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One image is in focus and the other is completely out of focus.

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Richard Craze

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Can anyone tell me what's going on with my XT-2 camera. I know it's only a holiday snap but one image is in focus and the other is completely out of focus. They where taken one after the other. I was using the 18 to 55 kit lens and the camera was set up to fire when the camera has focused on something. Shutter speed was 1/280 at F7.1 with the lens set to 18mm so there should be quite a bit of depth of field! I've noticed this happening with quite a few of my Fuji lenses so I don't think is to do with the lenses. Any ideas guys?

Soft

d7502e17b7fc44e1a1ab3d7f541787f3.jpg

Sharp

986e769c685448f49736f682622cc599.jpg
 
lélé said:
torppapa said:
oscarvdvelde said:
torppapa said:
Emile15 said:
I am sorry to say the problem is there with the XH1 too. I read through the following thread https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4101512 and had another look at my out of focus landscape images and I am reasonably convinced it is caused by PDAF, so next time I'll try those shots either with manual focus or switch to wide tracking mode.
Click to expand...
So far the T3 seems OK to me, but I need some more days of use to tell it with certainty.
Click to expand...
I believe I have seen this issue once in my short X-T3 experience so far. But I must have deleted the shot already.
Click to expand...
After a couple of weeks with my XT3 here is my take.

I was out hiking today, and out of 130 images it happened at least 7 times. The camera took a total blurry image instead of focusing at infinity.

So I guess in this regard the T3 is not better than the T2 was.

It is indeed very annoying that I have to check the focus after every landscape shot. Ever worse that some pictures turned out blurry only examining them on the computer.

If you don't have to focus at infinity I see no problems. For landscapes I might revert to my full frame Canon gear.
Click to expand...
Once again, was shutter priority set to 'release' or 'focus'?
Click to expand...
Focus. My problem is: how comes that 113 images where perfectly focused and 7 of them are just rubbish in similar not demanding situations. I would exclude user error ;-)

Here is one of them. The camera had just no reason not to focus perfectly. The previous image a couple of sec before of this and the next a couple of sec after this is in perfect focus.



ffc4163b7e5c4accaaa674fe47baab57.jpg
 
Vitazzz said:
I can confirm this issue on my X-T20. In fact, I wanted to create a thread before saw this. I shoot static things, mostly landscape, with shutter speed 120 or shorter at F8. 30% of my shots are somewhat out of focus and 10% are almost completely out of focus. My lens is 23/f2, all with latest firmware. If I try to focus several times in a row on same scene the green squares will always be different (focus priority, af-s zone with smallest coverage). I have to take several shots in a row because of that, so annoying.

If I lower my shutter speed to 1/70, then things become even worse and 50% turn out to be blurred.
Click to expand...
My confirmation as well. My XT-20 works the same way. Just never sure, the shots taken are sharp. I have reported my experience in this forum and was excommunicated from the moderator. Due to this experience I have lastly completely abandoned Fuji and lastly I'm just using my old but focus-reliable Sony. What a pity, because the Fuji colors are so greatly beautiful! I was firstly so happy with my Fuji XT-20. Wast of money.
 
torppapa said:
lélé said:
torppapa said:
oscarvdvelde said:
torppapa said:
Emile15 said:
I am sorry to say the problem is there with the XH1 too. I read through the following thread https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4101512 and had another look at my out of focus landscape images and I am reasonably convinced it is caused by PDAF, so next time I'll try those shots either with manual focus or switch to wide tracking mode.
Click to expand...
So far the T3 seems OK to me, but I need some more days of use to tell it with certainty.
Click to expand...
I believe I have seen this issue once in my short X-T3 experience so far. But I must have deleted the shot already.
Click to expand...
After a couple of weeks with my XT3 here is my take.

I was out hiking today, and out of 130 images it happened at least 7 times. The camera took a total blurry image instead of focusing at infinity.

So I guess in this regard the T3 is not better than the T2 was.

It is indeed very annoying that I have to check the focus after every landscape shot. Ever worse that some pictures turned out blurry only examining them on the computer.

