G9 AF-assist Beam On/OFF?

I bought a G9 yesterday, so far so good. However, I cannot turn the 'AF-assist Beam' off. I’ve tried to turn it off in P mode as well as in Auto mode, but to no avail. The AF-assist Beam is always operational even when it is set to [Off]. Do I have a defective camera?

I turned mine off on P. You can't turn it off on auto - in auto the camera chooses all settings. Maybe others will chime in here - but unless I missed something, mine is still off on P.

Maria
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fredyr

michaelhryu said:

I bought a G9 yesterday, so far so good. However, I cannot turn the
'AF-assist Beam' off. I’ve tried to turn it off in P mode as well as
in Auto mode, but to no avail. The AF-assist Beam is always
operational even when it is set to [Off]. Do I have a defective
camera?

Click to expand...

Turn off RED-EYE in Menu. That often does it...

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eric-UK

Thanks everyone! Freddy, I reset the camera and start again several times, but still the same. I turned off Red-Eye in Menu, it surely turned off the AF-assist Beam, as Eric suggested. Does that mean do I have to turn Red-Eye [Off] as well, if I want to turn off AF-assist Beam? I looked up the Camera User Guide everywhere confirming this information. But nowhere in the guide did I find the info stating that AF-assist Beam and Red-Eye light must be turned ON/OFF at the same time when turning off the beam. Am I missing something?

michaelhryu said:

Thanks everyone! Freddy, I reset the camera and start again several
times, but still the same. I turned off Red-Eye in Menu, it surely
turned off the AF-assist Beam, as Eric suggested. Does that mean do
I have to turn Red-Eye [Off] as well, if I want to turn off AF-assist
Beam? I looked up the Camera User Guide everywhere confirming this
information. But nowhere in the guide did I find the info stating
that AF-assist Beam and Red-Eye light must be turned ON/OFF at the
same time when turning off the beam. Am I missing something?

Click to expand...

I don't think that it IS shown anywhere specifically in the Manual. It's always my Policy to turn off the Assist light as I feel it is distracting and can spoil a pic .. so I tried to do this when I got my G7. No luck for some time but I DID find - more by trial and chance I think - that with Red-Eye off that does it.

I rarely use flash so it doesn't bother me .. but if YOU want to use flash a lot..AND think that Red-Eye ON is good for you then I do think you will have to leave Red-Eye ON.

But - I must mention ... if you are likely to use flash a lot , just for close friends type of pics or such - do try leaving Red-Eye OFF .. but set in Menu the item 'Safety FE' to ON ... and then flash away. In that mode the camera balances the flash with available light and I think you will like a lot of the pics you get.... and you might well turn Red-Eye OFF and not be bothered .... just try it ..

The flash isn't good enough for any distance shots anyway, so this Safety FE balace does give some nice results for ordinary distances such as up to about maybe 7 feet or so.

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eric-UK

Thanks Eric! I’d most appreciate your detailed explanations. I don’t fully understand what ‘Safety FE’ and such are all about, though, since I bought the G9 only yesterday and my experience with digital photography is rather limited. Still, I will remember your suggestions as I go along.

By the way, I posted a question on EV settings and Flash Output question quoting your earlier posting, Re: Safety Shift & Safety FE & G7 settings. Do you have an updated settings recommendation for G9?

Michael

michaelhryu said:

I bought a G9 yesterday, so far so good. However, I cannot turn the
'AF-assist Beam' off. I’ve tried to turn it off in P mode as well as
in Auto mode, but to no avail. The AF-assist Beam is always
operational even when it is set to [Off]. Do I have a defective
camera?

Click to expand...

I just check my G9. I can turn 'AF-assist Beam' off at P without Turn off RED-EYE in Menu.

D

michaelhryu said:

Thanks Eric! I’d most appreciate your detailed explanations. I
don’t fully understand what ‘Safety FE’ and such are all about,
though, since I bought the G9 only yesterday and my experience with
digital photography is rather limited. Still, I will remember your
suggestions as I go along.

By the way, I posted a question on EV settings and Flash Output
question quoting your earlier posting, Re: Safety Shift & Safety FE &
G7 settings. Do you have an updated settings recommendation for G9?

Michael

Click to expand...

Michael -
The Safety FE thing is fairly simple so I'll just guide you on that ...

Switch the camera on in normal 'ready-to-shoot' mode - now press the Menu button at bottom right corner of the camera and get on show the Menu.
If you look at the item next to the bottom you'll see 'Safety FE'.

Just use the round turn ring of the 4-way quadrant at the back , until you scroll down to that Safety FE item. Probably it will be set as OFF (I think that is standard) so just use the left OR right of the four quadrant buttons and you should see it change from ON to OFF in succesion. Just get it highlighted as ON then pres the center SET button to set it as that and press Menu to clear it back to the shooting screen.
Simple - you now have Safety FE set ON and you can leave it as that.

Just do nothing more right now - but try a simple flash in your room or somewhere similar. If you keep shooting to a max of around 7 feet or so I think you'll find that it gives you a fairly well balanced flash shot . The camera flash can be VERY good if used this way.

