Backbutton Focus and the Myth of the 'Magic Button' in Wildlife Photography

Why I don't use backbutton focus, but also why it's pretty irrelevant to making real strides in your wildlife photography

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[Kirkland_Signature]

I've been a big fan of back button focusing for as long as I can remember. Being able to engage stabilization and meter with a half press of the shutter while only engaging AF when I wanted to via the AF-ON button just became kind of a natural thing for me. Recently I bought a Sony a9 and while I don't think that camera gives me more of a keeper rate than my Canon bodies have, its tracking modes are incredible and have completely converted me to shutter button AF. The tracking modes stay glued to your subject so well that you can sit with your finger half-pressing the shutter, recompose your shot without touching the joystick and then when the bird takes off, instantly take the shot. With it being mirrorless and allowing me to see my exposure in real time, I find I need to meter much less than I have to with an SLR which again helps me to feel more confident with shutter button AF. With my 1DX II I still need to bump focus regularly and for that technique I still find BBF to work a little better, in the end I think it's all personal preference and knowing how to feel most comfortable with the camera currently in your hands.

[gonzaloignazi]

You ignore all the reasons why some of us use back focus.

[mdees]

Great video, hope you do more of these. I really enjoy all your 1 hour videos too. I've learned a lot from your videos and it has allowed me to really step up my game. Never thought I would be laying face down on a mud flat taking pictures of ducks, lol. I use my back button to disable autofocus. This way when I'm shooting BIF and the bird lands, I can put the autofocus point on the eye, lock the focus, recompose, then take the shot.... much easier than switching from continuous focus to one-shot in the camera. I guess the point is there is no right or wrong way, just try them all and see what works best for you.

[jasondain]

You make some great points about the alternative to back-button focus. I switched to using it shortly after starting out based on some similar advice so it has become second nature to me. I think the thing that resonates most with me is the ability to switch the focus point or exposure comp. without being committed to the focus button. With bigger telephoto lenses like my 500 f/4, the field of view is pretty small and it would be convenient to be able to change the focus point on the fly vs. just keeping it in the centre like it do now. Sound like some experimentation is in order!

[tobiasyoder]

Very good points I am not sure why I never thought of the advantages of shutter button AF. There are definitely times when your laying in weird positions and my thumb doesn't comfortable reach the focus button. I think ill probably continue to use back button just cause im so used to having the pv button be single point and the af-on be group, and it also allows you to focus with your middle finger to free your thumb. But yeah, your so right that none of this little technical camera things will automatically make you better, its just about getting the settings in a way that does what you want.

[davidcannon]

Very interesting I think I will go back to shutter button focus. Must admit I have been getting it wrong I used back button but did not keep the button pressed.

[BuildingCenter]

YouTube is finally serving up your older videos; guess I've caught up with all the new stuff.

[TomReichner]

It depends on one's shooting style. For me, back button focus is an absolute necessity. Why? Because I do NOT take the shot when the animal's eye or face is over the active focus point. I prefer to use the center point as my active point, But I do NOT want my subject in the center of the frame. So I must focus and recompose. But I must focus and recompose rapidly, in a fraction of a second. How do you focus on the subject's head with the center point and then move the camera to throw the subject way off to the side of the frame, if you are using the shutter button to focus? It is impossible to do. One MUST use back button focus if one is going to shoot the way I do. There is simply not enough time to change the active focus point. By time I move the active point to the part of the frame where I want the animal's head, the animal will have moved on and the opportunity for a shot is over.

[gojoe]

I have used back button focus for several years, and it has it's place. The myths I don't know about, I look at real world experience. Back-button focus is good for long lens (600-800mm) folks who are shooting small birds in tight hard to focus environments. Trying to follow a humming bird in an crab apple tree is ruff. Back focus allows you to MANUALLY FOCUS your lens if you loose tracking and get back on the subject and squeeze a shot in there, you can't do this with the front button. I have done it and it works great, but it's just for big lens folks and it takes practice like all things. That is the main use I have found with it.

[blayral]

I never found the af-on buttonbeing very natural (for me at least) and I rather use the af button as an af-off button : when a subject is stationnery and I have enough time to recompose, it becomes usefull, but using it isn't as mandatory as it would be if it was af-on. Most of the time I will just use my thumb doing other things like shutter speed, changing af points etc., and still be able to focus with the shutter button.

