In this article we’re going to discuss Fujifilm’s X-series Autofocus, which is a hot topic right now. A lot of things are being said about it on YouTube and social media and especially in the comments section of photography websites. I’m a little afraid to give my two cents, because I know it will not be well received by some of you reading this. I think most regular visitors of this website will not have any qualms about it, but no doubt this will be shared on Reddit or DPReview or a Facebook group or someplace like that, and I will receive some aggressive disagreements by some of those folks.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen people online call Fujifilm’s Autofocus “garbage” or “bad” or some other negative term. Every once in awhile a person will comment on Fuji X Weekly with a similar sentiment; however, it’s vocalized a lot less here than elsewhere, it seems. This is a controversy that I’ve tried to steer clear of—people have strong opinions about this topic, and my opinions are different than many. I did write about it two months ago, but I think it needs to be addressed again.
As I’ve pondered this topic, I think there are a number of issues that are often lumped together, but need to be discussed individually. They are related in that it affects Autofocus, but otherwise they are unrelated, and lumping them together doesn’t help bring about any solutions. We’ll get to it all, but it will take some time to navigate through it. Be patient, as this will be a journey.
First and foremost, I believe that much of the negativity is a type of hysteria. Someone points out a “problem” and now everyone (it seems) is experiencing it. Echo chambers and groupthink on the internet can make people especially susceptible to this. I’m not a psychologist and offer no professional medical advice, but I did listen to a podcast recently on a flight that made me consider this as a strong possibility.
The podcast was Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford and the episode was entitled Sonic Poison? The Genesis of Havana Syndrome. It explains how hysteria can have a real affect on people, such as causing nuns to meow, or children to experience sickness that they don’t really have, or millions of dollars of perfectly good Coca-Cola dumped down the drain for no good reason, or spies “poisoned” by loud cicadas in Cuba. While these things were in their heads, they manifested in real physical ways.
What clued me in to the potential that this phenomena might also be happening to those who own Fujifilm cameras is when someone told me that they were really upset at Fujifilm because their Autofocus was not working as it should be and that Fujifilm needed to fix the problem right now; this person admitted that they had never experienced the issue personally, but they knew it was a problem because they had seen it in a YouTube video. Later, another person stated to me something very similar: while the “problem” had had no affect on their photography, they were aware of its existence because they had seen it on the internet—and they were demanding that Fujifilm fix it ASAP or else they would quit the brand.
I’m not suggesting that Fujifilm’s Autofocus woes are “all in your head” and that it is just psychological, but I do believe it explains a good deal of it. I think if some certain YouTube videos had never been published (and it’s fine that they were, I’m not condemning them, I’m just observing), there would not be nearly so much discussion and outrage right now. A lot of people “became aware” of a problem that they likely would not have noticed on their own otherwise, and it wouldn’t have affected them in any real way (in other words, it wouldn’t have been an issue at all). When you spend a lot of money on something, and especially if your livelihood (or hopes of a future livelihood) depends on that thing, and you believe that it is not working right, it’s easy to understand why there would be some hysteria. Nuns meowing, Coke getting dumped, and Fujifilm’s “sucky” Autofocus are related, if you ask me, and it’s something that we can all be susceptible to. But, again, I’m not a psychologist and offer no professional advice on this.
While I believe a significant amount of the outrage can be attributed to that hysteria, there are real issues that should be discussed rationally. Something that I find interesting is that for the first five or six years of this blog, Fujifilm’s Autofocus was not a big issue whatsoever. It wasn’t a hot topic. What changed? I think it was Fujifilm’s enticement of Canikony brand photographers. I think many of the complaints are by people who used to shoot Canikony brand cameras—particularly Canon and Sony—and when they switched to Fujifilm over the last couple of years, they were disappointed by Fujifilm’s Autofocus system. It’s not as good as those found on Canikony models, especially Canon and Sony.
There are three reasons why Canikony cameras have better Autofocus than Fujifilm. First, they’ve been doing it for much longer. Sony (through Konica and Minolta) have been making Autofocus cameras since the 1970’s, and had what was considered the first “good” AF system (not good compared to what we have today, but good for back then) with the Minolta Maxxum in the mid-1980’s; Canon and Nikon both introduced their first Autofocus cameras in the 1980’s. Second, Canikony brands have had significantly more R&D money to invest in their Autofocus systems. Finally, as PetaPixel pointed out, the Canikony brands over the last handful of years have spent very little effort on image quality improvements, while placing much of their efforts on Autofocus improvements, and in some specific cases, actually to the detriment of image quality (a path that I do not want Fujifilm to pursue, personally). Most of the Canikony cameras that Fujifilm models are often compared to are also significantly more expensive, and usually larger and heavier.
Anyone who expects Fujifilm’s Autofocus to be at the same level as the Canikony brands have not put much thought into it. Still, it’s surprising to me, considering the disadvantages that Fujifilm has faced, that they’re not very far behind, either. Fujifilm’s Autofocus is by far more than good enough for most people and situations, including for the many professional photographers who use these cameras each day even under difficult circumstances. In preparation for this article, I reached out to five highly talented and successful photographers/videographers who use Fujifilm—people I met in person this year while traveling across America—and asked if they find Fujifilm’s Autofocus “lacking” or “detrimental” to their work. All five answered no; one added a caveat that for a specific use-case this person prefers their Sony model—they could do it with their Fujifilm, but it’s a little easier on their Sony, so for that particular situation this person doesn’t use Fujifilm.
Photography has been around for a very long time. It didn’t begin two, five, or ten years ago. People have been capturing amazing photographs for well over 100 years. If you were to grab a Fujifilm X-T5, jump into a DeLorean, and travel back in time just 20 years, you’d blow away the photographers of that era with what would seem like to them impossible camera technology. Yet the photographs captured today are no more impressive than than they were then. Camera gear has advanced tremendously over the last two decades, but the great photographs from today are no more great than they were 30, 40, 50, etc., etc., years ago. I love finding vintage photography magazines and admiring the incredible photographs captured on significantly inferior gear than what we have readily available today—we’re so spoiled!
In other words, if they could do it on their lesser gear, you can do it on your greater gear. No excuses. Fujifilm’s Autofocus is really good, especially compared to what existed over the last handful of decades. No, not quite as good as the Canikony brands are right now, but really good nonetheless. The negativity just never made sense to me. It’s like complaining that a Corvette isn’t a Maserati, and calling the Corvette garbage because it isn’t more like a Maserati. If you want a Maserati, buy a Maserati! Otherwise, appreciate that you have a Corvette.
Many years ago I was given this advice: Either you are controlling your camera, or your camera is controlling you. I think that a lot of people allow their cameras to control them, which might typically work out fine because the current tech is so advanced, but, when it doesn’t work out, it’s an easy scapegoat to blame the gear instead of looking inward. Without self reflection, you are robbing yourself of the opportunity to learn and grow. Your gear is only a limitation if you allow it to be, and if you don’t allow it, then it’s no issue whatsoever. That might require learning some new skills or sharpening some skills that you already have but could be improved upon.
A lot of people don’t like that advice, but it is completely true. You have it within you to not allow any limitations on any gear get in the way of creating whatever it is that you want to create. The difference between those that are having a ton of success with their Fujifilm gear and those complaining about it saying they can’t is the person holding the camera, and not the camera itself. I get it: it’s much easier to blame the gear. But, if you blame the gear instead of yourself, your camera is controlling you, and you will not improve—that success will be elusive.
All that I just said is the most important part of this article. You might disagree, and that’s ok. Sometimes the truth hurts. It might be a bitter pill that you were not ready to swallow. I didn’t say anything that’s not true; perhaps it is deserving of a second read-through, and with an open mind. With all that said, there are some other things that are important to address.
I think a good deal of the negative attention regarding Fujifilm’s Autofocus issues came after Fujifilm released a firmware update earlier this year with an Autofocus bug. I didn’t experience the issue caused by that firmware personally because I always wait awhile to update the firmware. This is a good idea regardless of camera brand. Sometimes there are bugs, and sometimes the bugs are significant. If you wait a week or two, if there is some major bug, it should be well known by then—if so, just skip that firmware and wait for the next one. Fujifilm did fix that Autofocus bug; however, to a much smaller degree there is still some AF problem that seems to only affect certain use cases. It’s my understanding that Fujifilm is aware of it and working on a solution. It will get resolved, just give it a little time.
As Fujifilm has grown, I think one department that may not have upscaled enough is the one that is in charge of firmware. Perhaps Fujifilm needs to add a couple more to the team, or maybe they have already and are experiencing some growing pains as new folks are brought in (or combination of the two). From my perspective, it just seems that this team is stretched a little too thin and needs more resources to allow them to keep up. My advice to Fujifilm is simply to invest more in the team that is in charge of firmware, as I’m certain it will pay off in the long run. A lot of negative attention today could have been avoided had this team been given all of the necessary resources a couple years back.
