Sub-optimal focus on xt-3 and 100-400

TomerC

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Hi,

I am quite new in using the XT-3 with the 100-400 lens.

This is something I am struggling with since I got the camera, few weeks ago. This is one example where I could not find a reason for the sub-optimal focus. I was lucky enough to find this falcon quite close to my car. Since it was stationary I used Focus mode S and single point focus, smallest possible, While in the driver seat, I leaned against the car to stabilize my self. I used DIR_EXIF_v1.02.jar to check the focus point and it seems to be on the neck of the falcon but even that area is not sharp enough. Any thoughts why?

Could it be that the focus needs some calibration?

Additional settings: mechanical shutter, CH burst mode, lens OIS on

Thanks in advance!

cf286722b2424138997539b61b6dc0c2.jpg
 
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Personally for birds or wildlife I'd use AF-C and wide tracking. Maybe you need to adjust the AF settings.

Also, do you have the latest firmware installed on the X-T3(which drastically improved AF)?
 
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Personally for birds or wildlife I'd use AF-C and wide tracking. Maybe you need to adjust the AF settings.

And I assume you have the latest firmware installed on the X-T3(which drastically improved AF)?
Thanks.

I agree with your point but since this one was quite stationary, so I used AF-S, partially as I'm trying to minimize the unknowns at this phase when I'm still not very happy with my keep rate.

Yes, my firmware is 4.00.
 
What were your shutter speed and ISO? Looks to me like a simple missed focus. It happens to me sometimes on the smallest focal point when using this combo. One notch up can sometimes help.
 
What were your shutter speed and ISO? Looks to me like a simple missed focus. It happens to me sometimes on the smallest focal point when using this combo. One notch up can sometimes help.
shutter=1/1,250, ISO 250.

I'm adding this one who is much better, in this case the focus seems to be off, slightly above the top line of the head, if I trust the exif software. this one is 1/1,000, ISO 160



7b8983bbee55404b9b8d2b7eee3f44ae.jpg
 
sorry, i don't mean to be rude, but sub-optimal is an understatement. Nothing is in focus, so I am inclined to believe that the shutter time is too long for the situation, the focal length, the stability of the grip

Sorry again Franco
 
Hi,

I am quite new in using the XT-3 with the 100-400 lens.

This is something I am struggling with since I got the camera, few weeks ago. This is one example where I could not find a reason for the sub-optimal focus. I was lucky enough to find this falcon quite close to my car. Since it was stationary I used Focus mode S and single point focus, smallest possible, While in the driver seat, I leaned against the car to stabilize my self. I used DIR_EXIF_v1.02.jar to check the focus point and it seems to be on the neck of the falcon but even that area is not sharp enough. Any thoughts why?

Could it be that the focus needs some calibration?

Additional settings: mechanical shutter, CH burst mode, lens OIS on

Thanks in advance!

cf286722b2424138997539b61b6dc0c2.jpg
It might be worth lining up some staggered beer bottles and testing to see if the lens is front or back focusing. My first copy of the 100-400mm was consistently front-focusing by about 10cm at 10 metres or so. I realised after takings some shots of a gull on a gravel river bank. The gravel made it easy to see that the focus was off. The following day I lined up some bottles in the garden and took some test shots. My local camera shop (from whence it came) took one look at my shots and swapped it for another copy. The replacement was fine.
 
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See a fair few comments on these forums with AF issues on various scenes, models and lenses with just unexplainable out of focus shots.

So many different views on this and when theres no easy answer usually put down to user error which this could be but..

I think its just down to fuji sub optimal AF technology.
 
[...]
Since it was stationary I used Focus mode S and single point focus, smallest possible,
[...]
Additional settings: mechanical shutter, CH burst mode, lens OIS on
Always use continuous AF with bursts and/or when DOF is shallow. Don't mix burst shooting with single-shot AF mode (S). It locks AF when you first half-press the shutter and then all subsequent shots in the burst are locked at whatever that distance was.

