Faulty Canon Speedlite 430EZ

[kjevans]

Hi,

I have been given a Canon Speedlite 430EZ for use with my EOS30 film camera and the flash has a slight fault.

The AF Auxiliary Light Emitter stays on when the batteries are inserted even though the switch is set to off.

I thought well, I have nothing to lose so I unscrewed the bottom and found that the auxiliary light was connected via a small plastic plug, so I disconnected it.

Now obviously the light does not come on at all but my question is, do I really need it?

The only entry in the instruction manual about the light says that in dark settings the AF light automatically emits to facilitate focus.

I am guessing that this means the focus of the lens not any feature of the flash itself?

Any help would be appreciated.

Kind regards..,

K

 

[Al Brum]

Yes, in poor light it would use the light to help the camera find something to focus on, thus also giving it the information it needs to pass to the flash regarding range etc.
Simple answer is suck it and see, you may have to put adjust flash power yourself in very low light but I'm guessing it will be fine if the camera can see well enough to focus.

 

[kjevans]

Yes, in poor light it would use the light to help the camera find something to focus on, thus also giving it the information it needs to pass to the flash regarding range etc.
Simple answer is suck it and see, you may have to put adjust flash power yourself in very low light but I'm guessing it will be fine if the camera can see well enough to focus.

Thanks for replying, it does seem to be working fine actually.

I cannot forsee a time when I will be trying to shot in an environment that is so dark that I wouldn't be able to see it through the viewfinder, so I guess I should be okay then.

Kind regards..,

MT