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Purchased XT2, sending it back.

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Batdude said:
JacquesC said:
Jerry-astro said:
Look, you need to get educated on BBF, particularly if you plan to go pro as a sports photographer where AF technique is extremely critical. You're taking on one of the most demanding and challenging types of photography and if you want to be successful, you need to know the ropes. More importantly, you need to have an intimate knowledge of how AF-C, tracking, and other techniques for motion photography work on your camera.

You seem pretty hung up on the equipment choice and have spent many months agonizing over the decision. I think its pretty well agreed upon here that the X-T2 is probably Fuji's best crop format solution for sports photography and significantly more responsive and advanced for that usage than its predecessor. The issues you're encountering are almost certainly due to your unfamiliarity with the camera and a lack of understanding as to how to best use it for the challenging application you plan to specialize in.

So, my suggestion is, stick with your plan, stop fretting about your equipment decision, and put a lot of time (and I mean a LOT) into understanding and practicing the techniques you need to be successful. That will be a FAR better use of your time and energy, IMHO.
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JS Burnie said:
Oh dear. New camera time? :) Thanks for your detailed review of Nikon BFF. If you do a followup specific to Fuji, please post a link. Cheers.
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If (or perhaps I should say 'when') I replace my X-T1 with a X-T2 I will probably do a follow-up article explaining BBF on it and the X-T20 because I noticed that there is almost no information out there on it, and there is a lot of uncertainty, confusion, and misunderstanding.
 
Batdude said:
Either way, the case is closed because the wife, including myself, does not feel right with the XT2 with the lenses we are using, there is really no dramatic gain over the XT1, simple as that. Again, with the lenses we are using. I'm sure all the f2 lenses work better with AF but we have simply chose to return the XT2 and brought home a D500 with sigma 18-35 1.8. Took advantage of current low prices and the mother's day no sales tax. The battery is charging and looking forward in playing around with it more later on.
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No problem - at least you tried BBF with your X-T2 and lenses, and your decision to change is now based on better information which you didn't have 2 days ago.

The D500 is brilliant for your intended purpose - make sure you use BBF on that!
Batdude said:
By the way, a HUGE thanks to JaquesC for bringing up the BBF function and we did tried it on the XT2 but unfortunately the 35 1.4 simply cannot speed up that much, and honestly, it doesn't sound like that lens would even last a long time if used in that AF-C BBF mode, and the battery does drain quickly, which is something that won't work for us very well. My wife and I do agree that when pressing that tiny back button on the XT2 it feels very uncomfortable on the hand, not a very good design which is understandable because the body is simply small, and actually that back button is even more flushed than my XT1. Having said that, the BBF AF-C works fantastic with my D4 and looking forward in continue using it with the D500. Let me know when you will be in the Pasadena area. I owe you a beer JaquesC. :-)
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You're most welcome, I'm glad I could help !

I'm looking forward to that beer :-)
 
Rather than rent a camera that you're unsure will be compatible for your needs, you instead abuse a generous return policy to stick whomever you bought it from with a loss. You disappoint me.
 
FuhTeng said:
Rather than rent a camera that you're unsure will be compatible for your needs, you instead abuse a generous return policy to stick whomever you bought it from with a loss. You disappoint me.
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Batdude said:
JoshDubya said:
Batdude said:
JacquesC said:
Batdude said:
I also don't shoot in AF-C. I shoot in AF-S.
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I find this surprising - for moving subjects such as dancers I found that the best way of shooting them is to use back-button focussing with AF-C. For me, AF-S simply did not work at all with moving subjects, not even with a fast DSLR.
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Mmmm, I'm not sure my wife would like that. I can try that and I would have to see if I personally like shooting like that, but I am sure my wife might not feel comfortable with that. I will say that i did use the back button before, specially with the super slow XE1, but man I simply do not shoot like that all the time and to me is really annoying, not to mention STUPID that fuji doesn't put the best AF when shooting the normal way, but instead "the best" AF performance comes from the back button??? I don't know what fuji is smoking.
Batdude said:
For this reason I switched to using proper AF-ON technique with AF-C for shooting everything, even static subjects - it changed my life.

