I believe with the advent of the AF-On button you can customize that button for use as af-start, or af-stop. The *, I believe, is reserved for AE lock.
The * button on the 50D can be used for AF-start as with the older bodies. I still prefer to use the * button for AF, since it is better placed than the AF-On button, especially in the 1 series. It is also a habit and reduces confusion when switching between new and older bodies.
EB-1 wrote:
The * button on the 50D can be used for AF-start as with the older bodies. I still prefer to use the * button for AF, since it is better placed than the AF-On button, especially in the 1 series. It is also a habit and reduces confusion when switching between new and older bodies.
EBH
Yes, indeed. The AF-On position is too far for my thumb to rest on comfortably and the * button is easily hit if that's what your used to. It's easy to configure the * button for AF, it just requires 2 CF be set. I have relegated the AF-ON button to zooming out on preview.
Think I'm missing something here, I'd like the * as the AF but would like AF not activated when the shutter is half pressed. When the shutter button is half pressed the AE should kick in but I'm still getting a red focus square showing AF is still activated.
An example would be locking on to the front jersey of a goal keeper and not worrying about a scrum in front of the net causing the camera to refocus on a defenceman.
C.FnIV-1 set at 2. This will start AF on AF-On button press, exposure is set when shutter is fired. If you want to lock exposure on half-press of the shutter, set this C.Fn to 3 instead of 2.
Now set C.FnIV-2 at 2. This switches the * and AF-On buttons, so * functions the same way as your 30D.
(These are 40D settings, but I'm sure the 50D is the same).
When I switched to the MKIII, I forced myself to get used to the AF-on button. Didn't take long at all. Now that I have a 50D as well, they match up. Still using * on my 5D however.
Thanks guys, all set. Came from the 30D and still have yet to play with the live view and many other settings. Sold my mint 30D and 135L to finance the 50D. It was time to upgrade but sure miss the 135L. I might save up for a used 85mm quickly just to have a lens for the indoor volleyball/basketball season.
If the 85mm 1.8 is even slightly close to the 135L color,sharpness and focus speed I'll be happy. The 135L was just a little long for tight high school gyms but unbeatable for family stuff.
