Back Button Focus.

[Derrel]

My EX Wife VW Passat is automatic trans with manual mode. I drove it in manual a few times and kept pushing my left foot for none existent clutch pedal.LOL

In 1986 I bought a Mazda RX7 which had a 4-speed standard transmission. When that car blew up I bought a 1989 Plymouth Reliant in 1991. I remember the very first day I climbed in the Reliant which had an automatic. I was going to go to work and my left foot forcefully hit the floor as I pushed in the imaginary clutch. I just about hyper-extended my left knee. Seriously. My foot hit the floor with quite a bit of force. Fast forward to 2017 when I was learning to drive a semi truck which although it has a standard type shift does not require you to use the clutch. My instructor was quite amazed that I would use the clutch even though it was not necessary, but old habits die hard. I learned to drive on a John Deere 1949 model M when I was 8 years old, back in the summer of 1971.I can drive stick. But I prefer the automatic transmission for its ease of operation, especially in the ever-increasing urban freeway environment of stop-and-go traffic. My last standard shift car was a 1989 Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe, which had an incredibly stiff clutch throw out mechanism. It was a bear to drive in stop-and-go freeway traffic. There's nothing quite like making 150 shifts in a 20-mile commute home.

 

[Braineack]

. I am not impressed either by the new dial type shifting system in which a 1 and 3/4 inch round dial does your shifting.

Ford actually advertises this as a feature -- probably the worst UI ever implemented.

I drive both an automatic and a manual transmission at home. Have no issues with either -- both are second nature how they operate.

Much like using BBF, there is no think behind it -- I immediately picked it up and took to it.

 

[Photo Lady]

I still do not understand fully the actual reasons and advantages but i always use it.. i just started this way and i feel comfortable with the back button ...

 

[marmle]

I set my camera to BBF a couple of months ago and I'm still undecided as to weather there is any real benefit. As Derrel said, one could just use focus lock.

 

[pez]

I keep one of the many User modes on my cameras set for "normal" shutter button focus- just in case I want to hand the camera to a non-adept, or the rare times I might prefer "normal" mode. Only takes one click of the user dial (on my cameras). Otherwise I prefer BBF- works great for me.

 

[JBPhotog]

I keep one of the many User modes on my cameras set for "normal" shutter button focus- just in case I want to hand the camera to a non-adept, or the rare times I might prefer "normal" mode. Only takes one click of the user dial (on my cameras). Otherwise I prefer BBF- works great for me.

Yep me too, I set shutter button AF in Custom Settings Bank "D" for . . . . . . .

 

[Fujidave]

I use to have BBF on all my Fuji cameras, but have gone back to normal shutter focus now on them as I find it works easier for me now.

 

[freixas]

First and foremost turning a simple one press operation into a two-step process.

Derrel, I have to disagree with this. We're comparing one two-step process (half-press to focus and full-press to shoot) to a different two-step process. I use BBF and never have to consciously think about it, any more than I have to consciously think of the steering wheel, accelerator and brake when driving a car. It never feels like a two-step process, it just feels like how I take a shot. I suspect that you call the half-press/full-press process a "one-step" operation because it feels like one-step to you--using BBF feels equally like "one-step" to me.

As for thumb fatigue, it may depend on one's thumb and one's camera. I shoot with BBF and with heavy lenses and have never had a problem, but that may be because of how my hand wraps around my cameras (which are Canon).

We can agree that it's a personal choice. You can make either method work for you. It didn't take me long to get used to BBF and the thought of linking focus to shutter press is what now seems odd.

but I bought my first 35 mm camera in 1975, and I have several fundamental assumptions about how a camera should work

You definitely shoot a lot more than me, but my first 35mm camera dates back to about the same period and I've continued my photography hobby over the years. I had no problem switching to BBF a few years ago. You are totally incorrect in thinking that only young people can adapt to BBF. I can even switch back to the half-press method if I'm borrowing a camera (continuing the car analogy, it's like switching from a manual to an automatic).

Of course, back in the 70s, cameras didn't use either method--you focused manually all the time.

 

[johngpt]

I had to laugh as after reading the first couple pages of comments I decided to come to the last page, and saw Derrel and Scott's comments about standard transmissions.
I'm laughing as it doesn't seem as incongruous as one might think.

Anyway, back on topic...
In 2011 I got the Fuji X100. It had terrible autofocus using the shutter release!
Reading the online forums mentioned switching to manual focus and using the AF-L back button.
Worked phenomenally well.
It also engages the focus assist peaking which lets me know where the focus is happening.
Since then I've gotten the X-T1, then the X100F and now the X-T3. And I'm still using the X100.
These newer cameras all have excellent autofocus using the shutter release but I still use the back button as it's now muscle memory.
And I really like the focus peaking.

 

[johngpt]

I had another thought about BBF v half press shutter release.
I had gotten into dSLR when our younger son was recruited to competitive soccer. I used the half press shutter release method for all those years. I was still shooting sports with my Canon 40D for quite awhile after getting the X100 and had no trouble switching back and forth between the two. As freixas said it was like getting from an automatic car into a standard.
If I were to go back to shooting sports, I'd definitely go back to using the shutter half press method.

 

[Derrel]

Some people prefer one way,others prefer another way. Still think a T-shirt is in order.

 

[TWX]

Some people prefer one way,others prefer another way. Still think a T-shirt is in order.

"I argue about back button focus on the Internet and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"?

 

[Derrel]

A driver that never consciously thinks of the brake or the accelerator...driving on innate instincts...interesting...try that driving in mud or snow or tight confines... I used to be a Precision driver at a large Nursery,where it was required to drive all day long for 8 hours with no more than three inches of a variance...piloting a 10 implement cultivator over three--row beds of ornamental plants or trees required lots of actual thinking about the steering and gear choice and braking... it was mentally quite stressful, driving like this. There was plenty of thought given to all parts of the driving process. I would like to be able to say that a person can drive without thinking , but there is actually quite a bit of subconscious or even conscious thought applied to even something as common as driving.

There is actually quite a bit of difference between driving and just sitting behind the steering wheel as a vehicle goes over the roadway.

 

[mnhoj]

I started AF-ON back in ---- with a D200(?).
Don't really have a choice anymore - it's just what I do - for better or worst.

I've recently revisited this when my Sony A6400. It's AF-C and eye-AF are pretty amazing.
Maybe shutter button release would better?
I'll never know - my thumb does what it wants.

 

[Indrajeet]

I was wondering how many people still use "back button focusing" or is it redundant given the focussing/sensor technology we have in cameras now?

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