I was thinking about a Q3M to use alongside my M246, but it seems there is no possibility of setting it up to use genuine back button focus (disabling focus from the shutter and focusing with a back button). Is this true? Are there any effective reliable workarounds?
It seems astonishing to me that this set up - used by, among others, street photographers, and is available on all cameras I can think of, has not been implemented on what I thought was essentially a reportage, street photo camera by Leica of all companies. It really puts me off!
Maybe I am missing something, but back button focusing was a big help, when cameras didn’t have IBIS, fast focusing, or decent tracking. The Q3 series with the new firmware is ok at tracking slow moving subjects, all you have to do is either pick a focus location or set to person focus. If focus fails, it won’t be because of the button you use and instead is just its tracking.
All of that said, I don’t think that you can customize back button focusing, but it is not something I have tried.
What on earth would you need back button focus on a Q3 for? The buttons aren’t laid out for it and would probably involve making the camera bigger for a feature that isn’t necessary.
Have you picked up a q3? The back button is tiny and would be a horrible expirence even if it did support it.
RustyRus wrote:
What on earth would you need back button focus on a Q3 for? The buttons aren’t laid out for it and would probably involve making the camera bigger for a feature that isn’t necessary.
Have you picked up a q3? The back button is tiny and would be a horrible expirence even if it did support it.
100% outdated feature for this camera IMO
One could argue that the whole concept of that camera is outdated.
An extraordinary oversight in any AF-capable body. One often wants to set focus independent of composition without the camera acting according to its default AF action. Major functions should be kept separate, and they don't come any more major than focus choice and shot time decision-making.
'Surveys on platforms like Facebook and Reddit show high adoption rates (e.g., 90% in one Adorama poll) among respondents.'
The big search engine:
'The Leica Q3 doesn't offer true, traditional Back Button Focus (BBF) that fully disables AF from the shutter, but you can simulate it by assigning a rear Function Button (like AFL) to focus, which is great for locking focus before recomposing, though focus can reset if aperture/exposure changes or another button is pressed.
It provides AF-L (Autofocus Lock) via these buttons, allowing focus to stay locked until you release the button, but it's not a complete separation like on other brands where the shutter button never focuses.'
'Not a True Separation: **The shutter button will still try to focus if you half-press it unless you're in Manual Focus mode.**
Focus Can Reset: **Focus can unlock if you change exposure settings (aperture, exposure compensation) or **press other buttons**, making it less reliable for continuous action than a true BBF system'.
So this is all Q3 models? I'm appalled, having never read about this usurping of user sovereignty in any review. My God, it's the same in the Q3 43, according to the AI SE!
'AF-L Behavior: If you configure a button for AF-L (lock), the focus often unlocks after taking a picture, changing the aperture, or using a dial, forcing you to re-press the button.'
Yes, they (Leica) don't like the idea of BBF/Shutter AF OFF being a fundamental choice. To do it in the SL2 (the one I used to explore this), you have to - and this makes zero sense - set the camera to Manual Focus (MF) mode.
You will need to change the focus mode to MF (Manual Focus). There is no reference to this in the manual, one poster claims. If this is so, they don't see it as something you should know.
And you must select: manual focus mode to change an auto focus control assignment, for an auto focus lens you want to auto focus with, using a different button.
I use BBF on all my cameras (Nikon and Leica SL). With Nikon there is a menu setting to disable autofocus with the shutter button. With Leica, setting the camera to manual focus achieves the same result.
Have you picked up a q3? The back button is tiny and would be a horrible expirence even if it did support it. 100% outdated feature for this camera IMO
It is hard to remember having heard a more useless response than this one.
Yes, I have tried out a Q3 briefly, and it seems extraordinarily obvious to me that the righthand function button near the thumb indentation would be a convenient choice - the button many use for ‘focus lock’.
As for BBF itself, I don’t know a single fellow photographer that does not use it on their cameras. Not a single one. As for an explanation as to why it is useful, just read philip_pj’s reasoning above.
I use it on Canon’s and Sony’s as a matter of course for immediate focus on a point, without having to hold down focus lock - something like the immediacy of setting focus distance on an M, which is far faster than any autofocus, but the advantage on my Sony also allows me to refocus with autofocus immediately without any fiddling if the point needs to change. Having autofocus permanently fixed to the shutter means whenever you press down focus can, and usually does change, which is annoying.
BBF is a no-brainer as an OPTION. I realise that not everyone wants to use this - not that I know anyone who doesn’t.
wolfloid wrote:
It is hard to remember having heard a more useless response than this one.
Yes, I have tried out a Q3 briefly, and it seems extraordinarily obvious to me that the righthand function button near the thumb indentation would be a convenient choice - the button many use for ‘focus lock’.
As for BBF itself, I don’t know a single fellow photographer that does not use it on their cameras. Not a single one. As for an explanation as to why it is useful, just read philip_pj’s reasoning above.
