Bear123 Loc: Wild & Wonderful West Virginia

I've been using BBF for several months now. For all shots, especially action keep the autofocus on continuous focus. When you need on only one focus press the focus button once; if you are taking pictures of the grandkids running around then keep your BBF button pushed and keep shooting. You'll get more keepers with BBF. Enjoy :)

kenleyen Loc: MARY ESTHER FL.

HAVE HAD MY NIKON 300S FOR A A FEW YEARS AND NEVER CONSIDERED TAKING A/F OFF MY SHUTTER RELEASE I HAVE JUST DONE SO AND HAVE READ THE ARTICLE THAT BIGWOLF40 REFERS TO.
QUITE A REVELATION! I WILL TRY THIS FOR A WEEK OR MORE...


THANX

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Of course you can. BTW, that 'continuous subject tracking' is not a 'mode'. It is just the way Nikons focus on moving targets when in AF-C mode. However, if you try to take pictures of stationary subject while in AF-C mode your camera will refocus every time you try to recompose. So if you focus on a lions eye and then decide you don't want the eye in the centre of your image and recompose so the focus point is not on the eye, the ear for example, the camera will refocus on the ear. So you will either have to change the camera to AF-S mode or go through the exercise of moving your focus point to where you want the eye. Then if the lion decides to move toward you, you will have to switch to AF-C mode. All of these changes take time which a wildlife shooter cannot afford. BBF allows you to deal with both situations without changing anything on the camera in the heat of the moment. I always lock my focus point in the centre of the viewfinder so I know where it is, use it to focus on the lions eye with the back button, let go of the back button, recompose and shoot. If the lion starts running toward me I push down on the back button and get continuous subject tracking while I shoot on CH. If you don't see the value in this then don't use it. But don't poo-poo it for others.

srfmhg Loc: Marin County, CA

I found BBF to be a pain in the neck on my Nikon D7000. I am left eye dominant and wear glasses and the right lens of my glasses would smudge whenever I touched the back button (which is right next to the viewfinder) with my thumb. I went back to shutter release focusing and I'm much happier - more keepers as well.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

It's not how Nikon's focus in AF-C. It is a focusing mode in some cameras called 3D focusing and in some of the newer models called Group Area AF.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Yes it is the way Nikons auto-focus in AF-C mode. What you are talking about if fine tuning the AF-C mode. By pushing the little button inside the MF-AF switch and turning the sub-command dial you can set 1, 9, 21, or 51 AF points that you can select as a focus point. The camera (D800) will use all 51 AF points to track a moving subject no matter where you set it. You can also select 3D which simply means that the camera will switch from one focus point to another if the subject moves out of the one you have selected. The 3D feature works in AF-C and AF-S mode. Oh and Group AF is a way of designating a group of AF points instead of just one. This is used when the action is hot, like birds in flight, as you don't have to be as precise when aiming at the moving target. But once the camera has focused on the target it will use all AF points to track it.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

AF-C mode merely means that if you've pushed the shutter button halfway and the subject goes out of focus, the camera will continually seek focus, whereas in AF-S, once focus is obtained, if focus is lost, it will not seek focus again unless you release the shutter button and press it halfway again.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

I'll have to give it a try.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Suit yourself.

tomcat

I gave BBF a try this am on my bird feeder with my Nikon D800. I now understand the principals behind holding the BBF button down to maintain continuous focus tracking when the subject is moving. Until the discussion yesterday, I did not know that you could hold this button down and achieve continuous focus. But as I mentioned yesterday, I can achieve sharper and faster results to me with AF-C and 51 points selected. Nikon goes into the old focus tracking mode and the focus follows the subject. In this case it was a squirrel. I did notice that focusing was much faster in this mode than when using the BBF method. So if you have a Nikon D800 try both techniques yourself and see which is faster for you. I don't know if Canon has this automatic focus tracking mode or not, so that may be why the Canon shooters swear by BBF. So my conclusion is to try both methods and choose which works better for you. I am grateful for this discussion yesterday and today because it reminded me of my Nikon's focus tracking function I first discovered 3 years ago. My senile mind had forgotten about this and I am happy again with my bird and squirrel shots. I have "rediscovered" simple point'n'shoot for my bird feeders. Thanks guys for all the honest and helpful insights. We kept it clean and civil, the way that real photographers are supposed to.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

With AF-C and 51 points selected the camera focuses just as fast and just as accurately whether you use the shutter release half press or the AF-ON button to focus. Do you seriously think that most wildlife photographers would use BBF if the focus was slower and less accurate?

tomcat

Probably not, since both methods are equally as fast. . But for us Nikon shooters I still see no advantage in BBF 'ing, which was what my original question was.

tjphxaz Loc: Phoenix, AZ

For sports, action, wildlife once you are used to BBF you won't go back. If you are shooting with image stabilization (VR) remember that pushing the shutter release halfway will engage the VR so a slight pause before the full press will allow VR to stabilize with less chance for vibration affecting the image.

jaddottart Loc: Florida

GENTLEMEN:
I thank you one and all for you're knowledge and response...

JOE.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Fine. If, after reading all of this thread, watching the video, and trying it out, you still don't see the advantage, then I guess it isn't for you. Cheers.