Double Back Button Focus

I came across this article that tells how to set up the D500 with two different buttons on the back to allow quickly switching between two types of focus points. I haven't yet tried it - has anyone heard of it?

https://shuttermuse.com/how-to-set-...n-nikon-cameras-for-quick-af-point-switching/

I think I read a part where the author has the Nikon setup menu wrong. He believes that the a8 AF "Out of Focus Release" is about turning off the AF activation on the shutter release (like with Canon?) but I believe it is what the manual says and allows the shutter to fire immediately without acquiring focus first.

I only have that information fresh on the mind from researching my D750 manual to answer other BBF questions in the last day. But in my mind, it makes me want verification on all of his information presented in the article.

hark said:

I came across this article that tells how to set up the D500 with two different buttons on the back to allow quickly switching between two types of focus points. I haven't yet tried it - has anyone heard of it?

https://shuttermuse.com/how-to-set-...n-nikon-cameras-for-quick-af-point-switching/

Click to expand...

I have my D500 set up in a similar way. I use the AF-ON button for typical BBF shooting and a press of the joy stick to initiate single point AF. It's a very handy way of quickly changing AF modes when shooting a bird that is in amongst branches or leaves, for example.

I have fiddled around with some of those settings. I was just going over my settings because I had to do a reset. My focus point was stuck in the upper right of the view-finder, and wouldn't budge.
I scroll through the custom controls now and then and change stuff. Then, I can't remember what I changed.

EDIT: Reset for nothing. I had bumped my AF lock.

Done that so many times. Panic! Oh, damn.

Dawg Pics said:

I have fiddled around with some of those settings. I was just going over my settings because I had to do a reset. My focus point was stuck in the upper right of the view-finder, and wouldn't budge.
I scroll through the custom controls now and then and change stuff. Then, I can't remember what I changed.

EDIT: Reset for nothing. I had bumped my AF lock.

Click to expand...

I am a bit confused about the extra menu option for AF-ON. You have an option to Enable or Disable "Out of focus release." If you look at the camera's info, when you push the question button, this seems to apply when the priority is set to "Focus" for either AF-S or AF-C. Why would you want the camera to release the shutter if out of focus when you have "Focus" as your option? What am I missing here?

I was reading Steve Perry's explanation, and it made no sense to me either. He suggested it affects the other focus/release options as well. I need to go back and read it again to make sure I understand what he was saying.

I did try it out. I chose "Focus" in AF-S. I enabled the 'AF-On out of focus release,' put the camera on manual, unfocused, put it back on AF-S, and it shot, but I don't see why you would want to do that.

I didn't attempt all of the other combinations. Maybe tomorrow I'll mess with it.

@wev
I never use that thing, so I forget to check it.

Dawg Pics said:

I am a bit confused about the extra menu option for AF-ON. You have an option to Enable or Disable "Out of focus release." If you look at the camera's info, when you push the question button, this seems to apply when the priority is set to "Focus" for either AF-S or AF-C. Why would you want the camera to release the shutter if out of focus when you have "Focus" as your option? What am I missing here?

Click to expand...

Do you focus and recompose? I keep mine set for focus - otherwise, almost everything was out of focus. BUT when I am in AF-C but want to use BBF as AF-S to focus and recompose, guess what? The camera won't fire if the focus point isn't focused on something.

Ok, so I need the "AF-ON out of focus release enabled" in order for my camera to fire in AF-C once I recompose, but this is only pertains if you have your camera set to "Focus" in the priority options.

So, I need to revisit the AF-On vs shutter and continuous shooting rules, so I can understand what is happening here. The AF-On button isn't the same as the shutter, so I guess they had a work-around with the extra menu setting. :shame:

Clear as mud one minute and clear as murky water the next. Ha. I have to write things down or they don't stick.