A Better Way To Focus

Over the last few years I’ve tried and used many different focusing methods. From back button autofocus to manual zone focusing and everything in between. Having gone through many frustrating experiences, mistakes and key turning points, I can finally share my focus method that I’ve been using for a while now and that covers almost any scenario be it shooting in a busy market or a cityscape. As always with these videos please keep in mind that there is no one way or best way to set up your camera. The best method is not one that some photographer spouts on the internet but the one that works for you and gets you results. The healthiest approach you can have is try what I suggest, keep what works and disregard the rest. Do this same with other advice and over time this is how you build your own method.   

Back Button VS Shutter

You’ve probably heard of back button focusing and how some people swear by it and are very vocal on how amazing it is. Equally others don’t understand the point of it. Well as always this is not a simple A or B answer because it depends on what you are shooting. From personal experience, I would only use dedicated back button focusing if I was mainly shooting any fast moving scene where I had to track and focus on a small object such as wildlife. When set to continuous AF, I could simply hold the focus in to constantly track and then just take photos with the shutter as I see fit. However for street photography I found this to be awkward and lead to more missed shots. I found that having the focusing on the shutter, meant less buttons to press and less to go wrong. This is especially true if wearing gloves in the winter. 

Furthermore I found that if I wanted to shoot at a lower angle, I could easily place my thumb on the shutter button and still focus without having to awkwardly reach round the back to press the AF button. However there are certain scenarios where temporarily detaching the focusing from the shutter button is extremely valuable and there is a way to do it therefore having best of both worlds. More on this later. For now I would suggest leaving all the focusing to the shutter button as per default settings. 

AF-S

Most cameras will have 2 types of autofocus. Single and continuous. Single autofocus simply means that once the camera has acquired autofocus it will keep it locked and will not re focus as long as you keep the focus button pressed in. This is great for focusing and re-composing as well as for still life where you know that neither you nor your subject will move at all. I don’t use this method all that much because of what I will share later in the video but if I was mainly shooting still life subjects, this would be a good way to focus. Realistically the few times I would use, it is for cityscapes, landscapes or architecture when I know there is 0 chance of anything moving and I have all the time in the world to take a photo. Also I would only use this when I know that the subjects will not change. So for example if I am only shooting still life and not just a one off architecture shot whilst walking through the city.Honestly I think I use this setting about 1% of the time. 

AF-C

Continuous autofocus as the name suggests will constantly re-adjust the focus in order to keep whatever you are pointing your camera at in focus. This is great for any dynamic environment where you or your subject are moving because from the moment you focus to the moment you take the photo, the distance could have changed slightly and the continuous autofocus will track that change and adjust accordingly. I would say my camera is set to this setting for about 90% of the time.

For my type of photography which is walking through towns and cities, everything is moving all the time, so having peace of mind that my camera is tracking those changed between focusing and taking the photo is essential. This system is not perfect however. Now and again it can hunt even when I am focusing on a still subject. This is a big reason why many people don’t use it and prefer the previous single autofocus mode. This is an issue because if it hunts even slightly when you take the photo, you can end up with a slightly out of focus image. This can happen frequently enough to cause concern especially if the scene has low light or low contrast. 

Another issue is if you want to focus and re-compose you can’t do it. So let’s say I want to focus on the background and have people walking through out out of focus, you run the risk of the camera re-focusing on the people or worse still on somewhere between the two and everything is out of focus. To avoid this many people will either switch back to single AF or manual which is great. However I’ve had it before where I forgot to switch back to AFC and proceeded to shoot for ages either locked in manual or single AF…. This is not ideal, however thankfully there is a way to get around all of this. 

AF-Lock

Most cameras will come with an AF-ON button on the back which as we know is what we would use for back button focusing. By default it is set to focus just like your shutter button, however since we are not using it for the shutter, we can reprogram it for something a lot more powerful. Although this feature is present on my Fuji XT4, I would be surprised not to see it any decent modern camera. It might just be called something else. In the custom function button menu, we can open the AF-ON button and re assign it to AF Lock Only. To put simply, by holding this button down, it will completely lock the focus as it is and also override the shutter button focusing. So as long as you keep your finger on the AF-ON button, the shutter will only take the photo and lock the exposure if that’s what you have set. The moment you release the button, the focus system is unlocked. What does this mean in a real world example? Well let’s say you’re walking down the street, your in AF-C and you want to quickly focus on the city in the background whilst blurring out the people walking past. You can no half press the shutter button to acquire focus, then press and hold the AF-ON button to lock that focus and now you are free to move around, re-compose and shoot to your hearts content without any worry that the AF system will hunt or refocus on the wrong thing. Same can be said for still life. If you’re doing street photography but then want to take a nice cityscape or maybe just some architecture shots, you can simply focus, lock and then take the photo or re-compose as needed. Once you let go of the AF-ON button, you’re back in continuous autofocus so you don’t end up forgetting to switch it back on like I do.

Manual

The last focusing method is of course the good old fashioned manual. Many photographers swear by it and in some instances it is a better bet than even the best autofocus system. I only really use it when I am shooting any kind of cityscape or landscape where the subject is very far away. Equally I will use it if I am shooting still life on a hazy or foggy day. On the fuji system, even if you’re in manual, you can press the AF-ON button when in manual and the camera will autofocus on the subject and the square will go green. This is fairly accurate but to be extra accurate wha you can do is then use the digital punch in zoom, which on fujis is usually done by pressing the rear dial, to get a close up of the scene. You can then use the focus ring on the lens to manually fine tune the focus till it’s perfect before taking a photo. 

Zone vs Spot 

With the focus types out of the way, let’s quickly cover the focus modes. For street, travel, nature and general photography I will either use Zone or Spot focus. Most cameras will have a wide / tracking mode too but that’s more for fast moving subjects like wildlife. Let’s start with spot which as the name suggests is a single small square and a single point of focus. You can adjust the size of the spot on most cameras and I personally tend to keep mine very small to improve accuracy. I would use this focus mode with anything that either doesn’t move or that moves slowly enough that I have time to react and adjust. This is by far the most accurate way to focus however in a fast paced environment it can struggle which is where the Zone focus mode comes in. This is not to be confused with traditional zone focusing by the way. Zone focus mode is a collection of spot focus points grouped into one larger square or area. The zone can also be adjusted in size however even with the smallest zone, you still get a total of 9 focus points. To put simply the camera will only focus within that zone however it will pick what it thinks the most suitable focus point within that zone to focus with. In the real world it means a much faster autofocus speed but at a small reduction in precision. You would typically use this in fast paced environments where everything is constantly changing. Equally you can use this when getting a photo that is 90% in focus is better than not getting anything because you were aiming for 100% in focus. Another way to put it, is that Spot Focus is more accurate but less responsive. Zone is