2 AUTOFOCUS TECHNIQUES you must master for Wildlife Photography | shutter and back button autofocus

[@stefannijenhuis6688]

Can we just appreciate the fact that Morten talks about the sponsor after 17 minutes of great quality content!

[@rontz]

for 1 minute? what's the problem? that he's getting a little bit of money by including a tiny bit of advertisment into his great content? fine for me, if it helps him.

[@lupinewoof]

Hearing that 60 to 70% of your focusing on the telephoto involved some manual focusing tweaks was one of the largest takeaways and confirms many of my personal experiences & frustrations. Thanks for a great video!

[@picapica42]

You actually explained clearly why I should use my back button autofocus more. I somehow always forget it is a thing that exists on my camera, so I haven't put it to good use yet.

[@johansmitphotography]

Yesyes! Also remember about the button for AF lock... because it's a lot less of an change than changing to BBF which is a massive change to get used to... I use it as lock... I have tried BBF and I really couldn't get used to it... thing is I rarely ever need to stop the focus... so the thumb only have to use that button 10% of the time. 90% of the time it is free then I can use it for EXP comp and changing AF point etc... My lens can't manual focus when the AF is switched on. So I don't have the advantage of BBF for that manual Focus that Morten explained.

[@jimhood1202]

Thanks for your thoughts. I understand your reasons for using each method but what I appreciate most is that you chose difficult situations to illustrate them and let us know that even the professionals with the best gear have difficulty obtaining and holding focus. Perhaps there's hope for me yet. 😁

[@LieslHuddleston]

I'm stuck in the dark ages with a DSLR :) Been using back-button-focus for the past few years and love it! Good topic to discuss, Morten. Hopefully, anyone that hasn't tried it yet will give it a try, makes focusing much faster and easier.

[@scottpitner4298]

I think your videos are the most Inspiring of what I watch. After just one I’m ready to grab my stuff and head out. Even just out back of my house.

[@jincychacko5440]

I started using back button focus but never understood how to use the auto focus lock properly. Its been set up wrong in my camera forever. Now this explains it so much better with example. I have answer to my frustration when trying to do micro photography. Your voice did put me to sleep though twice. It have a very calming and soothing quality.

[@actiaint]

After using back button continuous focus for years I have recently changed to back button single focus and found a big improvement due to less focus hunting and more accurate focus setting - it is simple as you just release thumb as soon as you have focus set and if subject moves you press again to reset it - continuous focus is not required other than bifs or faster action.

[@alanmaassen]

Thank you so, so very much. I've been trying since October to understand when and why to hold those buttons and you are the first person to make it clear. I'd actually given autofocus up and had started to manual focus everything. You've really helped me - thank you!

[@abijithkrishnan1429]

This video was very very useful for me as i had NO clue what back button autofocus was used for and everything and now i understand it all! Thank you for this video and you will always be my inspiration!!

[@eliasneil]

I was litteraly looking for some new videos of Morten right now.. Thanks!

[@benedux]

I've recently tried the back-button focus and it felt like it could be good to use sometimes but haven't thought about it long. Thanks for these superb examples and explanations, it really helps a lot.

[@MAKE_PHOTOGRAPHS_ANYWHERE]

Excellent Video Morten ! I simply just do not use back button enough. I do not know why. Used it in the past and it works. Just you know kind of forget about it ! IT is very important when doing changing focuses frequently.

[@matteorocca7078]

The best explanation on this subject I have seen so far 👍 I switched to back button AF and I find it really good, but it's really interesting to hear from your live experience and get to know that both ways have their own plus also from the point of view of a professional. Thank you for the insight!

[@kalyandeepray]

Hello Morten, I used the focus and lock technique for years, but have now changed. This had mainly to do with my subjects, 90% of which is birds, and I kept needing different kinds of AF for stationary and birds in flight. I now use back button exclusively, where I have the AF-L button set up for single point AF and the joystick for group AF. I also have my Fn1 for D25. My kind of setup might be very specific to birders though. Thank you for the insight into your shooting techniques.

[@blythewarland6688]

Morten I love your dedication to the craft and your willingness to share your knowledge I find back button focus easier to use and a shoot less out of focus shots this way but I agree both have their good points

[@johnlavin-ford8372]

You are totally correct with the use of those focus buttons. You restore my faith in genuinely brilliant techniques that should be handed down to new photographers. Great upload as always.👍

[@Bb4r]

I have pretty much abandoned index finger focusing in favor of back button focusing. As you explain it, I now see the merit in being able to use the both focusing modes. Again Morten, I appreciate your videos. Thank you much.

