dyximan

I use back button focus exclusively now and found it very easy to get used to an intuitive. As I shoot lots of birds but landscapes as well. The only difference is how many focal point and focal area I may wish to use. But I primarily use spot focus for birds center it on their head keep the back button focus pushed and on my D 500 it focuses as needed. But note there are some adjustments within the camera so that should you pass over a telephone pole etcetra there is a delay and it will skip the telephone pole and continue focusing on your subject. You can still focus with the shutter and shoot with the shutter if you like. It just will not continuously refocus as in back button focusing. Or at least as quickly

Gampa

Like the Nike ad used to say ... “Just Do It”

tom hughes Loc: Phila Pa

Five years now would never go back.

ToBoldlyGo Loc: London U.K.

Shutter focus is just as fast. There is no speed advantage to bbf, besides the speed of your own reactions.

SierraP Loc: Eastern Sierras

Does it really matter who uses what. The best pro out there may have habits the would be clumsy to the rest of us. Over the years you will fall into the groove that is the most comfortable for you. Trying what someone else does is experimental. If it works fine, but it is rather dumb to continue using it only if so-and-so uses it.

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

Hi Don:
I have been using bbf for years now and in my business would't want to focus any other way. I shoot high school sports. It takes a bit to get use to it, but after you do it becomes automatic. I shoot with a Nikon D500 and D4.
Good luck and lets see some of your work when you nail bbf.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

The first time I tried it I couldn't get used to it and kept missing shots because I forgot to push the button. After another year went by I tried it again and for some reason it worked like a charm and I didn't have a problem getting used to it. Now it's so automatic that when I pick up another persons camera I push their back button and it doesn't work that way. LOL.

BBF isn't anything that is going to make you a better photographer, but it may help you in certain conditions do the job a little faster. Lets say you are shooting birds in flight. BBF won't really help you or hurt you since you push that button or the shutter button and it does the same thing. But if you program two buttons to give you the choice of 1 or 9 focus points, then when you have a BIF you can choose the 9 point BBF and usually track that bird better. Great tool in my opinion. As far as I know Canon's new(er) cameras allow 2 of the buttons on the back to be programmed like this. I don't know about any of the others but I do know that older Canon bodies don't have this option. So that is one way the BBF can be a plus. Another is that when you want to recompose, it's very easy. Simply use your camera in the servo focus mode (as opposed to one shot on a Canon) and put the focus point on any subject, press the BBF, release the button, the camera stays focused on the subject, the move the camera slightly to a better composition and press the shutter button to take the picture.

Iankahler Loc: Seattle WA

I do NOT understand BBF. I have trouble understanding the auto focus option on my Nikon. I have read just about every offer of explanation... and yes even the manual. I just DONT get it. Yes I would like to photograph wildlife... sporting events, but I totally gave up on that. Instead I use manual focus, as in set the lens to infinity and use a very small aperture. For macro NON moving subjects I use AF. I dont have any idea why I cannot understand this process, but I praise those folks who can, and wish you all continued success.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

In a nutshell it simply separates the two functions (auto focus - metering) from the one button, allowing you to control those two functions separately (independently).

zcarxrg Loc: Corpus Christi

[quote=PAR4DCR]This has been discussed in the forum but I would like to get a little different twist on it. I would only like to hear from photographers who use it and for what type of photography, sports, BIF, landscape, etc. I am thinking about trying it and have done some research.
Has it helped or hurt your keeper rate?
How long did it take you to get used to it?
After trying it did you go back to shutter button focus?
If you are shooting BIF how do you know where to lock in focus if you are waiting for action to happen?
Any other pros, cons are tips will be appreciated.

I immediately started using BBF when replacing a 10 year old DSLR with a Canon 80D due to watching you tube tutorials so I can't compare keeper rates.

At the same time I went from being an occasional photographer to a frequent photographer so I got used to it quickly and never went back.

BIF Focus. Some say focus on the subject early and bump focus until you get the framing you want for the shot. I recently reviewed an Arthur Morris video and Denise D'Appolito(sp) pre-focuses at an expected distance and waits until the bird is at or near the desired framing before acquiring subject focus. This is to prevent focus from getting completely lost if your focus point goes off the subject during the flight path. I used this method fairly successfully on small terns in flight last time out. There is another popular photographer who believes some birds ( I expect soaring birds or birds of prey) might see your lens if your are constantly tracking so he does not point at the bird until just before wanting to take the shot. I have attached a photo using the pre-focus method last week with a Canon 7d II and 100-400mm IS ii. There is significant cropping due to the distance to subject. That helped with tracking but hindered resolution.

Pros:
Using Canon 7d II and 5d iv I can use back button focus and settings for the current shot or the star button right next to it to focus and change to "registered" settings of my choice. I can switch from current operating exposure settings to a "bird in flight" set of parameters by moving my thumb just 3/8 ths of an inch to the right of the BBF button. I don't think that would work as well if I were not already using bbf. A Nikon d500 shooter mentioned the same type of option.
You can change from continous focus to single shot type focus by pressing and just releasing the BBF button. This may allow me to prevent refocusing off of a perched birds eye plane if the bird moves or if I am trying IS (or VR) off modes which would mean the subject is going to move in the viewfinder even when on a tripod and especially handheld. The longer the lens the worse the movement. Using shutter button focus might trigger focus off of the area of interest


Cons:
Your mind has to remember the BBF as another shooting task. Occasionally, but very infrequently I release BBF focus early during a BIF series.
This is more likely to happen when using a tripod and my feet can't keep up with the camera movement because of a sudden in flight opportunity and I am not balanced for the direction of flight or have limited movement due to obstructions.

Awkward shooting situations - holding the camera above your head over a crowd, lying sideways for a ground level bird or wildlife shot or similar postions may make it difficult to get your thumb over the BBF button.

(Download)

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I/ve been using it for 20 years, for all my shooting, never went back, and no, it did not take any time to get used to it! When shooting BIF, its is not any different than what one was doing before! I always focus on the eyes! Shooting is always about being patient, if you observe your subjects long enough, you'll get a feel when it is about to take off, or hone -in on prey, etc. One just have to be prepared and, like I said, be patient!

dyximan

But does it track as well, I was led to believe that with back button focus it tracks continuously and faster then pressing the shutter and allowing it to focus in between each shot could be my ignorance please help me with this i shoot a D 500

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I don't know about the Nikon, but I believe the Canon tracks if you enable AI-Servo.

szoots

All has been said and I too use BBF full time and will not go back to shutter focus. Just fell like I have more control.