en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/615595 Comments by howgus http://reviews.davidleetong.com/reviews/review-olympus-ep-1-digital-pen-camera-part-ii-of-iii/#IDComment28563493 Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the flashlight in part II. After further thought and exchanges with Olympus tech support: the FL flashes use infrared bulbs for use by phase detect AF systems. They can't be used by contrast detect AF systems because infrared is blocked to the sensor in order to enhance image quality. So a new flash is needed that also has a visible light AF assist. Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:07:12 +0000 http://reviews.davidleetong.com/reviews/review-olympus-ep-1-digital-pen-camera-part-ii-of-iii/#IDComment28563493 http://reviews.davidleetong.com/reviews/review-olympus-ep-1-digital-pen-camera-part-ii-of-iii/#IDComment28542588 I just had a very discouraging reply from Olympus support regarding the absence of AF assist using the FL-36R: "The E-P1 does not have an option for AF Assist because it uses an autofocus system substantially different from the systems used in DSLRs. " My question then is if I am taking pictures in light low enough to require flash, then without AF assist the flash becomes useless, since all shots will be OOF, although well lit. This is not looking good. Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:09:56 +0000 http://reviews.davidleetong.com/reviews/review-olympus-ep-1-digital-pen-camera-part-ii-of-iii/#IDComment28542588 http://reviews.davidleetong.com/reviews/review-olympus-ep-1-digital-pen-camera-part-ii-of-iii/#IDComment28429962 AF is the only major issue I have with this camera, not because it's slow (I never expected phase detect speeds, although the slowest in the contrast detect pack probably points to new firmware), but the fact that the FL-36R AF assist lamp doesn't come on!?!. All other functions in the flash work fine with the E-P1, and Olympus gave no warnings on their website about AF assist not functioning. The FL-36R is recommended with this camera on Oly's website, so this has to be a firmware oops.____BTW, I always prefer AF accuracy to speed, if I can't have both. Not trying to give Oly an excuse, but just making sure their priorities are where they should be. Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:18:22 +0000 http://reviews.davidleetong.com/reviews/review-olympus-ep-1-digital-pen-camera-part-ii-of-iii/#IDComment28429962