Back Button Focus...

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.

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!

If only you'd read the effin manual there would have been no need for this thread lol.

So much for BBF works better when shooting with obstructions. I tracked this rare capture of a Golden eagle. He was flying betweens trees and branches. we all saw him coming and tracked accordingly. This guy was fast and stealthy and was flying behind trees on the river bank on the Skagit River.....Probably more lucky than skilled. But it was the only shot on a 10 FPS burst that did not have braches hitting the body of the eagle as it flew through the trees.....OMG it was captured with my finger on the shutter

This is another myth....It takes a really good camera AF system like a 1D or a D5 to track subjects with distractions at the capture process....Not your thumb. It takes a camera with excellent outer points to get great composition for moving or static Subjects....Not a thumb


but lets keep this going.Some of these remarks are highly entertaining

Road Dog wrote in post #18904854
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.

You got your answer to that question in posts #2 and #3. Nobody forced you to participate in the developing discussion.

Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black?

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.

The most intelligent remark in the entire thread about BBF. All my cameras are set up with Dual AF on points. Finger on the shutter and thump to the back button...both turn on the AF system.....Surprise...​..I can go both ways....the majority of the time ( 95%) its finger on the shutter. either way works to turn on the AF is better....The best way is what works for the person behind the camera

.I get the idea that you comment in order to put other people and their remarks down. . To call them "insane" and "myths" and "laughable". . And you post things in an attempt to show others that they are wrong. Why so much negativity?

Do you have this attitude towards others when you are working with your wedding clients? . If a potential wedding client says something that isn't quite 100% accurate, do you jump in and try to show her that she is wrong? . Or do you behave differently in those scenarios?

When it comes to photography and photography gear, your knowledge and insights aren't any more accurate or superior to anyone else's insights. . You don't have any way of seeing things that is any better than anyone else's. . We're all in this together and we're all at the same level - including you. . So why the continual "I know better than all of you" attitude?

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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18904906
.I get the idea that you comment in order to put other people and their remarks down. . To call them "insane" and "myths" and "laughable". . And you post things in an attempt to show others that they are wrong. Why so much negativity?

Do you have this attitude towards others when you are working with your wedding clients? . If a potential wedding client says something that isn't quite 100% accurate, do you jump in and try to show her that she is wrong? . Or do you behave differently in those scenarios?

When it comes to photography and photography gear, your knowledge and insights aren't any more accurate or superior to anyone else's insights. . You don't have any way of seeing things that is any better than anyone else's. . We're all in this together and we're all at the same level - including you. . So why the continual "I know better than all of you" attitude?

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I dont know any better than you nor anyone else. But I have been doing it for 40 yrs so I have a little bit of knowledge. Insane, laughable, Myths....what else do you call it when photographers and photography communities continually toss out conventional wisdom that there is one best way or technique thats going to make you a better photographer or get better images if you do something like I do and use BBF?

I am showing you and others that I can capture great images by not using BBF.

Again, for the last time.......It make zero difference in the image capture process if you use an index finger or a thumb to engage the AF system. The Camera does not care...There is no one way is better than the other....its not going to get you better images...The only person that thinks one way is better or worse is the person who engages the AF system

umphotography wrote in post #18904910
I am showing you and others that I can capture great images by not using BBF.

Again, for the last time.......It make zero difference in the image capture process if you use an index finger or a thumb to engage the AF system. The Camera does not care...There is no one way is better than the other....its not going to get you better images...The only person that thinks one way is better or worse is the person who engages the AF system

Right.

No one has said that you should use BBF. . No one has said that BBF is superior. . No one has said that everyone should use BBF. . No one has said that BBF results in the camera taking sharper pictures.

No one says any of these things, yet you keep saying that people have said these things, and you keep trying to shoot down these comments .... comments that no one has even made. . It is the epitome of the Straw Man complex.

All people have said is that they have found BBF to work better for them and their way of doing things.

You have said that using the shutter button works better for you and your way of doing things- and no one has argued with you about that. . No one disagrees with you. . We all agree that using the shutter button works better for you and the way you photograph things. . Yet it seems like you keep coming back to prove a point - but no one has disagreed with your point, and hence there is no need to prove it to anyone because we have all agreed with you from the very beginning.

It's like everyone completely agrees with you about BBF, and you don't even realize it!


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #18904914
Right.

No one has said that you should use BBF. . No one has said that BBF is superior. .



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Oh Please Tom. Give me a break.Im calling BS on these comments

Countless threads at POTN and elsewhere professing that BBF is a superior way to capture images. Its not. Its laughable that people actually buy into this mentality. I have seen national instructors proclaim that you will get sharper images using BBF .

I have been here a long time. Go search. I am really tired of the mentality

Just look at some of the comments in this thread alone

Technique, Excellent gear and experience using the AF systems is what works......not a thumb or finger engaging an AF system

umphotography wrote in post #18904910
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Again, for the last time.......It make zero difference in the image capture process if you use an index finger or a thumb to engage the AF system. The Camera does not care...There is no one way is better than the other....its not going to get you better images...The only person that thinks one way is better or worse is the person who engages the AF system

You are bsolutely right. No one is arguing with you. The camera does not care one bit. No one system of engaging AF is better than the other. Choose one that works for you and run with it.

