What is 'back focusing' ?

gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
edited November 30, 2006 in Technique
Ive googled till my little cute fingers hurt & then some more & now that i know how to fix it..avoid it...& see it.

But what is it exactly ?

Comments

  • fishfish Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2005
    Humungus wrote:
    Ive googled till my little cute fingers hurt & then some more & now that i know how to fix it..avoid it...& see it.

    But what is it exactly ?

    Back focus is a problem found in AF cameras that means the camera tends to focus just behind the intended subject.
    "Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk." - Edward Weston
    "The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."-Hunter S.Thompson
  • ShakeyShakey Registered Users Posts: 1,004 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2005
    This is my take... You point camera at object to be photographed.
    Red light blinks in lens viewfinder on object to be photographed.
    Press shutter and chimp at said masterpiece
    Down load said photo to PS and find object is not in focus .
    A: scream bloody murder and blame lens ,camera or dog if he happens to be near by.
    B: unload camera on FM ,ebay and upgrade.
    C: do what I do and resign yourself to ;I suck at photography but at least I can blame alcohol consumption for my focus issues.
    Its my nearsightedness to blame.
    Or just say my camera back focuses and defer all blame to the manufacturing process. Which comes full circle back to alcohol consumption, since the camera was built on a friday or a monday or just prior/post to a long weekend.rolleyes1.gif

    Cheers
    Tim
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2005
    fish wrote:
    Back focus is a problem found in AF cameras that means the camera tends to focus just behind the intended subject.
    Ta mate.
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2005
    Shakey wrote:
    This is my take... You point camera at object to be photographed.
    Red light blinks in lens viewfinder on object to be photographed.
    Press shutter and chimp at said masterpiece
    Down load said photo to PS and find object is not in focus .
    A: scream bloody murder and blame lens ,camera or dog if he happens to be near by.
    B: unload camera on FM ,ebay and upgrade.
    C: do what I do and resign yourself to ;I suck at photography but at least I can blame alcohol consumption for my focus issues.
    Its my nearsightedness to blame.
    Or just say my camera back focuses and defer all blame to the manufacturing process. Which comes full circle back to alcohol consumption, since the camera was built on a friday or a monday or just prior/post to a long weekend.rolleyes1.gif

    Cheers
    Tim
    Hmmm...lucky i only drink Kava then.
  • wxwaxwxwax Registered Users Posts: 15,471 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2005
    Not only autofocus. Can happen on any camera.
    Sid.
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  • Shay StephensShay Stephens Registered Users Posts: 3,165 Major grins
    edited February 17, 2005
    wxwax wrote:
    Not only autofocus. Can happen on any camera.
    It's true. And remember auto anything doesn't not mean perfect. It just means you don't have to do it yourself. Auto exposure, auto white balance, auto focus, they all suffer from the same thing. So anytime you use auto anything, care must be taken to make sure the camera did the right thing.

    One of the things I have to fuss with the most with any camera I have used is focus accuracy. I rarely ever use manual focus, but the amount of time and work that goes into it you would think I should hehehe. But I have a hard time getting critical focus when I use manual.

    I wish they would bring back those split screens like they used to have on the old film cameras.
    Creator of Dgrin's "Last Photographer Standing" contest
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  • PhotoShapPhotoShap Registered Users Posts: 4 Beginner grinner
    edited November 30, 2006
    Just what the doctor ordered...
    I wish they would bring back those split screens like they used to have on the old film cameras.

    I was reading up on backfocusing after a conversation I had today and found this thread... I'm shooting with a 30D and figured I had to goto the 5D to get that focusing screen for manual. Anyway, here is a link to my blog article on a way to get the manual focus screen for most DLSRs.

    I can't say much about it as I've only just found out about it today but I plan to get and install it asap.

    http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?tab=weblogs&user=SeanShapiro&uid=551750697

    Cheers,
    Shap
  • gusgus Registered Users Posts: 16,209 Major grins
    edited November 30, 2006
    PhotoShap wrote:
    I was reading up on backfocusing after a conversation I had today and found this thread... I'm shooting with a 30D and figured I had to goto the 5D to get that focusing screen for manual. Anyway, here is a link to my blog article on a way to get the manual focus screen for most DLSRs.

    I can't say much about it as I've only just found out about it today but I plan to get and install it asap.

    http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?tab=weblogs&user=SeanShapiro&uid=551750697

    Cheers,
    Shap

    Thanks shap however i have since learnt to ignor almost anything conventional with digital cameras. I dont get this back focus problem.
  • El KiwiEl Kiwi Registered Users Posts: 154 Major grins
    edited November 30, 2006
    I wish they would bring back those split screens like they used to have on the old film cameras.

    Which leads me nicely on to a question I was planning to post here anyway... I saw one of these for the first time recently, on my stepdad's old film camera. I looked around a bit, and there are a couple of companies that sell them for DSLRs:

    Katz Eye

    Haoda Fu

    Does anyone here have any experience with these? I'd like to try one. I guess using these screens that you can only focus on something in the centre of the frame, correct? So you have to use focus-recompose if the point you want to focus on is off to the side. I'd appreciate any feedback... is it distracting having such a full viewfinder?
    Constructive criticism always welcome!
    "Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius
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