However with my X-T1 this technique simply does not work and is the single biggest motivation for me to consider buying the X-T2 which does support my style of shooting. Then I should be able to shoot with both X-T2 and my D750 in the same way.

Why don't you give this a try before sending the X-T2 back - I strongly suspect that it might just work well enough for you.
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Thanks for the tip and I will try that tomorrow with my lenses to see how it performs just for the heck of it, still, I'm not planning on paying $1600 for a camera to use the back button because I do this for a living now and i simply don't see myself shooting 2000 photos with the back button. That's ridiculous. :-)
Batdude said:
--
Jacques
apple-and-eve.com
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You take photographs for a living and think back button focusing is "ridiculous" ?
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Brother, I just started this profession literately only a few months ago, and I personally am not aware of this back button. I wonder how many people on this planet, or these forums, use that back button, or are even aware of it?? I will try that tomorrow with my 1.4 lenses.
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I use AF-C most of the time and BBF and AF-C all the time on my D800E - from FEI 4 start eventing horses flying over jumps to galloping race horses firing out of the gate.



Below at the gate at Tampa bay downs with the "slow to focus" 56 f1.2 on a Pro2 ( I only use an OVF). Detailed settings AF-C (low 3 shots per second), Focus release mode, Zone focus.

I have not used BBF on a Pro 2 (the only Fuji I have and have) since the implementation is pretty kludgy and is not fully integrated as in is on the D800 series. I have the latest firmware and don't know has changed or not on the Pro2 and the AF-on button on the Nikon is a lot better located than any of the buttons on the Pro2.

That not withstanding - AF-C, Focus release mode and zone focus release mode.



165285081.jpg




--
Truman
www.pbase.com/tprevatt
 
JacquesC said:
Exit10 said:
Maybe I'm being slow - why do you need to decouple AF from shutter release? Is it because you don't trust the camera to get the focus right?
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No it's not about not trusting the camera.

If you use AF-C on the shutter-release, then you have no way of locking the focus if you want to recompose your shot, unless you have AF-L assigned to another button which you then need to press to lock focus.

With BBF enabled and focus decoupled from the shutter release, you can use AF-C for both static and moving subjects very easily. If you want to lock focus and recompose, you simply have to release the button to which AF-C has been assigned (which will now lock focus), recompose, and use the shutter button to take the shot.

Read my earlier responses above and hopefully it will become a bit more clear to you.
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JacquesC said:
Exit10 said:
What is wrong with the joystick on the X-T2?
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Absolutely nothing, I wish all my cameras had it !
JacquesC said:
All the tutorials and videos teaching back button focus techniques are made using DSLRs.
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That might be because DSLR's with AF-ON have been around for a long time. Mirrorless cameras have only recently started offering decent AF-C, which is required for proper BBF.

The X-T2 and X-T20 are two of them.
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Batdude said:
Exit10 said:
Macro said:
Tony explains it well in this video...

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Yet another DSLR specific video
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Thank you. That was a very nice simple and helpful video explanation.
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You might want to put some sugru (removeable) on the button you pick for AF. Fuji made the obscure decision to make the buttons tiny so sugru allows you to extend the button so it's easier to keep down during AF. Do a search for sugru and Fuji and you'll find plenty of examples.
 
Batdude said:
Batdude wrote:......, it is pretty much useless for my application with those two 1.4 lenses. The lenses simply are not fast enough to grab and lock on the type of moving subjects I shoot,

the 1.4 lenses simply cannot keep up, specially my 35mm even with the camera's latest firmware.......Therefore I have made (a personal decision) to simply keep my XT1 with both 1.4 lenses and that's it, I will no longer invest in fuji
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I agree with you. I wanted better High Iso than M43, so Fuji X systems seem like the natural choice with more lens than Sony.

However, I was shocked by how Anciently Slow Fuji 35/1.4 is @ focusing. It feel like an Old Man running out of breath. My ancient Minolta screw-driven lens focus faster than this lens. I also tried the newer Fuji 35/F2, while it's faster than the Old Man 35/1.4, it ain't exactly fast either. Any Canon USM, STM, Nikon, M43, or Sigma lens focus much faster.

