XTI strobe flash?

[divided]

Sometimes when i am using my flash, it appears to flash very quickly on and off,. almost like a strobe. Is this normal, why is this happening?

 

[Mr_Bester]

That is the red eye reduction. It's a prefire to make the subjects pupils smaller to avoid redeye.
Dug

 

[Sideburns]

actually, it's the autofocus assist most likely...because I'm pretty sure the red-eye reduction feature is off by default. Could be wrong, though.

Anyways...mine only does it when it's trying to autofocus and my flash is popped up...(so barely ever)

 

[DSLR noob]

it's AF assist (helping the camera focus in the dark) the red eye reduction is a small lamp to the right of the lens (right when holding the camera in shooting position looking at the back, but the light is on the front)

 

[Mr_Bester]

Sorry for the wrong info...

 

[JerryPH]

It could be any of 3 possibilities:

- TTL flash metering
- Autofocus assist
- Red eye reduction

Depending on what settings you have it on, it will "pre-flash" before the flash fires and the camera takes the pic. The red-eye reduction is the most obvious, it will quickly flash ~3 times before taking the pic.

 

[divided]

hrmmm, i had auto focus on, and red eye reduction on. Its more than 3 flashes though, and especially prominent if it cant focus. So it must be the auto focus. Because if i half press the shutter and it cant focus, itll do it the whole time the shutter is half way down.

 

[Sideburns]

hrmmm, i had auto focus on, and red eye reduction on. Its more than 3 flashes though, and especially prominent if it cant focus. So it must be the auto focus. Because if i half press the shutter and it cant focus, itll do it the whole time the shutter is half way down.

Yup, that's it then. It's af assist.