The remaining Autofocus woes are related to hardware and settings. It could be that you are not using the best lenses, or don’t have your camera settings programmed optimally.
Fujifilm’s older lenses are slower. The newer options with a Linear Motor (designated with “LM” in the lens name) are often the fastest. The larger and heavier the glass elements, the slower the AF will likely be. In other words, there’s a pretty significant performance difference depending on the lens that you have on your camera. Use the right lenses and you’ll have more success; however, for most people and circumstances, all of the lenses are plenty good enough—this is more for those who demand peak performance for their situation. Also, ensure that the lens firmware is up-to-date, not just the camera—this might resolve it for you, so it is worth looking into.
Fujifilm cameras have a lot of customizable fine-tuning options for Autofocus (especially on the newer models); if those settings are optimized for your situation, you will have much success, but if not, you may have more “misses” than you’d like. There are resources online that can help you find the right AF settings for you—it’s a very individual type of thing, so what works for one person may not for another; I recommend that you look for advice from multiple sources, and experiment—try different settings and see what happens. Also, I have found that several complaints were resolved with one specific thing: Release/Focus Priority should be set to Focus and not Release. I have a feeling that this one setting is the root of many people’s AF woes.
In my opinion, Fujifilm’s Autofocus problems have been significantly overblown—Mount Everest has been made out of an ant hill. The internet has spread hysteria. Some people have unrealistic expectations. For others its user-error, and could be resolved with a little effort. Blaming the camera is easy to do, but it stifles your growth. Control your camera, don’t let it control you. Many people have the same exact gear as you do and they do not experience your issues. It’s not the camera—it has never been the camera, and it never will be the camera. Your gear is much more than capable. As Ansel Adams stated, “The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.” You have it within you to not allow it to adversely affect you, but it might require some practice or learning new skills. That’s not a message that people usually want to hear, but it’s one that needs to be said. If you require optimized peak Autofocus performance, make sure that you are using the right lenses and have the best settings selected for your situation. For Fujifilm: provide more resources to the firmware team so that they can ensure they are not producing buggy updates (by the way, this is not an issue unique to Fujifilm by any stretch).
Please keep your comments civil. I know that chronic complainers, haters, and trolls will come out of the woodworks when an article like this is published. Unlike most websites, I don’t put up with that here. If you disagree, please be kind in your disagreement. I feel like this article needs to be published to counteract all the negativity that is much too prevalent across the internet. My hope is that—if you have experienced issues with Fujifilm’s Autofocus—you’ll be encouraged to create amazing content with the gear you own, because your camera is, in fact, more than capable just so long as the one using it is also capable (and you can be!). Excuses get in the way, but you don’t have to let them. That’s the message of this article.
What a great, well leavened approach to a hot topic. I am an old dog who shot film on all manual cameras for decades. I love digital sensors and files versus film in many ways, cost for instance. And auto-focus is really easy. But I have recently sold off all but a minimum of my autofocus lenses and switched back to (mostly Voigtlander) manual focus lenses, used on fabulous auto-everything cameras on full manual (Fuji GFX-50R, X-Pro2 and X-H1 monochrome, and Nikon Zf and Df and Z-50 full-spectrum), and I am having fun again!
No, I have not given up auto-focus when it works better. Six ballet dancers on stage with manual focus would have been a nightmare with manual focus, and auto-focus with a Fujifilm X-T5 was as spot-on as one could wish. And I still use my “old” Nikon D500 on AF for birding; even the best new mirrorless AF is just catching up to that old DSLR AF. Easy!
I do not expect most photographers who grew up with auto-focus to give it up, even for a second, but then Ansel Adams did not expect most 35mm roll-film photographers to appreciate the view camera, and yet some of us did.
Thanks for the enough-with-the-whining perspective. And perhaps more importantly, the positive point of view.
I shot on manual cameras for a very long time. There’s not any autofocus in the world that’s quicker than prefocused manual focus. There are also a lot of techniques and strategies that are often lost today.
My wife does some theater photography. Her X-T4 and 56mm f/1.2 does so well, very few out-of-focus images. It can be quite challenging light, but the camera does not have any issues regarding AF.
I appreciate your kind and thoughtful comment!
I liked very much your article on the focus issues. You are totally right, the problem if there is one is not the camera, it is the operator on the commands. I have a X100V and a Xt-100 and they require more caring in working the proper focus. I have also a Nikon D90 and a D3400. You are right, their Af are always on the spot…but I prefer the image quality of my Fuji’s. I appreciate your work, mister Ritchie and “keep going”
ST
Thank you for your kind reply! I used to own a Nikon D3400 many years ago… one of the pictures that I captured with it hangs on my wall.
I fully concur with your post Ritchie and the comment from Larry!
Indeed we discussed together in last post about the absolute need that the R&D / firmware must be scaled up, get more money and is far too thin at this time and since a while. Easy fix on management and financial levels, but less on technical one as a lot need to be done and catch up.
We got fortunately quite few and big Kaizen updates lately, but out gear is totaly IT oriented now and so the stability of the firmware created and used is as important, or even more, now than the hardware it make work!
So versioning control, regressive testing, QA are paramount!
Especially that Fujifilm has grown a lot and now have quite a bunch of camera to maintain…
About technology, well the X-Trans IV and before it are not affected by the way 😉
I can understand the frustration of many owning the H2S who want to revert to the initial firmware version for the AF. Fujifilm work hard and advertised a lot for the sport features and capabilities of the H2S and thus be able to catch up on Canikony. A big issue then to culprit its flagship camera like this by adding new functionalities (highly requested by the way) and make the AF get worse instead of better.
So yep back to square one on this. But a fix was given , 2 month ahead and as you wrote and stated FujiRumors, Fujifilm seems to have listen, seen the YouTube videos and is working on it.
Do we need an official statement, certainly not. After all the fuss what the need?
We need the Kaizen updates and well done though! So let’s them focus on the important things shall we?
As you mentioned, the pro-photographers I know who are using Fujifilm do not have complaints either.
It’s just work for them as it does for me!
I’ve not experienced so far any described issues on my X-T5 and X100VI which are up to date (touching wood, as bug can be random with complex coding and heavily dependent on user settings + lens + shooting conditions).
For the X-T5, I wanted the Reala sim, so I knew upfront where I was going with an update….
About Canikony advance, wi too prefer as wrote in another post, image quality over AF highest performance. That’s why I picked up Fujifilm! I’m coming from Nikon (D3S, F6). So yeah at the time the AF was already damn good and reliable. On my F6 then D3S, I was shooting everything in AF-C mode.
No brainer…
When I moved to Fujifilm, well the X-T1 was having phase detection at last, but I was forced to revert to AF-S. As AF-C and tracking was way not good or reliable. Like video (which I do not care at all!).
Plus, coming from Nikon i still do not like the Canon way settings of AF-C! Way too complex, way to many options…
Nikon’s way was for me the way to go. I’ve got the Nikon way of image precision and mettering, the way of handling highlights and shadows + a better jpeg engine. That’s what matters Gor me. And Fujifilm done it right on the spot since the very start.
So I did not complained at all and still does not.
My needs had evolved and I was looking much more on image quality, film simulations than AF.
After nearly 10 years I’m simply amazed by the progress Fujifilm made on every iteration. Iterations along new film simulations that made me upgrade gladly.
I already said that since the X-T4, well I gained back the AF of my former F6 and D3S. Hence more than good to me.
Do I need more? No! Do I need AI, nope either.
For those who need topnotch AF well go to Canikony and stop trolling us!
On lastest posts on FujiRumors, I was really annoyed to read again bad comments, after the featured post on the Belgian X-Photographer (whom I know). This time is was one on the Gold Medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone who pick-up a beautiful X-T50 and was proudly showing it.
One comment was totally disrespectful and miss-placed (again).
She is obviously not a pro-photographer but a world record holder. What could one expect? WTF… That’s really getting me more and more to read such crap. I’m pleased she is pleased with her gear, her choice of brand and by this little camera.
I’m hopping she will enjoy a lot to take beautiful pictures with it.
Moderation is clearly missing nowadays (and I have been a Moderator for Nikonians a while ago). A real pity…
So thanks a lot Ritchie, as this post (along the other one) is a huge blessing with all the current negativity and bashing.
Huge non-sense, as you stated which is quite on the side of spychology too.
There so much toxicity on the internet. Unfortunately, it really ruins things. I don’t understand why websites put up with it. It’s their webpage, they can run it however they want to! I can’t even read the comments on (for example) Fujirumors anymore, it’s so bad. I like Fujirumors, and I’ve spoken with Patrick before, he seems like a great guy. But some people who visit his page and leave terrible comments have ruined it, in my opinion. It’s really sad.
I appreciate your kind and thoughtful reply!
