Red focus confirmation light barely visible

Hi Guys

I lent my old 550D / T2i to a friend the other day and was showing him the ropes but the red focus confirmation light is barely visible (I think I can just about see it sometimes).

Most of the time its like its not lighting up at all, but it will beep confirm.

I havent got AI Servo etc turned on.

I have got the lens set on auto focus.

Ive totally reset the camera for him so there are no custom controls on it.

Any idea what else it could be? Is there some internal batter perhaps that makes it light up?

Thanks in advance.

If your body is like the Canon bodies I have, there is no built in AF assist light. This feature will only work if you were to attach an external speed light that included an AF assist light option.

Edit...

Disregard the above. Lol

i totally misunderstood. AFAIK there is no setting for what you are looking for. My SL1 has a similar issue. It is much more difficult to see than on my more modern bodies.

If the T2i is like my old XT/350D (maybe it is, maybe it isn't), the focus screen is supposed to have reflective dots at the AF points. If those reflective dots come off the screen, all you'll get is a weak red blur in the general area.

CoffeeKing wrote:

I lent my old 550D / T2i to a friend the other day and was showing him the ropes but the red focus confirmation light is barely visible (I think I can just about see it sometimes).

The focus confirmation light is green -

So you must be talking about the AF point activation indicator, which is red.

Most of the time its like its not lighting up at all, but it will beep confirm.

What is the green focus confirmation light doing in that scenario?

Any idea what else it could be? Is there some internal batter perhaps that makes it light up?

The date/time backup battery was dropped with the 450D. In any case the red flash of the AF point would be powered by the main battery.

They are harder to see in bright light - what's it like in dull light?