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Question: In low light situations, the flash on my Olympus digital SLR flashes a couple of times before taking the picture. What’s going on?
Answer: Olympus accessory flashes such as the FL-36R and FL-50R can be set to project a red grid to assist the camera autofocus in low light situations. To assist the camera’s autofocus in low light situations when accessory flashes are not mounted on the camera, Olympus digital SLRs have an Autofocus Illuminator option in the menu.
In most Olympus digital SLRs, The AF ILLUMINATOR option is found in the SETUP 1 menu (Wrench icon 1). When it is set to ON the flash will fire a set of quick, low-power flashes to provide enough light for the autofocus system to lock focus and allow the camera to shoot.
However, if one of the Autofocus Frames is not on an area illuminated by the pre-flashes, the camera may have a difficult time finding something to focus on and may flash a few more times while it is trying to focus.
The default AF FRAME setting is AUTO. In this setting, the camera selects which AF Frame to use. Try changing the setting to the center autofocus frame, and you will find the camera will have a faster autofocus response with and without the AF Illuminator.
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