[@Shhhchris]

I’m not a wildlife photographer per se (I’d like to do it more) but these principles are still useful throughout all the photography genres. Thanks, Morten

[@giuseppeaguero9368]

finally a wonderful video of morten with subtitles :) I enjoyed it a lot

[@stefannijenhuis6688]

I love the way you pronounce the word 'focus' Morten! Great video.

[@KerriMarr]

Thank you Morten! I just recently found your channel and this is the best explanation I’ve heard for the best times to use back button AF & shutter release AF

[@borocotochacha]

It's about that Morten, adapt the camera to your style. I use same settings on Z6 and Z50 for everything, even street photography. EVF makes a big difference as you can set how much zoom you want to apply. At 200% zoom AF it´s also very fast and precise. Perfect video!

[@mindseyeproductions8798]

seems legit to have a master of the focus, providing information about focusing.

[@mdashiqmridha]

I m a big fan of u cz u give me so many suggestions abut wildlife photography. I really love it It also helps me to know about my camera very well.. Thanks for the tutorial. ♥♥♥

[@mdashiqmridha]

How many shutter life in canon 700D? I m using this.

[@mikipixi]

Hi Morten. Fantastic explanation. Thank's for sharing with the community. Congratulations from Extremadura in Spain for your great photographic works and your channel. You are a great inspiration.

[@AlexDubois]

I've learned so much in this video. It is perfectly logical once explained. Thank you so much. On top of the pros/cons for the 2 options, I didn't know about the view finder zoom for manual adjustment...

[@frazhassan]

I liked the video first and then started watching. Morten is just awesome.

[@abl1699]

Thanks Morten. I will be trying out the Auto Focus Back Button technique.

[@MacBookSong]

I don't use back button focusing. My solution for the problem you describe: I configured the AF-ON button to switch between One Shot AF and Servo AF. So with one short press of the button the focusing method changes. That works very well.

[@robertcrofts2108]

That is going to change the way I take photos of wild life, thank you so much for that info When I take photos of birds or other wildlife I lose focus because it focuses on a bit of grass ect, but using back button is a game changer

[@RichardBirchett]

Sweet Work Morten, Back button all the way my friend... although, I do switch back in certain situations! For me a game changer and very intuitive way to work. Great work, all the best R 👍

[@aidancampos5706]

Excellent video, Morten. Clear, concise, and informative.

[@Dreyno]

I’ve used back button continuous AF for years. I love it. I use it for everything. Second nature. I use shutter button AF on my compact camera. Perfect for that.

[@masterstonesettermagnussva7636]

Great informativ video as always. After years of back button af I now use trigger af and has set the af on button to manual focus. I think it’s a twist that gives me fast control with maximum of flexibility.

[@SadanandaUTube]

Thanks for good idea

[@JeganSriragavan28]

Wakeup at 5am and watching Morten video with a coffee, really will make my day wonderful..

[@jakub.slovacek]

Morten, your videos are awesome as well as you. I always enjoy every minute of your vids. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@Anonymousgiraffe33]

great video Morten, i always struggle when trying to capture fast moving animals... especially the smaller size creature like swallows and dragonflies, i hoped that one day you will make a video to teach beginners like me to track the small animals.

[@Keyloggs1]

thanks for the video! just changed my AF ON button to switch between the last AF (AF-C) and MF. Love it!

[@petedraper5185]

I use BBF on my EM1X for birds in flight and general wildlife, except when I am wearing gloves. I then use shutter release for focus. I use shutter release for focus on my EM1.3, as it is dedicated to macro photography. Works for me.

[@JH-qv3xv]

One of those subtle techniques you use to get your great images. Thank you for sharing. I came to learn and of course look at some great pictures. Accomplished both.

[@heinihefti8969]

Very well explained. Not learned from a book, but practiced in nature. Thanks for that - Heini

[@TheBadvmc]

A new Morten video.... today is a good day.

[@naturebites5974]

Wonderful video. I am working on this back button focus method today, trying to improve my keeper statistics. So many of my shots are just not in good focus. Thank you.

[@eskwadrat]

Excellent tips. Back focus button method really improved my control over difficult targets. Thank you.

[@PatrickSmeaton]

I've been strictly using back button since I bought my brand new Canon EOS 1V back in the day. I can't imagine switching back and forth. It would short circuit my brain. You do have a valid reason for using shutter-release button af though. Never considered that before.

