BBF

[ohheckyeah]

Does anyone here use back button focus?

I'm not new to digital photography or SLR photography, but I'm finding out a lot of things I didn't know about DSLR photography. Back button focus is one of those things....hope you don't mind me sharing here.

I get so frustrated with auto focus. I need auto focus because I'm so nearsighted and don't do well with manual focus, but I often accidentally let up on the shutter button after it auto focuses and when I go to take the picture it auto focuses again. Using back button focus, I don't have to deal with that annoying problem.

Used in conjunction with AF-C on the Nikon and AI-Servo, you can auto focus on something and it will track a moving object without refocusing. Or if doing something like a portrait, you can recompose and you don't have to focus again (as long as you are the same distance from the subject).

This article explains it better than I can: http://improvephotography.com/4552/back-button-focusing/

If you use BBF, please share your experiences with it. Do you love it, hate it, feel indifferent to it?

[NV Whino]

1. After reading that, I think I'm one of these...

if you don’t quite understand how focus works, then head for the hills, hide yourself in the corner, and grab a teddy bear for protection.

Although I can see how that would be useful, I doubt I would ever use it. Thanks for posting this, though. Now I know it's available.

[Major Nikon]

2. I've been using it ever since I got my D7000

It takes a bit to get used to it. At first you miss a lot of shots because you forget to press the button. However, once you get the hang of it you just do it without thinking about it.

[ohheckyeah]

3. I can see how that would happen

but at least I wouldn't miss shots while the auto focus is focusing once again.

[ManiacJoe]

4. I have been using the af-on button since 2007.

It took me two full days of shooting to get used to it, but now I would never go back. The camera only focuses when I want it to making focus and recompose simple.

When set for af-on and af-continuous, "press and hold" gets you focus tracking on moving targets while "press and release" mimics af-single mode, all without changing any settings.

Life is a bit simpler when you have a pro-level body that has separate buttons for af-on and ae-L. With the consumer bodies you need to make some compromises in the button configuration.

[groundloop]

5. Been using back-buton-focus for around three years, I won't ever go back

It felt strange at first, but after maybe 5 minutes it was not a big deal. It's just a big advantage to be able to separate the focus and shutter functions, you've got more control over the camera. My thumb tells the camera "I want you to focus now", and my forefinger tells the camera "take the shot now".

One thing to watch out for when shooting still subjects with BBF in conjunction with AI Servo is that when the camera is in Servo mode it expects for there to be motion. If there's not the autofocus can tend to start 'hunting' a bit and you might not get as sharp of a shot as when you're in Single Shot mode (obviously there's no law that says you can't use BBF in single shot mode). This ONLY applies to shooting still subjects in AI Servo.

Oh, one advantage to using BBF that not many people talk about.... Nobody likes to borrow my camera .