AF-C Priority Selection & AF-S Priority Selection Settings

I do mainly bird & nature photography with my D7200 & 80-400 handheld and was wondering about which settings are better for AF-C & AF-S Priority Selection. Mine are both set on Focus & I use the shutter button most of the time instead of Back Button Focusing (have tried it and it works depending on subject). Is the Release setting better for my type of shooting or is Focus? Reason of asking is not all images are in focus when using the focus setting. 99% of the time I shoot in AF-C.

One could certainly make a case for af-c and focus priority, but the default is release. With focus priority you will need a lock on your subject to release the shutter. The focus mode comes into play here, depending on the focus mode, you might lock on the wrong subject. I prefer back button focus for all types of shooting.

You say bbf works depending on subject. It should work on all subjects, but its totally on you to make sure you have focus. I have come to really like the technique. It gives you af-c mode and a pseudo af-s mode by releasing the back button when you want focusing to stop. On the d7200, you need to make sure menu a4 is set to OFF as well for the technique to work. When set for bbf, the d7200 will force release priority regardless of menu a1 setting. I use bbf with single point and sometimes d9. For a bif, I'll hold the bb down continuously. For a sitting bird, I'll focus with the button and then release the button a recompose if needed. Same for a landscape. Use the button to focus on a point, release it and then recompose.

Another menu item to look into is menu a3, 'focus tracking with lock on'. This item chooses a delay before focus corrects if the subject distance changes. There is no best choice here, just be aware of how it can hurt or help focus. For example, if you are using single point focus and af-c and you are dead on a bird, having no set delay here will instantly shift focus if you fall off the bird. Fall off the bird and next thing you know, the camera focuses on the distant trees. Setting a delay will keep you focused on the bird even if you fall off briefly. On the other hand, setting a delay can hurt you. If you do accidentally grab focus on the distant trees, that a3 delay will prevent you from quickly regaining focus on the bird. It will in effect ignore the bird for a brief time. Press the '?' on your camera while looking at menu a3, there is a decent explanation built in the help system.

After all that babble, I have no 'best' settings for you. Try to figure out why you are missing focus and what settings might help. Maybe its not the servo mode (af-s, af-c), but maybe the focus acquisition mode giving you trouble. Some like single single point, some like d9, d21, etc. For a stationary subject I want single point. BIF, I'll use single point or d9.

Thanks for the detailed response, as you say "I have no 'best' settings for you" which makes sense. As for AF-C defaulted to release mode that will be easy enough to try my next time out. I am thinking after reading your explanation going to BBF may be a good idea and once getting use to it it may be my preferred shooting method. As for a3 'focus tracking with lock on' mine is actually turned off so this may be something for me to play around with. Thanks again for you info, much appreciated.

Be careful not to blur the lines between two different subjects here: your choices for AF-C & AF-S Priority Selection are independent of whether you use release-button focus or BBF.

Unless you want to take an intentionally out-of-focus image for artistic reasons, I would always set both of the AF Priority options to Focus priority. After all, why would you want your camera to take the shot when your subject is still not in focus? Using this setting can also be a huge boon for BIF shots, for instance when you are watching a bird that is about to take off: pre-focus on the spot where you expect it to be after leaving the tree or ground, press the trigger, and keep it pressed. The camera will not take the shot until the bird has reached that point and is in focus. With your camera set to continuous shooting mode, you can then take it from there by following the flight of the bird and using BBF to keep it sharp - every subsequent shot will either be in focus, or not be taken at all.

By the way, I highly recommend Steve Perry's eBook on Nikon's Autofocus system. He explains every aspect there is to it, and does so really well.

I'm not disagreeing with lokatz, just a different technique. The main attractiveness in the bbf technique is the ability to use af-c but at any moment you can stop the autofocus and still shoot regardless of subject focus. Its like an instant access pretend af-s mode. So that is why you would want to take out of focus pictures-recomposing. If you don't have release mode set, you won't have that instant ability to recompose. Recomposing is impossible in af-c. BBF gives you af-c with the ability to quickly recompose. I think of it as manual focus with power assist. Press the button and I am instantly focused on a point I choose better and quicker than I can do by hand and eye. Let the button go and I am basically manually focused and free to recompose. Great for standing wildlife and landscape where I want to pick the exact focus point and re-frame. Great for an anticipated still subject, you know a bird will land on a certain perch, prefocus with bbf and wait. It is not great on bif. If you end up liking bbf, set one of your U1/U2 to af-c with focus priority for fast moving subjects.

"always set both of the AF Priority options to Focus priority" will do, thanks.