topic Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Back button on focus 6D MarkII

rdixit — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 17:04:37 GMT

How do I set up back button focus in the 6D Mark II? I have a lot of instructions on BBF for the 6D, nothing for the 6D MarkII.

I am scrolling to C.FunIII. Then I get a series of pictograms, and I have no idea what to do to set up BBF. I am having trouble understanding which pictogram means what.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 16:51:32 GMT

@rdixit wrote:
How do I set up back button focus in the 6D Mark II? I have a lot of instructions on BBF for the 6D, nothing for the 6D MarkII. The Custom Menu options seem to have a lot of pictograms, and I am having trouble understanding what means what.

It works pretty much the same way on nearly all Canon DSLRs. Since you have not described exactly what is confusing, the best advice I can give you is read the instructions carefully. I have no idea what you mean by “pictograms”.

The various settings describe two states: when the button is not pressed, and when it is pressed.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

rdixit — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 17:00:15 GMT

I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 17:34:48 GMT

@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"

It is a bad practice to edit an existing post after someone has already quoted you. It can make it hard for others to folllow.

Your “pictograms” are more properly called “icons”. Those are the same icons you see on buttons. They are thoroughly explained in the manual, so I will not go into to it here, especially seeing how you seem to have indicated that you have a copy of the manual.

To set up BBF, you need to change the functionality of two buttons. You need to remove the “AF Start” function from the shutter button, and then add “AF-Start” to the “AF-ON” button.

Again, the buttons have two states, which is what you see in the menus. The manual explains the two states.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 17:39:55 GMT

@rdixit wrote:
How do I set up back button focus in the 6D Mark II? I have a lot of instructions on BBF for the 6D, nothing for the 6D MarkII.

I am scrolling to C.FunIII. Then I get a series of pictograms, and I have no idea what to do to set up BBF. I am having trouble understanding which pictogram means what.

If you have instructions for the 6D, then use those. The major difference is where to find the menu, which you seem to have found.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 17:42:33 GMT

@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"

[ Button ]. : [ Function ]

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

RobertTheFat — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 19:13:30 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"
It is a bad practice to edit an existing post after someone has already quoted you. It can make it hard for others to folllow.

Your “pictograms” are more properly called “icons”. Those are the same icons you see on buttons. They are thoroughly explained in the manual, so I will not go into to it here, especially seeing how you seem to have indicated that you have a copy of the manual.

To set up BBF, you need to change the functionality of two buttons. You need to remove the “AF Start” function from the shutter button, and then add “AF-Start” to the “AF-ON” button.

Again, the buttons have two states, which is what you see in the menus. The manual explains the two states.

Er... Isn't "AF-Start" on the "AF-on" button by default? Did you maybe mean to say add "Metering Start"?

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 19:40:13 GMT

@RobertTheFat wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"
Er... Isn't "AF-Start" on the "AF-on" button by default? Did you maybe mean to say add "Metering Start"?

No. “AF-Start” and “Metering Start” are two separate functions.

This is the whole point of BBF.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

shadowsports — Sun, 16 Sep 2018 22:24:17 GMT

@RobertTheFat wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"
It is a bad practice to edit an existing post after someone has already quoted you. It can make it hard for others to folllow.

Your “pictograms” are more properly called “icons”. Those are the same icons you see on buttons. They are thoroughly explained in the manual, so I will not go into to it here, especially seeing how you seem to have indicated that you have a copy of the manual.

To set up BBF, you need to change the functionality of two buttons. You need to remove the “AF Start” function from the shutter button, and then add “AF-Start” to the “AF-ON” button.

Again, the buttons have two states, which is what you see in the menus. The manual explains the two states.
Er... Isn't "AF-Start" on the "AF-on" button by default? Did you maybe mean to say add "Metering Start"?

Cheers and kudos to Bob and Wadizzle for great explanations.

Rdixit,

You haven't said what you want to accomplish, or why.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 02:06:13 GMT

@RobertTheFat wrote:
Er... Isn't "AF-Start" on the "AF-on" button by default? Did you maybe mean to say add "Metering Start"?

Oh, I think I finally understand what you are really asking. The factory default for the [AF-ON] button is “Metering Start and AF Start”.

