Originally Posted by
Daniel Browning
There are four essential functions I want to peform, and only two fingers to do it (right index and right thumb). If Canon allowed me to hit more than 2 buttons simultaneously, such as by making some buttons accessible to the left hand, then I might do things differently. But as it is, I have to pack a lot of functionality into just two buttons.
The four functions I want are:
1. Optionall lock the AE meter
2. Keep the I.S. going constantly while it's up to my eye.
3. Autofocus for as long as I want it to, and to stop when I want it to.
4. Release the shutter when I say to, not when the camera says to.
I achieve 1, 2, and 4 with the shutter button in "AE lock" mode. The only downside is that the I.S. stops every time I recompose to lock the AE on a different scene, and I can't have the I.S. going without also locking AE. For now I can live with that since it's either momentary and infrequent or I'm not using an I.S. lens anyway. Though I have probably lost a few shots due to the I.S. being unstable after quickly returning from an AE-lock recompose sequence -- it would be nice if there was "eye detect I.S."
I achieve 3 by putting the AF-ON button in Metering + AF Start mode. Since I usually override the metering with the shutter's exposure lock, it's really just "AF Start" mode to me.
The reason why I want to always have the shot in focus is that I spend a lot of time waiting for just the right moment. I may spend 5 minutes looking thorugh the viewfinder as the subject moves around, the focus motor working furiously the whole time, while I just bide my time waiting for the perfect moment. When it happens, *boom*, I take the shot. No waiting for autofocus.
Nothing is more annoying than when you can see the shot in your viewfinder, perfectly focused, and the camera literally refuses to take the picture because it *thinks* it's not in focus. That's why I usually want shutter set to only "AE lock".
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