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I am simply not understanding the benefit of this feature. From a YouTube tutorial I learned about AF-ON button on few cameras. In my camera (Nikon D5600), it is located under:

Autofocus Settings -> Assign AE-L/AF-L button -> AF ON

When I enabled this, the camera stopped focusing on shutter-button half-pressed. It completely now relied on the AE-L/AF-L button for me to click to set focus. In the field I tried to capture some photos. On a sudden action, I forgot to press this button and therefore camera was not able to focus. When I enabled AF-ON from the menu, my camera was in Manual Mode with AF-C and 9-Points Focus Area.

I restored the button to its default settings of AE-L and AF-L. When does it makes sense to use AF-ON ?

RKh
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  • @Tetsujin My question is different. I am asking with the AF-C and area-modes perspective. – RKh Jun 09 '23 at 15:42
  • @RKh, the Q/A in question is exactly what you ask for. And especially for birds you set camera on continuous focus, and hold the button. And follow the bird in fly. And make a photo in right moment. – Romeo Ninov Jun 09 '23 at 16:07
  • @RKh, and to pressing/holding this button is matter of habit. Take a walk around for day and two and think all the time you need to use it for focus. And on the end you will start to use it w/o think about :) – Romeo Ninov Jun 09 '23 at 16:12
  • @RomeoNinov If I keep AF-C and hold the button pressed and follow the bird, if the bird shifts position and I point the camera again towards it. How is it different with the shutter half-pressed and bringing the subject in focus.

    Is AF-ON specifically for shooting from the Live View ?

     – RKh Jun 09 '23 at 17:43
  • @RKh, the difference is you can stop shooting, but continue focusing, which sometime can be hard with half pressed shutter. Also when you do not use shutter you skip metering of the scene (can save you battery). And no, it is not for only lifeview, I use it quite rare in such scenario. Also one odd point is you can react a bit faster pressing shutter all the way down because the subject is already in focus. – Romeo Ninov Jun 09 '23 at 18:02
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    Also related: What does the AE/AF lock button do that half-pressing the shutter doesn't? and What is AF-L needed for? Multiple answers to both of these questions provide a lot of detail about the advantages of using back button AF. – Michael C Jun 10 '23 at 14:38

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