But, look at the screenshot of the menu. The OP has both the [Shutter] and [AF-ON] buttons programmed for “AE Lock”. Both buttons need to be changed. The current programming has totally disabled Auto Focus.

So, yes, I meant to say “AF Start”.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

RobertTheFat — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 02:09:49 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@RobertTheFat wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"
Er... Isn't "AF-Start" on the "AF-on" button by default? Did you maybe mean to say add "Metering Start"?
No. “AF-Start” and “Metering Start” are two separate functions.

This is the whole point of BBF.

The whole point of BBF is to remove AF-start from the shutter button; it's on the back ("AF on") button by default. So the usual change to the shutter button is to remove AF-start but leave Metering-Start. I believe that some users like to add Metering-Start to the back button as well. YMMV.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 02:12:26 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"
[ Button ]. : [ Function ]

The [Shutter] button needs to be “Metering”.

The [AF-ON] button needs to be “Metering and AF Start”, which is seems to be the factory default. This is also the default setting for the [Shutter] button.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 02:19:18 GMT

“The whole point of BBF is to remove AF-start from the shutter button; it's on the back ("AF on") button by default. So the usual change to the shutter button is to remove AF-start but leave Metering-Start. I believe that some users like to add Metering-Start to the back button as well. YMMV.”

Metering and AF Start are locked together. You can separate out Metering, but not AF Start. I posted the available Metering and AF options. Rebels do not have an [AF-ON] buttton, so the usual procedure is to reprogram [ * ] button.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

rdixit — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 00:18:31 GMT

I think I made it clear that I am trying to set up back button focusing?

I am looking through the manual and obviously having trouble understanding how to set it up. Constantly telling me to read the manual is not helpful or kind. Obviously if I had been able to clearly understand how to set it up I would not be here. I was hoping this forum would be more supportive and less snarky.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

rdixit — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 00:22:23 GMT

I can't find where in the manual it explains those two states.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 00:41:04 GMT

@rdixit wrote:
I can't find where in the manual it explains those two states.

Look at my posts from the manual. I posted pages 500 and 501. Yes, read the manual, don’t just “look” at it, so that you can understand what it is that you are being told. You have a learning curve to climb.

Do you understand the settings display? I explained it in an earlier post, which someone kudoed. The left side is the button, and the right side is the button function. If you want to know what they mean, unfortunately you must read the manual.

I posted a the pages from the instruction manual that explain what the relevant symbols mean. Your posted screen shot shows that you have the shutter button and the [AF-ON] button misprogrammed (as AEL, automatic exposure lock) in such a way that the camera will not auto focus.

I suggest that you use the “reset to factory defaults” option, which is found on that same page (HINT: press the garbage can button) and reset the buttons back tot heir factory defaults. Once this is done, you need to reprogram the shutter to so that it is metering only, without AF-START.

If you need someone to walk you through it, which you seem to need, then I suggest that you call Canon Support.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 00:40:03 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I am editing my original question to make it more clear. I will also try to attach a photo of the "pictograms"
[ Button ]. : [ Function ]
The [Shutter] button needs to be “Metering”.

The [AF-ON] button needs to be “Metering and AF Start”, which is seems to be the factory default. This is also the default setting for the [Shutter] button.

If you cannot understand that, then you need to contact Canon Support so that they can walk you through it.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

rdixit — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 00:42:20 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I can't find where in the manual it explains those two states.
Look at my posts from the manual. I posted pages 500 and 501.

I am not sure what manual you received with your camera, but the English version that was packed with my camera has only 199 pages.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

RobertTheFat — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 05:16:59 GMT

@rdixit wrote:
@Waddizzle wrote:
@rdixit wrote:
I can't find where in the manual it explains those two states.
Look at my posts from the manual. I posted pages 500 and 501.

I am not sure what manual you received with your camera, but the English version that was packed with my camera has only 199 pages.

Sometimes the printed manual is an abbreviated version. If a CD came with your camera, it probably has the full version as a PDF file. Otherwise, you can download it from the Canon Support Web site.

Re: Back button on focus 6D MarkII

Waddizzle — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 11:55:15 GMT

Contact Canon Support.

I have posted the settings at least twice. Looking at your screenshots, you obviously know how to change the settings.