# AF Beam on Canon R-series



## Snapped (Oct 7, 2021)

Hi Everyone

Does anyone know why Canon blocks the LED AF Beam on third party flashes?
This has to be something in the software, cause it works on other mirrorless cameras.
Or does anyone know a workaround to make it work?

I'm a nightlife photographer and I really depend on the beam. My 5Div is near end of life and I'm already switching to the R series.

Kind regards


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## koenkooi (Oct 8, 2021)

It blocks it on first party flashes as well, the beams don’t work with Canon mirrorless.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 8, 2021)

koenkooi said:


> It blocks it on first party flashes as well, the beams don’t work with Canon mirrorless.


The patterned red beams don't play nice with MILC AF. There are settings to activate/deactivate the Speedlite AF assist beam on the R-series bodies, but when activated the red beam doesn't fire, the main flash tube emits a short burst of HSS-like strobing to light the scene. On Canon's 320EX, the LED lamp is activated for AF assist.

The R-series bodies have a built-in orange LED for AF assist (actually, I'm not sure if the R3 does), but it's not always useful – many lenses, even commonly used ones like the RF 24-105/4L, block the AF assist light from the lower left quadrant of the frame.


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## Snapped (Oct 11, 2021)

koenkooi said:


> It blocks it on first party flashes as well, the beams don’t work with Canon mirrorless.


Yes. But Canon doesn't have a flash with a LED beam yet. Al their beams are infrared light. IR isn't readable by the sensor of a camera, but LED is.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 11, 2021)

Snapped said:


> But Canon doesn't have a flash with a LED beam yet. Al their beams are infrared light.


320EX


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## Snapped (Oct 11, 2021)

neuroanatomist said:


> 320EX
> 
> View attachment 200701


I'm referring to a red led light. As in the Profoto A series or the Godox V1...


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 11, 2021)

The good news is that the cameras are so sensitive that AF assist is seldom needed and the R3 will be even more sensitive. They can AF in a near dark room but not as fast as some need.

I'd expect that they are looking for a way to make it work but have not yet found one.


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## trinibajan34 (Nov 24, 2022)

neuroanatomist said:


> The patterned red beams don't play nice with MILC AF. There are settings to activate/deactivate the Speedlite AF assist beam on the R-series bodies, but when activated the red beam doesn't fire, the main flash tube emits a short burst of HSS-like strobing to light the scene. On Canon's 320EX, the LED lamp is activated for AF assist.
> 
> The R-series bodies have a built-in orange LED for AF assist (actually, I'm not sure if the R3 does), but it's not always useful – many lenses, even commonly used ones like the RF 24-105/4L, block the AF assist light from the lower left quadrant of the frame.


Good day guys , I currently have the R10 and godox /flash point speedlites . I got the HSS strobe once on the speed lite and i was just playing around with the camera, what settings have to be used to get back that function.


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## deebatman316 (Nov 27, 2022)

trinibajan34 said:


> Good day guys , I currently have the R10 and godox /flash point speedlites . I got the HSS strobe once on the speed lite and i was just playing around with the camera, what settings have to be used to get back that function.


The camera body AF Assist Beam setting must be set to *ENABLE*. If the AF Assist Beam setting in the camera is to *LED ONLY *the camera body will emit the AF Assist Beam. If the AF Assist Beam setting in the camera is set to *DISABLE *the speedlite nor the camera body AF Assist Beam will fire. The camera body choses where the AF Assist Beam will be emitted from. With my Canon speedlites they emit a short burst of pre-fires to assist the camera. Other times the camera body emits it's orange AF Assist Beam.


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## trinibajan34 (Dec 2, 2022)

deebatman316 said:


> The camera body AF Assist Beam setting must be set to *ENABLE*. If the AF Assist Beam setting in the camera is to *LED ONLY *the camera body will emit the AF Assist Beam. If the AF Assist Beam setting in the camera is set to *DISABLE *the speedlite nor the camera body AF Assist Beam will fire. The camera body choses where the AF Assist Beam will be emitted from. With my Canon speedlites they emit a short burst of pre-fires to assist the camera. Other times the camera body emits it's orange AF Assist Beam.


Thank you , i will try it out and let you know


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## bergstrom (Dec 13, 2022)

Simple workaround


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## trinibajan34 (Dec 14, 2022)

trinibajan34 said:


> Thank you , i will try it out and let you know


Tried it , the two led lights on flash just flash but it's absolutely useless


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## deebatman316 (Dec 14, 2022)

trinibajan34 said:


> Tried it , the two led lights on flash just flash but it's absolutely useless


Are you using a 3rd party speedlite or a Canon speedlite. I find that 3rd party speedlites will often emit the IR beam. When the camera decides that the body lamp is not working. But the IR beam isn't supposed to fire. The speedlite should switch to Intermittent Flashes for AF Assist. But 3rd party speedlites can't do this like a Canon speedlite.


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