[forsterl.stewart]

WHEN BACK BUTTON IS NOT USEFUL.#1
While pressing back button Auto Focus you can't select another focus point. Let's say you're shooting and decide to move the focus point on a area of iterest that's just to right of center but you have set the focus at center af point. Now if you try to press the a.f. selection button its impossible.

But if you have the top main dial set as a.f. half press all you need do is hit the a.f. selection button and move your point to the desired new position.

Also you shouldnt use it for dedicated flight photography. Because you will be continuously focusing when shooting birds in flight, it will be more comfortable for your hands to half press the shutter button for focus and fully press to release the shutter, rather than having to hold two buttons at once.

WHEN BACK BUTTON IS NOT USEFUL.#2
Normally when you fully press the shutter release button on your camera the camera will prioritise achieving accurate focus before firing the shot.
Auto Focus will no longer be prioritised using back button focus.
This can cause an element of delay that is far from ideal for wildlife and sports photography.
Telling it to immediately take the image when fully depressed, but by default this is how your camera will prioritise things, It is possible to override this in your camera’s settings, not only the first image but additional images in a sequence can be prioritised to fire regardless of focus confirmation or wait until focus is confirmed.
BBF IN TODAYS MODERN DSLR AND MIRRORLESS CAMERAS ?
THE FACT THAT SOME OF TODAYS CAMERAS HAVE MORE FOCUS POINTS THAN THOSE IN THE PAST. ALLOWING MUCH BETTER TRACKING OF FOLLOW  FOCUSING. PLUS FOCUS POINT SELCTIONS HAVE CHANGED. NOW WE HAVE AUTO FOCUS EXPANSION LIKE SPOT FOCUS POINTS, A NUMBER OF CLUSTERS OR FOCUS GROUPS.
PLUS THE NUMBER ONE REASON BBF WAS USED TO FOCUS RECOMPOSE  SHOOTING.

TODAYS CAMERAS FOCUS POINT COVERAGE:
With so many focus points and coverage, any need to focus and recompose has been eliminated. I can choose a focus point right on my subject in my composition with no compromise.

With my focus point always on my subject and no need to recompose my shots, I'm relying on the auto focus so that I'm always ready to release the shutter for the sharpest image. There is disadvantage to adding a second button into the mix, and if anything BBF is now obstructing much better uses for your humb:
FOCUS POINT SELECTION, AF-OFF, ONE SHOT/AI-SERVO, REGISTER RECALL FUNCTION.

[hengyhk]

Does not mean back button focus is not superior. One should try both and explore other methods. You will see the joy of back button.

[soumenroychowdhuryphotogra]

My preference is back button because I used to it so for me it is better.

[timseward]

Have become a fan of these short vlogs, always good points, always well thought out and put together.
Perhaps more important than back button when someone taps you on the shoulder while your shooting to tell you how you "should" be doing LISTEN.

[comeraczy]

What? And I thought that all my pics were awesome because I am a back-button-focuser! You just ruined my day :-) That said, I love the concept of a 5mn video that is straight to the point, particularly when it is such an important point to make.
If you are so inclined, it might be a great idea to make a longer one to explore in detail the pros, cons, trade offs and viable alternatives for controlling the focus. Strangely, considering the importance of focusing I find it remarkable that the internet content on this topic is almost exclusively split between the shutter-button-focus and the back-button-focus and that all the other solutions are mostly ignored. Noteworthy examples include the front button focus (right hand) that would leave the thumb available for the joystick, lens button focus (i wish all wildlife lenses had a programmable button), multi-button focus (e.g. one for single-point and another one for a larger area when the birds take off), switch-config button to quickly switch from one focusing configuration to another, and perhaps the focus ring.

[Matt]

While we are at it perhaps we should go all the way.
Shoot in Aperture Priority and claim to not edit or crop photos like "Moose" Peterson like we're still in 1995 :)
I shoot on an R5 and have two back button focus buttons and that has increased my keeper rate immensely. Extremely easy to recompose the shot with eye autofocus...the wonders if technology.
With that said, I understand that there can be an overemphasis on gear...enjoy your videos but I like to be a devil's advocate.

[nikonnorm]

Thank goodness someone has debunked this myth

[turboprop]

You don't inspire me at all to use the trigger button for focusing with your arguments here on this video

[gonzaloignazi]

The problem here is that you oversimplify the reasons many of us prefer back focus. You don't even talk about the differences between shooting in "one shot" mode vs "AI servo", which is the basics for understanding why back focus is so useful. Furthermore, you miss the real downside of back focusing. It seems that more extensive research before talking about this would have been useful.