I've watched a half-dozen of these 'back-button' videos......yours is BY FAR the most comprehensive and easy to both understand AND set up Thanks a ton and I'll start doing it tomorrow and I suspect I'll NEVER go back Cheers from Canada North
For one, thank you for teaching me that pressing the Q will cycle through the six menus. And your back button methodology is genius. One thing I’ve added to that genius is to program my Depth of Field Preview button to One Shot/AI Servo, instantly switching between the two focusing modes. But man, getting the focusing function off of the shutter button is a big help. One other change I make is for my main dial on top of the camera. I switch that to control Aperture instead of shutter speed. There’s just something about the left to right feel of using that dial and picturing all the f-stops to choose from in a left to right fashion that makes it feel perfectly natural.
Just have to repeat what many people have said. I could not for the life of me figure this out with other videos, but you made it completely understandable. Thank you!
I tried watching another video on this and was completely lost. Your video was easy to watch and completely understandable. And now I'm a subscriber! Thank you!
I kid you not, after two years of trying to figure out what everyone was talking about, you just taught me WTH back button focus is! Thank you so much for this video. Game changer for sure.
You sir have changed my skill level. I’ve been a photographer for many years only as a hobby and missed many shots, but now that’s a thing of the past with my new 90D I’m buzzing. Thanks
Hey Chad, Awesome teaching video, I don't know how many shots I've missed by not knowing how to do this. I've watched and read lessons on how it works, but never 'got it'. Your way of explaining made it click. Thanks. Looking forward to more of your videos.
I often heard photographers talking about back-button focus, but never knew what it meant or how useful it could be. Watching your video was a eureka moment for me. Thanks so much.
This is awesome and I have been using back button focus for several years now an am amazed at how easy the switch was. What I loved about this video is your explanation on how to use it for OneShot/AI Servo with back button focus.
The last one I watched said there was no way to disable AF focus on the shutter button on the 7d which kinda makes a mockery of the BBF because that would mean the shutter release would override the focus from the back button. I wish they would take their misleading videos down
Thank you for such a clear and easy to understand tutorial. I’ve never got my head around how it works until now. I’m changing my camera to back button focusing right now!
Good video. Although not part of the planned lesson, I never realized that pressing the Q button while in Menu would move to the next tab. I've always toggled through all of the lower level tabs to move through the menus. Also a good explanation of the logic for disabling AF on the shutter button.
Thankyou for the clear settings instructions, but especially the explanation for how and why to use it. I’ve seen many you tube photographers “explain” it without really making it clear why it is useful.
THANK YOU u just made BBF sound simple! Intelligent individuals r those able to take difficult subjects and make them understandable to the layman! I totally get it now and will use BBF from this day onward thanks to you! Thank you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a really clear explanation - the best I've come across. There's one thing that isn't in this or any other explanation I've seen, which is that when you switch to AI Servo you'll no longer get any confirmation such as a beep or flash to tell you the camera has achieved focus. The only indication is that the lens is no longer searching, and if you have a quiet lens you really have no idea. You just have to hope the camera has focused on your subject, and that sucks, especially when you're trying to focus on something like a bird's eye.
You’re absolutely right Mark! It takes some getting used to but you learn to trust the AF or a combination of the AF and checking the LCD occasionally to verify.
You are the only tutor who solved my problem of decoupling the shutter focusing from the AF-ON button on my Canon5dsr in the simplest direct fashion Much appreciated Pat Cosgrave
Finally! An accurate description of focus recomposing. Nobody else seems to recognize that doing that moves their focal plane. Excellent video! Just subscribed.
Thank you Chad. I recently purchased a bridge camera, Canon SX 70 HS and nobody has a video or instruction on how to do this for it. Your video got me 95% there, and a few tweaks later and I have it set now. Thanks so much!
Finally! After a year with my telephoto and Canon 7D I decided to actually learn how to use more of its functions. As an avid birder this will be a game changer. I missed so many great shots due to autofocus issues. Great video!
I just switched my Canon 7D to BBF and my oh my, do I love it. I tried a few shots right after making the change in my camera and I loved the results. Thank you
I followed your advice and it works great for me. After I got it setup I took 3 pictures and I had no problems with it. I don’t have to practice with the setup I just have to remember that the camera is setup for back button focus. Great video and Thanks for sharing your opinion. ❤❤❤
Chad, Great info. I disliked the half way hold and shoot function. In low light settings the camera would 50% of the time fail to shoot. But now with back button focus 0% fail. Thank you for this suggestion.
Happy to hear it!! Low light is tricky because your AF system is looking for contrast to lock onto. Just be aware of that in those low light situations. You’ll get a shot off every time you press the trigger but if you find you are missing focus, look for edges between light and dark or add light temporarily to get your focus. Sometimes I have someone light my subject with a phone flashlight so I can get focus and then have them turn it off and get out of frame.
