Backbutton Focus..do you use it? Pros? Cons? How hard to get used to it?

[DominoDude]

Also shooting with a 7D, and the first thing I looked for in the manual was how to set it to have BBF. I don't even think I took a single frame with the camera before I had it set up. If I love it? You bet I do!

For those mentioning problems with handing the camera over to someone else. If I hand over the camera to someone else it is either because I'm being robbed, or someone is buying it from me.

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi,
Thank you for your kindness.
I have not checked whether the shutter button does focus live view in green mode, but I had a thought earlier, it does take a while to focus in live view and I don't know if he was perhaps impatient and snapping before focus lock or just didn't get press this then this. Either way I cannot lay the blame for missed shots on any one other than me. I should have checked. I will not even mention the missed focus as he is the kind of guy that would feel guilty as he knows the situation with dad.

Cheers Graham.

Very sorry to hear about your father's condition - that's not easy.

But about BBF I think the green zone comment above is the right approach when handing someone else your camera for a snapshot. It also sets the camera to P mode with some audible focus beeps as I recall, which will help them know what's going on.

Hi,
You'd think if I trust them with my camera then they will be able to cope with BBF.
Example, last week my brother and his family were over in England from USA, to see our father for possibly the last time, (when his vascular surgeon says he's on quality time not quantity time you get the family together) we had a family evening and with us is a long time friend of my brother which was good as he could take some group shots of us including me, I'm not in many usually behind camera not in front.
This friend is a dispensing pharmacist so has degrees etc ie not a fool.
Right I've set it all up all you have to do is press this button, marked focus on then press this big one under your index finger. Not one in focus picture and I didn't think to check any of them. :
Unfortunately due to the 17-85 lens being out of wack at the wide end I had to have the camera in live view focus and I didn't think that would focus from the focus button in green square, not sure if I set green square or not. Either way he had enough info and supposed intellect to deal with BBF and with him being an iPhone photographer I thought live view would help.
Fortunately I did take some pics just means I'm absent from them.

Cheers. Graham.

Hi folks,

From a keen amateur, this post has been very helpful. Have just taken AF off my shutter and am looking forward to giving it a whirl.

My only observation though: is it that big of a deal when handing your camera to someone else, to point to the BBF and say "here's what you press to focus"? I mean, if the person finds that instruction hard to deal with, then I wouldn't be giving them my camera at all.

 

[golubiewac1]

I've found this discussion very useful and have followed the tips here to set it up on my 7D. Would not want to spend a ton of time blundering down blind alleys doing cut and try. The 7D is too complex for that. Thanks to all the responders who have added good ideas to the conversation. I'm not too proud to benefit from the experience of others as well as experimenting.

 

[chilledXpress]

For those mentioning problems with handing the camera over to someone else. If I hand over the camera to someone else it is either because I'm being robbed, or someone is buying it from me.

You've never been on vacation with the family or wife... ???

 

[CHL]

Thank you all - since two days now I am on BBF and I simply can't understand why I didn't figure that out before! Agree with Neuro: "Use it - love it". And the only person I would hand my camera to is my son and he is a much better photographer than me so he would know and I suspect that this is how his 7D is set up

 

[7Dneilan]

Dear Valvebounce / Graham,

Sorry also for your personal situation. Posts like these must seem trivial when you're experiencing that.

Point taken about handing over the gear. I've only been doing this for 5mins, so guess I'm pretty naïve.

Cheers,
D.

 

[CharlieB]

Well... old dog, new tricks.

After reading this thread, a while ago after it first started, I set my 5Dii and 7D up for back button focus. It took just a little bit of getting used to, but... overall, I'm very happy with keeping focus and AE/Shutter on different buttons. Best thing, is you get to focus, then compose and shoot multiple shots without having to worry about the camera re-focusing for every shot. Simple. I can always touch up the focus with the touch of a button. This is how we tended to shoot in the film/non-AF days. You'd focus, then worry about exposure and composition. Like I said, old dog, new trick. Every once in a while still... I get caught off guard, but it only takes a very brief moment and I'm on my game again, and thumb is on button to focus. I can't see going back to having it all on the shutter release.

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi. D.
Thanks for your thoughts. That makes two naive then as I did hand it over thinking it would work out and didn't even check.

Cheers Graham.

