X-T1 owners - You'll love FW4.0

GaryLH said:
...... I think the most inportant advise for optimizing your experience is to make sure u have setup your camera to use the phase detection af cells on the sensor. Make sure to check the info from the fujirumors site post I posted earlier.
Gary
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How about some real simple instructions starting from the beginning for a Luddite? I read and re-read the Fujirumors site instructions but they seemed to assume I already knew something that I do not. I searched all through the setup but could find nothing that seemed to relate to "phase detection AF cells"
 
Bob

Most of but not all of the instructions do relate to the phase detect cells. U are right that there is a lot of assumptions about where they are. Fuji put out a fw 4.0 advance user guide. It is located on the same page as the fw 4.0 info or the next page where the actual instructions are. I'll post the pointer in a later post. Not at a convenient location right now. The instruction in the guide refers to where the phase detect af cells are located if I remember correctly.

Here is an approximate way to figure it out.
- fw 4.0 update setup the up cursor as the af focus mode type
-- single point
-- zone
-- wide af tracking
- the down cursor is used to set the area and/or the spot where the af should be if not centered
- also if u set your LCD display to should info on the back, u will now c that there are two size squares.. The center ones are larger.

These are the phase detect cells. So long as u are using the larger cells in the center u will be using the phase detect cells.

When using their version of 3d tracking, if u have face detect active (by default front fn button where on slr is the button for aperture stop down preview).. Turn it off. When face is active, it seems to disable the phase detect cells from refocusing between shots when shooting in continuous high or low.

Also make sure to turn on high performance mode and use only mechanical shutter.

All the rest of the hints for fw4.0 are something's I think are more dependent on how u use the camera, I think.

Good luck
Gary
 
GaryLH: Many thanks. I got it. It turns out none of this relates to the way I shoot as I always use the old fashioned single point autofocus, lock focus, recompose, and shoot. Same way I used my ContaxG which was the only other autofocus camera I used. Or, basically the same way I use a manual focus rangefinder. I still have a pretty good grasp of DOF for a given lens and given aperture from the old days, so "focus here and I can handle the rest" still works best for me.

Appreciate the pointers.
 
Bob, no problem glad to be of help. Btw...If u are using center cells for your spot af.. And if u have afs plus high performance mode I believe u should still Improvement in af performance.

Gary
 
Gary, thanks again. Based on the suggestions of the Fujirumors site you referenced, I have switched to the "high performance" mode.

BTW, I am still trying to get my head around the concept of a camera giving you a choice if you want "high performance" or not.

I have my XT-1 auto focusing as good as my old ContaxG bodies. They had no options but sure did focus accurately on the indicated center point and almost instantaneously in good light.
 
Shot two acts last night with my X-T1s and FW 4.0. Lens primarily 56/1.2. Single point, single shot - my usual shooting mode to keep the comparison clean. I would say slightly faster and surer in low light (iso 6400, 1/125, f/1.2), in very low end stage lighting. No dramatic change, that's for sure. In heavily backlit, competing contrast points, again slightly better. I think it re-racked only a few times, where previously there would have been more. Good stuff.

This is pretty much what I expected, incremental improvement. I'm happy but won't sell the canon gear ;)

Way too dark to pull out the 55-200, which I'm really intererested to try with 4.0. I might rent the 50-140 at some point and see how it works out in my dungeons, which I wouldn't have thought worthwhile prior to FW 4.0.

A few from one of the clubs -

20150703-123-web by Mike Tuomey, on Flickr

20150703-133-web by Mike Tuomey, on Flickr

20150703-143-web by Mike Tuomey, on Flickr
 
More 35 testing

More 35 testing

So I have been playing around a bit more w/ the 35f1.4 and discovered some differences in performance - afs mode not afc. Still have not had chance to shoot rapid moving objects yet. All testing done in both good outdoor light and normal room lighting, not poor lighting like a nightclub.
- the old spot only af mode where u choose the size of the af area is only slightly better than what was in pre-4.0 fw
- af zone has some inconsistent behavior..in the sense, the af box size u select makes a big difference in performance
-- small square where only phase detect cells are being used, marginally better than spot af, but in some situations it is much better..
-- rectangle which uses all the phase detect is very much better, when small to medium changes of distance.. It makes the 35 feel like a different lens in these situations. Bigger changes in distance is about same as small square. The newer lens like the 18-135 wr is a lot faster in this mode though then the 35..still not pro dslr af fast though.
-- large square which uses both contrast and phase detect cells slightly better than original spot af. Maybe about same af speed as the small square.
- wide area focus tracking in afs is about the same as spot af. In afc mode, initial lock is about same as spot af, but tracking test w/ slow moving objects works as expected.

The real test for both zone and wide area is a rapid moving object in afc. Overall..4.0 does not re-focus as much when u have not moved the focus point..a more times than not it stays in same af focus..no motor noise and refocus lock time.

