CANON S1 AF lamp

[daveg00]

I tried out a S1 at the shops and there was an orange lamp on the popup flash that works the same as on my canon A70 , so why is that not the AF lamp that jeff claims is not there. I even tried to use the flash in a dimly lit corner and it focused ok, so am I missing something here?

[Velvet G]

I have the camera and it doesn't have AF assist. Yes, it will focus in some low light situations, but it doesn't have AF assist.

[lowkl]

Sorry, that's not a focus assist lamp, or so everyone (including Canon) says. It's supposed to be for red-eye reduction.

However, I just tried out a friend's Sony W1, which has a lamp that looks *identical* to the S1's. The funny thing is, all reviews are saying that it's a focus assist lamp!!

I tested the focus assist by shooting under a table to simulate low light conditions. The camera couldn't get a lock, even after multiple attempts! This doesn't give me much faith in these focus assist lamps at all.