Photography Tips and Tricks: BackFocus Button - Episode 52
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- View more episodes at kelbyone.com/we...
RC answers a question on what is the back focus button. He talks about how to set your Nikon or Canon to back focus and explains why you should set the back focus button.
I stumbled on this channel and found myself watching the best teacher on the net. Great job RC.
Finally someone explained how to set this up without reading me the whole manual!! Thank you!!
Set up both my cameras for Back Button Focus to snap sports events. Worked an absolute treat!
Now I FINALLY understand back button focus! I'm setting it up on my 6D as I'm watching. Let's see how it turns out.
Saw the back button focus on some channel and used it recently in a wedding. So much better than regular focusing technique.
Nice hint, works well! One more important detail though. Back button focus is the more useful if focussing is set for focus continuous. Ideal for sports, birds, cars .....
focussing follows subjects .....
Thanks RC you explain AF back button the best I have found cheers
Thanks RC! Now when shooting in studio with a stationary subject I no longer have to "meerkat" constantly to pick up focus.
Thank you for the tutorial RC, your tip was the most informative; I am now set up on my 70D and 7D.
Thanks RC.. I see lots of pros using The back button to focus.. takes just a few fames to get used to it.. But I find I can't live with out that feature... just so much better to use the Back button to focus..
Thanks bro. I watched 3 minutes and got the answer I needed - AND WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE APPLICATION TO MY 40D! This has got to be the 10th sources I have consulted. Very frustrating. To boot, my shutter button was not actuating. I remembered the "Clean Your Shutter Button W Alcohol" vids and fixed it! I thought the camera was overriding my focus or exposure settings. I'm so burned out trying everything, that I will have to practice locking both with the respective buttons. What a relief! Imagine, a video that does what you expect it to do - and gets to the point!!!!
Nice helpful hint. I usually end up explaining this to multiple people who ask while at group photo shoots. I didn't ever do it before last year when I had a model who was repeatedly jumping at the same spot against a white background. Unless one of my focus points caught her at the right time I'd be out of focus but with the back focus set at the point she'd jump I didn't have to worry about it any more.
Nice video mate. Unfortunately you forgot to mention one problem that I have come to face when I bought the D610 (was used to my D300 which had a dedicated back focus button). By the time you set the AF-ON to the AE-L/AF-L button, since the shutter button does not act as a focus button anymore, in case you use remote triggers, the half press of the button on the trigger will not focus, so you have to prefocus every time by using the back focus button or manual focus on the dslr and then use the trigger. Although I love back focus button, this issue keeps me from using it in my D610. Just my $0.02.
Awesome !!!!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge !!!!
Nice presentation RC!
Excellent tutorial on back focus. I just not got my Canon 7D mark II hope to find more or your useful videos mainly on Canon
Love back focus, Used it for my shots at the LPGA here in Oneida WI #D4s
Thanks for the video, i will give this a try. one thing i noticed is that when i use live view on my 40d, i need to use the focus ring. when the af on button has control of the af and metering, in live view, pressing the af on button will enable the camera to focus then return to live view...very helpful in my case.
Thank you,very well explained. I will try it.
Thanks for the video. Thought I would post this in case it helps someone out. Something that was bothering me with a Tokina lens I own is the mechanism for switching from AF to MF. When using an ND1000 filter AF won't work, so I would AF without the filter then switch to MF, add the filter and take the shot. The problem with the tokina was that the MF clutch system they use on their lenses requires gears to align so switching to MF usually changes the point of focus. This means that the shot taken after switching to MF and adding the ND filter would not be properly focused. This is where the back button focusing comes in. By turnjng it on you can leave the camera in AF mode and use the back button to AF before adding the filter. Then after adding the filter simply don't touch the back button and just take the shot (the shutter button won't trigger autofocus). simple :)
Great info!
thanks for the helpful information
Awesome ! thanks !
Great video! I've finally set up back focusing on my Nikon D7100 after a long time hmm n arrring, Really don't know why i didn't earlier now :)
Hi! I love the music intro, what is it? And great video by that way, thanks!
very nice lession
Mr. Kelby like you I switched to Canon hope to hear from you
I think you kind of missed the point of why bbf is useful here. By leaving the focus mode set to continuous you can effectively emulate the one shot mode by just lifting your thumb off the back button when focus is achieved - no more fiddling with menus and buttons to change focus modes. And when you need to refocus just press the back button again. Simple!
I tried back button focus twice and had to go back to default way. I kept forgetting and tried focusing the old way and lost shots. And when I did remember I would tend to press hard on the BB making for blurry shots. I know it is just me but that is how it went down.
nice presentation
But if you leave your finger half pressed on the shutter, assuming the shutter controls AF, then shouldn't that be ok for recomposing and maintaining the same focus lock?
Do I have to Hold the Button or is it just on Click and the focus is all the Time on it?