Gary
 
MCTuomey said:
Shot two acts last night with my X-T1s and FW 4.0. Lens primarily 56/1.2. Single point, single shot - my usual shooting mode to keep the comparison clean. I would say slightly faster and surer in low light (iso 6400, 1/125, f/1.2), in very low end stage lighting. No dramatic change, that's for sure. In heavily backlit, competing contrast points, again slightly better. I think it re-racked only a few times, where previously there would have been more. Good stuff.

This is pretty much what I expected, incremental improvement. I'm happy but won't sell the canon gear ;)

Way too dark to pull out the 55-200, which I'm really intererested to try with 4.0. I might rent the 50-140 at some point and see how it works out in my dungeons, which I wouldn't have thought worthwhile prior to FW 4.0.

A few from one of the clubs -

20150703-123-web by Mike Tuomey, on Flickr

20150703-133-web by Mike Tuomey, on Flickr

20150703-143-web by Mike Tuomey, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Looks good. For your shooting situations, I would highly recommend you try the zone focus with the 3x3 focus group square. I think it will make a massive difference for focusing under the backlights and low contrast areas for you. This is the main feature of the new firmware IMO.
 
thanks gavin - i do appreciate the suggestion but i never use zone focusing. not being snarky, i don't want the camera selecting my focus point. nope, that's my job. the camera's job is to focus where i point it ;), in the X-T1's case, in AF-S, single point of choice. if it can do it in zone focus in heavy backlight and specular highlight conditions, it should be able to do so without zone focus selected. the sony A7S can do it. my canons can do it. my fujis should too.

v4.0 seems incrementally better for what i do with a 56/1.2 and 23/1.4, meaning slight change. that's good, but not great. more testing and use to come. i sure do wish i could get an x-trans sensor in canon 6D body ... or canon AF in an X-T1.
 
GaryLH said:
So I have been playing around a bit more w/ the 35f1.4 and discovered some differences in performance - afs mode not afc. Still have not had chance to shoot rapid moving objects yet. All testing done in both good outdoor light and normal room lighting, not poor lighting like a nightclub.
- the old spot only af mode where u choose the size of the af area is only slightly better than what was in pre-4.0 fw
- af zone has some inconsistent behavior..in the sense, the af box size u select makes a big difference in performance
-- small square where only phase detect cells are being used, marginally better than spot af, but in some situations it is much better..
-- rectangle which uses all the phase detect is very much better, when small to medium changes of distance.. It makes the 35 feel like a different lens in these situations. Bigger changes in distance is about same as small square. The newer lens like the 18-135 wr is a lot faster in this mode though then the 35..still not pro dslr af fast though.
-- large square which uses both contrast and phase detect cells slightly better than original spot af. Maybe about same af speed as the small square.
- wide area focus tracking in afs is about the same as spot af. In afc mode, initial lock is about same as spot af, but tracking test w/ slow moving objects works as expected.

The real test for both zone and wide area is a rapid moving object in afc. Overall..4.0 does not re-focus as much when u have not moved the focus point..a more times than not it stays in same af focus..no motor noise and refocus lock time.

Gary
Click to expand...

Aside from bells and whistles AF features, which don't matter at all to me, I'll go out on a limb and say what v4.0 gets users are slightly better prediction algorithms in its continuous AF implementation that work on slow-moving subjects that aren't changing direction or speed quickly or erratically. Also a lower threshold EV. I think what you wrote boils down to just this.

No one should have to guess about the effect of focus box size or other choices. The camera should focus on what it's pointed at - quickly, reliably, and repeatedly. Fuji, keep your eye on that prize, please. Do what a Canon 6D does today or 1D could do 10 years ago. Or an EOS 1V/3 nearly 20 years ago.
 
MCTuomey said:
thanks gavin - i do appreciate the suggestion but i never use zone focusing. not being snarky, i don't want the camera selecting my focus point.
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Try it anyway. In reality it's only slightly larger AF selection area than a single focus point of moderate size. You might want to try in continuous AF mode as well on CL considering the success everyone else seems to be having with AF tracking. All cameras have quirks you gotta adapt to. 5d/6ds, like i said before, basically cannot consistently focus accurately with wide open lenses, which is why they have that lens fine tune adjust feature. Yer pick yer poisons. The 6d is all but useless with any focus point but the very centre one, which is the only cross type sensor on the af array. Very meh IMO.
 
gavinlg said:
5d/6ds, like i said before, basically cannot consistently focus accurately with wide open lenses, which is why they have that lens fine tune adjust feature. Yer pick yer poisons. The 6d is all but useless with any focus point but the very centre one, which is the only cross type sensor on the af array. Very meh IMO.
Click to expand...

Probably no point in comparing notes. 6D center point is excellent esp in low light and all I need, in my use. Your "meh" is my "yeah boy." I've used the series for years with fast lenses, primes and teles, they focus more than adequately for me, while the 1 series are stellar. Different standards, needs, uses between us.
 
Hi all
With the XT1,..Is there any way to set the front function button as the afl (instant focus for MF mode) ?
It seems it can be done with the XT2 but maybe not with the XT1??
Anyone?
 
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