AF-ON buttons and VR

Saw this linked on NikonRumors and thought I'd share because it's something I never knew.

https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/25406

For non-clickers, if your camera is equipped with an AF-ON button on the back then Nikon has designed it to only engage AF and metering systems, but it does not engage VR on your lens. I find this sort of intriguing, and reading through the lines I suspect it's an effort to preserve battery life since the short article refers to sports photographers peering through their lens for long periods before actually firing.

The implication is that if you have a camera with this feature (generally just the pro bodies) and you utilize the AF-ON button for focusing then you need to allow time for VR to engage and stabilize via the shutter button before firing or the effects of VR can actually destabilize your shot more than stabilize since the initial application of the VR motor can cause more movement than it prevents.

This is not the case when the AE-L/AF-L button is reassigned as an AF-ON button as this function simply reassigns all the non-shutter release functionality of the shutter button to the rear button. The article doesn't state this, I do based on my observation of 5 other bodies (D7000/7100/600/610/750).

I don't know that I truly noticed this when I was using my D800 with the 150-500mm for birding, but it would certainly explain some of the missed shots. It's currently packed up and for sale, so I don't really feel like taking it out just to test it, so I'll go with their say-so and just ponder how it is that I never managed to notice.

I set up my D600 for back-button focusing, but thought the VR did not kick in until the shutter button was pressed. This was touted as a battery benefit of using BBF. I will have to wait until I get home to test it.

BackdoorHippie said:

Saw this linked on NikonRumors and thought I'd share because it's something I never knew.

https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/25406

For non-clickers, if your camera is equipped with an AF-ON button on the back then Nikon has designed it to only engage AF and metering systems, but it does not engage VR on your lens. I find this sort of intriguing, and reading through the lines I suspect it's an effort to preserve battery life since the short article refers to sports photographers peering through their lens for long periods before actually firing.

The implication is that if you have a camera with this feature (generally just the pro bodies) and you utilize the AF-ON button for focusing then you need to allow time for VR to engage and stabilize via the shutter button before firing or the effects of VR can actually destabilize your shot more than stabilize since the initial application of the VR motor can cause more movement than it prevents.

This is not the case when the AE-L/AF-L button is reassigned as an AF-ON button as this function simply reassigns all the non-shutter release functionality of the shutter button to the rear button. The article doesn't state this, I do based on my observation of 5 other bodies (D7000/7100/600/610/750).

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing this. I just did an experiment shooting through the back window at a plant pot and bush about 30 ft away in the garden in poor light.

D810 with my 80-400mm AF-F VR lens set at 400mm. Focus set to af-c, iso 800, f/5.6, Aperture priority and because of the poor light all the shots ended up being taken at 1/30th sec which is way below my handheld speed.


I do have shaky hands but tried four shots hand held.

First. Set VR - OFF on the lens. Looking through the viewfinder the image was jumping around all over due to my shakiness. Only managed a very blurry shot using the normal shutter button.

Second. Switched VR ON on with the switch on the lens and the viewfinder became really clear and very stable took a shot again just using the shutter button - came out very good.

Third . VR-ON but this time used the AF-ON button to hold focus and then took the shot. No visible difference shot just as good as the second one

Fourth. Again VR -ON this time using the AE-L/AF-L button set as AF-ON took the shot no difference to 2 or 3..


It seems to me just looking through the viewfinder that if the switch on the Lens is set to VR ON then it makes no difference what method of focus you use.
But wow the VR does make an amazing difference when you are these low shutter speeds I never realised how much.

Can share crops of the images if anyone is interested.

I will read the article to try and check my test is valid.

wornish said:

Third . VR-ON but this time used the AF-ON button to hold focus and then took the shot. No visible difference shot just as good as the second one

Click to expand...

And this is the scenario that they're saying should not activate the VR. But given the difference VR makes on the long end of my 150-500mm I cannot imagine that it didn't work when I was using it on my D800.

The comment thread under the NikonRumors post seems to echo the same results, and the answer on the Nikon Europe page linked above seems to have disappeared. So, I suspect the original post was dead wrong, which causes me to pause for a bit and wonder what exactly caused them to post the misinformation in the first place.

BackdoorHippie said:

And this is the scenario that they're saying should not activate the VR. But given the difference VR makes on the long end of my 150-500mm I cannot imagine that it didn't work when I was using it on my D800.

The comment thread under the NikonRumors post seems to echo the same results, and the answer on the Nikon Europe page linked above seems to have disappeared. So, I suspect the original post was dead wrong, which causes me to pause for a bit and wonder what exactly caused them to post the misinformation in the first place.

Click to expand...

I think you are right the original post is wrong, you can see it in the viewfinder.

You also hear the VR activate. I at least do when using my 70-300mm.

J-see said:

You also hear the VR activate. I at least do when using my 70-300mm.

Click to expand...

Yes and you can see it in the viewfinder the image is much more stable.

wornish said:

Yes and you can see it in the viewfinder the image is much more stable.

Click to expand...

Yeah but I had to start shaking to see that clearly.

I rarely use VR. I have it on the 70-300mm but don't even know if I got it on the others. I don't think the shorter have it but I never had any need for VR in the short range. I use bursts to get sharp shots handheld. That works for pretty slow shutters. And when shooting birds, the VR can't keep up with the shutter anyways so I deactivate it.