep the speedlite on my mk3 and put the ST-E2 clone on the old body for today. I hope a firmware update fixes it. 

If anyone finds a fix please post it. I'm out of time for today! :O


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## pwp (Jun 3, 2012)

Last night I was shooting at a dimly lit function. Lucky for me the venue had a fairly low white ceiling so bounce was a simple matter. But AF was another story altogether. I have a 580exII on the 1D4 and a 580ex on the 5D3. We all know the Mk4 is next to hopeless when it comes to low light AF. I lost a lot of shots with the 70-200 f/2.8is because I just couldn't get a lock. The 5D3 was of course a lot better, even with the f/4 24-105. Interestingly, in very low light I reckon the old 9 point AF array was quicker provided you used the centre point.

Does anyone know if the 600ex has a more powerful AF assist light than the 580 series? If so, this could be reason enough to upgrade.

PW


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## Biffbim (Jun 3, 2012)

JustinTArthur said:


> I'm new to the world of flashes and transmitters and was thinking about grabbing the 600EX for the 5D Mark III, but mainly for the AF assist light. So I wanted to ask, do 3rd parties ever produce alternate AF assist lights? I've seen a few knock-offs of the ST-E2, but couldn't tell if they had AF assist or not.
> 
> I'm assuming the Canon ST-E2 itself is not an option as the 61-point AF is bound to have points at different places from the pattern in that unit.
> 
> ...


I'm also a novice at flash but I have a few to play with. The 600EX-RT is probably the way to go.

The Yongnuo ST-E2 is cheep and usefull on 2011 cameras. 
On my 5D3 it fires prior to 1st curtain. Useless. Also it's AF assist is weak compared to the Canon flashes. 
I've just tried focus into a dark room with various attachments. 5D3 w/- [email protected] 
1. 600EX shows a dense wide grid of deeep red light with reasonably quick focus. Reliable. 
2. 580EXII very similar. 
3. 430EX similar but weaker and slower. 
4. Yongnuo has a week patern of vertical lines. I achieved focus with difficulty. 

Go with the 600. Even though it is a big lump on your camera just to get a bit of light out there. 
Or maybe a laser pointer or torch.


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## wickidwombat (Jun 7, 2012)

Biffbim said:


> JustinTArthur said:
> 
> 
> > I'm new to the world of flashes and transmitters and was thinking about grabbing the 600EX for the 5D Mark III, but mainly for the AF assist light. So I wanted to ask, do 3rd parties ever produce alternate AF assist lights? I've seen a few knock-offs of the ST-E2, but couldn't tell if they had AF assist or not.
> ...



strange, i found my yongnuo very effective for af assist in a dark room (I did have to align the head slightly with the AF points first though the verticle lines provided very snappy AF to the points i have coloured in red on the attached image


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