Back Button Focus...

There seems to be a hell of a lot of oneupmanship going on in this thread.

john crossley wrote in post #18904767
There seems to be a hell of a lot of oneupmanship going on in this thread.

Only this thread ?

One more nice thing about removing AF from the shutter is that I can set up AF ON to be one set of AF parameters and AE lock to be another. By just pressing one or the other buttons, I can engage different AF settings without having to change anything.

The simplest use case of this is to put AI servo on one and one shot on the other, but you can get a bit more elaborate beyond that.

The shutter AF and then using an AF OFF button is the old way Canon developed, with some lenses having that AF OFF button. Once Canon gave us customized buttons and the AF ON button and then provided guides how to better set up for BBF focusing, things changed.

So for senior portraits, I can ask a young lady to walk along a path and use one button to focus as she moves, and when I have her stop near something aesthetically pleasing, I can use the other button to singularly lock focus without skipping a beat.

For receptions, I can AF on the dance floor, and then skip right over to the family at the head table and use One Shot in that low light area again with superb ease, since one shot will lock focus easier in low light than AI servo in many cases.

Granted there are other ways to do this if you want to redefine the DOF preview button, etc, but those are awkward for me, especially if I am using a longer lens. So once again, BBF is easily "equal to shutter AF" functionality in some environments, but then is better, less awkward, and more reliable/versatile in other situations. Why wouldn't a photographer just set up his/her gear to be the most effective, even if that means tearing down one's defenses and learned ways to develop new procedures?

Age has a way to make one recalcitrant toward how others might do things, I blame that in my own life.

To be fair to both camps, here are some videos.

This photographer tries it out and gives his thoughts.




This photographer doesn't seem to shoot a diverse set of things and hadn't really dug into the varied uses of it, but does explain why it was not great for him. Mike and he would get along great. I do see his point about how the 1D could become fatiguing over time depending on your hand placement and hand size, when running your thumb up to the AF ON. However, he could have used * instead and moved AE lock over to AF ON if he had taken the time.




Good 'ol Tony




Boyer going into advanced BBF as I mention above. This is where BBF really comes into its own.

[QUOTE=Tom Reichner;18904720].
Here is when it is easier to use BBF, as I described in post #200:

Oh my God.

I take portraits in a very controlled setting; backdrop, strobes, the whole nine. They're centered in the frame, so there's no recomposing. And, get this: the people actually know they're having their picture taken. You're acting as though there's going to be some contest between me and the subject as to whether or not I can immediately fire off a frame, in what will surely be only "a very brief instant", when he gives me an "acceptable facial expression".

I've never said BBF is bad or wrong. I said it's different, and it is. It simply has no benefit in many situations, and I just gave you one.

If you don't get this, that is okay. But you really don't need to keep coming back with fantasy scenarios as to why it's so superior, because it's not. Again, it's just different, and it works better for some situations and has no real benefit in others. It has become tiresome to read your continual "It's so much better" replies every time someone perfectly explains that, for them, it has zero benefit FOR THEM.

nqjudo wrote in post #18904741
I think that you make the argument that for you and what you shoot BBF is a non-issue. That's fine. I think there is little use in trying to get people to offer a counter-argument to an opinion you're seemingly unwilling to change.

I'm not asking anyone to offer anything. But there are certain folks here who simply don't seem content with the fact that I'm not adopting their way of thinking. BBF is great for those who need it. I don't, and it's pretty silly for someone to repeatedly insist that I do...

Right.

I've maintained that position all along...

I haven't followed this thread very well but if you have never tried BBF it is definitely worth becoming familiar with even if only for dealing with the the odd situation that may be outside your typical use. Just beware that most who give it an honest shot never come back

Well, the initial intent of the thread was just to find out how to assign the focusing to the shutter release on a pre-owned body I purchased. I've given BBF a "fair shot" and it never felt natural to me, probably because the only thing I've used my thumb for in the almost fifty years I've been taking pictures has been for the film advance lever...

Why get stressed over what others are saying? Not worth the hassle I would think, and you could just unsubscribe if you feel your original question has been answered and you don't need any guff from others about the virtues of BBF.

The thread has an unfortunate title and is likely the cause for the series of unintended consequences.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18904851
Why get stressed over what others are saying? Not worth the hassle I would think, and you could just unsubscribe if you feel your original question has been answered and you don't need any guff from others about the virtues of BBF.

The thread has an unfortunate title and is likely the cause for the continued discussions. If it said "How to reset functions on 6D" and the body of the thread was "I don't want BBF turned on", this thread would have died off along time ago.

I think it's pretty comical the way people think I'm getting "stressed", yet there's no shortage of people wanting to impart their "wisdom" with regards to BBF.

Here is the entirety of my initial post:

I bought a pre-owned 6D and the previous owner set the AF-ON button for back button focus.

For the life of me I can't figure out how to turn it off.

Any help?

That's it. Thatr's all there is. Nothing in that post is asking for opinions of BBF. I don't use it, so I posted what I did.

I also think it's absolutely laughable that the title of the post, somehow, compels a person to opine on BBF, especially once the post is actually read. It's like you can't stop yourselves. Don't you guys have any self control? LOL!

Road Dog wrote in post #18904854
I think it's pretty comical the way people think I'm getting "stressed", yet there's no shortage of people wanting to impart their "wisdom" with regards to BBF.

Here is the entirety of my initial post:

I bought a pre-owned 6D and the previous owner set the AF-ON button for back button focus.

For the life of me I can't figure out how to turn it off.