Great video. I have a slight confusion though. How is that different from setting the focus once and then turning off the auto focus?? I generally do this for low light shooting, I set the focus on the subject and then just toggle the auto focus to manual. Thanks.
Thank you. Is safe to say to leave the back button focus on as a general rule, or is it only useful in certain situations.?
Once I got used to it it just so makes sense. The problem is when I ask somebody else to take a picture of me and stuff. The fastest solution is to flip to IdiotAuto mode. So what if the picture is a JPG, at least there is an in focus picture.
+Martti Suomivuori I never let anyone take a pic with my camera. Well, I shouldn't say never lol. But it's a rare thing. Especially now that I've set it to backbutton focusing lol.
Thank you sir
What is back focus issue in lens? I am planning to buy a wide angle lens for my D7000 and watching some reviews in youtube. heard of a backfocus issue with some lens. wanted to learn about it so that I can check that when I buy the lens..
On my Nikon D7500, this *f4 has "release button to use dial" on it, not assign AE-L/ AF-L button. I am a pure beginner and don`t know, and am just learning about photography and these types of cameras. Where do I go from here to find what I see in the first part of this video?
Great Music Intro. Does anyone what song it is?
Nice video but what is missing from the discussion is metering. In this set up which button is doing the metering?
Green Deane The shutter release button controls metering, the AF button does focus and metering
BladeRunner21577 So if I want to meter somewhere else and then focus on the subject, the back button overrides my existung exposure. Back button should only be set to focus, right?
is it possible to do it in 600d the BackFocus button?
If you're shooting a model with really shallow depth of field wouldn't you want the camera to continuously focus? If the model moves slightly or you move slightly the focus is lost. I guess the back focus button doesn't really help much in that situation?
+Felipe Buccianti Keep the AF-On button pressed.
+Felipe Buccianti On my camera the back button will work with whatever focus mode I choose. It works well with cont autofocus, and it frees up the shutter button for just shooting, not focusing. Just hold the back button down and it tracks focus whether your shooting or not.
in Custom Contol, what the rest menu does at 2:32 of the tutorial, thank you
Where can i find that project book?
ok, so ive never used back focus before and after spending 10-15 mins playing with it i think i can give it a go. HOWEVER. i just tied using the "backfocus" button on my camera-grip-extra-battery grips and no joy. So im guessing the only time i can use the backfocus is for horizontal shots? i tried using my thumb on the camera back focus button in a vertical position and since i look thru my camera with my left eye, ... that was a no joy situation also.
you also have to set it in the camera like you did for the af/al lock button, There is a separate on for the grip.
So each time you shoot . You have to use the back button. Does it turn off?
I have worked with the back button focusing for three months and I loathe it. It requires two hands holding the camera to use well. I do a lot of pictures of stuff held in one hand and picture taken with the other. In that regard the back button focusing is a HUGE pain in the ass. It got in the way all the time and made things far more difficult. Figure out you usually take pictures off THEN tinker with the tools.
+Green Deane How do you hold the camera if it hurts your butt when you are taking pictures? I mean, like how are you positioned in relation to the subject? Maybe if you revise that...I mean nobody in the world can tell you to use the Back Focusing Button if you don't want to but somehow I got the feeling that you missed what it is about...
Smiles...keep on shooting whatever manner you wish.
I am a Back Door Man...like John Lee Hooker...
Hi, Anybody can give some advoice? I just bought my new 5D Mark III. Please you give me advice how to set subject tracking and AI-Servo work together. I try to shoot kids activity run around and wedding photography. I been try many way but when I move my camera around I didn't see AF tracking while object moving. I try AF-tracking case 1 and case 4 and use single point AF and 4 AF point expantion. Do I need to set tracking sensibility and which setting would you recommend for kids and wedding photography. Thanks.
I got a Nikon D3200. I still abing problem with the back focus.Whi?
Okay call me stupid but I am confused by something. I primarily use a Canon 7d and my EFS 17-55mm lens. I have always been under the impression that the AF lock button on the back of the camera locks the focus on the subject and that particular "lock" remains until one manually disengages it. And I am assuming (maybe incorrectly) the the AF lock over-rides the focus operation on the shutter button. If my assumption is correct, then I don't understand why it would be necessary to disengage the focus (on the shutter button) in the custom settings if, in fact, it does become disengaged when one use the focus lock on the back.
