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Back button continuous focus on Maxxum 7D?

Started Oct 14, 2015 | Discussions thread
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Randy6414 Regular Member • Posts: 149
Back button continuous focus on Maxxum 7D?

I pulled out my Minolta Maxxum 7D and did some shooting with it.  It's like visiting with an old friend.

Since getting my Sony A99 two years ago, I set it up for back button continuous focusing, and have become quite used to that setup, and prefer to shoot that way.  By pressing and holding the AF button I get continuous focus (great for sports or other action).  By pressing and releasing the AF button I can focus and then recompose (great for portraits or landscapes).  The shutter button is decoupled from focusing--it only fires the shutter.

i tried to figure out a way to set up similar back button focus on the 7D.  The shutter button can be decoupled from focusing. However, unlike the A99, the AF/MF button on the 7D can only be set to "toggle" between AF and MF, or to hold focus during AF.

The closest I can get to mimicking the A99 set up is to use the tiny "AF" button in the center of the circular focus point selector.  Pressing it, the camera will AF.  However, even with the focus mode switch (on the front of the body) set to Continuous focus, the small AF button will only perform single focus.  That'd be fine for portraits or landscapes, but not for any kind of action or sports.

Does anyone know how to set up the 7D for back button continuous focus?

I'd appreciate any ideas.

Randy

 Randy6414's gear list:Randy6414's gear list
Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 Sony Alpha a99 Sony a77 II Sony a99 II Sony 50mm F1.4 +6 more
Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D (Dynax 7D / Alpha-7 Digital) Sony Alpha a99
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