Edit: even if this was the first shot of the burst, continuous AF would have been better, because it continues to calculate focus in between the time you initate AF with the shutter half-press and then later (even milliseconds later) fully depress the shutter.

Other comments about your shutter speed are off-base IMHO. 1/1250 is absolutely fine for a stationary bird at 400mm with a stabilized lens.
 
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Thanks, good idea!
 
Thank you Brian, very helpful.

Will give it a go once I rule out the option of a technical fault in the system as mentioned above.
 
Thank you Brian, very helpful.
👍
Will give it a go once I rule out the option of a technical fault in the system as mentioned above.
Of course anything is possible. But I would encourage further honing your technique with this lens before you spend time worrying about or investigating a malfunction. Single AF mode with that lens is asking for blurry shots unless you're on a tripod and have a completely static subject (and if you do put it on a tripod, turn off OIS or the stabilization itself might cause blur). Note that your bird was on a small branch that easily could have been wavering back and forth in a little wind or just due to the weight of the bird. Single AF can't account for such movement.

But good luck, either way! Hope you find the lens is functioning to spec.
 
My main camera is the X-T3 and I bought the 100-400 last fall and have been shooting with it almost every day since it arrived.

The only time I ever use the smallest AF point is when I am shooting through leaves or branches and there is no other way to get the camera to focus on the subject. It's just unreliable. I always use either a single focus point that's a bit bigger than the subject or the 3x3 area.

AF-C should basically always be used. AF-S is paradoxically great for "mash the shutter and hope" style shooting and shooting a still subject from a tripod. It's not great in other situations.

CH and CL shouldn't be used with AF-S unless you really want a lot of out of focus pictures filling up your SD cards.

AF Custom mode really, really, matters. Morris has a post about his settings for BIF with the X-T3 and they are a very good starting point for general photography with the 100-400. So, take a look at that.

Focus / release priority really makes a difference in the keeper rate. Personally I prefer focus priority even though the camera occasionally will not release the shutter because it can't confirm focus. With release priority I just bring home WAY more out of focus shots. It's a preference though, I'd rather miss a shot completely than get it but it's not in focus enough to use.

The pictures you posted look to me like the camera moved between when the camera confirmed focus and when the shutter was released. It could be exuberant shutter button pressing, excited breathing, wind, and on and on. It could also be some mechanical or electronic defect. So, do the tests that other posters have recommended.

All that being said, I don't get every shot in focus how I would like it but the number of hits now are a lot higher than they were in the first week after I received my lens. Practice and familiarity really matter. I was quite disappointed at first because my keeper rate dropped quite a bit over my previous much shorter and lighter lens. I guess it'll take me a few years to develop that level of familiarity with this new lens.



song sparrow with X-T3 and 100-400
song sparrow with X-T3 and 100-400



crow with X-T3 and 100-400
crow with X-T3 and 100-400

Settings

AF-C

focus priority

CL

Crow shot used Single AF point slightly larger than the bird.

Song Sparrow shot used 3x3 area af.

Custom AF Mode 6 (the settings Morris recommends for BIF, thanks Morris!)

Tracking Sensitivity 4

Speed tracking 1

Zone area center

shutter speed is 1/1600

OIS off



Hope that helps you! The 100-400 is a great lens and it paired with the X-T3 is a very capable and fun photographic tool.
 
single point focus, smallest possible,
Smallest is not always best. Try going a bit bigger so you get something with good contrast.
 
Focus / release priority really makes a difference in the keeper rate. Personally I prefer focus priority even though the camera occasionally will not release the shutter because it can't confirm focus. With release priority I just bring home WAY more out of focus shots. It's a preference though, I'd rather miss a shot completely than get it but it's not in focus enough to use.
This neglected point is certainly worth repeating!
 
Thanks everybody for these valuable inputs. Extremely helpful!

Had to try the recommended setting in my yard this morning, I think it is already looking better. I would appreciate the feedback of previous commenters (from a technical perspective, I know it's not that exciting in terms of composition, background etc.)