But hear me out. I do not have the luxury of shooting with the latest technology. I have one reliable AF point when shooting my road or obstacle race. 3000 to 5000 runners translates to 7000 to 10000 images a weekend. I have to get at least a 99% keeper rate which again translates to not more than 70 to 100 out of focus shots. Throw in wind and rain and sometimes freezing conditions and there is no way under the sun i can get what i want unless i decouple the AF and the shutter. 1 in 10 just does not cut it for me. I can't afford to run out of memory by shooting out of focus shots. I get one shot at capturing the runner and thats it. The only chimping I get to do is to make sure my exposure is right. I have to absolutely have blind faith in the camera to get my focus right.

What i mean to say is that it is definitely not a myth or is laughable when someone says that BBF is EASIER (not better) at getting a higher keeper rate. Of course, in ideal conditions either method works fine. I though can never count on conditions to be ideal.

RhodyPhotos wrote in post #18904943
You are bsolutely right. No one is arguing with you. The camera does not care one bit. No one system of engaging AF is better than the other. Choose one that works for you and run with it.

But hear me out. I do not have the luxury of shooting with the latest technology. I have one reliable AF point when shooting my road or obstacle race. 3000 to 5000 runners translates to 7000 to 10000 images a weekend. I have to get at least a 99% keeper rate which again translates to not more than 70 to 100 out of focus shots. Throw in wind and rain and sometimes freezing conditions and there is no way under the sun i can get what i want unless i decouple the AF and the shutter. 1 in 10 just does not cut it for me. I can't afford to run out of memory by shooting out of focus shots. I get one shot at capturing the runner and thats it. The only chimping I get to do is to make sure my exposure is right. I have to absolutely have blind faith in the camera to get my focus right.

What i mean to say is that it is definitely not a myth or is laughable when someone says that BBF is EASIER (not better) at getting a higher keeper rate. Of course, in ideal conditions either method works fine. I though can never count on conditions to be ideal.

Thats great. Glad its working for you.

I get where you are at. But as you grow and can afford better performing gear, you may change the way you shoot

Gear matters- I dont care what anyone says. There is a valid reason why fast glass and cameras with Great AF systems costs the big bucks

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umphotography wrote in post #18904938
Technique, Excellent gear and experience using the AF systems is what works......not a thumb or finger engaging an AF system

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Right. . Of course. . No one ever claimed otherwise, either here or elsewhere.

We all agree with you, Mike ..... and yet you are still arguing with an imaginary foe!

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umphotography wrote in post #18904951
Thats great. Glad its working for you.

I get where you are at. But as you grow and can afford better performing gear, you may change the way you shoot

Lol, thank you for that though I doubt that will ever be the case. .

(EDIT: i was taking about being able to afford better perdorming gear.)

I like my 7D though. Why break the bank when this machine keeps chugging year in and year out. Every other year it gets a new shutter and mirror assembly and i have a brand new camera

umphotography wrote in post #18904897
So much for BBF works better when shooting with obstructions.

Whether or not my 1D IV ignores obstructions depends on how I have set the AI Servo tracking sensitivity (C.Fn III-2). I usually have it set at -1. That way the camera ignores that branch or that pole. But when I shoot swallows or martins in flight I need the camera to lock on as fast as it can. And then that branch or that pole will throw off the AF. That's when BBF comes in handy. I know you can also use the Back Button to halt AF but that just doesn't work well for me, somehow it confuses me and I start pushing the wrong buttons, whereas BBF is straightforward. Maybe it's because of how my mind works.

Actually, apart from some unfriendly words here and there, I have started to enjoy the conversation quite a bit, realising that it's nice reading how different people have different shooting styles. It's like comparing notes.

umphotography wrote in post #18904938
Oh Please Tom. Give me a break.Im calling BS on these comments

Countless threads at POTN and elsewhere professing that BBF is a superior way to capture images. Its not. Its laughable that people actually buy into this mentality. I have seen national instructors proclaim that you will get sharper images using BBF .

I have been here a long time. Go search. I am really tired of the mentality

Just look at some of the comments in this thread alone

Technique, Excellent gear and experience using the AF systems is what works......not a thumb or finger engaging an AF system

This thread is reaching pages and pages, but I thought this might be the post to respond to. No, obviously, BBF doesn't inherently give you a sharper image. I BBF because I've pretty much always set it up this way: setting shutter as an exposure lock, and only BBF when I need to focus. For me, this seperation is great as I run into situations where I don't need to refocus. It's funny you say thumb or finger on AF system: one thing I like about more recent DSLRs is that they have more buttons and customization: because my 5D4 has more buttons than my 5Dc, as well as more customization, I feel like I can have way more control at my fingertips that I don't have to move my head away from the viewfinder.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18904856
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!

It's my thread...