Originally posted by Canada_Rockies I think the light just dawned. What you are looking for is to detach the focus from the shutter release. It's in the menus.
[Menu]
[Custom Settings]
[AF by Press Halfway] OFF <-- here it is!
Now you mark the focus with the [AF] button, and the camera will not forget!
Nope, you hgaven't got it. That will shut off auto focus and require you to hit the AF button on the back of the camera to focus.
What I want is the function that has been on my other AF cameras, where I can totally separate AF confirmation from blocking the shutter release, whether in single AF mode, continuous AF mode, or MF.
Note on earlier cameras you could have in Manual Focus, for example, the shutter interlocked with the AF confirmation and trap focus that way.