Love using back button focus especially during weddings, brilliant tutorial and straight to the point about what it is and why it's used. You got yourself another subscriber 👍🏻📸
7:20 Not sure about other models, but a backbutton-focus setup overrides the "half-way shutter AF" in the 5D Mk4. So essentially you don't need to remove the AF from the shutter button. As soon as you press the shutter halfway and *then* press your AF ON button (or whatever button you use for BBF) it overrides the shutterbutton-AF.
Chad I had to come back and thank you for this video! I decided to give it a try today.. OMG! I can’t believe the difference. Was a little awkward at first, but the sharp clear photos I got were worth the fumbling for a few minutes!! Thank you for making this so easy to understand!!
I have been shooting for over 30 years, but I only started using back-focus a couple of months ago... I never looked back since.... it's definitely the way to go ;)
Hi Chad! This tutorial was perfect. I’ve watched a few on back button focus but yours made it so much easier to understand why we should use it. I have a Canon 5d Mkiii and I wondered if you’d done a tutorial on the various AF area selection modes that are available on this camera. Thanks and subscribed!
Hi Glen! I’m glad the video helped out. I know I was always frustrated watching other videos on the subject so my mission was to make it simple. I haven’t created a video in the focus areas but have this on my list!
Wow, thank you so much! I did not understand how to use backbutton focus until I watched this video! Didn't know that it locks the focus when you release the button. Thank you for this calm, helpful video!
Thank you so much for your video, Chad! I just got my first full-frame camera (Canon 6D) and while it was an improvement in every way over my Canon EOS SL1, I found the focusing on my SL1 was way more reliable than the 6D. Now that I understand back-button focus, I feel much more confident that I can nail my shots. Merry Christmas, king :)
.. as promised I’m binge watching all your videos😂 Great video.. very well explained... I’ve been using BBF for a few years .. I keep my first camera T5i handy in “Auto mode” to pass off to relatives and my wife should they need to use the camera 😂 less headache Cheers Luke
This was super helpful Chad. I'd always heard about back button focus, and maybe have even watched a tutorial long ago, but this video cemented the concept in my brain. Thanks for taking the time to help us noobs out. Much appreciated and best of luck on your channel. And you started the video with your cat, which is always a win in my book, I sometimes do the same thing myself.
As someone that does this as a hobby that was a great tutorial! Thank you. Plain and simple and great detail without having to scratch my head too much!
Very good explanation on how to set the back button feature in your Canon camera , how the function works and why to use the back button to focus. I’ve been using this feature for a long time and has worked very good for me. You talk like a teacher, a good teacher. Thumbs up!
Thank you! I saw this video a year ago and used it. Just got another canon but couldn't remember how to set up BBF. Other videos took too long or didn't show what I needed. Yours is great, clear and to the point. Thx!
Well done Chad. It really is the only way to go. The idea of someone else using the camera got me thinking: wouldn’t it be nice if the manufacturers made a menu command that simply says: BBF on/off. A firmware update would cover a lot of cameras!! Make life simple !
Thank you so much!!! On my first few soccer games the Canon 6d (w/ Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6) kept switching focus off of the target player. I'm going to try this on the next match. I'll keep you posted.
@@ChadBarry Sure thing!!! You nailed it in your video when you talked about "muscle memory". I am finding out that action-sports photography is very much a sport in its own right! It's exciting and challenging and I can definitely see myself pursuing it much further.
Great explanation. Have heard about back button focusing and never really understood it untill i watched this video. Going to set it up and give it a go. 🙂
Thank you SO much for explaining this completely... I'm a total newb, and this is the only video I've seen that fully explains the difference in lamen terms.
THANK YOU Chad!!! Finally an explanation of back button focus, and how to use the custom functions on my 77D that I've been trying to understand and program.
Thanks for a great Tut' I've viewed numerous tut's on BBF and yours is the best I've seen , a nice relaxed explanation with no showmanship, thank you , p.s my wife loves the cushions :)
Thanks, you explained very well about back button focus really I missed many shots of kingfishers when they were sitting in front of me and suddenly dive in water, when they were sitting on the tree or on the rock were focus as they dive towards me they become unfocused. Now I will use back button focusing technique.
That's awesome. I mostly do heritage(architecture) photography and also landscape photography in forest but I am going to try bird photography too so this is going to help me in next jungle trip. Thanks.
So simple and easy explained, thanks. I am getting into taking macro photography and this little trick will help me a lot for sure, I will try it and I hope my pictures will be sharp all the time, thanks.
This is great for macro, especially if handheld. Because you with naturally rock a bit into and away from your subject this will let you track focus in the subject properly. Best of luck!
I have back button control set up but have left my focus on the shutter button. Its set permanently on AI servo and fires that way when I don't have the back button pressed but switches between AI servo and one shot on the back button. Focus is still on the shutter button. Works great for birds stationary and in flight.
That’s a good alternative if you do primarily subjects in motion and will be using DEF points to tractor motion. Oh and, I guess if you want to recompose you just touch the back button. Solid alternative Alan!
