My camera's flash is flashing 2 times prior to

Not sure of you camera model, but the flash will fire momentarily when you try to focus indoors as there is not enough light for the auto focus to work. This is so the camera can determine a distance from the subject to the camera. This is called focus assist (ref to your manual). It will work outdoors as there is enough light and contrast for the focus to work.

Kit lenses included with the camera are notoriously known not to focus well in dark conditions.

I own an F70 with similar lenses. I am not fully familiar with the F80, and therefore can't be sure what I am saying will halp, but I believe it is the next model of similar specs as mine. However, from your description, I think what you are saying is that the little red light that flashes, before the photo is taken and when you have the flash mechanism up, is no longer working, and that your camera is haveing difficulty getting a fix on the focus in automatic focus mode?
This red light is not the 'red eye reduction' flash, but rather a red light (so it doesn't make your subjects blink / squint too early) that helps the camera focus: Auto focus mechanisms need light too. If your light has stopped working, then that would explain why the camera can't focus. This should however only occur in low light conditions.
Fixes:
-Obviously, if it's still under warranty - take it back.
-Get it repaired
- OR if that's going to cost too much or you were thinking of doing so anyway, a dedicated flash unit MAY solve the problem. Most flash units have there own red light to aid autofocus. At any rate, you could take it in to a store and test a flash unit in-store to see whether it helps with the problem. If a dedicated flash unit didn't help (make sure you try it in a dark room - ask them to take it into a back room and try it) then it might suggest another problem such as: the camera is failing to send the signal to the red light to flash rather than the light not working. After all, the red light would be an LED, which have extremely long lifespans.

I just had the exact same problem on a friend's Exilim EX-Z75. Since it was useless as is, I was asked to investigate. It turned out to be a mechanical problem in the lense. I'm not too sure if it was a misalignment of the servo motor or if a gear popped out of a guide hole. In any case, if your lense goes in and out as it normally does, the problem is not in the main motor, but in a smaller internal secondary motor that adjusts the focus. Only try this if you are comfortable working with small tools and have plenty of patience. Took me about 3 hours start to finish. Warning: there is a capacitor that can hold a good enough charge to give you a jolt, possibly causing you to drop or damage the camera beyond repair, or short out your pacemaker. Keep your hands clean and avoid touching the circuit board and lense and display surfaces. Just in case you do get the camera working. Cycle the power button until the lense retracts completely. Remove the battery. Remove the case screws (6 on the bottom and 8 on the sides) and carefully remove from internal camera. The lense assembly is held in by some soft spongy spacers and a clip on the bottom corner of the lens compartment. Push the clip and the lense assembly should flip up revealing the back of the lense. Be careful to not put too much tension on the flexible circuit board. The CCD (that captures the picture) in the middle is held on by two screws. Remove that first letting it sit in the lense compartment. Then there is a circular plate that will reveal the focusing motor and gears. Remove the 6 screws and carefully remove the plate. There is a small motor and 3 gears that will be exposed. The center one might pop out. If it does, the small gear on the dual gear assembly faces down. You should be able to pick up the center focus unit high enough to make sure that the focus gears and rods are properly lined up in their guide holes and check to make sure none of them are stripped or out of alignment. The focus rods should be paralell to one another on the side of the focus unit. This is what I believe is causing the lense error problem. I would suggest after checking the alignment that you manually turn the gears so that the lens is all the way up. Turn the brass gear on the motor to make sure that all the gears are turning and moving the focus lense. If you think you have everything aligned properly, it's time to re-assemble the camera. Once you have the back plate and CCD put together, you could try to put the battery back and power up. If everything is ok, you should see a picture on the display and be able to take a picture. (Watch out for that capacitor.) If not, you might want to take it apart and recheck the alignment of the focus gears again. I had to do it twiceeven though it looked ok the first time. Remember, anything not lined up properly in there will cause the camera to malfunction. You should also have a greater appreciation for how sensitive a camera can be. DON'T DROP IT! Good Luck. Phil

Have you tried to take picture by switching off the autofocus to manual focus in a prperly lit environment?
If it takes a picture, then it has something to do with your auto focus system of your camera. In such a case: try taking out the battery, the memory card etc and switch off the camera and keep it for like that for about 5 minutes. And then insert only the fully charged battery and try again.
If it still gives you a problem and keep trying to focus You will need to take it to the nearest Canon Service centre.

Hi,
We had the same problem, and we fixed it! First, identify that it''s the AF motor drive by A) Turning it on and putting your ears against the camera, then hearing a humming noise for about 5 seconds. B) The error comes up flashing on the screen: "E:61:00". Okay, so you''ve identified your problem! Next you wanna fix it, right? ;) A) Put the camera about a half inch from a hard surface. B) Let the lense go out and hit the surface and retract a little bit. Let it go out all the way when it tries the next time. If that doesnt fix it, try this: A) Turn it on and let the lense go out fully B) See where the lense comes out of the camera? The little round crack that surrounds it? Wiggle the lense a bit and blow in there a bit. (Be sure not to blow on the lense!) Now turn it off/on again, and it should be fixed! If not, try these steps a few more times. If still nothing, then I suggest phoning Sony, but this DID work for us, so hopefully it''ll work for you :)

Chris (ziraffa)

you sure its not on manual focus?

I remember reading a review of the K100D that mentioned that it had poor low light performance. I know mine has a really hard time focusing in low light situations. It does the sweeping back and forth & most of the time never ends up taking a picture. (Even when it bursts the flash to try to focus.)

I've just started experimenting by using a flash light aimed at the subject I want to focus in low light situations, and the camera seems to be able to focus & take a shot more reliably.

If this works, I'm going to rig up something to hold the flash light underneath the camera so that I can use it more often.

I will post an update if this works!

Take Care & Happy Imaging!
Glen
:)

The evolt cameras use the flash bursts as a "autofocus help". Try to find points with high contrast or edges to point one of the three autofocus points at (you see these points while looking through the viewfinder and they flash red as soon as the camera is focused).

So, flash bursts basically mean "too low light" some other situation which is hard for the camera to focus. In such situations, try to switch to MF mode (manual focus). Or you could buy an external flash (e.g. Olympus FL-36) which has a red light for autofocus assistance instead of flash bursts.

No, I don't think so, there could be differences between the Auto and the P setting. But the red flashing is where your camera is currently focusing on. It's possible that the black was indicating the focus box, but it was not latched on to something with complete focus, which then is indicated by the red flashing. Check this link to read up further on this. I may not have pinpointed it exactly, because I have a D70s, but that's what I found so far. You'll maybe have to reset everything and see if it's still there, otherwise, it's a setting. =)

What camera are you using is the lens making a noise when it stops focusing  call sigma imaging uk 01707 329999