7d - moving the focus

Hey all. I just picked up a 7D. I had/have a 30D before this. I used CF4 to move the focus to the * button. On the 7D under CF4 and then Custom Controls, you can re-assign the buttons. However, the options for the * button only has a Metering AND AF start, not an AF Start only. Am I just looking at this wrong? Does it matter that the * button has both AF Start and Metering? Seems different from the way the 30D worked.

took me for a loop too to tell you the truth as i was also coming from a 30D. LOL.

anyways, yes set that to AF+Meter then set your shutter to AE LOCK. this should work the same way as the 30D moving focus to * button C.FcN.

Thanks for the reply. I was feeling really dumb for a while there.

happens to the best of us...cheers! now go out and take some pictures!!! LOL

It's not entirely correct either, or at least not the full story.

You can move focus to the * button, but there's no real reason, as the 7D has a separate button, AF-ON, for that. It has already been assigned the AF start + metering function as a default.
So what you need to do is to remove AF from the shutter. Set it to metering only, not AE lock.
The 7D has the * button as well, so AE lock you already have at the back.

The AF-ON button showed up already on the 40D, but the 7D allows for even more modifications to the buttons.

A combination like this may be interesting to some (everyday photography)[assuming One Shot AF and orientation independent AF point selection]:
Half-press: Metering and AF
AF-ON: Metering and AF with registerd AF point
*: Exposure lock
M.Fn: FEL
DOF preview: DOF preview

Or you may want this (track and field, with second AF setup for finish line shots):
[Now assuming Servo AF, +1 on AF tracking speed, AF/AF priority, Main point priority, single AF point, orientation dependent AF point selection]
Half-press: Metering only
AF-ON: Metering and AF with selected AF point
*: Metering and AF with registered AF point
M.Fn: AE Lock
DOF preview: [-1 AF tracking speed, AF/Drive priority, Continuous focus priority, AF point expansion]

There are many other possible combinations.

Is the registered AF point on the 7D a kinda preset af point (and mode?) that is assigned to a button

let me clarify:
Can I register a AF point for the * button to work independently from my "selected" af point that would be on the AF on button
also, do you select an af mode to go along with the registered point (say I am shooting with af expansion - can I make it so the registered point is always af spot?)

NPuter wrote in post #8923453
Is the registered AF point on the 7D a kinda preset af point (and mode?) that is assigned to a button

Preset point. If you have registered the center point then when you are in spot, single point or expanded AF it will use the registered point. If you switch to zone it will use the zone that contains the registered point, which would be the center zone in this case.

Like I said above, it always uses the current AF mode. But yes you can set up the camera so that the AF-On button is AF with the currently selected point and * is AF with the center point. Note that if you enable having different AF settings for horizontal vs vertical this makes the AF completely different for all 3 orientations. This includes AF mode so you might be in spot AF when horizontal and zone when holding vertical with the shutter towards the bottom and single point when vertical with the shutter on the top. It also includes the registered AF point, so you would need to register a point for all 3 orientations.

In addition to what krb stated above, you can also register a whole record of AF settings to either the depth of field button or to an AF stop button on the lens, provided you have any of these expensive telephoto lenses that are equipped with one. The EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM is one example.
These settings include

• AF mode
  
• Servo tracking sensitivity (C.Fn III-1)
  
• Focus/Release priority (C.Fn III-2)
  
• AF tracking mode (C.Fn III-3)