back button focus on 7D

<p>Is there a way to set the 7D so that the focus is ONLY on the AF back button? I only want the shutter to fire when depressed. My Mark III is set that way and I thought the 7D could do the same but cannot seem to make the focus limited to the AF button only. Any help? Once again I do <em><strong>not</strong></em> want the shutter to affect the focus at all. The focus is controlled totally by the AF button.</p>

<p>Jimmy,</p>

<p>Custom function IV-1: Set shutter button (first option) to the second selection, which is metering start only on half press.</p>

<p>This gives you AF on the AF-ON button and metering and shutter only on the shutter release.</p>

<p>This is a little different to the MKIII in that you assign each button separately on the 7D.</p>

<p>So the shutter can actually refocus because the shutter can never be stopped from focusing? What I noticed compared to the Mark III was that when I had something in focus using back button and pressed the shutter it tried to refocus. I shot in AI-Servo as it was baseball. It means I missed a lot because the AF was set and then the shutter tried to refocus and it was not fast enought to refocus.<br>

Guess that means the 7D will not go into my bag as a backup. That is a bummer.</p>

 

<p>Jimmy -</p>

<p>I think you may have misunderstood Scott's response. As he explained, you can definitely set the AF to only activate with the back button. The shutter button will still activate the metering and shutter release, but will not activate AF. I have a 7D and use this custom function frequently for shooting wildlife.</p>

<p>OK. To tell you the truth I thought it had the setting but last night the AF was active on the AF back button and the shutter. I tried what everyone said but could never kill the shutter for focusing. Quite frustrating at a baseball game. Will try again.</p>

<p>Jimmy,</p>

<p>hate to say this, but <em>it's in the manual...</em></p>

<p>Jimmy,</p>

<p>Gavin is right, I don't know how but you have misunderstood. If you do what I say the shutter button will not activate AF.</p>

<p>You set the shutter button to option two in CFn IV-1, that totally stops AF being linked to the shutter button, and it assigns the shutter button to only meter on half press and release the shutter on full press. That is all you have to do. As factory configured AF always works with the AF-ON button.</p>

<p>Found it. Was missing a step as it is totally different than Mark III. Got is set so shutter will not AF and all focusing is done on the AF-ON button. Thanks for the tips as I was getting frustrated. </p>

<p>You might find this on-line article entitled "Back-Button Auto Focus Explained" of interest:<br>

<a href="http://usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2286">http://usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2286</a></p>

<p>Setting the AF to the back button is the one of the first things anyone with a 7D should do, IMHO. Especially if they shoot action or wildlife with long lenses. Not only does it help prevent AF hunt and wander from camera shake or subject movement, it also allows you to recompose quickly, and manually focus (touch up or straight forward) without having to change the setting switch on the lens.</p>