I use it on Canon’s and Sony’s as a matter of course for immediate focus on a point, without having to hold down focus lock - something like the immediacy of setting focus distance on an M, which is far faster than any autofocus, but the advantage on my Sony also allows me to refocus with autofocus immediately without any fiddling if the point needs to change. Having autofocus permanently fixed to the shutter means whenever you press down focus can, and usually does change, which is annoying.
BBF is a no-brainer as an OPTION. I realise that not everyone wants to use this - not that I know anyone who doesn’t.
I am going to guess you are over the age of 60? Thats not a bad thing but BBF is a thing of the past. Just like EVF's are going the way of older tech for newer generations.
So its great your old DSLR buddies needed it becuase focus was atrocious and you had to use it, you don't anymore. Just like EVF's are starting to become something younger kids aren't using that pick up cameras. Its ok though, how you do things is always the only way-
RustyRus wrote:
I am going to guess you are over the age of 60? That's not a bad thing but BBF is a thing of the past. Just like EVF's are going the way of older tech for newer generations.
So its great your old DSLR buddies needed it because focus was atrocious and you had to use it, you don't anymore. Just like EVF's are starting to become something younger kids aren't using that pick up cameras. Its ok though, how you do things is always the only way-
Cheers
Most of the time you are correct, BBF and even SF using any method is largely depreciated in todays shooting workflow. Continuous focus is required for the high performance, high frame rate, with subject recognition and tracking implementations in today's cameras. This is resulting in a higher hit rate that has ever been achieved before in many genres of photography. Yes, BBF works for some genres of photography. Mostly the deprecated focus and recompose style used on some relatively static scenes. But it is far from optimal for many others. I left BBF a number of years ago when mirrorless cameras became more capable than BBF. But some people are more comfortable with how they have always done things. I remember those here that had to be dragged kicking, screaming, and name calling, away from their beloved DSLR cameras into the modern mirrorless World. Very few of those left these days. Manufactures almost don't make those cameras anymore. For good reason too.
Still, I see no harm in manufactures leaving BBF as an option for those people who like it, and for those times when it would actually be the best workflow for what is being photographed. Better to have choices. In that sense it is an omission by Leica in my opinion. But it would not be a deal breaker for me like it apparently is for some.
By the way, I am well over 60, and no longer use BBF. So now we all know at least one photographer! !
The key advantage of BBF is that I don't have to hold the shutter button half-pressed for a long time. The classic use case is BBF + tracking for focus and recomposing. During recomposing, the focus is automatically adjusted properly when the subject is not centered. Then, I often need to take multiple shots with different settings, or wait for a person to pass by in the right place, or for a person wearing the right color, or for the person to change pose (this could take 5 seconds, or it could take 5 minutes). For me, the lack of BBF is a HUGE drawback of the Q3 43 (I own one).
Smogg wrote:
The key advantage of BBF is that I don't have to hold the shutter button half-pressed for a long time. The classic use case is BBF + tracking for focus and recomposing. During recomposing, the focus is automatically adjusted properly when the subject is not centered. Then, I often need to take multiple shots with different settings, or wait for a person to pass by in the right place, or for a person wearing the right color, or for the person to change pose (this could take 5 seconds, or it could take 5 minutes). For me, the lack of BBF is a HUGE drawback of the Q3 43 (I own one)....Show more →
All those situations are easily handled without BBF. Just what you are used to I guess.
1bwana1 wrote:
All those situations are easily handled without BBF. Just what you are used to I guess.
Could you expand on that thought to make your answer more meaningful? I'm curious how you handle these situations.
1bwana1 wrote:
Still, I see no harm in manufactures leaving BBF as an option for those people who like it, and for those times when it would actually be the best workflow for what is being photographed. Better to have choices. In that sense it is an omission by Leica in my opinion. But it would not be a deal breaker for me like it apparently is for some.
Thats assuming there isn't a dev cost for putting back button focus in the Q3- Its already Leica's best selling camera. Clearly BBF isn't a detractor- I am guessing from this thread alone, none would even be interested in this camera regardless of BBF or not.
We all get old, just keep your mind young and open to new ways of doing things......Cleary you have
I haven't seen anyone suggesting Leica would need to change the design of the Q3 or add a dedicated button. Just adapt the firmware and use the FN Button 2 as an option.
Make judgements on image makers based on their images, not their ages or preferences.
"Clearly BBF isn't a detractor- I am guessing from this thread alone, none would even be interested in this camera regardless of BBF or not."
On what basis do you make such claims? You know nothing about most of the posters. You are very obviously wrong about the camera needing a physical change to accommodate BBF, the FN button 2 would be fine - the Maybe you should stick to what you know, rather than invent things. Or are you another one that believes the US gave Greenland to Denmark?
