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Back button focusing
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Apr 14, 2019 14:01:34   #
speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho
 
OZMON wrote:
I watched a video on youtube about back button focusing, I have not tried it yet but it looks very promising,have any hoggers tried it and if so what are the results.


Have been using it for over 20 years, I never use anything else! It has been talked about a lot on the forum, yes there a lot of hogs using it!

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Apr 14, 2019 14:58:10   #
Benno
 
I enjoy taking wildlife shots. As you can imagine the subjects don't always stop and pose for you to catch them. Back button focus set to continues focus for this type of photography is superb. It may feel strange to start with but you soon adapt. Some of my friends don't like it but if you have never used it, it is well worth a try.

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Apr 14, 2019 15:19:43   #
OZMON Loc: WIGAN UK
 
would it be useful to buy a hoodloupe when using bbf in live view,when I watched a video about bbf, the guy was showing how and where to focus for landscape photography, and I thought that a hoodloupe would be an advantage in strong daylight.

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Apr 14, 2019 15:33:37   #
CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska
 
OZMON wrote:
Many thanks for all replies, I will try it on my next excursion.


Don't wait for your next excursion. It takes awhile to get used to. Start using it around the house and in the backyard and at the grocery store. It took me about two weeks of fairly extensive shooting for it to become natural. All I ever use now.
...Cam

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Apr 14, 2019 15:43:58   #
PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago
 
OZMON wrote:
would it be useful to buy a hoodloupe when using bbf in live view,when I watched a video about bbf, the guy was showing how and where to focus for landscape photography, and I thought that a hoodloupe would be an advantage in strong daylight.


I have one and use it and also great for checking focus in strong daylight

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Apr 14, 2019 15:46:05   #
PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
 
OZMON wrote:
would it be useful to buy a hoodloupe when using bbf in live view,when I watched a video about bbf, the guy was showing how and where to focus for landscape photography, and I thought that a hoodloupe would be an advantage in strong daylight.


A hoodloop is very useful for focusing in general. Which button you use makes no real difference in terms of needing a hoodloop. Live view in bright sunlight demands one. If you do look into purchasing one, there are 2 things to consider - 1) what is the magnification factor ? 2) do you need/does it have a diopter ?

There are top end hooploops like Hoodman and downright cheap ones. Look at the offerings from Neewer for reasonable pricing. Hoodman loops can go as high as $180 and Ebay has some poorly constructed el-cheapo's for $10 ! I found and purchased Neewer's well built and sturdy for around $50 without diopter (which I didn't need) .

It does make the camera a little awkward when not in use. Most hoodloops are attached to the camera using a QR plate that screws into the tripod mounting screw. The hood is held to the mounting plate by a magnet so you can easily and quickly remove the hood and carry it on a lanyard. Popping it back on takes seconds. The QR plate makes it easy to attach to an arca type tripod mount.

Shop around and good luck

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Apr 14, 2019 16:27:25   #
JD750 Loc: SoCal
 
OZMON wrote:
would it be useful to buy a hoodloupe when using bbf in live view,when I watched a video about bbf, the guy was showing how and where to focus for landscape photography, and I thought that a hoodloupe would be an advantage in strong daylight.


BBF is using autofocus. Why not just use the viewfinder if you are using auto-focus. It's a lot easier to use than a Hoodloop for hand held shooting, and you can hold the camera more stable using the viewfinder. If you are using a tripod and shooting landscape scenes, then the hoodloop and MANUAL focus could do the trick for you.

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Apr 14, 2019 16:49:47   #
BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan
 
CamB wrote:
Don't wait for your next excursion. It takes awhile to get used to. Start using it around the house and in the backyard and at the grocery store. It took me about two weeks of fairly extensive shooting for it to become natural. All I ever use now.
...Cam


And if you find your shutter button won't work to focus, it's probably because you forgot you set it on bbf (not that I would EVER do that myself!) LOL

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Apr 14, 2019 17:32:27   #
User ID
 
JD750 wrote:

BBF is using autofocus. Why not just use the
viewfinder if you are using auto-focus. It's a
lot easier to use than a Hoodloop .......