I used Canon for a decade, then Sony and for the last 1.5 years Fujifilm. To date I have taken more than 10,000 photos with Fujifilm and have not found any major disadvantage in AF compared to my previous brands. Some of my photos (very, very few) were blurry, as was the case with Canon and Sony. It was only through internet videos that I became aware that there were differences. In practice I didn’t notice this at all. What I did notice, however, is that I like the image quality, the mood of the photos taken with Fujifilm, much better than the mood of the oversaturated colors of my Canon shots or the digital look of the Sony images. With the Canon I constantly had to generate neutral colors in post-processing and with the Sony a natural sharpness. Such ‘post-processing’ is generally not necessary with my Fuji images. The post-processing I do is because I want it that way, not because I have to.
That’s great feedback! There is a certain quality to Fujifilm’s photos that’s unique, and that alone makes them worthwhile to use. I appreciate your kind comment!
You’re on the money with this article.. however the Fujihadists will be after you!
I’m surprised they haven’t shown up yet. I’m sure in time they will 🤣
An interesting article, Ritchie. Although I sometimes find my 23mm f1.4 a bit slow in lower light, I find the autofocus across my range of Fujifilm cameras and lenses is good and usually excellent. To put it in perspective, I do a lot of studio work and usually all images are in focus by the end of a session. I get the occasional unfocused photo once every few sessions (maybe one in a thousand shots). Also, much of my work involves live theatre and dance, often in low light. I typically take an x-H2 paired with a 16-55mm f2.8 along and, if the light gets particularly low, I’ll transfer to my x-T4 paired with a 56mm f1.2. Over the course of photographing a dress rehearsal, with dancers moving at high speed, I typically take about 1500 shots and only one or two will be out of focus. I really don’t worry about autofocus on my Fuji cameras as they seem to do the job well.
My wife uses her X-T4 paired with the 56mm f/1.2 for theater photography, and it is just incredible. Great combo. Thanks for the input!
There are too many lovers who like to argue about photo gear. To listen to some of them has no respect for oneself.
🤣 🤣 Great perspective!
Coming, as I do, from the old days of photography, I see an over fixation on autofocus issues. Also, I can see where those who never experienced manual focus have the attitude that anything less than perfect focus is unacceptable. Impatience will get you nowhere. Just learn to deal with what you have and make the best of it. Professional photographers work on the principle that time is money and they seem to need the best autofocus but it is a bit amusing that professional photographers of old seemed to get enough good pictures without all the modern technology. Imagine that.
We definitely have an over-fixation with it. I think it is to compensate for skills that they don’t have (but could, if they took the time to learn or improve). There’s a general lack of self-reflection nowadays, I think, and the over-fixation of AF is one symptom of that. Thanks for the comment!
Another point is that some of this is driven by revenge for the perceived profiteering from the lack of supply of high demand Fujifilm cameras these days. It’s a way of hitting back at the company by the confused and dissatisfied.
That could be. I think the perceived profiteering is a misunderstanding, and if one were to look at Fujifilm’s statements and actions through the prism of the “lean” business philosophy (which is particularly big in Japan) it would seem obvious and make so much sense. But it is easier to be negative and ignorant than to read a book and learn something new.
My two cents:
You are right on spot about people that never noticed the problem now think that Fuji autofocus is bad. Unfortunately, a lot of people treat their camera brands (not only Fujifilm ones) as a cult of bragging rights – and if other could brag more than you, your “god” is failing. How your stills or video looks is a distant thought – frequently you will see the stills of these people and are always shooting brick walls, or unimaginative pictures, just looking for tecnical aspects, not for a good image.
Second, people have different needs, and these needs change over time. When I started shooting I’ve never used once C-AF – I take street shots, travel shots and concert shots, and the M43 cameras that I used at the time were blazing fast and precise in S-AF using CDAF (they still are). Video, I always used manual focus, because at the time there was no camera in any brand that could have reliable AF with video. Then I had a daughter, and suddenly S-AF was not fast enough to chase a running girl :). One simple aspect changed all my AF needs – what you shoot determines what you need.
In my particular case, with my X-S20, my perception of AF is kinda reverse of most people are saying. The AF improved substantially with one of the firmware upgrades (don’t remember which, was the 2nd or the 3rd, I guess). The last one implemented touch tracking in video, which was one of the biggest complaints that I had with Fuji (and for me, is working very well). The concerts shots that I’ve taken with eye AF were spot on, and the eye was detected even with the performer VERY small on the frame.
But yes, looks like there was some problems – and looks like that it is a bigger issue with the 40mp models. Saw some real world tests that was not a slight misfocus, the camera was showing the AF square in the face of a person and in the picture, the focus was in a tree branch in the corner of the image. This is serious – and, again, ALL the tests that I saw showing these problems were with the 40mp models (X-T5 and X-H20); my X-S20 is a 26mp model, and I never saw it.
Yes, there is a problem that Fuji must solve. And they must communicate better – never was a official statement ackowledging the problem and addressing it. But at the same time, a lot of people are complaining about a problem that they never had.
For me, I had three problems with Fuji cameras:
– No touch tracking in video (very needed when you have a lot of people in a scene and want to focus in one person, because face af don’t know which person you want to focus): solved in the last firmware;
– IBIS very jumpy in video mode (in stills is perfect) – in video, the IBIS should not move sharply, it is like ramping up and down the movements; for static shots, it works very well . Got a little better with the time, but still behind (Sony is kinda jumpy too, Om Digital and Panasonic are the best ones)
– Not embracing Film Recipes. Now it is easier to use “film recipes” in Sony (with their Picture Profiles) and Panasonic (with their LUT system) than in Fuji, which you have to make your custom film recipe and use a C position to store it – and C positions are made to store shooting parameters, not color profiles. It is just a firmware update – create 3 or 4 custom slots in the Film Simulation menu, and than your could store shooting parameters in the C positions, and use the Film Simulation / Film Recipe that you want.
Is not the AF that one day could make me go away of Fuji – is this last point, make custom film profile a hassle to use. I’ve learn to appreciate Film Simulations with Fuji, but the other got the message that it should be EASY to use.
I found your comment in the SPAM folder, so I apologize for it taking so long to be approved.
I think the AF focusing off in the trees are two separate issues. One is the AF bug in the bad firmware that has since been largely fixed/replaced. The second are people who focus, but then move their camera (reframe), so it shows the focus being in a different location. Unfortunately, those two have been lumped together even though they are two separate issues, and one is not even the camera’s fault.
One issue of the 40mp sensors is that it requires a ton of processing power, and I think when you burst, it pushes the processors to its limit. Once the buffer approaches being maxed out, the AF seems to have more misses. That’s just a limitation of the camera. Some people have shared with me that by not using CH burst (choosing CL instead) and/or by choosing a lower quality IQ setting that they have seen their hit rates increase noticeably. I had someone tell me that they are more careful to time the decisive moment, and maybe only fire off two or three frames instead of eight or more (like they used to), and their success rate has increased tremendously.
Thank you for the comment, and I apologize again for the delay in it being published.
Ritchie … thank you for another well written article. You framed this topic well, and brought up points that had not crossed my mind concerning the AF issue topic. So thanks again, and I’m happy for your success, and presence online.
I appreciate your kind words and encouragement!
I recently changed from X-T4 to X-T5 and by now I didn’t notice many issues, but I’d like to report a fresh experience with moving subjects. I was shooting during my son’s soccer match, with the XF 100-400mm and continuous focus. Compared to the past, where I shot with the X-T4 and the same lens, I noticed some more pictures to be slightly out of focus. Not all of them, but noticeably more than what I was used to. I have the shutter over focus priority with continuous focus, as with moving subjects you may have some bad focus pics out of a multiple sequence. Probably it didn’t help that I left the continuous focus setting to the default, without tweaking the tracking sensitivity or the motion detection…. Next time we’ll see
I think there is a little difference between the X-T4 and X-T5. My wife has an X-T4 that she has used for years. Last month, she borrowed my X-T5. I think, even though they are quite similar, it did take her some getting used to, as it wasn’t the same experience. She told me that she didn’t necessarily prefer one over the other, but she didn’t really put the X-T5 to the test, either. I bet you’ll be able tweak the settings and get a better hit rate.
My feelings exactly, I was on a boardwalk that goes through a large marsh last Sunday and took over 2000 photos (mostly geese and ducks in flight with x-H2S) in a couple of hours and had no issues, less than 5% were out of focus, honestly it was my best wildlife shooting day ever. Yes, earlier this year there was a problem and to me it looks like it was fixed, but there could be a use case or two where the keeper rate is less or much less. People who complain should describe the problem they are having in great detail, is it birds, sports they are shooting, what is the context? Also, video, stills, continuous, burst rate, everything that could matter. Help Fuji, personally I suspect some competitor is jealous of Fujis recent success and hiring people to post shit, I say that because they refuse to say what issues they are having and settings. Perhaps these people are trolls or just followers. Whatever it is I hope Fuji survives this. Happy shooting. Reply to me with info, not explicatives.
