portraiturebyBrent wrote:
After a quick tutorial, she went back out and got a few more shots before an important part of the reception was about to happen, so she had to get back to "work", so went back to using her gear.

wedding, sports, action, wildlife photography are different from portrait photography. when you deal with constantly moving subjects, rear button focus is not necessarily an advantage. while a few sports photographers have used it, most action photographers do well with the normal focus operation by the shutter button.

for portrait and model work where the subject distance doesn't change too fast, it's fine. in some cases, it does work well in action shots; but that's a preference of the photographer's working style.

Leonard Gee Photography wrote:
wedding, sports, action, wildlife photography are different from portrait photography. when you deal with constantly moving subjects, rear button focus is not necessarily an advantage. while a few sports photographers have used it, most action photographers do well with the normal focus operation by the shutter button.

for portrait and model work where the subject distance doesn't change too fast, it's fine. in some cases, it does work well in action shots; but that's a preference of the photographer's working style.

I completly agree with this.  I switch back and forth between these modes depending on the action.

Although, a friend who shoots Nikon, when shooting action sets his autofocus to the follow mode and has trained himself to keep the back button held down and fires away.  I haven't tried it with my Canon 5D3 because I don't think I'm coordinated enough to pull this off.

roger alan wrote:
I don't understand. What can be done with back button focus that can not be done with the normal shutter release button?

you pick where you want to focus and once focused, it doesn't change when you release the shutter. the camera won't decide to shift the focus point until you decide and press the rear af button again. for model work where the model is relatively stationary if prefer it. it is fast and easy - especially since being picky about where i am focused. it removes the focus function form the shutter button to the back af button.

not all photographers can get use to it nor understand the process. but have had many other photographers switch to it once they see it work. if you are used to "automatic" refocus each time you press the shutter or hold half-press and recompose, that's fine. coming from manual focus, for me to focus only when i need to, at the spot i want the focus and then release the shutter at the correct framing and time is much better.

Voy wrote:
BBF is overrated. I find it useless. I think someone wrote a blog about it and now all the newbies think that it is the only way to go

Newbie's? Ha!

I have been using BBF since Nikon made it available, several D body generations ago.

portraiturebyBrent wrote:
A couple of weeks ago, one of my daughters got married. The photographers they hired (husband and wife team) have been shooting weddings for 13 years. More importantly (to me), they shoot Nikon. They each carried two D750s with different lenses. I spoke to them at the wedding and warned them I was an "Uncle Bob" and would have my gear at the reception for some candid shots. I let them know I would try not to get in their way and would not be using any flash.

At the reception, I had my D750 and D500, keeping one on the table, ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Throughout the night I spoke with them. One was shooting Sigma's 35mm f/1.4 Art, a lens I want to add to my arsenal. At the time, I had the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art on the D500 and neither was familiar with the D500 and had been thinking about getting the 50mm Art. I gave the camera to the wife and told her to go play with it and see what she thought. After a little while, she mentioned she couldn't get any shots in focus. I explained I use back button focus and the shutter is set to release only. Neither she or her husband knew what I was talking about. After a quick tutorial, she went back out and got a few more shots before an important part of the reception was about to happen, so she had to get back to "work", so went back to using her gear.

I was surprised they didn't use back button focus, or even heard of it. When I first learned the back button focus technique, it took a couple of days for muscle memory to take over and I've never looked back.

Just to ask this simple question:

What are your thoughts/experiences using back button focus?

I'm going to be the bad guy here and ask you, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU???? Who brings two camera bodies to their daughter's wedding when they already had two photographers shooting the event? I hear stories like this and I scratch my head in disbelief that anyone would have the gal to do this but to hear someone actually take glee in knowing they did it defies all logic. If I had a family member show up to my wedding with two camera bodies when I already hired a two-person photography team, I would ask them nicely to put them away immediately and if they didn't, those camera bodies would have wound up in the trash by the end of the night. Unreal.