If you don't have to focus at infinity I see no problems. For landscapes I might revert to my full frame Canon gear.
Click to expand...
Once again, was shutter priority set to 'release' or 'focus'?
Click to expand...
Focus. My problem is: how comes that 113 images where perfectly focused and 7 of them are just rubbish in similar not demanding situations. I would exclude user error ;-)

Here is one of them. The camera had just no reason not to focus perfectly. The previous image a couple of sec before of this and the next a couple of sec after this is in perfect focus.

ffc4163b7e5c4accaaa674fe47baab57.jpg
Click to expand...




One more example from the today's hike. This time I post 100% screenshots. Two images with 10 sec difference:



top sharp, bottom not quite
top sharp, bottom not quite
 
torppapa said:
torppapa said:
Here is one of them. The camera had just no reason not to focus perfectly. The previous image a couple of sec before of this and the next a couple of sec after this is in perfect focus.

ffc4163b7e5c4accaaa674fe47baab57.jpg
Click to expand...
One more example from the today's hike. This time I post 100% screenshots. Two images with 10 sec difference:

top sharp, bottom not quite
top sharp, bottom not quite
Click to expand...
These are exactly the kind of scenes I got this focus issue with. Distant landscapes with foliage, pine trees, or bare rock, very fine detail. My speculation is that the camera racks the focus beyond infinity and then produces a crash in the algorithm loop.

I think we should call this to attention to Fuji, pointing at this and some other threads here. Somehow after 2 generations it still has not been fixed.

--
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lightningwizard

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www.flickr.com www.flickr.com
 
oscarvdvelde said:
I think we should call this to attention to Fuji, pointing at this and some other threads here. Somehow after 2 generations it still has not been fixed.
Click to expand...
No, definitely not fixed.

I like my Fuji gear for other purposes than landscapes.
But for this kind of pictures it just sucks, T3 included. It's a shame.
 
Last edited:
For the sort of landscape shots shown here, why not just use MF, set the distance indicator to infinity and shoot away. I do that with my X100F and it's great! AF not needed...seriously.
 
Last edited:
oscarvdvelde said:
Erik Baumgartner said:
So it happens with multiple lenses - well that pretty much eliminates a lens based problem
Click to expand...
Yes
oscarvdvelde said:
and also likely eliminates any intermittent O.I.S. malfunctions as well.
Click to expand...
Yes. It occurs with my XF 27mm too.
oscarvdvelde said:
The entire image is blurry - that eliminates any focus issues, SOMETHING would be in focus otherwise.
Click to expand...
No. The focus is beyond infinity. This means nothing can be in focus and therefore it IS a focus problem. And yes, you do get in-focus confirmation! But someone pointed out in my thread that that is just the green square and not the audible beep.
oscarvdvelde said:
It happens indoors and on flat days, but not under strong sunlight.
Click to expand...
I've had it under winter mid-morning sunlight as well and very contrasty subject. Usually the scene has to be a distant landscape for this issue to pop up. It's possible that repetitive patterns in the landscape under the focus square trigger it.
oscarvdvelde said:
Hmm, 🤔 Is the answer not obvious? You are shaking the camera inadvertently during exposure and your shutter speed isn’t high enough to compensate.
Click to expand...
No, this has long been eliminated, as camera shake would show as blur in one direction, and at speeds (e.g. 1/250) it showed up you really have to be doing something outrageous to get such blur.
Click to expand...
so happy to see your reply. this focus issue has been around for a long while and am amused that some still think its user error, after all the facts are presented.
 
Emile15 said:
I am sorry to say the problem is there with the XH1 too. I read through the following thread https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4101512 and had another look at my out of focus landscape images and I am reasonably convinced it is caused by PDAF, so next time I'll try those shots either with manual focus or switch to wide tracking mode.
Click to expand...
I had the same issue with an XT20 but never with the XE1, so your point about PDAF is well taken since the XE1 doesn't have it.
 
Have you manually focused your lenses from end to confirm that it’s even physically possible to recreate the blur? The only way to create that complete image blur (other than camera motion would be maybe if the exposure occurs as the focusing elements are flying from one end to the other. If the problem is completely random, maybe the electrical connections between the camera and lens intermittently open which could easily cause the focusing mechanism to hiccup during exposure. Try clearing the connections to see if that might have any effect.
 
