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Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

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Back button focus 6 years 10 months ago #1124

  • Deanne Gaskill
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Good evening. I heard a lot about using manual focus at the Geelong Conference - & can understand why. However, until I started using back button focus with my Canon 6D (AV or TV) many shots were out of focus. Am I missing something?

Cheers, Deanne G

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Back button focus 6 years 10 months ago #1125

  • Ian Wilson
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Hello Deanne,

I don't think I heard anything about manual focus at the Geelong conference . I heard talk about manual shooting mode settings, that is M mode, instead of Av and Tv priority. Back button focus is another issue but first may we have some clarification about whether you are referring to manual focus of the lens or manual shooting using M mode for camera exposure settings?

Kind regards,

Ian

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Back button focus 6 years 10 months ago #1126

  • Deanne Gaskill
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Apologies (& my face is somewhat red). I didn't think I could use back button focus with manual mode - all sorted - thanks Ian.

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Back button focus 6 years 10 months ago #1127

  • Ian Wilson
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No problem Deanne. I am pleased to learn that back-button focus is working for you; and yes, it works with M-mode shooting. With my style of shooting I use the shutter button in the normal way for AF and shutter actuation because I need my thumb on the back thumb-wheel to adjust the ISO in M-mode. I have used a custom setting to assign ISO adjustment to the back thumb-wheel so that while I am looking through the viewfinder for focus and exposure metering, I use my thumb to dial the ISO up and down to get the exposure meter reading I want for the shot.

Best wishes,

Ian
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Back button focus 6 years 10 months ago #1129

  • Peter Johnston
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What custom settings people may employ, has got me a little curious.
With my Canon 5D Miii, I usually shoot in AV .
My index finger operates the shutter button and top main dial for AV..
My thumb, the AF-ON button for focus plus the back dial for ISO.
I wonder if that is common?, or if there is some variations on that approach?.

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Back button focus 6 years 10 months ago #1130

  • Ian Wilson
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Good question Peter. To complete the picture with regard to my shooting style I should have mentioned that I use the main dial on the top plate to adjust the exposure time. I set the aperture at the beginning of the shoot using the Q-button, to suit the expected birding scenario, and I don't usually need to change it. The exception is when a bird pops up unexpectedly close and I need to quickly close down the aperture to get some more depth of field. When this scenario occurs I go to the shooting mode dial on the top plate and change to a custom shooting mode with the aperture set to f/11 and then adjust the exposure time and ISO with reference to the camera exposure meter.

That brings me to the custom shooting mode dial. Here I have stored the shooting parameters for three scenarios. The first is Cm1, manual exposure settings for the case just outlined needing more depth of field. I typically have this set to f/11, 1/800 sec, ISO 800. The second custom shooting mode is Cm2 that I use for general purpose perched bird shooting with f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400. The third custom shooting mode Cm3 is for birds in flight and is typically f/6.3, 1/3200 sec, ISO 500. I also use the M shooting mode as a custom mode for flash work with typical exposure settings of f/6.3, 1/200 sec, ISO 250. So, in practice I have four custom shooting modes quickly accessible using the shooting mode dial on the camera top plate.

Cheers,

Ian
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