Back Button Focus for Nikon
Posted By Ryan, February 7, 2010Yesterday our friend Melissa Jill wrote a blog post about using back button focus to achieve the sharpest possible images. Because she shoots with Canon equipment, she posted a link to a thread on Open Source Photo that talked about back button focus for Nikon equipment. What’s kinda of funny about that thread is that it all started because we couldn’t figure out how to make this work on our Nikon cameras back in 2007! Wow, things have changed a lot since then! Denise and I have been using back button focus for years now and it has made a huge difference in the way we work.
By separating the act of focusing with taking the actual photo (shutter release), it allows you to choose your focus point, lock it in, and have the ability to recompose your image without refocusing. For all you Nikon users out there, here’s how you can set it up in camera because unfortunately it is not the default setting. These settings should be pretty much the same on the D300 & D700 and possibly the D3 model.
Separate Your Focus & Shutter:
Step 1: Go into your custom settings menu
Step 2: Select A (autofocus)
Step 3: Select A5 (AF Activation)
Step 4: Choose AF-ON only
Now, you can use your AF-ON button to set your focus and the shutter button will only release the shutter. Once your focus is set you can release the AF-ON button and reframe the shot. By separating those two functions, it allows you to be more creative and think outside the box when it comes to composing your images. It also, helps in getting the sharpest possible photos.
Lock Your Center Focus Point:
We also used to manage our focus location by moving the focus points all around with the dial. When your camera has 51 focus points, this method is slow and frustrating. Once we started shooting with back button focus, we locked the focus in the center by turning the lock focus dial to the L position and never touched it again. This part of the set up isn’t required to use back button focus but we have found that it works well for us and simplfies the process even more.
Now you can simply put the subject in the center, lock in the focus, release the button and have the freedom to recompose them in the frame. If any of our fellow “Nikonians” have any other questions about this, feel free to leave us a comment or send us an email. Hope this has been helpful!
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Thank you so much for this post! I recently bought a D700 and I have been curious about how to use back-button focus. One question though… our cameras still have the ability to press the AF-ON button and then let go of it when shooting a stationary subject correct? In the past I have just constantly held it down (on my D60) and it sure would be nice to let go of it with stationary portraits! Thanks again :)
Denise posted the following on February 7, 2010 at 11:27 am.Hi Caitlyn! Glad you found the post helpful! To answer your question: Yes you can release the AF-ON button after setting your focus for stationary portraits. (Thanks for asking! We also reworded this in the post to make sure it’s clear for other readers.)
Denise George posted the following on February 8, 2010 at 4:52 pm.LOVE that you guys are Nikon. I always feel like I’m the only one… : (
Ryan posted the following on February 8, 2010 at 11:25 pm.Us too! Yay for Nikon users!
Julie Fletcher posted the following on February 9, 2010 at 5:26 pm.Hi, I was wondering if anyone can tell me how to do this on my trusty old D80? Thanks in advance!
Denise posted the following on February 9, 2010 at 8:26 pm.Hi Julie :-) On the D80 it’s, 1) custom settings, 2) 18 AE-L/AF-L, 3) set to AF-ON.
Ron Anderson posted the following on February 13, 2010 at 9:46 am.That will disable the AF abilities of the shutter and enable you to use the AE-L/AF-L button on the back. Hope this helps!
Just curious about a few of things…
1.) What would the advantage be for stationary subjects versus Having the camera on S-focusing, and Pointing the center point at the subject, then recomposing while keeping the shutter button depressed half-way, and then fully tripping the shutter?
2.)What is the advantage of photographing moving subjects using the back button versus depressing the shutter button (in C mode) half way, therefore tracking focus until you press the shutter all the way down to take the photograph?
3.) This question may not be able to be easily understood, as I may not explain it well, but here goes…Does recomposing in an arc (ie. focusing o down at a child’s eyes with the center focus, and then swinging the camera down more to include the child’s feet) keep the eyes in focus, since the sensor has moved slightly in relation to the focus point?
Thanks for the post, I am getting a bit more curious to try : )
Abby posted the following on February 17, 2010 at 5:55 pm.I really want to try this but am not sure my camera supports this function….and I’m still too scared to mess around in the custom settings without guidance. Any idea how I can set my d5000 this way?
Denise posted the following on February 17, 2010 at 10:51 pm.Hi Abby! We’ve never had or used a D5000 so I’m basing this off of what I’ve read in another forum, but this is where you should be able to find this in the menu: 1. Custom Settings Menu, 2. Setting F2, 3. Set the AEL/AFL button to “AF-ON”. Hope this helps!
Kathy posted the following on February 20, 2010 at 10:30 am.I’m really curious about how this BBF works with moving subjects. If I’m at my kid’s soccer game and want to do this, do you continuously press the AF-ON button and then take the shot or ??? Not sure of the steps or if BBF is an advantageous with moving subjects. Thanks for any help!