[@fuglbird]

Thank you Morten for the this very instructive lesson. Your idea of assigning AF-L (autofocus lock) to the AF-ON button is brilliant on the Nikon Z6, which does not have the AF-L. I have used my 500 mm manual focus tele and Nikon D300 for years, and have now learned, that a Nikon Z6 with the zoom function may improve my focusing. Great job!

[@CGYPP]

This is SOOO helpful! I really appreciate the way you explain it and demonstrate the differences in real usage. I am myself Back-Button AF shooter - using it both for landscape and weddings, and recently I was wondering if I am missing anything by not using index finger focusing at all ...now I know there might be some situations where switching might be useful. BTW as Z6/Z7 user I realized only now that I never really use the 100% preview and that's the first thing I am going to change. Thank you so much!

[@larselkjr9194]

Great video and it’s very usefull especially when you use the mirrorless cameras. But if you have Mirrorless or DSLR it’s important to know how your AF works, i have spend hours to learn the AF system on my Nikon Z6 and i still learn new features. So keep on making these wonderfull videos, we all learn of it 👍 Thank you

[@krishmotography9727]

Superb video. This is all about practicall use of back button auto focus. Its amazing.

[@CESAR-vh1vx]

Thank you Morten for this clarification, it has been very worthy.

[@Tebanisomura]

What good learning is obtained from your teachings thanks for sharing

[@stuartschaffner9744]

This was one of the best videos on focussing that I have ever seen. Frankly, I am still unconvinced that shutter-button autofocus is that useful any more. Yes, your brain can learn different modes, but for certain important actions it is best not to introduce a possible source of confusion. In this video, the back button means start focussing in one mode and stop focussing in the other. In a car, that would be equivalent to having the brake pedal mean slow down in one mode and stop slowing down in the other. Still, I will keep considering it out of respect for your great skills. I think that as you get more accustomed to mirrorless cameras you will use manual focus more. I know that you have too much tied up in high-quality Nikon glass to consider a switch. However, sometime you should try a camera like the Sony A9 that has no shutter blackout at all. In a year or two Nikon will have it as well. Sony comes more from a cinematography background, where cinematographers have refined manual focus to a fine art. The buzzard and magpies(?) in a field with tufts of grass is a prime example. There you mostly want to align your focal plane with a slice of field. I am far from being a highly-skilled manual "focus puller", but I am working on it. You should try focus peaking, which is used a lot in cinematography. Often I find it an annoyance, but other times it helps me better track my focus plane. Anyway, great teaching job here! I have always learned a lot from you.

[@JoeMaranophotography]

It's even more confusing than that if you shoot Panasonic like me! You have AF ON Near Shift and AF ON Far Shift as well! 😂😂 The hardest bit about photography is remembering your billions of custom settings 😅 I personally use shutter autofocus and have my back button set to AFS the reason for that is I find I shake more with the camera when using my thumb so find it better to use the shutter.

[@patrickmolloy6994]

Great Video Morten. You answered my questions without me asking! awesome.

[@p7272]

Seeing you out in the field in full gear reminds me why I like photography(military vet). Just like a Sniper... letting nothing get in the way of getting the shoot! ;-))

[@jimbob7218]

2:39 Oh yeah, I have coffee on my desk too, It's still warm! Cheers!!

[@thomasmarais9277]

Great video morten!👍👍 awesome topic

[@briansquibb999]

Very, very helpful advice. Thank you, Morten!!

[@davet3530]

Informative as always Morten. I can see the benefits of both methods and agree that it’s worth mastering both. You make a very good point in the Back Button Focus method that you can use it when wearing mittens in cold weather. Top tip ! Thanks.

[@johnhitchon8043]

As always Morten, a great explanation. I much prefer back button focussing I really like how one can recompose the shot.....it’s a time-saver for me.

[@amdenis]

Great, very useful video. I love my D850, and have used Nikon’s since my first SLR back in the mid-70’s- a Nikkormat FT-2. However, every time I go out with my SONY A9II I feel like I am cheating in comparison. The good thing though is that I have been able to finally focus almost completely on composition, rather than focus. I do use back-button on occasion, but usually along with focus lock, for creative purposes. I can’t even imagine where these technologies will be in 5 years.

[@hikingff77]

Very informative video, I never knew what that lock button did and never thought about using it! Thank you!

[@tudora5498]

Thank you for the video, you explain it wery well and it is great that you also give proper examples so that whoever is watching can really understand the isues. I think that at least for me there is only one risk in alternating the two different ways of focusing: I naturally tend to prefer one over the other so when switching between them I would sometimes push the wrong button at the wrong time out of instinct/lack of attention, not realizing that I am using the other mode at the moment so that it might cause me to lose the shot. However, this might only be an issue for myself and my momentary lack of attention. I really appreciate the video, thank you for creating and sharing it!

