af workout!

[back alley]

went out shooting this afternoon at lunchtime...and happened upon a group of street performers at the local city hall square...lots of people and these performers walking/cycling about.

not my normal type of shooting but i let 'er rip and just fired away.
as i shot i was seeing all kinds of fuzzy and frozen images...i was thinking this was gonna be a bust!

anyway...got home and did some quick processing and was shocked to find that my shots were perfectly focused...no great art but all in focus!!

the fujis had done the job and i am prepared for this weekends pride parade!

(shots can be seen on flickr if you're interested)

 

[Vics]

The pics look great, Joe. It'd be nice if you got some overcast for the pride parade, get the colors to pop. Have fun!

 

[back alley]

forecast is cloudy and showers...

thanks!

 

[jky]

...ahhh, cirque du soleil....

Just watched them a couple of weeks ago here in calgary.

Good to hear the af handled it well. Good shots.

 

[back alley]

is that who they were?
i wandered over there to catch the lunch crowd and they showed up!

 

[zwarte_kat]

I must say, that after having used the XE-1, and going to a canon 6D, the focus speed was not that different. I think the autofocus advantage for DSLR will vanish completely in the coming 3 years.

 

[eleskin]

Autofocus advantage comment

Autofocus advantage comment

I really hope so too that the DSLR advantage in autofocus becomes a thing of the past. I am very hopeful the X-Pro 2 will be a massive improvement in this area and will also include focus peaking and a rangefinder like focusing experience. I hope the form factor remains the same (knobs and dials and the size). I am sure it will. Any news on any X-Pro 2 would be great!

 

[back alley]

i shot the pride parade today...i was hesitant to use the 60 as i normally find it very slow...but i decided to just shoot like i normally would...no second guessing, no waiting for the green square to light up, i just 'mashed' the shutter button down and fired away...and every single shot was in focus.

i think i may have bought into the negative hype about the af speed...even owning and using the gear and i fell for it.
the 14 and the 35 were equally fast and all shots were in focus...

this is a fine system that i enjoy more and more!!

 

[willie_901]

The Fuji X focus systems are very good now. After two plus years of using the Fujis, I think there are three reasons why some people struglle with the AF while others don't.

1/ The AF requires different modes of operation for different circumstances. In strong light the mash the shutter method works well. Parallax must be acknowledged as subjects get loser. Sometimes it is best to switch between the OVF and EVF as needed. In low light you need to use different techniques.


2/ Many users do not have experience with contrast AF which behaves differently than the phase detection AF common in DSLRs. Others have no experience with larger sensors and faster lenses and underestimate the extra care required with the reduced DOF. Some users are unfamiliar with techniques like focus-and-recompose, zone focusing, hyper-focal distances and others. Worse, some don't even read the Owners' Mannual or bother to search for advice on line to make the most of the AF system.


3/ The Fuji AF has steadily changed for the better over time due to firmware, body and lens improvements. When the X100 was first released the AF required even more user involvement and awareness than the X100S. There have been firmware improvements for the X interchangeable lens bodies too. Fuji did not come out of the gate with the most sophisticated AF hardware abd firmware. Even today the AF is ranges from acceptable to very good depending on the camera and the skill/experience of the user. The X100/X100 lenses were not designed for close up work at apertures wider than f4. Without a proper diopter it can be difficult to judge focus even when the view is zoomed in. Fuji has rejected the common implementations of focus peaking and the work arounds are useful, but not as easy to use as simple color based displays.

I think it is accurate to say there's no fundamental reason why the in-focus success rate with any of Fuji Xs should not be at least as good as the typical rate with a properly adjusted mechanical RF camera. Obviously the feel and overall feel is very different between the two. And I am not suggesting one is better than the other. I am saying the Fuji AF is better than most people think it is.

 

[honozooloo]

The X-Pro's AF has, dare I say it, shocked me with how well it's performed. It isn't the fastest I've experienced but its a LOT better than the critics would have led me to believe.

I notice that my biggest issue with the X-Pro isn't so much speed as accuracy...I prefer the regular VF and with the 35mm mounted, I can't ever seem to get the AF indicator in the right place. Often the camera ends up hunting not because of its speed so much as I'm pointing it at a weak area thanks to parallax error. And the adjusted view Fuji offers didn't help me, it just confused me more.

Sometimes out of frustration I resort to EVF and the AF misplacement issue disappears as the view is TTL...and it always locks quickly enough. These shots were all wide open with an ND filter mounted. The X-Pro wouldn't be fast enough to lock onto the skateboarders in motion but it focuses on stationary "reference" objects near the subject quick enough for me to capture very spontaneous moments like a skateboarding...its a kind of zone focusing I've been playing with to shoot action with my X-Pro.