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Hi, I agree with you that the image is not sharp. Having looked at it at 100% nothing is sharp. Is it the focus system? The lens? Or some other issue? Perhaps, in the spirit of helping, I can offer a view as a very satisfied 100-400 user. I also do not know your experience of telephoto lenses, so I'll look at four aspects before considering calibration. I come at using telephoto lenses from the point of view of having been a marksman in rifle shooting. To be a marksman (I was formally trained and spent years practicing), four attributes of high performance are necessary: settings; technique (holding, breathing and triggering); training; and practicing. I believe these four attributes are also necessary to perfect telephoto lens use.

Looking at settings, for a static subject I agree with you and set Focus S and Single drive, which are fine (I use them too). I too use a small focus box and mechanical shutter. For moving subjects, I set Drive to CL and Focus to C. I use AF-C Custom 6 with tracking sensitivity set to 0, speed tracking sensitivity set to 2 and zone area switching set to Front. This works for running dogs, galloping horses, racing cyclists (my daughter), kite surfing (my son) and other moving subjects.

Looking at technique, which covers holding, breathing and triggering. I hold the weight of the 100-400 in the left hand with the elbow wedged against the ribcage (this is for non tripod use). I have also removed the tripod mount to make hand holding more comfortable (and put black electrical tape over the screw holes). The camera is stabilized by my forehead looking through the view finder. I hold the body with the right hand with the elbow against the body. For breathing, I take a gulp of air, exhale it and at the bottom of the inhale, exhale cycle, when the body is relaxed and stable, take the shot (some marksmen advocate pulling the trigger at the top of the inhale rather than at the bottom of the exhale, but whatever one adopts both agree that pulling the trigger should be done either at the top or the bottom when the body core is stable, never between the two when the body core is moving). For triggering, one needs to roll the forefinger gently over the shutter release to avoid a sudden jabbing movement (the same as caressing a rifle trigger), which would cause a movement of the camera body (a movement that few OIS systems could compensate for. In rifle shooting it is a big cause of missing). I use a convex soft release to smooth the action (a convex vs concave release is down to personal preference).

Looking at training, where one pulls the settings and techniques together using any convenient subject as a target and then analyse the results. Initially, I took several shots concentrating solely on holding, then took shots concentrating solely on breathing, then shots concentrating solely on triggering, and then pulled all three techniques together over many shots. Once satisfied, one then needs to practice to keep the skills up and hone them.

Apologise if this sounds like I am preaching to an experienced user (and for the long response), but I often wonder why many people think they can buy a telephoto and obtain sharp results straight out of the box. That does not happen in rifle shooting and in my view neither in telephoto use. Once settings, techniques and training have been concluded and if the results are still unsharp then I would agree, look to the calibration of the lens.

Hope that helps. Here is a hand held shot within my first week of buying and using the Fuji 100-400 (hitherto the longest lens I had was the 55-200), albeit on a somewhat larger and easier target.

FL = 400mm (600mm equiv). ISO = 400.  Meter mode = Multi. Shutter Speed = 1/280. Aperture = f5.6
FL = 400mm (600mm equiv). ISO = 400. Meter mode = Multi. Shutter Speed = 1/280. Aperture = f5.6

--
J.
 
Hi,

Since it was stationary I used Focus mode S and single point focus, smallest possible, While in the driver seat, I leaned against the car to stabilize my self. I used DIR_EXIF_v1.02.jar to check the focus point and it seems to be on the neck of the falcon but even that area is not sharp enough. Any thoughts why?
"smallest possible" is a bad idea, today for the first time since I own this lens I have used the smallest focus point and for the first time I have had trouble focusing, the dimension of the focus point has to be adapted to subject and light condition. (considering the 1/1000 sec you used I would exclude a problem of technique, meaning: if I am getting perfectly focused shots of static subjects at 1/40 sec with this lens, how can someone' s techinique be so bad to ruin a shot at 1/1000 sec?)
 
much, much better.

I would have preferred ISO 1600 and shutter speed 1/2000
 
Thanks! loved the image
 

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