Fuji lens suffer from insufficient Torque with its weak AF motor. Canon patent on ultrasonic USM has expired. I would ♡ to see Fuji implement similar Ultrasonic technology like what Sigma has down with its new HSM or Tamron new USD (ultrasonic drivd) motor.

Fuji XT2 is nearly perfect, just the entire lens lineup need to be updated.
 
Shockwave said:
Batdude said:
Exit10 said:
Macro said:
Tony explains it well in this video...

Click to expand...
Yet another DSLR specific video
Click to expand...
Thank you. That was a very nice simple and helpful video explanation.
Click to expand...
You might want to put some sugru (removeable) on the button you pick for AF. Fuji made the obscure decision to make the buttons tiny so sugru allows you to extend the button so it's easier to keep down during AF. Do a search for sugru and Fuji and you'll find plenty of examples.
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Any NIkon lens focuses faster than the Fuji 35mm f/2? That was not my experience using Nikon screw drive lenses on a D200. Fuji is faster and more accurate and that's on X-T1 and X-E2, not even X-T2.
 
JS Burnie said:
Any NIkon lens focuses faster than the Fuji 35mm f/2? That was not my experience using Nikon screw drive lenses on a D200. Fuji is faster and more accurate and that's on X-T1 and X-E2, not even X-T2.
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Especially when your $3k Nikon lens consistently back or front focuses on subjects. That is my favorite part of new Nikon bodies and lenses is paying a lot of money to beta test them for Nikon.
 
Yep. I decided against FF DSLR in favour of mirrorless to avoid calibrating lenses to body. Maybe I was making too much of it, but it scared me off.
 
Jerry-astro said:
Batdude said:
JacquesC said:
Batdude said:
I also don't shoot in AF-C. I shoot in AF-S.
Click to expand...
I find this surprising - for moving subjects such as dancers I found that the best way of shooting them is to use back-button focussing with AF-C. For me, AF-S simply did not work at all with moving subjects, not even with a fast DSLR.

For this reason I switched to using proper AF-ON technique with AF-C for shooting everything, even static subjects - it changed my life.

However with my X-T1 this technique simply does not work and is the single biggest motivation for me to consider buying the X-T2 which does support my style of shooting. Then I should be able to shoot with both X-T2 and my D750 in the same way.

Why don't you give this a try before sending the X-T2 back - I strongly suspect that it might just work well enough for you.
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JacquesC, going back to this subject, does back button and AF-C drain the battery faster?

And also since we jumped into this back button subject, I wonder how my XT1 AF speed responds compared to the XT2 with back button AF-C? Is the XT2 still faster and would it be worth $1600 just to use back button AF-C?? Jesus now you got me REALLY curious and I won't be able to sleep now.

Well, I will try because I'm really tired, I'll catch up tomorrow. Thanks.
Jerry-astro said:
--
Jacques
apple-and-eve.com
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Look, you need to get educated on BBF, particularly if you plan to go pro as a sports photographer where AF technique is extremely critical. You're taking on one of the most demanding and challenging types of photography and if you want to be successful, you need to know the ropes. More importantly, you need to have an intimate knowledge of how AF-C, tracking, and other techniques for motion photography work on your camera.

You seem pretty hung up on the equipment choice and have spent many months agonizing over the decision. I think its pretty well agreed upon here that the X-T2 is probably Fuji's best crop format solution for sports photography and significantly more responsive and advanced for that usage than its predecessor. The issues you're encountering are almost certainly due to your unfamiliarity with the camera and a lack of understanding as to how to best use it for the challenging application you plan to specialize in.

So, my suggestion is, stick with your plan, stop fretting about your equipment decision, and put a lot of time (and I mean a LOT) into understanding and practicing the techniques you need to be successful. That will be a FAR better use of your time and energy, IMHO.
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You might be right but I'm afraid that 35mm 1.4 will be too slow anyway. Its AF motor is slow as hell so even a fast phase detection jump will not help much.

This is a bit problematic area. Almost all Fuji primes are either too slow (F2) so phase detection in a bad light can not show it's strength or they use ugly slow AF motors.

Cheers
Jerry-astro said:
--
Jerry-Astro
Fujifilm X Forum Co-Mod
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