[@toejamr1]

I’m going to have to watch this a couple times. My back focus brain can’t comprehend trigger finger focus Andy more 😂

[@KGsPhotography]

Great explanation Morten. Since using back button focus I don't think I could change again. Although in my videos I do struggle to say "Back Button Focus" sometime!!

[@joyoffilming9500]

Morten, great video. One of the first things I did on my Nikon D810 after i got it was to configure back-button continous autofocus. It took me about 2 days to get used to it, but in the mean my thumb goes automatically on the button to acquire focus and realeas it to keep the focus. I even configured it to my smaller Sony a6000. It does not only work great in the wild but also for sports and street photography. I wished I had these fast autofocus capabilities for filming with the Panasonic S1H - instead I need to go manual.

[@erforschenhimalayas6570]

Sir I love your videos and the photographs you capture and the way they are narrated in the videos . I also want to do something crazy like you ✌️

[@chuckgmanleyphotos7197]

Great examples of both tools.

[@ThomasWeiskirch]

Once more a very informative and high interesting video with helpful tips, Mortern ! Kind regards, Thomas

[@jamesss1953]

“Really good stuff here”. I use B:B focus for a few years now but recently tying hand held bird pics. I should have used continuous autofocus as you describe here - many thanks 🙏

[@pilates4golfers]

I am new to photography. I have absolutely no idea what you said but I have a much better understanding.

[@randyschwager84]

Awesome content...as always! Thanks, Morten

[@schraeder22]

What a great explanation! Thank you so much for this. I've just started out with wildlife photography and I've been having extreme problems with the autofocus, since when the subject was a bit farther away, it started focusing on the background. You really helped me out a lot!

[@smkunder1]

Great video, would love to see you go through the menu’s showing your settings!

[@MichalOlender]

One day I'll master these!

[@BryceJ82]

Thanks Morten for the great tips on auto focus. I currently use back button focus most of the time as I am primarily a wildlife photographer, but I might just have to try the lock technique (index finger) as well. Really enjoy the content. Keep up the great work!

[@florianbetke]

My Tipp: If you have a autofocus limiter on your lens use it. For example leaves or branches in fore or background can't be focused if they are not in the focusdistance area of your limiter. A focuslimiter is a good support for every autofocus technique.

[@NildoScoop]

👍You've explained it well Morten.

[@northernbirder7351]

Very helpful video. Many thanks. I will use this information on bird photography.

[@CamillaI]

I even take landscapes with back button focus now! Largely because thats how I have the camera set! Birds in flight wildlife action back button all the way😀, memory sensed recalled action MSRA! or habitual button acquisition HBA or just what your dam used too!

[@Kirkhamfamily]

Great video (again). Confusing topic but very well explained.

[@randomarts1758]

Hey Morten you should try the new canon R5 and R6 for auto tracking?

[@taw6992]

great tips, thanks ! You did not mention the focus memory button on big lenses... this is damn useful as well

[@a_for7002]

This video is very informative thank you very much this is very inspirational to us beginners.

[@ramonarias1234]

This is a fkn master class.. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I dont do wildlife photography but I am sure your tips will help me with my photography.

[@WaechterDerNacht]

Thank you so much for this video, i definitely need to set up more custom settings on my camera and try out more different settings. I usually just used standard settings in manual mode so far, but really struggled with AF sometimes. Keep up the great work! Greetings from Switzerland! P.S. An order for a print of the jay is gonna come in as soon as i finished moving into the new apartment.

[@ryans59]

you should make a series on wildlife photography tutorial type of. Just a thought .

[@charlierivera5725]

Thank you again wow. THANK YOU… Interested to know the macro lens. Would you share which one it is please? I love macro photography so I am curious. Thank you sir

[@jpdj2715]