Yeah i'm confused aswell,
I have the D7100 and i can choose Focus Lock or Not, which lets me lock the focus in place with half-press, and the focus doesn't change if it's on "Lock" if I don't release the "shoot" button.
so.................. this seems kinda unnecessary
@ MosesTheTool Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying but ( if ) you are saying that you are using the shutter button and pressing it half way to attain focus and even if you press a button on the back that you "believe" locks the focus - it won't (or at least it doesn't on my Canon 7D). If you release the half press on the shutter button and then half press it again, the lens will re-focus. What I believe the guy in the video is saying that if you go to Custom Settings (on my camera it is: C.FnIV:Operations Other > then (1). Then go to "Metering Start", press Set twice and then select the function: "Metering Start" and press "Set" and then exit. By doing this, the half press focus on the Shutter button is no longer active and in order to activate focus, you need to press (in my case) the button labeled, AF-ON. But here is what confuses me. Everything I watched on the subject of "Back button focus" leads one to believe that as long as you continue to hold the AF-ON button as the subject moves (either closer or further away from the lens) the subject will continue to be in focus............ NOT SO! It doesn't work that way at all. So, like you, I fail to see the big advantage of using "Back focus" because one still needs to keep releasing and repressing the AF-ON button as the subject moves. So what's the big advantage? If fact, it seems like an inconvenience because now you have to constantly be pressing TWO buttons in order to take a picture (the back button and the shutter button!). Does all this make sense to you my friend?
+Roger Beltz after this video I kinda let CZcams autoplay some more videos on this Back Focus thing, and I manage to understand the advantages.
Did you switch to AF-C on your camera?
thing is, with this technique, you need to switch to AF-C, and then it keeps focusing if you keep holding the Back Focus button, and it stop trying to focus if you release it, and the Shutter release button doesn't refocus, so it's good for Continuous and good for Landscape, cause it doesn't refocus when you take a picture if you release the Back Focus button.
also if you subject is moving a bit, you can keep pressing the Back Focus if you focused on the subject, because it should continue focusing on the subject even after you Recompose the pic.
+MosesTheTool I don't find this AF-C thing you are referring to. Nothing like this shows up in the Custom Functions setting on my camera (Canon 7D). Are you referring to setting the AF Drive mode to Continuous fire? If so then are saying that if set to Continuous and if you hold down the Back Focus button, as long as you keep the focus point (or points) on the subject, the subject will remain in constant focus regardless whether the subject moves toward the camera or away from the camera? I haven't tried this but if you say it works, this sounds great. Thanks for the advise my friend.
+Roger Beltz Exactly! i have AF-C cause I have a Nikon, but yeah just change your AF to Continuous (Drive or whatever it's called on your cam). I tried this today and it is kinda weird getting used to, but the theoretical advantages sound good enough to learn this technique. The hardest part so far (or the most annoying part) is knowing when to release the BackFocus button, because if you recompose and forget to release it, it will refocus.
goodluck :))
or... u can just switch off autofocus after focusing first time and shoot shoot shoot...
Bruno Lazaro You haven't used a Tokina lens yet have you?
+kiyonexus on the 5d3 you can make the back button turn off AF. Basically the opposite of BBF
I think it is best to talk about the WHY before showing the HOW. This video showed the HOW before the WHY. WHY motivates, HOW without the WHY known before-hand gets confusing.
Im not trying to be rude by teaching the pro's here. But my way is focus, change to manual focus n then u can snap all day long because the focus wont change anymore. Simple.
it is better to use one finger than 2 in many situations especially if you take pictures of fast moving small objects or if you shoot your camera not from the eye level but from the ground level, there is no way in hell you can do this with two fingers. This way of shooting is good for weddings or other "slow" events.
RC went Canon too? :-O
Did he burp at 0:59??
@ 3:09, your speech DOES NOT coordinate with the video thus throwing everything off. I had to rewind play rewind play rewind play like a million times to really understand what was going on. Finally I just gave up and closed the video. Horrible.
Oh god, it's really bad advice there. If you really don't want to refocus all the time; just focus once, and then switch to manual focus on your lens ! You use a tripod, and you stay in focus the same way that holding the back button.
Back button to focus or meter, and shutter button to focus/meter is the greatest control !
I use the back button to hold my exposure, and then I recompose, focus with the shutter button. Very useful if you need to catch the exposure for a silhouette, or a skin tone..
You never actually set the af button to meter and focus. You left that part out!
+Bill Morley Yes, he did, but it was already on that setting so he didn't change it. He even said so. Watch the vid again.
Back button focus is great but this video sucks. This guy is verbose and takes 14 minutes to explain poorly what could have been explained well in 5 minutes !!!!!!!
confusing :-? why not use manual focus? Way too many steps,
Not really, too many steps. Once you get the hang of back button focus, you won't look back. At least that was the case for me.
To much babble, complicating a simple operation!
+mokotramp I couldn't have said it better myself. Seems to be a trend on KelbyOne. All the "experts" claim back button focus is the way to go however if they said something to the contrary ...views would probably go down...
RC I'm glad you got fired for your rudeness.
cut 5 minutes.
Good content but why can't you just do a good video without always trying to sell something? I am not going to watch anymore of your videos.
sorry to say but no point
thx for the tip... I just subscribed to your channel.