If you happen to get a regular over-flash , you CAN set the flash intensity with yet another Menu item. But this is NOT the one you use for the Safety FE .. instead - press the SET button (middle of the 4-way quadrant) and this brings up a Menu running top to bottom on LEFT side of the screen. First (top) one is WB .. and so on .. you change which is to be used by rotating the outer ring of the quadrant buttons and you need to do this to move the highlighted item to the FOURTH one down. You now see 'Flash' and a scale of -2 to +2. It's probably set in the middle zero position .. if the flash shots are over-lit , just try adjusting the scale to such as -2/3 to start with and see how it alters the flash pics. You just have to adjust when you find any flash are over or under lit .. your choice. (DON'T try to change the bar settings with the outer ring - use the left or right buttons inside it). When you've got it set as you feel necessary, SET button to fix it then come out of Menu

As to general settings - I'm not really sure if I did give somewhere any to start with as a guide - can't remember that , but I will say ... best start point I can recommend is just simply use 'P' mode and set EV to -0.3 on the scale, use Auto WB and Auto ISO .. and unless you shoot in some very odd locations I think you will find that this should give you a very good start that you use as a guide - don't mess about with settings until you feel that most shots from the above settings are not quite right. If that is so , all I can say is that you have a very much different camera than I have !!!
Good luck with your pics ...

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eric-UK

Dreams said:

I just check my G9. I can turn 'AF-assist Beam' off at P without Turn off RED-EYE in Menu.

Click to expand...

I see nothing to suggest that a feature of this type would be changed as between the G7 and G9.

It is possible that although you have Red Eye ON and do not see the green Assist light - that may well be because the Assist is not needed. If you are shooting in reasonable light the light is not needed - but do a few trial shots in half-press "ready to shoot" mode AND in a quite dim or subdued light. I think you will find that in the needed situations you will STILL get the green light uinless Red Eye is OFF. That seems to stop it - although I can't reconcile why it should !!

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eric-UK

Thank you again, Eric!

I managed to set Safety FE [ON]; the option is hidden under the ‘Flash Control’ Menu on my G9 though. You must be referring to G7, when you wrote “Switch the camera on in normal 'ready-to-shoot' mode - now press the Menu button at bottom right corner of the camera and get on show the Menu. If you look at the item next to the bottom you'll see 'Safety FE'.”

I have a couple more questions, please:

1. You recommended me to set EV to -0.3 on the scale. What does this EV mean (stands for) and where can I find this option on the camera? If only I knew what it is! Sorry for my ignorance!

2. In your earlier posting, you recommended Flash Output = Standard. Could you also tell me what this is all about, please?

Michael

I second Eric’s observations. I called Canon USA Tech Support, speaking to an agent and a senior engineer later for about an hour or so, trying to set ‘AF-assist Beam’ off while keeping ‘Red-Eye’ on over the phone. We’ve concluded that AF-assist Beam and Red-Eye work together when it comes to setting the beam ON/OFF. All three of us were in agreement that the two options should work separately since the functions are independent of each other, though. They suggested to me to write to Canon through their website (Contact Canon page) requesting for fixing the problem through firmware update; they said that all the Canon programmers are based in Japan, and thus the Canon USA tech support has no better access to the programmers in requesting for firmware update, etc.

Dreams, if you were able to turn 'AF-assist Beam' off at P Mode without turning off RED-EYE in Menu, I’d very much like to hear more about it.

Michael

michaelhryu said:

Thank you again, Eric!

I managed to set Safety FE [ON]; the option is hidden under the
‘Flash Control’ Menu on my G9 though. You must be referring to G7,
when you wrote “Switch the camera on in normal 'ready-to-shoot' mode

• now press the Menu button at bottom right corner of the camera and

get on show the Menu. If you look at the item next to the bottom
you'll see 'Safety FE'.”

Click to expand...

So it sounds from what you say that forsome reason I hadn't known .. nor can really see why (!!) , the G9 Menu layout may be a little different. But if you got Safety FE ON that's OK ...

michaelhryu said:

I have a couple more questions, please:

1. You recommended me to set EV to -0.3 on the scale. What does this
EV mean (stands for) and where can I find this option on the camera?
If only I knew what it is! Sorry for my ignorance!

Click to expand...

EV stands (most known as ) Exposure Value .. although it can sometimes be referred to with different things such as EC for one (Exposure Compensation.) Either are just as good as each other

Finding it is one of the easy things ... Top Right-side button of the two immediately above the quadrant buttons with the Circle turn around it. It's marked + - , which is obvious in a way as it adjusts the EV by either plus or minus value. As you press that + - button the scale comes onscreen and you adjust with the circular ring. I set mine to the first mark on the - (minus) side , which is EV -0.3

Remember this is NOT an LCD adjustment , it is an EXPOSURE adjustment .. but just to show you the sort of effect , take it right down to -2 and right up to +2 and see how the screen changes. It is NOT an adjustment of the LCD but is because of the EXPOSURE change you set , this of course giving a slightly more or less actual exposure , and that is what shows onscreen in the 'live' view.

michaelhryu said:

2. In your earlier posting, you recommended Flash Output = Standard.
Could you also tell me what this is all about, please?