Shot By Adam wrote:
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU???? Who brings two camera bodies to their daughter's wedding when they already had two photographers shooting the event?

I appreciate the subtlety in how you phrased your question.

The answer is: because my daughter asked me to.

The reception started at 5pm and was scheduled to go until 11pm (that's a fuckin' long reception!). The hired guns were only going to be there until 9:30pm. They ended staying until almost 11pm and the music didn't stop until after midnight. She wanted pictures until the end, so I wasn't going to tell her No! on her wedding night.

Leonard Gee Photography wrote:

you pick where you want to focus and once focused, it doesn't change when you release the shutter. the camera won't decide to shift the focus point until you decide and press the rear af button again. for model work where the model is relatively stationary if prefer it. it is fast and easy - especially since being picky about where i am focused. it removes the focus function form the shutter button to the back af button.

not all photographers can get use to it nor understand the process. but have had many other photographers switch to it once they see it work. if you are used to "automatic" refocus each time you press the shutter or hold half-press and recompose, that's fine. coming from manual focus, for me to focus only when I need to, at the spot i want the focus and then release the shutter at the correct framing and time is much better.

100%
Half way down shutter will refocus every time, personally not into refocusing, refocusing and refocusing the shot you wanted and or needed is gone,,, meanwhile someone with BBF didn't miss a thing tracking the subject with one button hold,, you can shot as many shots as you like to have, done very easy,,, no shots missed in refocusing every shot.

Always BBF shooter, always will be BBF shooter but that is me,,, someone else maybe not,,, they like I have to deal with the choices made.

Do what you like to do then go from there as you need to...

That's my 5 cents...

roger alan wrote:
What about depth of field? Just asking  questions and trying to understand...

Those of you who use back button focus, are you typically shooting with smaller aperture, or at greater distances?

What about with large aperture and/or short distance from lens to a non-stationary (human) subject, wouldn't normal  AF (on each exposure) be preferable to BBF those situations?

Back button focusing has nothing to do with depth of field or aperture, it is simply a manner of controlling when your camera starts to focus.  I am a sports photographer.  During a game, I am always tracking action, tracking players.  I don't want my camera constantly trying to focus in this chaos.  Back button focusing allows me to keep a finger on the shutter but not start the focus process until I decide when to start.

A perfect example of the value of back button focusing.  Volleyball.  If I am in the back court shooting through the net, regular shutter controlled focusing will often focus on the net in the heat of action.  With back button focusing, I can lock pre-focus on the player on the other side of the net and just fire away on net action when it happens.  I don't have to worry about the camera focus jumping around in the net.

I love back button focusing.  Can't shoot without it.

roger alan wrote:
@Keith Moody

In the situation you describe, you are not focusing until you are ready to shoot? You are just using BBF instead of the shutter release button, and capturing a single exposure then re-focusing for the next?


But in some of the posts above there were references to focusing with the back button, then capturing multiple exposures without re-focusing. Those multiple exposures with out refocusing are what I am wondering about. If the depth of field is very thin, and the subject moves a little..

EDIT: seeing that you have added to your post...that player on the other side of the net will be moving nearer or further from your lens...so your depth of field is great  enough (your distance + small-ish aperture) to allow for that movement and still have decent focus. But it seems to me that not every shooting situation will have a depth of field great enough to allow for movement of a subject and retain focus.

I am not trying to argue against BBF in situations where either method would work.

When I am shooting sports I am always in CONTINUOUS FOCUS MODE.  As long as I am holding the back button to focus, the camera will continue to track focus through multiple exposures just as it does in shutter activated focusing.  Sometimes I am zone focusing, as in shooting action just beyond the net. I am focused for a single distance.  However, most of time time I am tracking moving subjects.  The camera will readjust focus as long as I track the subject.

I also use back button focusing in portrait work.  I lock focus and recompose.  Yes, if the subject moves significantly, they will be out of focus.  But if that happens, I will just re-lock focus.  And, as you know, F8 will give you a bit more wiggle room than 2.8 or 1.8.