Re: R5 Settings for BIF -IBIS?
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The R5 is brilliant for back-button AF, in fact I’m using triple back-button AF for birds in flight. First decouple the AF from the shutter button, and then here is my setup:
AF-On: set to current AF area mode, which I use the front DOF button to cycle between. Usually I keep this on single point focus but do like to cycle to spot for a little more control.
* button: set to Face + Tracking with “Initial Servo AF point” set for spot/single point (page 5 of the AF menu tab, second option under the Initial Servo AF pt settings.) When you’re customizing the buttons and on the * button choices, you’ll choose “Metering and AF start”, but it’s very important to hit the INFO button for the “Detail set.” Here you can have AF operation set to Servo, AF method set to Face + Tracking, and it will automatically use the settings in Page 5 for initial Servo point. It sounds confusing because it is. Took me a while to figure this out. Basically when pressing the * button now, you’ll see an initial point that you were using for Spot or Single Point and it will track whatever is under that point. This is what I call local tracking. Gives you control rather than just scanning the whole frame.
Focus Mode button next to *: I have this set for “Eye Detection AF” because it scans the whole frame and tracks. This is what I call the global tracking. So when I can’t get my point on something quickly enough to track, especially BIF, I switch to this and let the algorithm work its magic. Works great for BIF especially in open sky.
The R5 is a complicated beast of a machine that is tricky at first to dial in, but once you get it it’s incredible. It took me a while to figure out the hidden INFO button settings when customizing buttons—don’t overlook that. This gives you an effective triple back-button focusing, three AF methods in one, way more versatile than using the shutter button for BIF.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you don’t understand the setup here and I’ll try to elaborate.