Back-button focus and birds, birds, birds

[purplehaze]

I've not been posting much as I keep pushing my data limits when I am at the lake. But I came into town for a medical appointment and so am taking this opportunity to share some new images.

I am liking this back-button focus, though it does take some getting used to. I have also been applying some of the tips in a book I found online about the Nikon autofocus system, and my success rate has definitely gone up.

Here are some of my favourites, edited in Lightroom as that is what I have loaded on the laptop I have with me.

#1



#2



#3



The green is from a ghastly bloom of algae.

#4



This one is a bit soft, but I feel lucky to have gotten it, as I had staked out its position in a tree and waited a long time for it to fly off. Of course it waited until I was distracted by a friend who came walking his dog along the beach.

[lovelife65]

Hello Janis, nice set... and the last one is my favorite, the soft wings don't bug me as the big guy is in flight. Gorgeous bird.
Thanks for sharing.

[Shadowman]

I started BBF about a year ago and depending on subject my success rate is about 90-95℅ and can drop from long period hand holding. You've done very well in this series, looking forward to seeing more.

[joebranko]

Nice set!

[Geoff F]

Some difficult scenes which have worked well.

[Tom Barry]

Excellent series and I also fancy the eagle shot most of all.

[billtils]

Very nice set Janis. Keep going with BBF and before you know it will become your every day option! And I agree with Sharon.

[pschlute]

Yes Eagle shot for me too. The eye and beak are in sharp focus and the blur of the wings expresses movement. Super image.

[rpcrowe]

With my A6400 and Sony 70-200mm f/4 G OSS lens, I have programmed the focus hold button as focus on which is like using back button focus. But, if I have this lens on my A6500, I have that button programmed as Eye-AF. Since the A6400 has full-time ye-F, I don't need to program the button for Eye-AF...

[Acorn]

I'm essentially a back button wildlife photographer and with focus set to track.

[Wavelength]

Excellent images...

[RandyRFJP]

All very nice photos. I particularly like Photo #1 of the Red-Winged Blackbird and Photo #3 of the Ring-Billed Gull.

[Cantab]

A good set of photos. My favourite is the first; it's sharp and well posed.

[skitterbug]

Hi Janis - I really like your series of birds. And thanks to your experimenting with 'back button' focus, you've stirred my curiosity enough that I am giving it a try. I'm on Canon but the premise would be the same I think. Excellent results for you! Thanks for sharing!

[Cantab]

Hi Janis - I really like your series of birds. And thanks to your experimenting with 'back button' focus, you've stirred my curiosity enough that I am giving it a try. I'm on Canon but the premise would be the same I think. Excellent results for you! Thanks for sharing!

Sandy, I used a Canon (60D) back button focus on a downy woodpecker a few days ago on one of our birdfeeders. I focussed on the birdfeeder, then eveything stayed focussed despite wobbling my handheld 100-400 (at 400) lens. It works well.

[skitterbug]

Sandy, I used a Canon (60D) back button focus on a downy woodpecker a few days ago on one of our birdfeeders. I focussed on the birdfeeder, then eveything stayed focussed despite wobbling my handheld 100-400 (at 400) lens. It works well.

Hi Bruce - I don't mean to highjack Janis' wonderful pictures of her birds but I have to add that when I first encountered 'back button' focus ages ago, it didn't make much sense to me. Now though, reading descriptions/information, I'm beginning to understand how it may be helpful! Thanks for sharing your info - especially that you were using the 100-400 lens!

And thank you again Janis for bringing this back to my attention!

[DanK]

A very nice series.

Not to hijack the thread further, but BBF (back button focusing) is not just useful for birds or other wildlife. Using BBF is a matter of control: it separates your decision about whether and when to use AF from everything else you do. I experimented with it years ago and quickly became convinced. I almost never program my Canon bodies not to use BBF except when I have to hand the camera to someone else. For example, it is by far the best option for night photography, where you don't want the camera deciding to change the focus when you trip the shutter button.

The ideal, IMHO, is the combination of BBF and lenses with full-time manual focusing, that is, lenses that you can manually focus even if the lens is set to AF. With that combination, you can freely move between AF, manual focusing, and simply leaving the focus as it is whenever you want.

My only problem with BBF is that I have used it for so long that I often reach for the button with my thumb without thinking, even when I don't want AF to be triggered. I have to remind myself to move my thumb. However, making that mistake occasionally is still better than leaving AF on the shutter because in that arrangement, I would make that mistake automatically every single time.

So, my entirely unsolicited suggestion is to switch to BBF and leave it that way for a month or two. By the end of that time, it will be second nature, and some people will wonder why they ever did without.

[purplehaze]

Thanks for the feedback, all. I think I am a convert.