Definitely describing the exact problem with the specific gear and settings used is much more helpful than just “Fujifilm’s AF sucks!” With a detailed description, that at least gives Fujifilm some direction for possible improvements.
I would hope that no camera company has hired people (or encouraged their employees) to troll Fujifilm and camera websites. That would be terrible. I wouldn’t put it past some companies, because that is something that has actually happened, but I would really hope none of the camera companies would engage in such activities.
I feel like there’s a real trend in a lot of places: if something is slightly worse than the alternative, it’s ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. Autofocus in a camera, collectable card games, watches. Small differences are exaggerated to the point of absurdity.
Fuji autofocus, on the whole, does seem to be a bit weaker than some alternatives. But a lot is also baked in legacy. Someone is talking about a 10 year old lens on a 5 year old camera, when either of those works significantly better when paired with something newer. And part of the context is that Fuji has 10 year old mirrorless lenses that people actually want to use. The 18/35/60 original trio have a lot of charm to them. Maybe that’s less shocking, and there are 10 year old Sony lenses which are very popular, but I wouldn’t know about that.
I wouldn’t know, either.
I do agree: there are a lot of people that either have to absolutely love something or completely hate it, and there is no in-between. It’s like when a certain “faux”-blographer gave the X100V five stars and declared it nearly perfect, and gave the X100VI one star and declared it garbage. Makes zero sense, outside of the pattern that you described.
Thank you for the input!
I think you made many great points here, but where you really nail it is the comparison with the past. Indeed, the quality of the images one sees has not really improved in any meaningful way (yes I know you can print larger with 60 MP than with 12…) in the last decade, despite very significant technological improvements. This basically kills the argument that you NEED the latest and greatest ot you “cannot do your job”. In the end, sharpening your skills to circumvent the limitations of your gear is always a vastly better use of your time than endlessly chasing gear that saves you the effort. And those who were getting the best images 10 or 50 years ago were those who did, and are still those who do. Another way to put what you say about “either you control your camera or the camera controls you”: if you need the technology to be perfect, or else you don’t get the image, you will never get the best image that the technology would allow you to get (incidentally this is true for a lot of things beside cameras).
I also suspect that an element of this is the narcissistic pose of pretending that what you need to do is much more demanding and mission critical than it usually is, and that you anyway need the very best because your skills are already so perfect… for the most part I find it looks quite juvenile.
That’s a very interesting point. I have noticed, for example, when people criticize my photos, it is very rare that they are actually good photographers themselves. I guess people don’t realize that if they post pictures to the internet, it’s not hard to find them. I wonder if many of those who are complaining about the AF are not actually using their cameras in the ways that they claim. They might be propping themselves up as a “professional” when posting a comment on the internet, but in reality they’ve never been a pro photographer, and their images wouldn’t justify them being one, either. That’s just speculation, but probably not too difficult to confirm, either.
It may be a selection effect: people who tend to blame the tool rarely become good at what they do. Conversely, people who have become good at what they do tend to recognize how hard it is, how many others there are who are good too, how many different ways there are to be good, and how many failures it takes. It’s not 1:1, but skills and experience tend to correlate (luckily) with a measure of modesty and less extreme or hyperbolic judgement. An actually good action photographer that tried Fuji and found its AF lacking would probably say something more along the line of “it did not quite work for me, so I’m using XYZ instead”.
I think this is completely correct.
hi great article and I totally agree. I watched the pal2tech and peter coco chat on this topic yesterday, both good sensible guys, who take a balanced view. I posted that I just haven’t seen those issues, although I except people must be seeing problems. I do worry sometimes, that some of the people shouting are not even fuji users. I notice this with fuji FB pages, where people join, but all they do is say should have used sony because of the af.
I am sure that 99% of my misses are self inflicted. I did have an issue with my old xt30 and my then new ttartisan 27mm, always missing in cf mode, you could hear it moving all the time. Same lense on my xs10, xt5, no issues, same now with my xt50. Sometime the lense hardware/firmware just doesn’t work with the camera firmware. How did i solve it, just always shot in single … surely if you are an amateur, the most important thing is to go out and shot, and improve. So have a camera that you like to do that with. For me… that means light, affordable, and fun to use. It’s why I shoot fuji. I use to use canon and I just did nt take it out, tried canon point and shoots, did nt enjoy that either. Stopped altogether, then for my 60th birthday, decided to buy myself a camera again…. when was happy… when I purchased my first digital camera in ~1996/97 .. 0.98mp. Small, light, took it everywhere with me, Oz, Japan, usa, Italy, everywhere…. That was a fuji finepix, so I went back to fuji.
Is fuji perfect, nope, are they super cheap, nope, but at least I never go out with out it, even given the af. A camera that lives on the shelf, is an ornament.
I like pal2tech. I don’t always agree with him, but he seems like a sensible guy who genuinely wants to be helpful and is overall quite nice. Would love to collaborate with him someday. I’ll have to look up that video, I haven’t seen it yet. Thanks for the tip!
I have two TTartisan 27mm f/2.8 lenses. One works much better than the other, incidentally. I actually prefer the IQ from the one that is “bad”. Interesting that you are only experiencing issues with it on your one camera… could be something with the firmware (either on the camera or lens).
I completely agree that a camera that’s actually used—even if technically inferior—is much better than one that is not used. A camera in hand is worth well more than two on a shelf.
Thanks for the comment!
I’m glad to see this. I, too, have seen all of the coverage of this issue, and have been shooting happily with current firmware on my X-T5, mostly with the XF33mm f/1.4 and scratching my head. I actually started putting in time to find out why I WASN’T experiencing The Problem, thinking that, by having a good experience, something might be wrong. How backwards is that?! I don’t shoot a ton of action, but I shot the Blue Angels with a Tamron supertelephoto without any issues – tracking fast moving, small, far-away objects – and tracking a rambunctious 2-year-old with the aforementioned 33mm lens, both without any perceivable deficiency. Of course, I would occasionally have misses, but nothing that seemed problematic (no system is perfect, anyway, and compared to my Nikon D810 with older AF-D glass, it’s maaaaassively better).
Anyway, I think the biggest takeaway here is that context is important. The amount of stock one places in reportage vs their own first-hand experience is likely to dramatically affect the impact either is going to play in one’s perception. That, and the kind of shooting one does, and as you said, the lenses and situations in which they’re used will also play an outsized role in outcomes.
It is backwards, but I did the same thing! I asked myself what I was doing “wrong” since I was not experiencing the issues. 🤣 Than I came to my senses, and realized that I wasn’t the problem. I’m only the problem when I screw up and miss the shot… but that is a learning experience, an opportunity to improve.
Thanks for your kind feedback!
My first digital camera was a Sony A7ii, but I’ve been shooting with film since the 90’s. The autofocus on that Sony want great, but I’m used to manually focusing and the details from that full frame 24mp sensor were awesome, but the colors were never right. I’m pretty new to editing software, but in all honesty is rather get as close as possible to what I want straight out of the camera. I have a friend who is a professional photographer and he shoots all his paid work with Canon FF. When I talked to him about my feelings about my digital camera he told me to use his Fujifilm X100f for a weekend trip because that’s the camera he really loves for his personal pictures. The next week I sold my Sony and all my lenses and bought an XT-3, and I’ve been impressed with everything about my camera. For what I like to photograph is perfect, and I don’t miss anything about my FF Sony.
I own a Sony A7 IV… it’s been on the shelf for a year. It’s just not fun, and I plan to sell it. The pictures can be nice, but I would much prefer to shoot with my old Fujifilm X-T1, and even more so my X-T5, X-E4, X100VI, etc..
Thanks for the comment!
Great article Ritchie!
Thank you!
I mainly shoot events and weddings. Moved from Nikon D850 system to Fujifilm when the xt3 was released. Fujifilm was doing great after releasing the xt3, I had 4 of them and I still own one. The xt3 was refined with the firmware updates over time. You can still go to the xt3 video Fujifilm released that showed face/eye tracking from far right in video and photo mode. This was epic and reliable.
Right now I find the Af/Tracking on the xt3 is better than the xt5. People are more frustrated that Fujifilm has been quite over this for a long time. I remember when this started with the firmware issues. Before the XT5 worked great, i was very happy with it.. The Af was good and reliable. The issue has just been after the last 2 firm wares and the last firmware fix was rushed but did not help much. The other issue was doing this time I had a long call with Fujifilm a regional manager (UAE) he kept giving reasons why this issue my f2 lenses are old, I need to buy the new lenses with liner motor and so on. He refused to listen or believe that this was an issue. Like he dint care. Right now I’m back to using my xt3 for main work and xt5 on the side. Hopping this issues will be fixed.
