Autofocus: what am I doing wrong?

I got a X100VI a few months ago and I have become slowly more frustrated with the autofocus. Here is a video of my trying to focus on a subject in broad daylight: . This is just one example - this has started happening on a daily basis

I know Fujifilm isn’t industry leading but this feels egregiously bad. I use AF-S (I’ve heard it’s worse with AF-C). I’ve tried single point and zone.

I’ve previously owned the X-E4 and X-T4 and, while not perfect, have had a higher hit rate for focus.

Does anyone else have this experience? If so, has anyone been able to get better results?

Try a larger AF box (single point), and make sure it's covering an area with good contrast when you press the shutter button. If you're having AF hunting issues, always try bumping up the AF box a size first, especially in low light.

Oh, and make sure you don't have the AF RANGE LIMITER on.

There's something weird on your display. On mine, In AF-S mode it shows "AF-S", in AF-C, it shows "AF-C" and in manual mode, it shows "M". Yours shows nothing at all. (the M it does show is that you are manually setting shutter speed and Aperture).

My first thoughts would be to check the firmware version and do a full reset.

Alan

Alan Sh said:

There's something weird on your display. On mine, In AF-S mode it shows "AF-S", in AF-C, it shows "AF-C" and in manual mode, it shows "M". Yours shows nothing at all. (the M it does show is that you are manually setting shutter speed and Aperture).

My first thoughts would be to check the firmware version and do a full reset.

Alan

Click to expand...

it's there...

It wasn't on the video.







Alan

--
Try www.the-photo.org for a community-run creative photography resource
where we focus on images. Now with portfolios. Part of the dprevived.com community.

Alan Sh said:

It wasn't on the video.



Alan

Click to expand...

It was, but all the info isn’t always there when the shutter button is being pushed. My screenshot is also from the video.

Oh, OK. Cheers. I'm not sure what to suggest then. I don't have any issues.

Alan

From Erik’s screenshot it appears that you have A+M focus engaged. Are you by chance gripping the camera by the focus ring?

bdotdub said:

I got a X100VI a few months ago and I have become slowly more frustrated with the autofocus. Here is a video of my trying to focus on a subject in broad daylight:

https://imgur.com/a/KLYvi8L

. This is just one example - this has started happening on a daily basis

I know Fujifilm isn’t industry leading but this feels egregiously bad. I use AF-S (I’ve heard it’s worse with AF-C). I’ve tried single point and zone.

I’ve previously owned the X-E4 and X-T4 and, while not perfect, have had a higher hit rate for focus.

Does anyone else have this experience? If so, has anyone been able to get better results?

Click to expand...

I have a suspicion. Could you try switching to manual focus and use back button focusing in this situation? Also make sure boost mode is enabled.

Thanks for bringing your question to the forum and for the link to your video.

The camera reports achieving focus lock twice during the video. The first time is on the yellow candle(?) in the foreground. The AF square then moves to the paper cup and the camera reports achieving focus lock on it. While not the most nimble, quick AF I've seen, it did grab focus on the two objects covered by the AF square.

If you're looking for more nimble performance, I'll echo a couple of suggestions already made. If the candle is where you want focus set, try a small zone with that positioned over the candle. If the cup is where you want focus set, position the zone over the top lip of the cup.

Erik Baumgartner recommends a continuous press of the shutter release button as being more consistently accurate than first acquiring focus and then pressing the shutter release through to actuation. That method may be worth a try.

Was pre-AF active, by chance? If so, I recommend deactivating it. In that mode, the camera is continuously attempting to acquire focus even if the shutter release or assigned function button isn't being pressed.

Good luck and enjoy the X100VI. It seems a wonderful travel camera.

I've had my X100VI Silver for many months and it does not behave as yours does at all. Without a video to demonstrate, I held the camera similarly as you and focused on objects from about 1 foot away to about 4 feet away with no AF-S issues at all.

I do not have any special settings. Just aperture preferred with my ISO either to Auto or what I want, then rotating the aperture ring. I do have AF+MF to fine tune the focus when desired (an old habit that is hard to break).

My suggestion, and you probably already have done this, is to reset the cam to factory specs and start all over with the basics. If it still misbehaves, Call Fuji..... should still be under warranty. BTW, there is one idiosyncrasy of my cam which has nothing to do with the cam. I need to be more conscious of the shutter button if I use it for focus. But that's about it.

Good luck

I don’t typically hold it by the lens. Usually when I do hit it, it is apparent when I’m in manual mode

Try larger focus area. I've had similar AF behaviour on my X-T5 when using very small focus area, about the same size as you or smaller.

It's hard to tell from the video clip if you are using the smallest focus box but if you are, don't. On Fuji cameras the smallest box in single point only uses contrast detect AF. Once you get to even one notch larger it then goes into "normal" mode which is phase detection to achieve initial focus then contrast detect to refine focus.

Fuji Maine said:

It's hard to tell from the video clip if you are using the smallest focus box but if you are, don't. On Fuji cameras the smallest box in single point only uses contrast detect AF. Once you get to even one notch larger it then goes into "normal" mode which is phase detection to achieve initial focus then contrast detect to refine focus.

Click to expand...

Where did you find that information? That's the first I've heard of this.

Alan

Those cameras are using mostly contrast detect autofocus. Your box is too small , and the thing that you're trying to focus in that box does not have enough contrast.

I ... did not think to factory reset (and I should have! I used to work IT helpdesk in school and 80% of problems were solved with "have you turned it on and off again?"). Partially because I was not looking forward to setting up my camera to my custom settings again.

I did try this, and while it might be too early to tell, it seems to already seem to be better after the factory reset. It hunts less and acquires focus a bit faster. Thanks for the suggestion!

Will report back in a few days.

bdotdub said:

I ... did not think to factory reset (and I should have! I used to work IT helpdesk in school and 80% of problems were solved with "have you turned it on and off again?"). Partially because I was not looking forward to setting up my camera to my custom settings again.

I did try this, and while it might be too early to tell, it seems to already seem to be better after the factory reset. It hunts less and acquires focus a bit faster. Thanks for the suggestion!

Will report back in a few days.

Click to expand...

Sounds good. Be sure to use a slightly larger focus box.

Sadly, that was not the solution. I still keep getting this focus hunting:
I've noticed that this happens above f3.2 or so. When it is wide open, it focuses fine. It starts struggling as I stop down

bdotdub said:

Sadly, that was not the solution. I still keep getting this focus hunting:

https://imgur.com/a/MuTWNAl

I've noticed that this happens above f3.2 or so. When it is wide open, it focuses fine. It starts struggling as I stop down

Click to expand...

Try AF-S single point, not zone, and not the smallest box..

TURN EYE AF OFF.

Still, it ought to work. My X100V can focus on pretty much anything without fail in almost any light using AF-S single point.



To confirm…

No filter/adapter on the front?

The AF Range Limiter is off?