Erik Baumgartner said:
Have you manually focused your lenses from end to confirm that it’s even physically possible to recreate the blur? The only way to create that complete image blur (other than camera motion would be maybe if the exposure occurs as the focusing elements are flying from one end to the other. If the problem is completely random, maybe the electrical connections between the camera and lens intermittently open which could easily cause the focusing mechanism to hiccup during exposure. Try clearing the connections to see if that might have any effect.
Click to expand...
Oh yes. And it happens with different cameras and different lenses.I had it with my T20, T2, and now with the T3 and different lenses. E1 seems to work flawlessly as others report. It doesn't have pdaf apparently.

The problem is not random: Always the same scenario as others pointed out. Mostly distant foliage in the scene.

Please everybody who reported the issue, clean your connections on all your cameras and lenses.
 
Last edited:
lélé said:
torppapa said:
oscarvdvelde said:
torppapa said:
Emile15 said:
I am sorry to say the problem is there with the XH1 too. I read through the following thread https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4101512 and had another look at my out of focus landscape images and I am reasonably convinced it is caused by PDAF, so next time I'll try those shots either with manual focus or switch to wide tracking mode.
Click to expand...
So far the T3 seems OK to me, but I need some more days of use to tell it with certainty.
Click to expand...
I believe I have seen this issue once in my short X-T3 experience so far. But I must have deleted the shot already.
Click to expand...
After a couple of weeks with my XT3 here is my take.

I was out hiking today, and out of 130 images it happened at least 7 times. The camera took a total blurry image instead of focusing at infinity.

So I guess in this regard the T3 is not better than the T2 was.

It is indeed very annoying that I have to check the focus after every landscape shot. Ever worse that some pictures turned out blurry only examining them on the computer.

If you don't have to focus at infinity I see no problems. For landscapes I might revert to my full frame Canon gear.
Click to expand...
Once again, was shutter priority set to 'release' or 'focus'?
Click to expand...
After the focus frustration from yesterday's hike in the nature with my T3 I went today in downtown and took some 200 photos and I can confirm, every one of them is sharp!

Why? Since I didn't have subjects with foliage texture in near infinity distance. This is for me the proof of the focus issue with landscape photos as posted yesterday.
 
torppapa said:
lélé said:
torppapa said:
oscarvdvelde said:
torppapa said:
Emile15 said:
I am sorry to say the problem is there with the XH1 too. I read through the following thread https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4101512 and had another look at my out of focus landscape images and I am reasonably convinced it is caused by PDAF, so next time I'll try those shots either with manual focus or switch to wide tracking mode.
Click to expand...
So far the T3 seems OK to me, but I need some more days of use to tell it with certainty.
Click to expand...
I believe I have seen this issue once in my short X-T3 experience so far. But I must have deleted the shot already.
Click to expand...
After a couple of weeks with my XT3 here is my take.

I was out hiking today, and out of 130 images it happened at least 7 times. The camera took a total blurry image instead of focusing at infinity.

So I guess in this regard the T3 is not better than the T2 was.

It is indeed very annoying that I have to check the focus after every landscape shot. Ever worse that some pictures turned out blurry only examining them on the computer.

If you don't have to focus at infinity I see no problems. For landscapes I might revert to my full frame Canon gear.
Click to expand...
Once again, was shutter priority set to 'release' or 'focus'?
Click to expand...
After the focus frustration from yesterday's hike in the nature with my T3 I went today in downtown and took some 200 photos and I can confirm, every one of them is sharp!

Why? Since I didn't have subjects with foliage texture in near infinity distance. This is for me the proof of the focus issue with landscape photos as posted yesterday.
Click to expand...
i just did some shots with my family cos its my daughters birthday and i got 2 shot back to back with 1 sharp and the other all blurred, both w focus green square indicated. and its at home, no green foliage, so its not just foliage causing the issue.

haven really look thru in detail all images but at least found 2 shots that have the mis focus issue, under exact same shooting situation.

--
life is short...along the way.. Get a fuji...take some pictures.
surge
 
Last edited:
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