[Focus] button on FZ5

[drewdam]

Hi,

may i know what's the diff or purpose when come to that "Focus" button at the back of FZ5 as compare to focus lock via shutter, thanks!!

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by drewdam Hi, may i know what's the diff or purpose when come to that "Focus" button at the back of FZ5 as compare to focus lock via shutter, thanks!!

It only usable when you change ur AF trigger to manual. after changing, just press the focus button to do a AF

[metallilan]

I used this mode when i was taking fireworks during the new year. Pressing the focus button on the night sky allowed me to focus on the spot where the fireworks will come out, so that i wont have to press the shutter button to focus, which will take more time.

The function is also pretty good if you're doing macro where you have to move the lens to and fro to get focus.

[drewdam]

Originally Posted by metallilan I used this mode when i was taking fireworks during the new year. Pressing the focus button on the night sky allowed me to focus on the spot where the fireworks will come out, so that i wont have to press the shutter button to focus, which will take more time. The function is also pretty good if you're doing macro where you have to move the lens to and fro to get focus.

tot is convenient if use the shutter to focus cos u will have to focus again once move the lens (zoom), hmm...must try out...thanks!

[unseen]

LOL think of it as a toned down and simplified manual focus..

[huggable]

Simplified... but nowhere near MF IMHO. It basically replaces the "half press" of the shutter button, good for ambushing potential targets! I say nowhere near MF because when you press the "Focus" button, the cam still autofocus for you!

Originally Posted by unseen LOL think of it as a toned down and simplified manual focus..

[Martin]

I use focus button for eg .... a bbq event at a beach when it is diff to focus using a half press shutter.

I would use focus button to focus lock at a 2m object in a bright area, once done, i do not need to focus any more.

Any thing that come in between 1m to infinity would be in focus.

[unseen]

lol if you're good at juding distance, you can use the focus button and prefocus at something the same distance away, then use it.. you know.. manually select how far you want to focus and then look for the subject..
instead of manual focus where you look for the subject then focus..

[Clockunder]

Originally Posted by drewdam Hi, may i know what's the diff or purpose when come to that "Focus" button at the back of FZ5 as compare to focus lock via shutter, thanks!!

After so many replies telling you how and when they use it, still no one has given you the answer to your question.

I don't own a FZ5 an d can only guess that it's probably the "focus lock" button.

If my guess is correct that it’s a focus lock button, the main difference between locking focus by pressing the shutter release button half way and using the "focus lock" button is that the former locks both focus and exposure while the latter locks only the focus and you can adjust the exposure either manually or through auto exposure. They are similar in the sense that they both reduce focus lag by pre-focusing first and this is useful when timing is important. (such as taking pictures of fireworks and subjects in fast action).

(In some cameras, through camera setting in the menu, you can set whether the button is locking focus or locking exposure.)

In some situations, focus lock is used instead of the shutter release button because the light condition of the scene will change later. If you have pre-empted by pre-focusing through pressing the shutter release button half way and the light condition changes after that, the image captured will be under-exposed or over-exposed. A good example is taking pictures of fireworks : If you’ve pre-focused by pressing the shutter release button half way, both the focus and exposure in locked before the scene get brightened up significantly by the fireworks and therefore you will get grossly over-exposed fireworks captured. If the focus lock is used for pre-focusing instead, assuming the camera is set to some kind of auto exposure, the camera will only adjust the exposure by taking into account the fireworks lights which have appeared when the shutter release button is pressed.

[Martin]

The diff is "Focus Button" will memorise the focus dist for MUTIPLE shots, as long as you don't touch the button.

Second advantage is you do not need to half press and hold, therefore your finger can RELAX while waiting for subject to appear.

[drewdam]

Hi folks,

tks for the info..i will try to learn about it and understand it.....