I’m pretty confident that Fujifilm is working on an improved firmware for the X-T5 right now. I own an X-T5 (along with many other Fujifilm cameras) and have not experienced any AF issues (I’m on the current firmware), so I suspect that there is some difference in settings or lens choice or use-case (or all three) that explains it. I don’t have any insider information, but I would think that a firmware update is currently in the works as we speak.
You are so right with your article. The gear is only a tool and you need to know how to use it. I love the Fujifilm stuff for many years now. Although I use manual lenses by Voigtländer in most cases, I like the autofocus face detection together with the focus priority for the shutter release. Only in rare cases the camera does not trigger. This happened mostly when photographing crowds of people and the face detection did not know which face. In most cases I yielded great shots.
Trust your great and learn how to use it.
I appreciate your kind comment! My hope would be that people realize that their current gear is actually great, and it’s much more about the photographer than the camera itself.
I’m just a dad documenting everyday life, and I don’t need crazy autofocus. I have an X-E4 and it’s totaly fine! Also, an X-E2 or an X-E3 would make the job too. Ibis would be great for low light (X-E5), but I don’t need to recognize birds and lions.
My X-E4 does really well for photographing the kids, too. IBIS won’t freeze an object that’s in motion (kids, for example), but it does well for static scenes in low-light. And for video.
Own 5 fuji cameras, 4 xt’s and the compact x100v. Shoot mostly action sports, so popping the shutter a lot. No AF issues, but will say it takes time to understand all the AF options and how they interact. Yes, lenses can make a difference; yes, you most likely will miss more shooting release. The main point – this is a Fuji – it’s not a Canon, or Sony, or Nikon – it may work a little differently. Not worse, just different.
I’ve read it many times where people complain, “I just wish it worked like my [insert Canon or Sony model here].” I think it’s important to understand that it doesn’t work the same, and it may take a little experience to figure out how to get the most out of it. Great reminder!
Thank you very much for your nuanced and well thought review.
Just to add another perspective I find lacking:
I switched from Canon to Fujifilm a couple of years ago because I wanted to be more involved with taking the photo than postprocessing it… picture quality and manual dials drew me in. And yes. It was a learning curve. Among other things I experienced autofocus to be different. But it was manageable and as I said: I came following a gut feeling that what I like about photography is the act of figuring out how to take the photo in the first place and you know what: It lead me to further limit the options of the camera: zoom lenses became primes and (after a while and only for most, not all, situations) autofocus was switched to manual focus.
With that I am happy. I came for the opportunity to relax while figuring figuring out how to take “no screen, no nonsense, no post procession” photos. And Fuji provides that better than anything else I have tested. After some time it yields beautiful and deeply satisfactory results. If I do need a quick, easy focus, ai processed shot of something I see in my everyday… I do still have a smartphone.
But my motivation/hobby is my motivation and does not need to be shared by others. If I was into horse races and would be looking for a camera to easily produce great photos of racing horses with enormous focal lengths without distracting me from the race.. I might have chosen a different system.
For my hobby I found perfect gear. And I wish that others find perfect gear for what time, process and hobby they have.
That’s an excellent point. Not all gear is for everyone. If one is having a tough time with whatever gear they own, it could be that what they have is just not a good match for them at this time. Everyone has to find what is best for them. For you and I that’s Fujifilm, but it may not be for everyone, and that’s ok. I went through a lot of different camera brands before discovering that Fujifilm cameras are a good match for me and my photography; perhaps Fujifilm is not the destination for all who are using it, and those people are still on their journeys trying to find their best fit.
Ive shot sports with an analog Minolta SRT101 back in the day. Of course you need to think before and predict where the athlete will be in mid air and preset the manual focus to the correct distance, but if u know the sport its really not that hard when u have absolutely NO electronic shutter lag – which crazy enough still is around in some cheaper models these days.
People seem to forget that sports photography has been around for over 100 years, and some of those photos from many decades ago were absolutely fantastic, some even iconic. If it could be done then, there is no excuse why it can’t be done now. Would love to see some of those Minolta SRT101 pictures, if you’ve posted them somewhere online.
It’s telling, I think, that the only photo out of all the shots in this article that would rely on good autofocus, was shot on a camera that is not among the cameras affected by the current Fuji autofocus issue – the xt30. And basically all the other photos are deep focus, static subjects.
In fact the only photo shown that was shot on a camera that would be affected by this, and that has a fast moving subject (the skateboarding Maga man) the background looks noticeably sharper than the subject. so unless you instead to get the background in focus instead of the subject I think you’re showing that you’ve also had this issue.
I have this issue. It’s extremely noticeable especially in video. It’s even more noticeable when you compare to Sony or canon or Nikon’s autofocus in video. Which I have done, personally, with the sony and canon cameras I have available. Budget Sony cameras (a6500) offer better AF performance than my flagship x-h2s. That’s kinda sad when the x-h2s costs more than double.
And yes, we should compare it to them. They’re Fuji’s competition afterall. And if Fuji wants to charge similar prices (or more) and advertise their cameras as being competitive in AF (which is what they’re doing) then they need to actually have comparable AF performance to Sony/Canon/Nikon.
Fuji does need to fix this.
Ah, the first troll. I was wondering when you were going to show up.
First, you are reading WAY too much into the photos. You are trying really hard to insinuate something that doesn’t jive with reality. The skateboarder is not “sharp” because he is moving quite quickly, and because my pre-focusing misjudged by about a foot of where he was going to be (note that the white line directly behind his feet are sharp), not because the camera focused where I didn’t ask it to. I should have used a faster shutter speed, or maybe a flash, and better judged his trajectory (it was a quick situation, I didn’t have much reaction time) for him to be tack sharp. But tack sharpness is overrated anyway, so it doesn’t matter. You might notice that the baseball in the X-T30 image isn’t tack sharp, either, for similar reasons.
You are like those who look for ghosts so hard that they confuse specs of dust for spirits. You are looking much too hard for issues, and blaming things like a too slow of shutter with a moving object as poor AF. You are literally on a witch hunt.
If your Sony and Canon and Nikon cameras are so good and so much better than your Fujifilm, why not use them instead? Nobody is stopping you. Nobody says that you have to shoot Fuji. Seriously, sell your Fuji gear, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Or, you could get your big-boy pants on, realize that so many pros using their X-H2s cameras are not having your issue, and they are creating amazing content right now as you complain about it, and the camera isn’t a limitation for them, and that you could improve your own skills and have just as much success as they are having.
Or just be a troll, commenting negative words across the internet, while others are actually creating and not allowing their gear to be a limitation—the same exact gear that you are complaining about.
How exactly was my comment a troll? Just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I’m trolling. Do you not want people to share their actual opinions in your comment section? What’s the point of calling your response to this “Fuji AF issue” balanced and measured if the first comment that disagree with you you call a troll?
I don’t think a single thing I said in my original comment was mean spirited or overly negative but here you are implying I just lack skill because I have experienced the exact issue so many others have for myself?
How are you supposed to be looking at this topic from a balanced perspective when this is the way you reply to someone who calmly disagrees with you?
No wonder you thought Nikon was stealing your ideas because they used the word recipe if this is the attitude you have.
For real though, I’m glad you haven’t experienced this AF issue. It’s real good for you, but others like myself have. And it is an issue. “Sell your Fuji gear” isn’t really a solution for Fuji the company is it? If everyone just sells their gear and has a negative view of Fuji’s af then why would they come back? Why would they tell others to go to Fuji?
I would like all camera options on the market to be great. I’m lucky to have the option of owning multiple brands of cameras. I want to be able to tell my friends who ask about cameras that they could choose any brand and get a great experience with it straight out of the box but I can’t from my own personal experience.
Why are you being so dismissive of other people’s actual experiences that they’re telling you they had?
I didn’t say that you were rude or unskilled or not even that you aren’t experiencing actual issues. But, the people going around saying that Fujifilm’s AF sucks and demanding that it be fixed right now are chronic complainers, haters, and trolls. If you were truly interested in being a part of the solution, you would provide details of your issue: gear used (camera and lens), settings used (all of the focus-related settings), the situations where the problem occurs (subject and lighting), and what the precise behavior is. Then one of two things (or both) might happen: Fujifilm could use that info to improve their firmware, or someone could point out something that, if adjusted, might reduce or eliminate the problem for you. And you still have a chance to do that if you would like, I only ask that you be as absolutely detailed and exacting (be honest, don’t exaggerate) as possible. Maybe you will get the fix you were hoping for, one way or another.
A point I want to make as clearly as possible: people are using the H-H2s right now to create amazing content and the AF is not a limiting factor for them (I know this because I have personally spoken to many and seen their pictures and videos); if they are using the same gear as you, why are you having issues and they are not? This is why self-reflection is so important. There’s something that they are doing and you are not. What is it? That’s a serious question that you should ask yourself. Look in a mirror and ask it: What are they doing that you are not? Try and figure that out. Once you have the answer, then even if Fujifilm puts out a firmware update with an AF bug, it won’t matter because you will have the ability to overcome. You will be controlling your gear instead of letting it control you. I’m trying to encourage you to realize that you don’t have to let this be a problem, you have it within you. But if you’re just going to complain, then the opportunity to grow will pass you by.
