X-T100 focus and locks oddities and flaws... and reccomendations

First of all this is my first post so Hi everybody!

A few months ago I've bought an X-T100 (with XC 15-45 kit lens) but our relationship is starting only now and I'm still trying to set it the best way for me. Most of all I have to decide what to dedicate the Fn button to. That's because of how some things have been implemented.

Initially I had set it to AE-L but my greatest reservation was the lack of focus lock between subsequent shots. I mean that the camera refocuses before every shot even keeping the shutter button half pressed. This is disappointing and very annoying when you just want to try different compositions with the same subject.

So, being used to the back button focus technique on my Nikon, I tried to replicate this partially by setting the Fn button to AF-L. For some reason, focusing this way seemed not to be as reliable as focusing with the shutter button. Just an accident? I don't know, but what is very strange to me is that AF-L also locks both the main and sub-command dials preventing you to change exposure and/or exposure compensation right after (only) the focus lock has been engaged. The only way to do it, except metering on a different light condition in the scene, is to operate on dials while keeping the shutter button pressed halfway (it works with AE/AF-L too). The problem is that it's too easy to accidentally release the shutter while trying to scroll them, especially the main one which is very clunky. What is even stranger of AF-L is that it unlocks MF, when AF+MF is set, without the need for the shutter release to be half pressed. It's not that uncommon for me to touch the lens focus ring by chance so, oddly enough, AF-L makes very difficult to change exposure settings but let us mess very easily what it should have locked instead! This is nonsense. Isn't it?

Any experiences, opinions, suggestions or pats on the back?

between subsequent shots. I mean that the camera refocuses before every shot even keeping the shutter button half pressed. This is disappointing and very annoying when you just want to try different compositions with the same subject.

MIne definitely doesn`t do that - I use the camera in single point AF mode .

Focus mode AF-S not Continuous (thats probably  your issue)

Focus Priority in AF-S set (it defaults to release which means it`ll take pics even if OOF)

PRE-AF to off (stops the thing refocussing on the ground when checking pics on the LCD)

I also set interlock spot-AE and focus area to on because I like it to AEL on half press too and it holds both exposure and focus on half press

Advent1sam wrote:

Will come back to you on this, I'm travelling at the moment, note is this experience with the af or lcd, they do function slightly differently!. Note, if you keep your finger pressed on the function button it does allow you to change functions on the fly too, so if you just now and again want to use af-l, you can do it that way. Through the evf you should be able to set exposure very accurately without neededing to modify much and then just use the green box to re-focus?

Thank you for your interest.

First of all I don't use the lcd, touch controls and Fn touch swipes. That's why I didn't mention them.

I've read the manual back and forth so I know I can re-configure the Fn button on the fly, but at this moment I'm looking for my overall best settings to be confident in what I do with my new camera. It's easy to get confused when you always change configurations. However, I'm afraid that changing my settings won't solve the oddities that I've pointed out about AF-L and the lack of focus lock keeping the shutter button half pressed for many shots.

AdamT wrote:

between subsequent shots. I mean that the camera refocuses before every shot even keeping the shutter button half pressed. This is disappointing and very annoying when you just want to try different compositions with the same subject.

MIne definitely doesn`t do that - I use the camera in single point AF mode .

Focus mode AF-S not Continuous (thats probably your issue)

Focus Priority in AF-S set (it defaults to release which means it`ll take pics even if OOF)

PRE-AF to off (stops the thing refocussing on the ground when checking pics on the LCD)

I also set interlock spot-AE and focus area to on because I like it to AEL on half press too and it holds both exposure and focus on half press

Thank for your interest too.

My camera is set exactly like yours but maybe I didn't express myself very well (this is not my language) or there's a misunderstanding.

If I take a single shot I can obviously focus half pressing the shutter button and the focus is held as long as I keep it this way and until I shoot.

What I hoped for was the focus to stay locked for the next shot(s) too as long as the shutter button was kept pressed halfway. If you engage AF-L with Fn button, the focus stays locked for as many shots as you want (unless you enter playback or menu). But if you focus with the shutter button, as soon as the picture is taken, the focus is released  and the camera needs to focus again for the next shot.

What I hoped for was the focus to stay locked for the next shot(s) too as long as the shutter button was kept pressed halfway.

Not an easy task on a lot of cameras which have a very short and soft half press - that`s an old DSLR trick  . I hate back button focus unless it has a Toggle Hold mode like the D850

AdamT wrote:

What I hoped for was the focus to stay locked for the next shot(s) too as long as the shutter button was kept pressed halfway.

Not an easy task on a lot of cameras which have a very short and soft half press - that`s an old DSLR trick . I hate back button focus unless it has a Toggle Hold mode like the D850

X-T100 has a soft button (that's why it's easy to full press it while trying to scroll the dials as I told in my first post) but I really had no problems to accomplish it. So it's a real pity to me that the camera doesn't manage focus this way.

I don't know what Toggle Hold mode is but what I like about BBF on my D300s is that with just a single camera setting I have AF-S (press AF-On once), AF-C (keep it pressed), focus lock (engage focus once and keep shooting) and MF (use the focus ring on the lens) . I don't have to navigate menus or move any selector to change focus mode and I immediately felt comfortable with this technique. I guess we all have different hands and different minds, so to each their own.