Back button focus

I have a quick question. I have my back button focus set up for AI serveo. I still have my shutter release button set up so I can just take snap shots or hand my camera to someone to take a photo of my wife and I when on vacation and not have to explain to the person how to use back button focus. I never thought anything about it till a person brought this up to me. If I am using my back button focus following a BIF and I snap a shot off with my shutter release, will my shutter release try to focus on the subject as well? Or does the back button focus over ride the shutter release?

The problem with your set up is that yes, the Shutter will try to focus.

One of the advantages of BBF is being able to let go of the AF, so the lens won't try to refocus when you activate the shutter.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #18521122
The problem with your set up is that yes, the Shutter will try to focus.

One of the advantages of BBF is being able to let go of the AF, so the lens won't try to refocus when you activate the shutter.

Thank you for the quick answer. Looks like I better disable that. I am shooting a 7dll and one thing I always noticed is that I hardly ever got a good shot at something coming straight at me. I bet this is why. When I am focusing on something flying from left to right I would get plenty of keepers which makes sense as I don't think it would effect it as much that way.

You can easily use Green Box mode (or set up one of the custom shooting modes to put autofocus back onto the shutter button) when you want to hand someone else your camera.

The whole point of BBF is to separate focusing from firing the shutter. Your current set-up is not going to achieve that.

Objects coming straight towards the camera push the limits of AF systems. Your BBF set-up may not be the issue here.

DaviSto wrote in post #18521130
You can easily use Green Box mode (or set up one of the custom shooting modes to put autofocus back onto the shutter button) when you want to hand someone else your camera.

The whole point of BBF is to separate focusing from firing the shutter. Your current set-up is not going to achieve that.

I am going to use one of my custom modes for this from now on.

Nascar Nut wrote in post #18521110
I have a quick question. I have my back button focus set up for AI serveo. I still have my shutter release button set up so I can just take snap shots or hand my camera to someone to take a photo of my wife and I when on vacation and not have to explain to the person how to use back button focus. I never thought anything about it till a person brought this up to me. If I am using my back button focus following a BIF and I snap a shot off with my shutter release, will my shutter release try to focus on the subject as well? Or does the back button focus over ride the shutter release?

Consider that it would be better to PRE-FOCUS, hand the camera to your substitute shooter and have him/her stand where you WERE when you focused, and have him/her simply press the shutter button to take a perfectly focused shot. If you let the substitute person have any focus ability, the wrong AF point might be selected and used by the AF system, and it focuses on the wrong thing in the field of view!

I take the 'absence of automation' one step farther, by putting the camera in manual mode, and presetting aperture and shutter speed as well. That way, the subsituted shooter cannot screw up exposure by including too much sky or dark/light area positioned at one side of the frame vs. the other!

All they can do is choose bad framing for the shot, which is the only thing in their control.

Wilt wrote in post #18521227
Consider that it would be better to PRE-FOCUS, hand the camera to your substitute shooter and have him/her stand where you WERE when you focused, and have him/her simply press the shutter button to take a perfectly focused shot. If you let the substitute person have any focus ability, the wrong AF point might be selected and used by the AF system, and it focuses on the wrong thing in the field of view!

I take the 'absence of automation' one step farther, by putting the camera in manual mode, and presetting aperture and shutter speed as well. That way, the subsituted shooter cannot screw up exposure by including too much sky or dark/light area positioned at one side of the frame vs. the other!

All they can do is choose bad framing for the shot, which is the only thing in their control.

OK ... we've discussed elsewhere the image devastation that 'third party shooters' can create when allowed even incredibly limited control over a camera. I hope for nothing more than to get a working camera back (strap around your neck, please!) in these situations.

I think Green Box mode and 'point it at the person in the middle' is likely the best option. You would go for F/11 and 'stand there, point here!' instead. I'm not going to argue. Neither offers any guarantees.

DaviSto wrote in post #18521245
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I think Green Box mode and 'point it at the person in the middle' is likely the best option. You would go for F/11 and 'stand there, point here!' instead. I'm not going to argue. Neither offers any guarantees.

But when f/11 cannot be used because it is too dark and the Green Box camera refuses to use higher than ISO 800, like it just did in this photo of our eldest grandchild, cooling his heels at our home after school while waiting for his mom to pick him up...

Wilt wrote in post #18521258
But when f/11 cannot be used because it is too dark and the Green Box camera refuses to use higher than ISO 800, like it just did in this photo of our eldest grandchild, cooling his heels at our home after school while waiting for his mom to pick him up...

and the red outline defines the AF points chosen by the 7DII in Green Box mode, a significant AF FAIL taken only moments ago, in response to your assessment!
Really? I wanted his knees and feet and blanket in best focus, really?!

You'd rate that shot a 'fail'??? In the unholy canon of third-party photography, that shot is up there with the top 10%.

Plus ... I think you just maybe set up that situation.

DaviSto wrote in post #18521310
You'd rate that shot a 'fail'??? In the unholy canon of third-party photography, that shot is up there with the top 10%.

Plus ... I think you just maybe set up that situation.

Yeah, it is a fail because no one would ever want feet in focus, although his face were certainly 'about center' in the frame. The fact that Green Box affords zero control of the AF zones to be used, whereas my approach (prefocus using my specified AF zones, before handing over the camera) assures me that even in shallow DOF photo situations the photo has a greater probabily of being properly in focus than leaving it to Green Box to decide. I framed the shot I wanted it, AF chose the zones inside the red circled area, and I pressed the shutter...

Wilt wrote in post #18521316
Yeah, it is a fail because no one would ever want feet in focus,

Rex Ryan disagrees.

ShadowHillsPhoto wrote in post #18521349
Rex Ryan disagrees.

You can keep him away from my grandson, especially his feet!

Wilt wrote in post #18521386
You can keep him away from my grandson, especially his feet!

Did you know there's Flickr groups devoted to photos of people with shoes off in house and another of photos with socks? I kid you not. I had one of my family photos added by someone to these groups.

But I'm going to go with DaviSto on this one. That's easily a to 10 photo by comparison to what I generally expect when I hand someone else my camera.

Nascar Nut wrote in post #18521110
I have my back button focus set up for AI serveo. <snip> If I am using my back button focus following a BIF and I snap a shot off with my shutter release, will my shutter release try to focus on the subject as well? Or does the back button focus over ride the shutter release?

No, the trigger button will not "focus as well". Since you are already holding the AF-ON pressed, the camera's autofocus is active. It can't do any more than that. It can't be active-active. Thus you'll not notice any difference.
But it looks like you have set AF-ON to also switch to Servo AF when held. And if so, then that setting does have priority, so as long as you keep AF-ON pressed, then Servo AF it is.

However, if you release the AF-ON button and have focus active on the trigger button, then you get all that others have already commented about.