As to why I said that you are a troll: I have been doing this a long time, and can usually spot trolls very easily. They are not always rude—in fact, there is a type called “Wolf in sheep’s clothing” that is not rude at all… at first. I think that your reply only confirmed my suspicions, but I’ve certainly been wrong before, and I hope that you prove me wrong about it.
I’ve been shooting Fuji for a decade, and I still <3 my X-H1s, of which I own three. I am also a paid contributor to this site. However, amidst all the "Oh it's all user error" banter, I'd like to point out that when I enable 3D tracking on my Nikon Zf and put the little square on the skateboarder? He's in focus. For one shot or ten. Like, 99 times out of 100. Versus maybe quite a bit of the time on my Fuji. Unless it loses its marbles at random, then nothing is in focus. AF-S, single point, green square centered in frame on subject.
I shoot a lot of low light concerts, and it's absolutely true that my Fujis have given me many wonderful images. I <3 X-Trans and real dials/aperture rings. But it's also true that *I didn't realize how hard I was working to get those shots in focus* until I reached my usual five year upgrade cycle for buying new gear (I always wait two or three generations to upgrade because it's a far more meaningful leap in technical prowess, for any brand) and decided to switch it up. It took me one show to come home with 400 pics versus 800, and 390 of them were in focus versus 150 out of focus when shooting the same band, in the same venue, with the same lighting and from the same spots as on my old gear.
It just worked. I didn't do anything but turn 3D tracking on, and I did toggle human recognition on and off. I found that just 3D tracking allowed me to more easily choose which bandmember I wanted in focus.. but anyway..
I'm no dunce. Been shooting since I was big enough to pick up a camera, and yes I've even made my living with a camera. So over the last decade, I've tried every mode, setting, and a dozen different lenses on my Fujis. Yes, I also put my lenses on a new X-H2S when it came out, and shot basketball as we were encouraged to do by the Fujikina presenters. (Great event BTW, super nice folks and I got to shoot a GFX-WOW!) Whether with red badge XF or with Zeiss, I didn't get over maybe 60 percent in focus and dude was shooting easy, not moving super fast.
In dim stage light, singer is jumping up and down full speed, and that little Nikon witchcraft AF square is sticking to her eye behind the sunglasses *and they were all in focus, unless she was moving fast enough for motion blur* and it just worked. Every. Single. Time.
That's why I spent X-H2 dollars on a Nikon Zf instead. It wasn't image quality or "full frame." I just wanted the AF to work and not randomly go berzerk and I have to shut the (freshly CLA'd by Fuji) camera off and then back on to make it AF again. All three of my X-H1 cameras do this. Since new.
There's a problem. Is what I'm saying. Is it as bad as the Sony Shill-Tubers say it is? Probably not. Can a guy (or gal) work around it and still get great shots? Absolutely. However it's not fair to essentially gaslight folks who have problems with Fuji AF that a firmware update should have fixed in 2019 (in my case) or that a firmware update shouldn't actively make worse on several current models, which seem to be any with a removable lens.
There are two sides to this story.
The X-H1 was Fujifilm’s true workhorse. I know several people who still use their X-H1’s (and in a couple cases they own multiple X-H1 bodies) in 2024 for serious pro work and have no plans to replace them anytime soon.
I think in today’s age, people want the camera to do it all for them. And with AI, I’m sure we’re not very far out at all from literally the photographer being completely removed from photography (that’s a different topic, though). Canikony brands are a step ahead (as they should be) on AF, but that shouldn’t stop anyone with a little skill from having much success on Fujifilm (and it doesn’t sound like it stops you… this isn’t an accusation…); it mostly only stops those who lack those skills and who needs the camera to do it for them. For those who do have the skills to get it done, they might find it a little easier (and it might even seem like “witchcraft”), but Fujifilm’s “lesser” AF doesn’t stop them by any stretch—they still do incredible work that is not less-than those who use other brands.
I’m not gaslighting anyone. The argument across the entirety of the internet has been almost exclusively one-sided, and I disagree with that side whole-heartedly. I literally couldn’t disagree more with that one-sided argument. So what I have posted is my rebuttal, and it is one of only a very small number of such stories that one will find anywhere. This argument across the web has been very one-sided, and very unfair in my opinion. It’s been one-sided because those who disagree kind of just shake their heads and move on, because if they dare to speak up they will be attacked for doing so by all the haters and trolls.
I’m not defending Fujifilm’s AF bug that was in a firmware earlier this year, which they largely fixed. I talked to several talented photographers/videographers at Fujifilm’s Create With Us in Austin last Saturday, who were using the X-H2s (the camera most often criticized). These are people who, unless you live under a rock, you’ve seen their work (perhaps not knowing, but you’ve seen it). I asked them for their opinions about the camera, and especially the AF. One told me that the AF bug firmware did negatively affect him a little (he had to work around it, basically, by changing how he would get some of the shots… he still got the shots), but the current firmware has mostly fixed it, and he expects it to be fully resolved by the next firmware update. My opinion (which I stated already) is that Fujifilm’s firmware team should be given more resources… that seems to be the biggest issue, the real root issue.
My wife shoots (among other things) theater photography (I should share her pictures…), and sometimes the theaters are well-lit, but oftentimes they are horribly lit. She uses a Fujifilm X-T4 and oftentimes the Fujinon 56mm f/1.2 lens, and has a ton of success with that combo. Even with super dim light, she has a very high hit-rate. The problem is more motion blur from a too-slow shutter (due to the light conditions). The AF keeps up quite well.
I really do believe that a mountain has been made out of a molehill (mostly by exaggeration, hysteria, unrealistic expectations, and people lacking certain skills with an unwillingness to self-reflect and improve). People seem to be completely unaware by just how spoiled they are in 2024. It’s fine to say that there was a firmware bug, and Fujifilm should beta test a little more before releasing (this isn’t a problem exclusively to Fujifilm, btw). It’s fine to say that Fujifilm’s AF isn’t quite as great as the Canikony brands (that’s true, and should be expected); however, I think we just don’t appreciate how good we have it today. We’d rather complain than appreciate. Take your X-H1 back in time 20 years and those photographers would be extremely impressed by it… yet today’s content is not any more impressive than it was then. Either you can and you will, or you cannot and you won’t; those calling Fujifilm’s AF “garbage” or “crap” and things like that are pretty much all in the latter group—anyone can be in either group, it is a choice. I choose to appreciate just how amazing my gear actually is, because it is truly amazing—I’ve been around long enough to know first-hand. If I don’t get the shot, it’s because I could have done something better, and I take a moment to evaluate what that was so that hopefully next time I don’t make that same mistake again. If I were to blame the gear, I would never improve, I would be robbing myself of that opportunity.
And that’s what automation does. In aviation, for example (I was in that industry before full-time photography), automation makes piloting complex airliners much easier; however, when that automation fails, the less-experienced pilots who have always relied on that automation are much less comfortable and confident because they don’t posses the same skills and experience as the older pilots who routinely did all of it before the automation existed. Automation is awesome when it gets the job done (makes flying safer when it works), but it also makes us soft (flying less safer when it doesn’t work). With photography, more and more we’re becoming merely button-pushers, and soon cameras won’t even require someone to do that. As we concede more and more to automation, not only are we less good (because either we’re rusty, or because we never learned some skills in the first place), but we are proving that we’re not even a requirement. Ansel Adams said that the 12 inches behind the camera were the most important; today we’re saying that the camera itself is by far the most important. That’s troubling, in my opinion, but it’s an inevitable consequence of our witchcraft-like tech (both in aviation and in photography). I’m only suggesting that maybe we shouldn’t give into that so easily, but I’m certainly in the minority… people want the easiest route, which is fine, but the easiest route is not always the best one—sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. In any case, we have it really good these days, yet we also like to complain (I think sometimes it says more about the person saying it than what they are complaining about). I guess it comes down to constructive criticism vs destructive criticism—there’s a huge difference between the two, and mostly what I see is destructive and not constructive. Those are the two sides, and I think people should be careful about which side they place themselves on.
Take a deep breath. He can use whatever he wants . You created a extremely judgemental article and someone points out their experiences and you call him a troll? Repeat after me. Fuji AF sucks compared to the competition, it’s even worse than lumix. Now go back to your yes men ecosystem .
Fujifilm’s AF doesn’t suck, and I can list 10 good reasons why it doesn’t. Are you interested in hearing them? If so, I’ll gladly list them; however, if you are just trying to start crap, I’m not going to waste my time. But, if you are truly interested in learning, I’m happy to provide some education. Interestingly enough, most commenters (by a large margin) agreed with my article.