Dear Valvebounce / Graham,

Sorry also for your personal situation. Posts like these must seem trivial when you're experiencing that.

Point taken about handing over the gear. I've only been doing this for 5mins, so guess I'm pretty naïve.

Cheers,
D.

 

[curby]

I think of back button focus as 'manual focus using a button'

Great way of putting it. Now you have full time manual focus (with most modern lenses at least) and full time auto focus. Best of all worlds if you have enough finger coordination to manage an extra button.

I got the 70D and am doing back button focus with DoF preview button being a single-shot AF/Servo AF toggle. My only question is whether to have SS or Servo be the default (with the alternate on the DoF button). I like the beep+flash AF confirmation of the SS, but I like the continual tracking of the Servo. Hmm.. ???

 

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Again for those who don't to have to used to it or who find it slows things down a touch or is awkward even after time, consider setting the back AF button not to DO AF but to STOP AF. So you keep AF with the main trigger (half-pressed for AI servo), but for the times you don't want that blocked just hold the back AF button (even more easily just use the front ring buttons on super teles if you have those). Now if you are doing absolutely nothing but focus and recompose then maybe just put af to af back button, but otherwise, personally, I don't like that at all and if I need to stop AF then I use the stop AF function instead.

So just another thing to consider. It doesn't have to be the YOU MUST SET THE AF TO THE BACK BUTTON THING as it is made to seem in many a forum, if not always in the real world. And there are other ways to control it specially.

Some big sports guys actually don't use back button AF, but keep it on the trigger and use the AF stop functions if they need to stop it, or simply half-finger lift when that alone works.

 

[wsmith96]

I just set up my rebel this way. Took a while for me to get used too, and I actually switched it back for a while. I ended up missing some football action shots because I kept forgetting that I has switched to the back button. That's just learning curve though.

 

[Zv]

I just set up my rebel this way. Took a while for me to get used too, and I actually switched it back for a while. I ended up missing some football action shots because I kept forgetting that I has switched to the back button. That's just learning curve though.

But once you make that mistake, which everyone including me totally does the first time round, you'll never forget!

One way to help remind you is the "beep". If you don't hear it you know what to do.

 

[pedro]

I set it up as soon as I found out that there was a setting mode on my trusty rusty 30D. The 5Diii has it as a standard function, and I'd never go back to any other method.

 

[DominoDude]

For those mentioning problems with handing the camera over to someone else. If I hand over the camera to someone else it is either because I'm being robbed, or someone is buying it from me.

You've never been on vacation with the family or wife... ???

With my gear I couldn't afford to have a wife... and if I could, I have a backup body in that case.

 

[verysimplejason]

For those mentioning problems with handing the camera over to someone else. If I hand over the camera to someone else it is either because I'm being robbed, or someone is buying it from me.

You've never been on vacation with the family or wife... ???

With my gear I couldn't afford to have a wife... and if I could, I have a backup body in that case.

My wife knows how to use BBF and Av at least. Teaching her would be more beneficial and more efficient.

 

[DRR]

One small annoyance I have with backbutton focus, is when I wear my camera with my Optech strap, it rubs against my body and it activates the backbutton focus button on my battery grip. So I'll be wearing it and if I have a louder lens, I can hear it focusing the whole time. WHIIIR, WHIR. WHIR, WHHHHIR.

It's not so much a problem with the button on the camera, which is recessed, but it is not recessed on the grip.

Overall I like it though, one button to focus, another to lock exposure. You get used to it quickly.

 

[RustyTheGeek]

Ditto to everything above. Use it, love it, didn't take long to get used to it.

 

[Nicky Savage]

If you have the camera in AI servo mode what Af area select mode would you mostly use ?

I am a bit confused on what is genarally the best...

Nicky..

 

[curby]

I'm just getting started, but I do AI Servo, back button focus, and usually center point active. Focus and recompose is so easy, just make sure that when you swivel, you aren't moving the subject out of your DoF. I guess BoF and sports could make use of more active points. Like I said, I'm still learning. =)

 

[mwh1964]

Use it all the time. Very convenient. Easy to get used to and then you will never go back. Quite funny when somebody hand over their canon or whatever to take their sorrow tourist picture and one don't understand why the damn thing won't focus pushing all the buttons on the back. If I hand the camera over I put it in green Sq.