New NX1 Review by dpreview.com

lol101 wrote:

Hello Usee,

Once again, the question is not "what happens if I use the AF-on button in such or such AF mode" but rather "can I configure the shutter button never to activate AF".

Hello lol101, Hello Usee,

I don't own an NX1 (yet), but I just tested one in a local store around the corner ("Saturn" in Germany).

I'm particularly interested in disabling auto-focus normally but having a button where I can "focus on demand".

The body firmware I tested was 1.01 (if I remember that correctly from the menu).

I did not find any direct option to disable autofocus when pressing the shutter button. However, two other settings affect the focussing (or not-focussing) behavior of the shutter button:

• Setting "AF ON" to "Metering & AF Start + Lock" in the "Key Mapping" menu
• Setting "AEL" to one of the AFL options ("AFL", "AFL Hold", "AEL+AFL") in the "Key Mapping" menu

Setting "AF ON" to "Metering & AF Start + Lock" will ensure that the shutter button won't initiate refocussing (at least for one shot, I don't remember if it stays locked after you shoot a picture). However, I think that Metering will also be locked (so that it is effectively an "AEL+AFL").

Setting "AEL" to "AFL Hold" and then pressing the "AEL" button (to lock the autofocus) will also diable focussing on shutter press. While you would expect the "AF ON" button to allow a manually triggered auto-refocussing, this is not the case: The "AF ON" button does not initiate focus, but only disables the AFL. You have to press it twice(!) to focus. But then AFL has been disabled and pressing the shutter will cause refocussing again. Hence useless.

I would like a mode of operation where the shutter button does not focus automatically, where I can turn the focus ring manually, and where a single press on the AF ON button will simply autofocus once (and do nothing else).

Such mode of operation doesn't seem to exist for the NX1. (I tried various combinations, but if someone can tell me how to do it, please share your knowledge.)

The answer to this second question is NO on the NX1 but YES on the 6D and quite a few other cameras.

As stated above, it's possible to disable focussing through shutter button by activating "AFL Hold". But you have to undo the lock to refocus, and you can't use the "AF ON" button to focus just once.

To give you an exemple of what is discussed, when properly configured with AF activation removed from the shutter button, half-pressing the shutter on my 6D will never activate AF, no matter what you do with other buttons or the AF mode you're in.

That is the desired behavior.

That is what I would want too, except that a single press to the "AF ON" button should do an autofocus once.

Rewatch the clip and you'll see that it is the shutter button that needs to be customizable in order to completely remove AF activation from it. The AF-ON button is fine as it is.

Kind Regards
Jan Behrens