I don’t put up with trolls, because they ruin the experience for everyone else. It’s a toxic behavior, and sometimes quite literally psychotic. I caught one using multiple pseudonyms, pretending to be multiple people. That person was (and probably still is) having conversations with himself as multiple people on other photography websites (I searched them out at the time). You can go to some certain other websites, and half of the comments are trolls, and in all likelihood, those trolls are just a few people with multiple pseudonyms. It’s a real problem, and it’s completely unfair to all the other people; it’s unjust to allow it and even facilitate it (but that’s what most websites do). I encourage all trolls, and especially those who use multiple pseudonyms, to seek out the professional help that they so obviously need. I encourage other website owners to take a harder stance on this, and not put up with these toxic people.
I’ve been doing this a long time, and can typically spot a troll without much trouble. There are different types. The most difficult is the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” type that pretends to not be a troll for a few comments, then lets the mask down and says a bunch of ridiculous and insulting things. Others are that way from the start. Some giveaways are insults, personal attacks, misinformation, downright lying, exaggerations, gaslighting, inciting mob mentality, etc.. For example, in your comment, you say that I’m “extremely judgemental”, insinuate that my words are irrational (“take a deep breath”), use exaggeration (“Fuji AF sucks”), and insult all those who use Fujifilm (“yes men ecosystem”). Pretty much your entire comment is troll-like. Are you actually a troll? I have my strong suspicions. If you are just trying to start crap, then, yes, for certain. Otherwise, time will prove it one way or the other. I do ask that you tone down your diction—if you don’t want people to think you are a troll, don’t act like one (<– that's solid advice, btw).
I used to think the same but after updating my X-T4 to the 2.12 version the continuos focus has become useless. I shot last weekend with the xf 33mm F1.4 and Viltrox 75mm F1.2 and same settings that always and even with calm portraits almost all of the images are out of focus and very soft. This is really frustrating because before updating, those lenses always used to deliver crisp and perfectly eye-focused images 90% of times.
My concern is really big because being the X-T4 I think fuji won’t priorize the fix. The worst is that Fuji practically is not making any statement about this issues.
I have two X-T4’s (one’s actually my wife’s, but…, you know). I’m not at home, and I only brought my X100VI on this trip. I cannot verify if both of the X-T4’s are on version 2.12. I would bet mine is, the other may or may not be, I’m really unsure. I have not noticed any AF issues myself (nor my wife, I asked). I wish I had access to those cameras right now to give you a better answer.
I don’t have either of those lenses, perhaps check their firmwares. Maybe if their firmware is out of date it doesn’t mesh well with the current X-T4 firmware? That’s only speculation, it might not make any difference, I don’t know. No issues with the 35mm f/2, 56mm f/1.2 (new version), or 90mm f/2 on our end.
I am curious why AF-C for portraits? Try AF-S instead, I think you will appreciate it better for that circumstance. AF-C is basically for continuously moving subjects, and AF-S is for somewhat stationary subjects (although it also works well for moving subjects as long as you are not bursting… think more decisive moments…).
I hope that this is somehow helpful in some way.
To nuance somewhat what I wrote above: when we say that people are exaggerating these issue, or are interpreting technique limitation as gear issues, we are making one critical assumption, namely that all cameras (same model/lens/firmware) will behave the same.
With the very complex software (and software-hardware interaction) in modern cameras and lenses, it is possible (at least in theory) that only a subsample of cameras will show the issue, or that the circumstances or setting in which the issues appear are very specific. This type of issues usually make for the hardest bugs to diagnose and fix, but may make my X-T5 behave just fine in the same circumstance where another one misbehaves very evidently. If, say, 1% of cameras are affected, it would still be a lot of cameras, but you would be unlikely to know somebody your trust who has the issue unless you literally talk in depth to dozens of photographers. And the exaggerations, blame-the-tool, and echo chambers can perfectly coexist with a problem like this, only amplifying it and making it harder to figure it out.
Is this the case? No idea, only Fuji engineers (possibly) know…
Yeah, that’s a great point, and it makes sense to me from my anecdotal perspective. Much appreciate the input!
It’s so funny seeing Ritchie reply to someone saying “you could improve your own skills and have just as much success as they are having.”
Then when they call him out on that he says “I didn’t say that you were unskilled”
Bro you literally did, why are you trying to gaslight people?
Calling him a troll for sharing his thoughts in a comments section where you ask people to share their thoughts is craaaazy. Being so rude for no good reason.
Can’t wait to see the “hello troll” response to my comment too.
How about this, Fuji’s underperforming AF compared to other brands doesn’t mean Fuji makes bad cameras. People can still make good content with Fuji cameras despite the AF limitations. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t allowed to voice their issues, and it definitely doesn’t meant Fuji shouldn’t be working to make their cameras better, does it? Everyone who’s complaining about the AF just wants Fuji cameras to be even better, right? So everyone stop arguing with everyone else about it, and just tell Fuji to keep making their cameras better yeah? Whether you think it’s fine right now or not, there’s 0 harm in asking for it to get better, is there.
No, you missed the point. Anyone and everyone—no matter their skill level—can improve and become better, learn new things. A great example is the late Neil Peart (drummer for Rush), who, while at the pinnacle of his career and success, and who was already largely considered the most talented drummer in the history of rock music, decided (after a performance that he thought he could have done better) to take lessons from the legendary Freddie Gruber.
If you self reflect, and especially if you approach it with vulnerability and honesty, there is always an opportunity to become better, no matter who you are. Unfortunately, excuses and blaming get in the way, and prevents one from doing that. It robs one of the opportunity to grow.
On this website I don’t put up with trolls. Other websites do, but I don’t because it ruins the experience for everyone else. I would encourage other websites to take a tougher approach for the sake of all the visitors who deserve better.
I reject the premise of your last paragraph. Your assertion is that all criticisms are good, or at the very least harmless; however, that is not true. There are two types of criticism: constructive and destructive. Constructive criticism is honest, humble, from a credible source, and with the intention of building up (being a part of the solution). Destructive criticism is exaggerated or untrue, angry, mean-spirited, and with the intention of tearing down. The vast majority of criticisms that I have seen regarding this topic have clearly been destructive. Unfortunately, destructive criticism does do real harm (is being a part of the problem), and in my opinion it needs to stop. It’s been so overplayed, and is long past tiring. I think your assumption that everyone with these harsh and often unfair or sometimes untrue criticisms have good intentions is naive. There are some who are laughing about what they’ve typed, hoping to knock Fuji down a notch or two. So I would encourage constructive criticism (which you might note that I partook in within my own article), and strongly discourage (and as strongly as possible) destructive criticism, which does no good, only harms.
I agree, there is always room for self reflection. And Fuji is being given that chance by everyone right now. To reflect on how they’ve made the autofocus on done of their flagship cameras worse after selling them to people.
You reject the premise that people should ask more from the companies profiting off of them? Weird choice but ok.
And yes, most criticism is constructive if you understand where it comes from. Everyone making videos and posting about this have made it pretty damn clear where it comes from. There are clear videos showing exactly what happens with the current AF bug. Even ones directly side by side comparing it to earlier firmware versions.
We can’t tell Fuji the exact steps to fix it because we’re not camera software enginees, but we’re showing them the exact problem, how it’s happening, how to replicate it, etc. How much more constructive do you want the criticism to be than showing exactly what’s happening that we want fixed???
I’m certain that Fujifilm has been self-reflecting. It’s a part of their business culture, and in-general a part of Japanese culture (although that self-reflection might look a lot different than we are used to in the west).
As far as them making their cameras worse: there was one buggy firmware that has been addressed and largely fixed; another fix that should further resolve the issue is in the works right now, and likely will be in the next firmware update. For the most part, this issue has been made into a mountain when it is a molehill. My speculation is that once it has been 100% fully resolved, a lot of complainers on the internet will not accept that it has been, and will perpetuate old information and myths. Mark my words on that one.
I reject your premise that all complaints are good, valid and harmless. That is obviously false, and now you are twisting my words. A very troll-like thing to do, btw, so be careful.
And definitely you are wrong when you say that “most criticism is constructive” because that is not even close to being true. Go to any website or video that discusses Fujifilm AF (with my website being the very rare exception, because I have the greatest audience in the photography sphere…), and you will clearly see that the destructive to constructive ratio is at least 9:1. It’s overwhelmingly destructive! A hallmark of these are words like “sucks”, “garbage”, “horrid”, “I’m leaving”, etc.. There is real harm to these over-the-top, exaggerated, flaming statements.
There are indeed some constructive criticisms that have been stated, which are often said in calmness and kindness, and that provide detailed information on the precise issue being experienced. This is important for three reasons: 1) it gives Fujifilm something specific to try to replicate and potentially fix (and, yes, Fujifilm does look for these criticisms), 2) it gives an opportunity for someone to suggest possible adjustments that might help the person achieve better results (such as a setting tweak or divergent strategy), and 3) it provides context to those viewing it on whether this is something that may or may not affect them personally (depending on how and what they photograph/videograph). The vast majority of criticisms have not resembled this in the slightest.
