Back Button Focus Issue?

[SabrinaO]

I wanted shoot using back button focusing but I'm having an issue. When I hit the shutter button it shoots....but it won't shoot again until 5-10 more hits on the shutter button, so I'm missing a lot of shots! It happened during a session the other day and it was pretty embarrassing. I thought it was because after I take the shot it shows the preview of the shot on screen...and when that finally goes away I can shoot again but I don't think that is what is causing the delay. Any suggestions??

 

[analog.universe]

What focusing mode are you in? I don't know what Nikon calls theirs, but on Canon "one-shot" will not release the shutter until focus is locked. If you were trying to click the shutter without focusing first, this might be the issue.

 

[SabrinaO]

I am in AF-s which is single shot. It is in focus before i shoot but it just shoots when it wants to. I didn't have this problem focusing and shooting with the shutter button. :/

 

[rgregory1965]

Sounds right.....it happened to me once.....your in the mode that wont fire till focus is locked

 

[SabrinaO]

I dont know... ive noticed that using the shutter button is faster at focusing than the BB as well :/

 

[Big Mike]

The ONLY time that your camera will prevent you from taking the shot, is when you are in 'still subject' AF mode (AF-S) and you haven't achieved focus.

That being said, if you have set your AF to be activated by the rear button, instead of the shutter button, then it should only prevent the shot when in the process of focusing (so if you have the rear button pressed and it's trying to focus). When you release the button, it should fire anyway.
So maybe you have the back button set to focus, but have you taken the focus activation away from the shutter button as well? (I'm not all that familiar with Nikon)

Either way, the first thing to do, would be to switch to AF-C and try it out. As long as the back button is the only one to activate the focus, you can still lock the focus like AF-S does, just release the back button once you have focused on your subject.

 

[SabrinaO]

The ONLY time that your camera will prevent you from taking the shot, is when you are in 'still subject' AF mode (AF-S) and you haven't achieved focus.

That being said, if you have set your AF to be activated by the rear button, instead of the shutter button, then it should only prevent the shot when in the process of focusing (so if you have the rear button pressed and it's trying to focus). When you release the button, it should fire anyway.
So maybe you have the back button set to focus, but have you taken the focus activation away from the shutter button as well? (I'm not all that familiar with Nikon)

Either way, the first thing to do, would be to switch to AF-C and try it out. As long as the back button is the only one to activate the focus, you can still lock the focus like AF-S does, just release the back button once you have focused on your subject.

Okay Mike I had to read what you wrote a few times to get it lol! (Its still early.... for me anyway..lol) But I think I got it! I was holding down the button while shooting so i guess it was still trying to focus? So I only need to hit the button once, and if the subject moves just refocus again and take my thumb off the button? Im so used to holding down the shutter to focus so i thought it worked the same way. I noticed though if hit the bbf button and move my camera away from the focus point without refocusing again, the camera wont shoot. Do you know why that is?
How would I take the focus activation away from the shutter button?

 

[SabrinaO]

Also just switched to af-c mode and using the bbf I have to hold it down while shooting and it works great! But I heard AF-s is a sharper focus which is why I shoot in af-s. What do you think? I just like the focus confirmation "beeps" in shooting in af-s.

 

[Big Mike]

Also just switched to af-c mode and using the bbf I have to hold it down while shooting and it works great! But I heard AF-s is a sharper focus which is why I shoot in af-s. What do you think? I just like the focus confirmation "beeps" in shooting in af-s.

AF-S is not a sharper focus...I'm baffled that anyone would tell you that (or write it down). Focus is done by adjusting the lens (or the distance). How that gets done, whether AF-S, AF-C, AF-A or anything else, is basically irrelevant, as long as you get to where it needs to be.

The difference between AF-S and AF-C, is that in AF-S, the camera will stop focusing once it has achieved focus. And as mentioned, the camera won't fire while it's focusing, only once it has reached focus. In AF-C, the camera will continue to refocus as long as the AF is turned on (holding down the button)....and in this mode, the camera is free to fire anytime. So with AF-C, there is a greater chance that you will take shots that are OOF, but that doesn't mean that either mode will get you sharper shots (when focused properly).

So which mode you use, is largely personal preference. As I tell my students, I don't care what focus mode you use....as long as you are able to get shots that are in focus.

So in your case, It sounds like you just need to play around with back button focus a little more (if you want to use it)...and get comfortable with how it works.

 

[MTVision]

Okay Mike I had to read what you wrote a few times to get it lol! (Its still early.... for me anyway..lol) But I think I got it! I was holding down the button while shooting so i guess it was still trying to focus? So I only need to hit the button once, and if the subject moves just refocus again and take my thumb off the button? Im so used to holding down the shutter to focus so i thought it worked the same way. I noticed though if hit the bbf button and move my camera away from the focus point without refocusing again, the camera wont shoot. Do you know why that is?
How would I take the focus activation away from the shutter button?

When you set up back button focus you had to go in the menu to assign the ae-l/af-l button right? Did you set that button to AF-on or something different?? AF-ON is back button focus - focus activation will not work with the shutter button. The other options for the ae-l/af-l button are exposure lock and focus lock, might be something else too.

 

[MTVision]

AF-S is not a sharper focus...I'm baffled that anyone would tell you that (or write it down). Focus is done by adjusting the lens (or the distance). How that gets done, whether AF-S, AF-C, AF-A or anything else, is basically irrelevant, as long as you get to where it needs to be.

The difference between AF-S and AF-C, is that in AF-S, the camera will stop focusing once it has achieved focus. And as mentioned, the camera won't fire while it's focusing, only once it has reached focus. In AF-C, the camera will continue to refocus as long as the AF is turned on (holding down the button)....and in this mode, the camera is free to fire anytime. So with AF-C, there is a greater chance that you will take shots that are OOF, but that doesn't mean that either mode will get you sharper shots (when focused properly).

So which mode you use, is largely personal preference. As I tell my students, I don't care what focus mode you use....as long as you are able to get shots that are in focus.

So in your case, It sounds like you just need to play around with back button focus a little more (if you want to use it)...and get comfortable with how it works.

I use af-s with BBF and it works great but that's what I'm used too.

With a non-moving subject (af-s or af-c) once focus is locked you can take multiple pictures without having to refocus while using BBF. With af-c, if the subject is moving you just hold the bb and once the person stops or your ready to take picture release the button and snap. BBF is actually a really great tool but it does take some practice to get use to it. When I first started I would always go to hit the shutter button to focus, but when it didn't do anything I would correct myself. Now, it's like second nature

 

[o hey tyler]

I dont know... ive noticed that using the shutter button is faster at focusing than the BB as well :/

No it isn't. They're exactly the frickin' same.

All you're doing is assigning the AF Drive to initiate with the AE-L button, rather than a half press of the shutter button. It doesn't effect AF speed at all... At least, not on Canon cameras.

 

[ClickAddict]

I believe the index finger typically has a faster reflex than the thumb, so it might not be the camera focusing faster, but perhaps his reflexes at pressing the button which make it appear as though the shutter is faster from the point his mind thinks "focus".

 

[o hey tyler]

I believe the index finger typically has a faster reflex than the thumb, so it might not be the camera focusing faster, but perhaps his reflexes at pressing the button which make it appear as though the shutter is faster from the point his mind thinks "focus".

Have you tried back button focus? My thumb generally rests on the focus button, so any type of delay from reflexes is a non-issue. It's kind of a moot point unless the OP moves their finger off of the focus button completely when done focusing (which is kinda silly IMHO).