Nice video, MH. Let me add this. Single-point AF with the "focus acquired before firing" shutter-release-AF lock worked well with my old Nikon 85/1.8D. Generally, I would recompose and there was no problem after recomposing. With the 1.4G this would not work as the Depth of Field (DoF) was too shallow. I believe Phase One have a camera that compensates focusing distance based on camera rotation when you recompose after getting AF locked. "Simple" Canon, Nikon, Sony camera bodies of $7K cannot do that. A seasoned wildlife photographer will likely recompose with most shots. And use very "long" lenses that have very shallow DoF, even when stopped down a couple stops from fully open. So these contextual aspects may render single-AF>recompose a no-no for the wildlife use cases. There's another thing with shutter-release-AF lock, in that it locks not just focus, but exposure too, if/when you use one of the automatic exposure kinds. As, in wildlife, you are in a landscape with a sky over it, the amount of sky drives you exposure by a lot in non-M settings. A bird on a protruding branch of a tree - bird in the middle of the viewfinder when focusing - may register a lot of sky and drive exposure towards under-exposure for the bird as well as the tree's foliage. So, back-button AF is a way to decouple AF from auto-exposure. Single AF point in middle, focus on bird, recompose, half press shutter, fire. Steve Perry of the namesake YT channel [user/backcountrygallery] has an e-book on Nikon (Z) autofocus - 400 pages or so at about 15 currencies. The first 70 pages already taught me enough to feel satisfied. It could be much more condensed IMO, but there's no alternative. Part of the AF problem is the User Interface design in the menu structures of our cameras. Nikon has been praised for being intuitive and I got that, but having AF options in different chapters is not transparent. It's good the Z cameras have U1, U2, U3 parameter setting memories (not all parameters are stored in them, sadly). It's also not transparent to be shown options that have no effect. Why do I see menu options that only impact JPEG when I only shoot raw? As some shooting options are no longer on a physical dial, we will have to consider to assign them to the I-menu. Note, in a Nikon Z, we can "export" (save) all parameter settings to a file on the memory card and later load them back again. This enables to create 1 overall and 3 U memory sets, say for shooting at the badger location, versus another set for walkabout shooting. With the touchscreen on the Z cameras, we have another option. Remember that the animals in our wildlife all have a radar for a hunter targeting them. When you watch animals from hiding and they can see your eyes, they are on guard, or flee. You can stand in plain sight, looking down into your camera with display folded out, tip the display for the focus point and shoot - and the animals can ignore you to some extent. As to "auto", each auto option adds latency: delay between pressing for a shot to be taken and the actual shot being taken. Auto WB, auto exposure, and other things may cause frame delay, like shooting raw + JPEG. Shooting a sequence in the same light of the same subject with different fractions of, say, sky in the image area will cause an auto exposure to measure and adjust exposure continually. Set to manual and fixed WB (I prefer "Cloudy") removes all that. As to focusing with a zoomlens, if you do that manually, always zoom in (most telephoto) and focus and then zoom out (wider angle) to compose. This is because the longer focal length has shallower DoF, focuses more precisely and zooming out retains precise focus. If you focus at a wider angle, with less precision, and then zoom in, your subject may get out of focus with the reduction of the DoF. A problem with "Auto" is, that we do not expect exceptions where we have to still use our brains and hands/fingers. A friend took his car and caravan into high mountains - our country is totally flat. When he returned, he told me he had bought a new car that was more powerful than the American V-something gas-guzzler. What was your problem? Well, the darned car could not properly pull itself and the caravan up the mountains, he complained. That gas-guzzler had the anachronistic "gas costs nothing and the earth will survive, even if there is no life on it" Borg-Warner type 3 speed auto. And high torque and plenty horse. I asked him if he had set the gearbox from D to 2 when it did not pull enough, did not go fast enough, or even to 1 in a few cases? Why, he asked, it's a freaking automatic! And that's autofocus and auto exposure and auto White Balance, too. One thing is clear, with all these parameters and their options and combinations and dependencies: we need to practice with them. A lot. Fortunately we only waste "bits" and a camera click, not an 8" x 10" sheet of film with its processing cost at some $20 per shot.

[@alecmcgrathofcanada9175]

This was super useful. Had no idea my camera had this. I will be practicing this during my moose photo trip.

[@pradeeppradu9040]

Love your videos and photography ❤️❤️❤️

[@OkaMotret]

disini saya dapat pelajaran yang sangat berharga... terima kasih boss

[@miguelortiz5270]

Great tips Morten! Like always Thaks a lot

[@ashpowell9451]

Thanks Morten!

[@Afro408]

Great information Morten. Much appreciated. ‘Trigger finger’ is ok and appropriate, because we ‘Shoot’ the subject, don’t we? 😉👏👏👏👍🥃🥃

[@franziabegglen]

Great video with great tips - as always! I‘m wondering how you attached the Peak Design anchors on the tripod mount of the Tamron lens. Could you show that in a video?

[@ANTHONY_ROWE_L.R.P.S]

Thanks you Morten, Found that very useful. I am going to give that ago..Cheers..

[@kalidasans3031]

Your video inspired me to take awesome photos ❤️❤️