X100T keeps missing focus

[AlexBG]

Been taking a few pictures on the kids this morning, age 2 and 4 so they move around a lot. It's indoors so not very bright but the camera keeps missing focus. Been playing around with the settings, currently I've found best continuous focus multi point but it still misses 1 in 8 shots.

I changed from an X-T1 and kits lens to the x100T and this is my only complaint of the camera, the X-T1 I wouldn't have had a problem.

Anyone got any good settings that work or is it just the camera?

 

[Dogman]

The X100 series cameras were never noted for being great on moving subjects. The X-T1 and X-T2 are better for this type of photography but even they are a little behind the best of the DSLRs.

 

[bhop73]

Gotta agree with Dogman. I had the original X100, now I have a T. Both aren't so great with moving subjects, although the T is better. (but it doesn't bother me since I don't shoot moving subjects often) Your workaround with continuous is about the best these cameras can do

 

[infrequent]

You will likely have better results using the back button focus method but 1 out of 8 missed shot is likely not a bad result given the subject and the known limitations of the x100 cams.

 

[jsrockit]

I changed from an X-T1 and kits lens to the x100T and this is my only complaint of the camera, the X-T1 I wouldn't have had a problem.

Maybe in continuous the X-T1 may have done better with certain lenses, but in single point they are very similar. Was this indoors? If so, the X100T is not rated to focus well in very low EVs.

 

[fireblade]

Moving children and the X100 series are a no no.

 

[Tompas]

I'm looking for a 'cheap' Nikon D4s to photograph my kids in action... 😉

My X-T1 is not really up to the task, especially at close range. None of my cameras is.

 

[jsrockit]

Hmmm, how did people photograph kids playing before auto focus? 😉

 

[ptpdprinter]

Hmmm, how did people photograph kids playing before auto focus? 😉

A lot of younger photographers have grown up without ever having used a manual focus lens, so for them auto focus is the norm. Now they have kids. When auto focus lets them down, they look for a technological solution rather than adjusting their shooting style to include things like anticipation. My guess is that a significant portion of the out of focus shots are not as a result of lack of auto focus speed, but of the auto focus focusing on the wrong thing. You have to make sure the subject is in the auto focus area which requires you to think ahead. Another portion are likely out of focus due to motion blur, because the shutter speed selected by the program mode is inappropriate for the situation. That also requires some forethought. The OP did mention that it was not very bright when he was shooting, didn't he? Likely the camera selected a slow shutter speed coupled with a large aperture so you get the worst of both for action being in focus.

 

[aizan]

what kind of photos are people trying to take, anyway? i can't imagine why anyone would want to remember their kid running around the house going crazy.

 

[jsrockit]

The OP did mention that it was not very bright when he was shooting, didn't he? Likely the camera selected a slow shutter speed coupled with a large aperture so you get the worst of both for action being in focus.

However, the X100T doesn't do well in light at less than 0EV. So, you can blame the AF in these circumstances. The latest X100F is closer to the -2Ev / -3Ev range. Going manual focus and or half press AF and anticipating is all you can do with the X in light lower than 0EV.

 

[AlexBG]

A lot of younger photographers have grown up without ever having used a manual focus lens, so for them auto focus is the norm. Now they have kids. When auto focus lets them down, they look for a technological solution rather than adjusting their shooting style to include things like anticipation. My guess is that a significant portion of the out of focus shots are not as a result of lack of auto focus speed, but of the auto focus focusing on the wrong thing. You have to make sure the subject is in the auto focus area which requires you to think ahead. Another portion are likely out of focus due to motion blur, because the shutter speed selected by the program mode is inappropriate for the situation. That also requires some forethought. The OP did mention that it was not very bright when he was shooting, didn't he? Likely the camera selected a slow shutter speed coupled with a large aperture so you get the worst of both for action being in focus.

Agree with this, but as I have shot a lot of film as well I always make sure that the shutter speed is fine to stop motion blur and when I use one of my rangefinders I generally focus on where I expect one of the kids to be and take the shot when they are at that distance. When I use digital I'm more of a spray and pray shooter when it's shooting the kids. I just expect technology and the camera to do it for me.

 

[willie_901]

Even with a D700 I used offf-camera flash to photograph young family member in low EV light. I used a manual flash on a flat foot stand, triggered via RF, placed a up high (shelves, etc). I bounced the flash off the largest possible surface (usually a wall-ceiling corner). You can get started with about $100 of flash gear (Yongnuo). TTL is redundant (especially with raw files). Bouncing the light avoids the on-camera flash look. I used the lowest possible flash duration and fresh NiCd batteries to minimize flash recycle times. I used raw files with ISO 800 and below. Typical residential rooms usually aren't too big. But sometimes I used a second flash. If the walls are a bright color, this can cause color balance issues. A surprisingly small amount of supplementary light goes a long way.

The increase in DOF and reduced shutter times greatly increased my success rate. If the bounce surface area is large, the facial shadows are usually not an issue. Of course the AF performance is not improved.

I continued this approach with the X100, X-Pro 1, X-T1 and now the X100T. The latter two cameras focus quite reliably with optimized AF menu parameters. I also used pre-focuing, the shutter half-press JR mentioned above along with past experience with manual focus cameras. My in-focus keeper rate was similar to the D700's. The former two cameras required more reliance on methods I used with manual focus cameras.

 

[Richard G]

I used a Leica M6 when my children were small. I presume a high end Nikon or Canon DSLR would be the only automatic equivalent.

 

[Tompas]

(...) i can't imagine why anyone would want to remember their kid running around the house going crazy.

No? Really?

I guess you either don't have kids, or you don't like them.

 

[infrequent]

I would suggest checking out Kevin Mullins' shots of his children and he primarily shoots with his Fujifilm x cameras. I cannot imagine why one would not take photos of their kids running around the house!

 

[ruby.monkey]

Moving children and the X100 series are a no no.

Really?

X1CS0320 by Jean-Yves, on Flickr


X1CS0315 by Jean-Yves, on Flickr


hosedown by Jean-Yves, on Flickr

I have success far more often than not, and that's usually just using bog-standard half-press autofocus.

 

[Tompas]

Hmmm, how did people photograph kids playing before auto focus? 😉

🙂

30 years ago, when my eyes and my reflexes and my timing were excellent (and my hands were oh so steady because my pulse was normally only 50 bpm), I shot sports for a local newspaper -- with manual focus lenses/cameras. I was quite good at it.

Nowadays my hit rate photographing moving subjects while focussing manually is not very good anymore. Anticipation sometimes works better.

All autofocus system I know (Fuji X-T1, Nikon D7000, Pentax K-3) are far from perfect for action photography.

 

[user237428934]

It misses 1 out of 8 shots? So 7 out of 8 are perfect? That's an incredible performance I think. Especially for that not really perfect AF in that camera.

 

[AlexBG]

It misses 1 out of 8 shots? So 7 out of 8 are perfect? That's an incredible performance I think. Especially for that not really perfect AF in that camera.

This is one of the reasons I asked for other peoples settings. I didn't know if there was something that i was doing rather than the camera settings.

I know it is never going to be a pro spec DSLR, I'm happy with the autofocus I just wanted to know if there was a way to improve it.