Any help?

That's it. Thatr's all there is. Nothing in that post is asking for opinions of BBF. I don't use it, so I posted what I did.

If this surprises you, you need to be on POTN or any other forum a bit more. This is par for the course. Almost all threads have their original questioned answered and then discussions continue and could go off course several times. This is the very nature of forums. Some of these threads are used as learning material for those that may not be familiar with the topic at hand.

This seems to be a bit, let's choose "ironic", as it seems you have engaged just as much as anyone else. Nearly 10% of the BBF-related replies have been provided by you. The unsubscribe function exists so that you don't have to be bothered with extraneous conversations in your threads. Life would resume to normalcy for you!

I'm on my fifth big bag of popcorn since this thread started. Choked on a piece the other night, been hackin' ever since. Oh well. Been a thrill a minute...well, er, interesting every post or three at least.

But, Road Dog, the title of your thread definitely is a vague one welcoming in all types of comments on BBF. I mean, when a person reads "Back Button Focus..." as a subject title, then they see there's several pages of replies most people will flip towards the end, get the jest of the conversation and comment. Threads are dynamic and often change from the original intent of the OP, especially after the original question/statement has been covered. But, with the title that you supplied, I can easily see where people will feel free to discuss, comment, or opine on their thoughts about BBF...especially on the *current* subject they find toward the end of the thread. The subject title is *very* open-ended. It is not laughable that the title compels people to comment on the thread the title prompts people to comment. A better title would have been something like "How do I turn BBF off?" But, even then, people tend to like to chat, talk, discuss things and this *is* a discussion forum, so probably there would have been extra discussion regardless.

I will say that there are people who feel strongly about using BBF and there are people who feel just as strongly about not using BBF. In my opinion it's whatever blows your dress up. To each his/her own...but, we do need to stay open to ideas. Just like this forum is dynamic and ever changing, so is life.

Best wishes.

Great, now I have a vision of a rough and tumble Harley guy named Road Dog, standing over a New York grate with his dress blown up... thanks a bunch for that.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18904851
The thread has an unfortunate title and is likely the cause for the series of unintended consequences.

Lot of truth here.

I posted on page one and have not (until this morning) come back in here to see what was going on. It was pretty easy to guess.

Being specific in thread titles helps keep things on track, but it also helps with search results.

I agree with you , but I think it has been brought up. Not stated as simple and as eloquent as you have, however. A few of us here have stated that taking focus away from the shutter button might allow the shutter to fire (or meter) just a little quicker, but we haven't been as clear as you have.

Road Dog wrote in post #18904842
Oh my God.

I take portraits in a very controlled setting; backdrop, strobes, the whole nine. They're centered in the frame, so there's no recomposing. And, get this: the people actually know they're having their picture taken.

Right, of course. . When you take portraits, it is of people. . Of course that is completely different than my portraiture, which involves only wildlife.

Road Dog wrote in post #18904842
You're acting as though there's going to be some contest between me and the subject as to whether or not I can immediately fire off a frame, in what will surely be only "a very brief instant", when he gives me an "acceptable facial expression".

No, I am not acting like that. . In fact, I have not said anything about you and your subjects or your photography. . I have never said or implied that BBF might be better for you in any situation. . I have only spoken about my photography and how BBF works better for me and gave an instance in which it is easier for me to use than shutter button focus. . I have not at any point in this thread tried to give a situation in which BBF may be better for you. . I've only been talking about myself.

Why did you say that I was acting like there's going to be a contest between you and your subjects? . Did I ever talk about you or your photography or your subjects at all? . No!

I'm not here in this thread to discuss what might be better for you - I am only providing examples of what is better for me and what I do.

For the kind of portraits you do, of people, there most likely isn't any benefit to using BBF at all in any situation whatsoever. . But I am not here to talk about what may work better for you. . I'm only here to talk about what works best for me.

Road Dog wrote in post #18904842
If you don't get this, that is okay. But you really don't need to keep coming back with fantasy scenarios as to why it's so superior, because it's not. Again, it's just different, and it works better for some situations and has no real benefit in others. It has become tiresome to read your continual "It's so much better" replies every time someone perfectly explains that, for them, it has zero benefit FOR THEM.

Road Dog, I have never said that back button focus is superior. . Nor have I said that it is "so much better" for anyone else. . Why do you seem to think I have said these things?

You and UMPhotography have created a Straw Man. . You get upset at people saying that BBF is so superior and that you should be using it and that cameras take sharper more in-focus pictures with BBF ..... but yet no one has said these things. . No one. . People have only said that they prefer BBF and that it is better for them and what they are doing. . That's all they've said.

.

.

Road Dog wrote in post #18904847
I don't, and it's pretty silly for someone to repeatedly insist that I do...

.
No one here has insisted that at all.

No one has said that you should use BBF.

I don't think anyone here in this thread even cares about whether you use BBF or shutter button focus. . All anyone has done is to say what they use and try to explain why they use it.

Do you think that perhaps you have read some things into people's posts that haven't really been there?

.

Levina de Ruijter wrote in post #18904473
In most cases it would not matter where you put the focus, Mike, on the back button or on the shutter button. Shots like the ones you posted come down to an accurately tracking and focusing camera and photographer's skill. Shooting a fast running animal coming toward you like this, it wouldn't matter: BBF or finger on the shutter, in both situations you would have to constantly refocus, with every shot as you track it.

But there are definitely some situations where BBF is more convenient. And to me personally it makes more sense somehow to separate the two functions.

1000% agreed