Article: Is back button focus becoming outdated?

Although using a Sony camera for an example, the article at https://petapixel.com …ed-photography-technique/ has some interesting comments relative to back button focus.

https://petapixel.com …ed-photography-technique/

I tried the BBF thing many times. The more I tried working with it, the more I kept asking myself....'why the hell are you doing this?' I wasn't having having any problems with the half press. BBF absolutely killed by keeper numbers. I was even having trouble hitting stationary objects.

So, outdated or not...I sure don't care. Personally, I think it's a ridiculous idea....introducing another finger function to the focusing operation.

But, that's just my experience.

I've tried a few times, the last time I tried, I told myself I was going to NOT change back and get through it... then my wife grabbed the camera, wondered what was going on, so I changed it back and haven't tried.... training me also means training her, and I'm not sure I'll every break her !!

SMP_Homer wrote in post #18997826
I've tried a few times, the last time I tried, I told myself I was going to NOT change back and get through it... then my wife grabbed the camera, wondered what was going on, so I changed it back and haven't tried.... training me also means training her, and I'm not sure I'll every break her !!

There's always group or couples counselling - you both attend together. Professional Counsellors can help with everything from relationship to substance misuse to fears and superstitions. BBF should be an easy issue for a trained Counsellor to help with - perhaps 4-6 months of weekly sessions?

^ Fantastic !

Myself, I do use and find BBF to be very useful for my motorsports photography, with my 7DII. But, to each their own !

The article raises some valid points, but also fails to cover ALL of the situations suitably, so it does not consider the value of BBF in those situations.

• Pre-focus: I know my target will enter a specific target zone every time, so I focus on that point even with the target NOT in the frame, and then shoot when the target reaches that point. In athletic (pole vaulting) or sporting events (like auto races) this situation is true...one does not need to 'track' the runner or car, it will come into the frame reliably!
  
• Pre-focus to avoid erroneous AF: I am shooting thru the bars of a fence, and I do not want AF to attempt to focus on the bars, ruining focus on my main target in the distance.
  
• Fixed target, fixed camera position, no need to refocus each time on a specific target...if shooting a landscape I want perhaps to set focus at a particular plane in the scene, not at Infinity. For example, focus at Hyperfocal distance (estimated location in the scene) and not have the camera refocus wheneven I press the shutter.
  

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That's an interesting article. . Thanks for posting it! . I am familiar with the author, Ryan Mense, from another forum.

I knew about back-button focus for a couple years before I figured out how to get it working on my cameras (I struggle with technology in general, so setting up a custom function was a daunting task).

I knew that BBF was exactly what I needed to keep from missing so many shots, but it just took me a while to build up the courage to open up my camera's menus and set it up. . But all the while, I kept missing shots and thinking, "man, if I had that back button focus thing set up, I wouldn't have missed that opportunity."

Finally, in October of 2011, I just forced myself to focus and concentrate long enough to do the custom set-up and get BBF working on my cameras. . I went out shooting that weekend and my goodness - what a huge difference it made for me! . I was able to connect on all of those opportunities that I had been missing when I didn't have BBF. . For me and the way I shoot, BBF was a godsend. . It is probably the one thing that improved my photography more than any other single thing.

Of course, I still use BBF, exclusively. . But there are times when I still miss focus on running animals and flying birds. . And missing focus is something that is just not acceptable. . I want a perfectly focused photo every single time I take a frame. . I want perfect focus, every single time ..... not excuses and failures.

What I am hoping for now is that a camera will soon be released that has a completely reliable animal eye autofocus system. . I am a human, hence, I make mistakes. . There are times when my coordination and motor skills just aren't good enough to get my subject in perfect focus. . This is NOT okay with me! . I don't ever, ever, EVER want to miss focus. . So I am hoping that someday soon the camera will just completely take care of the focusing for me so that I can do all of the other things that need to be done while photographing an animal that is on the move.

So, if a perfect, works-all-the-time-no-matter-what animal eye AF system comes out, that is when I will no longer need back button focus. . But until then, BBF will be what I continue to use.

.

I have it setup with two buttons on my 7D mark II, the AF-On button puts the camera in AI servo mode and the * button puts the camera in one shot AF mode, works fine for me.

Canonuser123 wrote in post #18997942
I have it setup with two buttons on my 7D mark II, the AF-On button puts the camera in AI servo mode and the * button puts the camera in one shot AF mode, works fine for me.

I have the same set-up.

Gregsiem wrote in post #18997950
I gave the same set-up.

Yep and me,

I use BBF for all types of photography. For birds in flight it's fantastic.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18997933
So, if a perfect, works-all-the-time-no-matter-what animal eye AF system comes out, that is when I will no longer need back button focus. But until then, BBF will be what I continue to use.

Similar to photography of human subjects, the lens does NOT ALWAYS include a clear view of the subject's eyes. Some time ago, I examined a random collection of 'sports images' on the web (found via Google search), to see in what fraction of shots, the eyes of the target could be SEEN...

https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=18809909

...not visible for initial target acquisition, and not for continued targetting purposes.

The benefit of shooting animals is that they do not wear helmets or hats that obscure the lens' view to the eyes (like athletes do), even when the subject is looking in your general vicinity. If the animal's head is turned away while you initially try to get focus, and then the head momentarily suddenly turns so one eye can be recognized, great. But what if the opposite sequence occurs, does the eye search cause the camera to lose focus in an effort to find a target eye. Also the technical challenge is the morphology of every animal's eyes are not always similar enough to one another yet the programming has to recognize each category of eye type, unlike every person having very similar morphology of the eye...something programmers can get software to 'recognize'.

'Eye focus' is not the solution, by itself.

Since I switched to BBF on my 90D I have had way less fuzzy photos. It is very natural for me, and makes me grip the camera more firmly. Also: I can switch to manual focus so much more easily.. I am in AF-C by default. Releasing the AF-on button disengages the focussing mechanism on my 100-400 II and I can use the manual focus ring as needed.. It is so much simpler..

Back button focus is not a fashion thing and is not getting old. Use it if you find it beneficial, and otherwise, don't. It definitely takes some getting used to, so if you are interested, give it time.

I almost always use BBF in my photography.

I use BBF on all bodies including the R. Focus on one, shutter on another, the way I like it.

For me there are too many things happening at once when you have the shutter release, focus, and metering on one button. BBF allows me to separate those actions without having to think about it..