What's the deal with the X-T5 autofocus?

yomimoi wrote:

OK, first off I know this post is bound to raise suspicions, what with this being my first post here, but please bear with me.

I'm looking to upgrade from X-T2 now that Fuji has finally released the almost ideal camera I'd been waiting for and, although there are a couple other things that bother me, the AF issues (if that's what they are) are definitely stopping me from rushing to the shop. I went through a similar situation with my Pentax K5 a about a decade ago, and I don't want to get burnt twice.

I've seen one, maybe two threads so far discussing Omar Gonzalez's and Jerred Z's findings regarding autofocus, but what worries me is that I keep finding new reviews on YouTube that mention that there are definitely many instances where the AF confirmed focus with the green box, but the photos were subsequently found to be out of focus, or at least not focused on the eyes as confirmed by the camera. See for instance these three:

https://youtu.be/ZrM0sKorLN0?t=351

https://youtu.be/Fu8Z8I2nSrc?t=407

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfjP1ddChaw

These are all professional photographers or at least people who look like they know what they're doing. In at least one of the videos above, there are also several different comments from users describing the same discrepancy between focus confirm in camera and the end result.

I know several forum regulars are quite happy with the X-T5 here, and even the above reviewers who've run into problems agree that the AF is a definite improvement over that in the X-T4, so that's good.

However, for event photography, weddings and other similar situations, you just can't afford to have 5-10% (or whatever the exact percentage may be depending on the lens used, AF parameters and shooting conditions) misfocused shots because many of those are unique moments that must be captured well in focus, no matter what.

So I suppose my question is, what do you guys think? Is the AF firmware kind of undercooked and likely to get a big improvement in future firmware updates? Or maybe Fuji should issue detailed guidelines covering specific shooting scenarios and types of lenses, to help users minimize errors? I don't know.

I haven't used an X-T5 yet but, like most Fujis, I doubt that anything works optimally at the default settings (and that goes with its RAW files as well). Fuji cameras have always required a certain level of technical understanding and craft to work their best. Sony's AF seems to be pretty much idiot proof and works great no matter what you do. Fuji AF has never been that way (and no, I'm not suggesting this is a good thing) . With some experience and experimentation you should probably be able to get very reliable results in most situations, but you probably won't right out of the box. Frankly, I almost never miss focus with my dinosaur X-T2. I plan on getting an X-T5 at some point and am not overly concerned about the AF. I'll figure it out one way or another. If there are any genuine bugs with the X-T5, I'm sure Fuji will sort them out.