I cannot tell you how many emails and DMs I have received since publishing this article. It’s probably close to triple the number of comments left directly on this article. The sentiment has been that people are tired of the hate and constant complaints, but they are afraid to speak up publicly because they have seen (or personally experienced) so much cyberbullying about this. The few brave folks who call out those making the destructive criticisms have literally been bullied, and now people don’t want to speak out. That’s real harm that is happening right now, and there is no defending it. It’s not ok, and it needs to stop right now.
There is certainly a right way to criticize and a wrong way, and by far the wrong way is what’s dominating the internet right now regarding this topic. The cyberbullying is unacceptable, and must not continue. Most Fujifilm photographers are not that way, but the haters, constant complainers and trolls have taken over so many websites’ comments section it is not funny or healthy. It’s a travesty.
“I reject your premise that all complaints are good, valid and harmless. That is obviously false, and now you are twisting my words. A very troll-like thing to do, btw, so be careful.” – But that’s not what I said like, at all.
I never said all complaints are good, valid, or harmless. I said all criticism is constructive if you know why it’s happening. And in this case everyone knows why it’s happening. Fuji knows. You know. I know. You’re being a huge hypocrite accusing me of twisting your words when that’s exactly what you just did to mine.
Also, on the note of online bullying, if you’re going to make a point of people doing that in other comments sections, maybe delete your comment where you told someone to “put your big boy pants on” and “improve your skill” because he chose to speak up here about his experience with this issue you bully.
You’re being a massive hypocrite here and it’s a shame you’re considered a leader in this community with how you behave. No one’s forgotten the Nikon comments btw.
Also, blocking people from commenting who disagree with you is stupid. This shouldnt be an echo-chamber. Either close your comments section or put your big boy pants on and deal with the fact that some people disagree with you without insulting them and twisting their words.
Wow. If you wanted everyone to know that you are a troll, you did it.
The idea that “all criticism is constructive if you know why its happening” is false. I reject that. It’s like saying that all crime is positive if you just understand the intentions of the criminals. I couldn’t disagree with you more. I think I’ve been very clear about that, and not twisting words.
Now, you gave yourself away in the last sentence. It was a huge red flag. How would you know what I do or don’t do? Who I block or don’t block? You should be well aware that the things that you (and your pseudonyms) have commented across the web are not difficult to find. I spent a little time reading some of them.
I understand why you’re upset. The very people that I called out in my article and in my comments is you—or, at least, you are one (or more) of them. You are defending your behavior, when I’m saying that behavior is harmful and needs to stop. I stand by that, so I’m asking you personally (now that I have a clearer understanding of who you are) to stop. I can’t make you, but I can say for certainty it is indeed poor behavior and puts a negative light on the Fujifilm community (not Fujifilm, but the community who uses Fujifilm).
Since this is my website, I get to decide what I allow and don’t allow, and I don’t allow that behavior here. Period. My website, my prerogative. Make your own website, and you decide what is or isn’t allowed. That is why I blocked your comment under your alias (the only comment that I’ve blocked in a long time… do you see how you gave yourself away?).
Thanks for commenting, but I do not put up with trolls here. It ruins the experience for all the many good folks who visit. I encourage other website owners to take a harder stance on this, too.
Thank you for a welcome dose of sound common sense. I have been a Fuji shooter for over 10 years (XT1, 2, & 3) and have never had cause to complain. My XT3 still produces the best shots of any camera I have used, particularly in low light with a fast prime.
Yeah, it is still an excellent camera in 2024, no doubt about it. Wish Fujifilm would have given it Classic Negative, though (Fujifilm: you still can!). Thanks for the comment!
This argumentation reminds me of when Nikon had similar problems with the autofocus. There were always people who claimed that you just had to set the camera correctly, abd also back in the days… Then came the Z9, Z8, Z6iii etc. and suddenly the ‘hysteria’ that is being talked about here was suddenly over.
No, as a user you should put pressure on the manufacturer instead of making light of the situation. I sold my X-S20 after two months because of the unreliable autofocus. Now I have a Z50ii, which is cheaper and has better AF. When even the competition’s entry-level cameras have better autofocus than Fuji’s top models, you should stop excusing your brand.
Don’t get me wrong: I want Fuji to get it right because I like the look and compactness of the system. I would prefer an x-t5 with contemporary autofocus than my Z50ii with plastic zoom. But that’s only possible if Fuji finally solves the problem. Relativising articles like this one really don’t help.
The X-S20 has very reliable AF. Lot of people use the camera everyday for pro work—I know of some personally—and the AF works just fine for them. Why is it that it works well for them and not you? Did you buy a defective model? Maybe, but the odds or pretty slim. Is your type of work just so much more challenging than theirs? I don’t know anything about your photography/videography, but most likely not. So what is it? It’s clearly not the gear. It’s very easy to blame the gear, but it’s not the gear. Blaming the gear is a cheap and easy scapegoat that robs us of introspection, preventing growth.
I think some people don’t understand Fujifilm’s implementation of AF. They don’t understand that it not only can be significantly customized, but, depending on exactly what you’re trying to accomplish, it MUST be customized. The upside to this is that you can get it to do precisely what you need, but the downside is that it is less intuitive and requires more time in the menu. A good example of this is Camera Conspiracies on YT, who, after complaining about Fujifilm’s AF for quite some time, realized that it was largely user-error, and he simply wasn’t using the right settings for him. Could it be the same case for you, and you just didn’t figure that out in the short time you owned the camera? There’s a very, very, very good chance that I just hit the nail on the head; however, it’s just so much easier to blame the gear. It’s clearly the camera’s fault that you had issues, when many others aren’t experiencing those issues with the same exact gear. Never, ever look in the mirror; blame the gear instead.
The X-T5 is not a camera for you. It requires you to input some things into the menu and set it up (perhaps even read the manual), and it might not work how you want it to straight out of the box. That might be how the Canikony brands work, but it’s not how Fujifilm cameras work. There are plenty of resources on YT and elsewhere online that can help with this, that can be found within minutes if not seconds. It doesn’t take much effort to find them, but it does take a very small amount of effort. If you are unwilling to put in that effort, you will not be happy with your Fujifilm camera.
Thank you for your answer. I have invested a lot of time in the two months to understand the autofocus of the X-S20 (and yes, I have also watched videos on the subject). However, that was enough for me. In 2025, autofocus should simply work on cameras in the 1,000 euro/dollar price range and above. Fuji’s high prices also create justifiably high expectations.
As you write, people from other brands also come to Fuji and are then disappointed. With me, they have lost another customer. Maybe the AF will work with the next generation… All the best!
I have two Fujifilm X-S20’s in my household, along with a number of other Fujifilm cameras. The AF does work. You are either saying that 1) your use-case is so challenging that you need super-duper awesome amazing AF and just amazing AF isn’t enough for you (however, your admitted use of a plastic zoom lens makes this seem unlikely), or 2) that you are so inept that amazing AF cannot rescue you from your own inabilities, and that only super-duper awesome amazing AF can make up for your lack of skills. I don’t believe either of those are true, but that is what you have said of yourself. For example, my 15-year-old son uses an X-S20, and he seems to do just fine with the AF. Are you saying that you are significantly less skilled than he is? Maybe you are, but I would bet that is not true. So what gives?
I do believe that you watched videos. There are plenty of over-the-top videos on YT providing criticism, mainly unfair destructive criticism, on Fujifilm’s AF. This was a trendy thing last year. I will point you (again) to Camera Conspiracies, who was one of those people, but who later admitted that it was largely user-error, and he was wrong in many of his prior criticisms. If you had watched instructional videos that demonstrate how to make it work, like the ones I’ll link below, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.
I don’t speak for Fujifilm in any way, shape, or form. But… I don’t think Fujifilm is worried in the slightest from losing a “blame the gear and complain online” customer. Perhaps the Fujifilm community as a whole is actually better off for it (that’s not the kind of person that you want to be, btw). Fujifilm is one of the hottest brands—if not *the* hottest brand—right now, and most of those people are finding the AF to be just fine, working well and reliably. So why does it work for them and didn’t for you? The answer is quite obvious.
For AF-S, this is a great tip:
https://youtu.be/_rUMN7KRYOQ?si=QWDLt2fB9AU4lyHe
For AF-C, this is a great tip:
https://youtu.be/0xMiu87yCaY?si=MFmFH4JBcruS9-kr
This is a good video:
https://youtu.be/GPVi34iW7TU?si=43BkKZHHJyyXURyj
Camera Conspiracies:
https://youtu.be/2BqfaGXGzWY?si=4Hd3khd3GmstXRfn