Does anyone else use BBF this way? (Page 4): MAGNIFIQUE !

denis.fr

billnikon wrote:

I have two Sony camera's, one has BBF (back button focus, you see, I explain BBF, unlike you, for those that do not know, it is always a courtesy few employ here, I digress) and on the other I use the regular shutter button, I see no advantage to either, I get award winning shots with both camera's.
If you know what your doing, I see no advantage with BBF.
The image below was taken with a traditional shutter button.

MAGNIFIQUE !

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

Rab-Eye wrote:

Long story short, I love BBF and use it except when I’m using continuous autofocus in burst mode. In that situation, it seems to me that I’ll already be pressing the shutter button, wanting to maintain auto focus throughout the burst, and see no advantage in having to hold down a second button to focus. I turn BBF off in that situation. Am I the only one?

Thanks,

Ben

Yes to turning it off. I use 2 BBF settings for all shots. Why is two fingers so hard? I have two BBF settings, one for BIF and the other for say a lighthouse. I simply move one finger to the right or left and not have to change any settings. If the bird returns I move one finger back and change nothing.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

pithydoug wrote:

Why is two fingers so hard?

I guess for you it’s not. For me it’s awkward. What’s so hard to understand about that?

gwilliams6

SuperflyTNT wrote:

For me it’s full time BBF with continuous focus. I find the focus button to be in a natural position and find pressing two buttons easier than the half shutter press, especially if I’m following action. For single shots I simply release the button after acquiring focus.

Use what works for you.

With my gear I dont need to do any of what you need to do with BBF, even when following action. Different gear has different capabilities.

Folks need to understand there is no ONE procedure necessary with the latest gear with subject recognition, AI dynamic tracking, with fast stacked sensors and processors capable of 120 AF/AE calculations per second. BBF is just not needed.

Cheers and best to you.

whitehall Loc: Canada

Essentially you suggest that one should make a decision in each instance as to which fucus mode to use. The problem I have is that bbf is an acquired muscle memory. If quick reaction is called for you just might miss the shot.
So unless you need to why mix systems.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

whitehall wrote:

Essentially you suggest that one should make a decision in each instance as to which fucus mode to use. The problem I have is that bbf is an acquired muscle memory. If quick reaction is called for you just might miss the shot.
So unless you need to why mix systems.

Ben, read this ^^^. Understand this ^^^. Update your BFF as described earlier. That is: 1 rear button for all focus. One button only for shutter release. AF always in continuous focus. No second thoughts. No confusion. No reset. No deviation. Thumb does one thing. Index finger does one thing.

willaim Loc: Sunny Southern California

Single shot or continuous, I never disable BBF.

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

CHG_CANON wrote:

Ben, read this ^^^. Understand this ^^^. Update your BFF as described earlier. That is: 1 rear button for all focus. One button only for shutter release. AF always in continuous focus. No second thoughts. No confusion. No reset. No deviation. Thumb does one thing. Index finger does one thing.

Thanks, Paul. I appreciate you!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Rab-Eye wrote:

Thanks, Paul. I appreciate you!

I hope so.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

CHG_CANON wrote:

Ben, read this ^^^. Understand this ^^^. Update your BFF as described earlier. That is: 1 rear button for all focus. One button only for shutter release. AF always in continuous focus. No second thoughts. No confusion. No reset. No deviation. Thumb does one thing. Index finger does one thing.

Did I miss your earlier post? With one button BBF how do you switch between group focus and eye focus when tracking wildlife or birds?

MikeT9

I can only speak for Canon mirrorless, in particular my EOS R5. I use back button focussing but unlike those on here, I still keep the shutter button engaged. I use it for action shooting and so I’m primarily interested in locking onto my subject which may or may not be in isolation from other potential subjects and then to engage eye Af tracking which will then follow my chosen subject while I keep it visible in the evf.
I set the shutter button to single point Af so that basically I can select my subject using the centre set single point Af by half pressing the shutter button. The eye Af setup is on the Af-On back button as I find this is the most convenient button to press with my thumb to engage eye Af.
My shooting process is as follows. I have the single point Af square centred in the evf and will therefore place this on my subject and activate it by half pressing and holding the shutter button. I keep my thumb located over the Af-On button and as soon as I see the single point Af lock on, I press the Af-On button fully, engaging eye Af and hold it down. I can then at my discretion fully press the shutter button and take the pictures.
The question people ask is, the shutter button is trying to engage the single point Af while the back button is trying to engage eye Af, what happens. The answer is visible on the Q screen, half pressing the shutter button brings up the single point logo on the screen but as soon as the Af-On button is pushed down the eye Af logo takes over. The back button has priority over the shutter button without fail.
No need for two back buttons, no need to move your thumb between them and much easier to take pictures.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

MikeT9 wrote:

I can only speak for Canon mirrorless, in particul... (show quote)

Thanks, it appears we both use the same button/dial workflow. I do add using the * button for a 9 field continuous auto focus when focusing on general wildlife or sports figures running across the field.
Thanks for clarifying your earlier post and for validating my approach.

gwilliams6

Rab-Eye wrote:

I guess for you it’s not. For me it’s awkward. What’s so hard to understand about that?

Rab-Eye, i agree with you, it can be very awkward, and I have used BBF for decades in my DSLRs, mainly for sports and fast action.

But now with my mirrorless Sony A1, it has become completely unnecessary to use BBF, and I dont miss any shots of any kind without using it. Not messing with multiple fingers doing multiple things is very freeing. Not using unnecessary BBF has freed up my fingers and freed up another custom function button.

Everyone has different gear that may need use of BBF to fully function in some situations, that is fine.

Personally, this longtime pro is happy to be done with BBF forever.

Cheers and best to you.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Rab-Eye wrote:

Long story short, I love BBF and use it except when I’m using continuous autofocus in burst mode. In that situation, it seems to me that I’ll already be pressing the shutter button, wanting to maintain auto focus throughout the burst, and see no advantage in having to hold down a second button to focus. I turn BBF off in that situation. Am I the only one?

Thanks,

Ben

If I'm shooting action or BIF, I pressure the default shutter release AF. But for slower or still subjects I prefer BBF, especially if there are objects at various depths (e.g., perched bird between branches and leaves).

AzYooper Loc: Sun Lakes AZ (Almost Phoenix)

CHG_CANON wrote:

Ben, read this ^^^. Understand this ^^^. Update your BFF as described earlier. That is: 1 rear button for all focus. One button only for shutter release. AF always in continuous focus. No second thoughts. No confusion. No reset. No deviation. Thumb does one thing. Index finger does one thing.

Totally concur. It's not at all complicated, don't make it complicated.