Becuz the optical viewfinder is greatly
compromised and not really accurate.
It's basically just an aid to framing for
action shooters.

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Apr 14, 2019 20:10:48   #
kskarma Loc: Topeka, KS
 
After many, many years of using the 'conventional' half-press focusing method, I decided a few months back to make the switch....and even though it took a few weeks to 're-train' my 'muscle memory', I am now a real fan of using Back Button Focus. For me, it combines the best of both worlds...press to focus, release and focus is locked...press and hold and you are in continuous focus mode. Now, using the AE-L/AF-L button (I have Nikon D-750s) is second nature. You never have to go to the menu or change any other setting on your camera, it's either press the button and release, or press and hold...simple!
And...I agree that Steve Perry has the best info in general and a great video on Back Button Focus.

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Apr 14, 2019 20:29:47   #
bleirer
 
For handheld, I've been trying an alternative that saw on youtube that I think could be better. It accomplishes the same goal of uncoupling focus from the shutter button when required but allowing servo to be the default.

On my Canon I set the shutter button at the default: to activate focus and metering with a half press, but I set af-on to turn off auto focus when held down, and set the * to exposure lock. The advantage is that I can stay in servo mode at all times, but don't have to hold my thumb down to focus or track, but anytime I want to hold focus to recompose I can press af-on (but now it turns af off), recompose and shoot. A plus is I get focus peaking while my thumb is down even though I am in servo. On my camera servo doesn't otherwise allow focus peaking. I can use exposure lock if needed but that is unrelated. The downside for tripod use is that your thumb has to hold the af-on button if you need to recompose without changing focus. Of course the lens itself can be switched to manual focus to solve that problem.

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Apr 14, 2019 20:40:57   #
CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska
 
bleirer wrote:
For handheld, I've been trying an alternative that saw on youtube that I think could be better. It accomplishes the same goal of uncoupling focus from the shutter button when required but allowing servo to be the default.

On my Canon I set the shutter button at the default: to activate focus and metering with a half press, but I set af-on to turn off auto focus when held down, and set the * to exposure lock. The advantage is that I can stay in servo mode at all times, but don't have to hold my thumb down to focus or track, but anytime I want to hold focus to recompose I can press af-on (but now it turns af off), recompose and shoot. A plus is I get focus peaking while my thumb is down even though I am in servo. On my camera servo doesn't otherwise allow focus peaking. I can use exposure lock if needed but that is unrelated. The downside for tripod use is that your thumb has to hold the af-on button if you need to recompose without changing focus. Of course the lens itself can be switched to manual focus to solve that problem.
For handheld, I've been trying an alternative that... (show quote)


This sounds overly convoluted when BBF, assigned to any button you want, works so quickly and easily.
...Cam

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Apr 14, 2019 20:48:29   #
PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
 
User ID wrote:
Becuz the optical viewfinder is greatly
compromised and not really accurate.
It's basically just an aid to framing for
action shooters.


While I don't know if I agree with your 'compromised' comment unless the mechanicals or mirror have gone out of alignment, I do agree it is better to focus/fine tune focus according to what the sensor 'sees' in live view.

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Apr 14, 2019 20:59:04   #
bleirer
 
CamB wrote:
This sounds overly convoluted when BBF, assigned to any button you want, works so quickly and easily.
...Cam


This is also only one button, you leave the shutter at default and any button can be assigned to turn auto focus off while held. You don't have to tire your thumb unless you want to hold a focus to recompose.

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Apr 14, 2019 21:01:16   #
PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
 
JD750 wrote:
BBF is using autofocus. Why not just use the viewfinder if you are using auto-focus. It's a lot easier to use than a Hoodloop for hand held shooting, and you can hold the camera more stable using the viewfinder. If you are using a tripod and shooting landscape scenes, then the hoodloop and MANUAL focus could do the trick for you.


Speaking only for myself, I never fully trust autofocus to be as sharp as it could be and will usually manually fine tune the focus after autofocus does its thing.

Additionally, if I am going hand-held while messing with hyperfocal points, I will usually need to manually adjust the focus point unless I can be positive that I hit the autofocus at exactly the position I wanted.

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