Back Button

I always separate focus from shutter actuation when I can ... depending on the camera of course. I also vary that back AF button between single and continuous AF depending on the situation.
 
World has changed

World has changed

It's continuous autofocus now. Or the camera focuses for you, using AI (ie face detection) or even moving subject detection to keep the subject you want in focus.

Back button focus? That's for old farts like us now. So it's not a default.

Bill Pierce said:
Most cameras autofocus and then lock focus when you depress the shutter button. Press further and you take a picture. If, after you locked focus, you reframed the image, you will probably have to focus again to take a second picture. When you want to quickly shoot several frames of an active subject this need to refocus every frame can lead to just keeping the main subject in the center of the frame or shooting not because the moment is right but because the subject is in focus.

But this problem is easily solved with most autofocus cameras with “back button focus.” Somewhere on most cameras there is a way to move the focus to a “back button” and make it a function independent of the shutter button. Focus, then frame effectively and trigger the shutter when the moment is right. Most pictures benefit from intelligent framing and selecting the right moment to push the button even when you are shooting several frames looking for that moment.

I suppose my question is why isn’t back button focus the standard way of focusing? Combining focusing and tripping the shutter if it eliminates the option of reframing and shooting multiple frames without refocusing doesn’t make sense to me in the majority of shooting situations. And yet that's how I see many cameras set up. Any thoughts?
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Back button focus is so 2006. I like how on my Olympus I can set it up to automatically focus on the eye of a subject, AND I can pick whether that is the front or back eye.
 
When I explain back-button focusing to most people, it sounds to them like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time, and they don't even bother trying it.
 
I've never even heard of BBF before. I wonder if my Sony NEX-7 or Nikon D50 can do it?

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I have no idea why back-button focusing is not offered on every AF camera. Maybe it's just a not-invented-here reactionary decision. I suppose some brands just assume people upgrading from highly automated cameras just want to point and shoot.

I often use back-button focusing in manual focus mode. I use this with the FUJIFILM OVF my camera(s). This is functionally identical to manual focusing. Instead of turning the fly-by-wire focus collar, I hit the back button. When focus locks, it won't change unless I turn the lens collar or hit the button again. Sometime I use the electronic rangefinder window in focus-peaking mode. This is a quick way to confirm the AF did not find an unintended object. With the X-Pro 2's 13 X 13 grid of phase-detection AF pixels this rarely occurs. The X-100T only has a 3 X 3 phase-detection grid so visual conformation is more useful. For my projects, I prefer focus and recompose. Occasionally I do use the X-Pro 2 joy stick.

I have started using MF with F2 XF primes' focus collar. In my view, this is FUJIFILM's first practical implementation of fly-by-wire manual focusing. The X-100T is almost as good, but the lens collar is a bit to small for me. Of course, using a well-designed mechanical focusing collar is more enjoyable. But now it not necessarily quicker or more effective.
 
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