Click to expand...

I still don't recall that posting but any reference to Flash Output would be what I said earlier - an adjustment made in that LEFT screen-side list of things .. Flash setting being the 4th one down. Center mark would be 'Standard' , although from my own experiences (and this is a personal thing) I've left mine as minus the first mark in the scale - left of center.. that drops the Flash output just a tot , but enough to make a slightly better adjustment FOR ME. YOU must make this change (if any) yourself though, as rooms of course vary...

michaelhryu said:

Michael

Click to expand...

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eric-UK

michaelhryu said:

I second Eric’s observations. I called Canon USA Tech Support,
speaking to an agent and a senior engineer later for about an hour or
so, trying to set ‘AF-assist Beam’ off while keeping ‘Red-Eye’ on
over the phone. We’ve concluded that AF-assist Beam and Red-Eye work
together when it comes to setting the beam ON/OFF. All three of us
were in agreement that the two options should work separately since
the functions are independent of each other, though. They suggested
to me to write to Canon through their website (Contact Canon page)
requesting for fixing the problem through firmware update; they said
that all the Canon programmers are based in Japan, and thus the Canon
USA tech support has no better access to the programmers in
requesting for firmware update, etc.

Dreams, if you were able to turn 'AF-assist Beam' off at P Mode
without turning off RED-EYE in Menu, I’d very much like to hear more
about it.

Michael

Click to expand...

Hi, michael,

Yes, I try a gain, and sure I can turn 'AF-assist Beam' off at P Mode without turning off RED-EYE in Menu. However, I find that when turn the' flash on', the green beam come on. So looks like that the flash should be 'off' and only in this situation you can turn 'AF-assist Beam' off at P Mode without turning off RED-EYE in Menu.??? Or maybe now the green beam has other function than "AF-assist"? I don't know.

You can try to set the flash at off to see what happen.

.......

Thanks a million, Eric!

You know what?; I was almost there. Through the net search, I guessed EV could be Exposure Compensation. From there, I looked thru the PDF version of the Camera User Guide on my computer, of which I downloaded after reading the posting about it in this forum, then I was able to locate two Exposure Compensation options: one is Exposure Compensation (p. 48), the other Flash Exposure Compensation (pp. 149-50). I chose the wrong one, of course.

Now, I feel I am ready for the real thing, learning to use the camera!

michaelhryu said:

Thanks a million, Eric!

You know what?; I was almost there. Through the net search, I
guessed EV could be Exposure Compensation. From there, I looked thru
the PDF version of the Camera User Guide on my computer, of which I
downloaded after reading the posting about it in this forum, then I
was able to locate two Exposure Compensation options: one is Exposure
Compensation (p. 48), the other Flash Exposure Compensation (pp.
149-50). I chose the wrong one, of course.

Now, I feel I am ready for the real thing, learning to use the camera!

Click to expand...

Good!! .. now we'll wait for some super-duper pics from you . ??

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eric-UK

Thanks again Dreams!

I checked my camera settings again. The Flash was set at [Auto]. Turning the flash off, I was able to turn off the AF-assist Beam in P Mode while keeping the Red-Eye on, as you suggested. However, the AF-assist Beam can be beneficial only in the dark setting, right? This is the time when we need the flash (more light) most, I presume. If we cannot use the flash and the AF-assist Beam together at the same time, what good is to have the assist beam, I wonder? I mean I’d much prefer to have the flash if I had to choose between the two.

I feel much clearer about thie issue now, anyway. This forum rocks!

Michael

michaelhryu said:

Thanks again Dreams!

I checked my camera settings again. The Flash was set at [Auto].
Turning the flash off, I was able to turn off the AF-assist Beam in P
Mode while keeping the Red-Eye on, as you suggested. However, the
AF-assist Beam can be beneficial only in the dark setting, right?
This is the time when we need the flash (more light) most, I presume.
If we cannot use the flash and the AF-assist Beam together at the
same time, what good is to have the assist beam, I wonder? I mean
I’d much prefer to have the flash if I had to choose between the two.

I feel much clearer about thie issue now, anyway. This forum rocks!

Michael

Click to expand...

Michael -
I understand your thinking , but just think of this ....

It is a fact that the Assist light is only intended to give the camera a better means of getting correct focus in dim light .. or any circumstance where easy focus seems to get a difficulty.. and using flash assumes the need because of the low light .. right ?

But as yet , I've just never had any difficulty on my G7 in getting pretty easy focus even if in quite dim light..

And I still don't like the idea of what really is quite a bright green light shining in peoples faces when you want to take a pic. If nothing else, it is more than likely to be a bit of a surprise and more than likely give a change of expression in a lot of cases, just when you probably want to shoot a nice ordinary look..

So I still wonder just what good the green light really does., It most definitely does nothing for me - nor does it help in focussing, as the camera does that well enough already.
Do YOU find any difficulty in focussing in dim light ...?? I don't.

By the way , I'm now about off to Z-zzz's so I leave you with the thought .....

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eric-UK