Does anyone use AF-S anymore?

[UsherFellig]

Hey guys,

Over the years, my camera workflow has evolved. At this point in time, I'm wondering if anyone has a good use case for AF-S on their Fuji bodies. Starting with the XT3, AF performance has improved drastically and we have our entire sensor covered with AF points. If you configured back button focus (BBF) and used that when in manual mode, what use case do you have to ever be in AF-S?

In my current setup, I live in AF-C and switch over to Manual focus mode when AF-C is having issues (birds with tons of branches around). If I need to quickly rely on autofocus, I press the back button I configured for autofocus and I'm on my merry way.

What use case am I missing here to ever use AF-S again?

Re-typing this since the first time I hit "Post" a huge red "Error" message appeared--

To respond to the question in your subject line---Why, yes, I do use AF-S, and most of the time at that. I can't really say you personally are "missing a use case here," because it's individual. I almost never shoot moving subjects, and walk around or drive around nabbing single shots, sometimes pre-planned after a prior scout. (Of course, I normally take several single shots of whatever scene, but they are single, not AF-C.)

When I use Fuji digital, I use Bayer sensor models as I like their output in terms of clarity/sharpness and the way the color algebra plays out, and don't care for X-Trans. I use the original X100 as well as the X-T100. Would have gone for the X-T200, but F made its UI too smartphone-esque for me. I have and like the XF10, another underrated Bayer-sensor model, but don't use it much due to absence of a vf. My point here being, that the X-T100 and XF10 came in for no end of condemnation for their supposedly sub-standard AF-C. But I don't care. Their AF-S is fine and dandy for me and my use case.

 

[nnowak]

Based on many of the posts on this topic, it appears a lot of people do not understand how AF-C works. Contrary to what many are posting, you do not lose control of your AF point when using AF-C. If you want to use the smallest possible single point locked to the center of the frame, you can still do that with AF-C. Either AF method can utilize all of the same sized focus points as well as any of the focus point options such as Single, Zone, or All.

There are two ways to tell the camera to start focusing; either by pressing the shutter button, or by using Back Button Focus (BBF) where a button other than the shutter release is pressed to activate AF. BBF an be used with both AF-S or AF-C and it allows you separate AF operation from shutter actuation. For example, for someone doing "focus and recompose", they could use BBF to obtain the initial AF and then press the shutter button any number of times without causing the camera to refocus again. The above example would be true for both AF-S and AF-C

AF-S - When told to autofocus using one of the buttons above, the camera will attempt to achieve focus and then will stop all focusing operations once the camera believes focus is achieved. No matter how long you half press the shutter, the camera will only AF once and then stop. If your subject moves, you will need to press the button again to initiate a new focus cycle.

AF-C - When told to autofocus using one of the buttons above, the camera will attempt to achieve focus just the same as above. The difference is that the camera will continue checking and adjusting focus as long as one of the buttons is still being pressed. If the distance between you or your subject changes while the AF button is pressed, the camera will continually adjust to maintain focus.

From my own testing, I see no difference in initial AF acquisition speed using AF-S or AF-C. Especially when using BBF, I don't think there is anything you can do with AF-S that can not be duplicated with AF-C.

 

[Pocket Lint]

No confusion here. I use my cameras daily, and nothing speaks more to me then actual user experience. To me, af-c is just slow and not as reliable as other experiences I’ve had. YMMV.

 

[nnowak]

No confusion here. I use my cameras daily, and nothing speaks more to me then actual user experience. To me, af-c is just slow and not as reliable as other experiences I’ve had. YMMV.

My post was in reference to the several others in this discussion who appear convinced that they can not use a fixed single point for AF when using AF-C. Multiple posters mentioned not wanting to use AF-C because they did not want their AF point to jump around.

 

[Zinch]

No confusion here. I use my cameras daily, and nothing speaks more to me then actual user experience. To me, af-c is just slow and not as reliable as other experiences I’ve had. YMMV.

My post was in reference to the several others in this discussion who appear convinced that they can not use a fixed single point for AF when using AF-C. Multiple posters mentioned not wanting to use AF-C because they did not want their AF point to jump around.

I think those people are refering to the focus-recompose method. In AF-C when you recompose the focus plane would change.

The one that was wrong about focus point sizes was me. I thought about tracking and not AF-C.

 

[Erik Baumgartner]

I think most people here have a pretty good idea about how the various AF-C modes are supposed to work. The problem is that, in the real world, they don't always work all that well. Maybe you're the one guy with a camera that actually works right, or who has the magic touch or something. If so, hats off to you.

I've tried every possible combination of AF-C options and techniques in all sorts of situations and can almost always get a faster, better focused result using AF-S or manual focus. I'm not saying AF-C never works, it does, I just find that AF-S is far more reliable for me. I can typically shoot all day using AF-S without having to worry about if a shot is in focus where I want it to be or not. I can't really do that with AF-C, I always have to check to see if it screwed up or not, especially with BBF (a full-press of the shutter button tends to work better with AF-C too, IMO).

 

[Peter Foiles]

I just found this thread and am a bit surprised by the responses. For me it is AF-C with tracking as my default. Select your focus point, half press, compose and shoot. Fast and accurate especially with the new X-H2/s bodies. With the AF-S focus and recompose method that many seem to prefer you risk loosing focus because the focus plane can change when recomposing.

I am no expert on Fuji AF so I do have a related question. As I understand the Sony system AF-S relies more heavily on contrast detect while AF-C relies more on phase detect. Is this true for Fuji?

 

[jhorse]

Good explanation and chimes with my understanding too.

 

[rattrr75]

To get the most out of the “full press through the shutter” method in AF-S, make sure that focus/release priority is set to FOCUS and make sure “AF+MF” is OFF. In that configuration it works brilliantly.

 

[Guyps]

Based on many of the posts on this topic, it appears a lot of people do not understand how AF-C works. Contrary to what many are posting, you do not lose control of your AF point when using AF-C. If you want to use the smallest possible single point locked to the center of the frame, you can still do that with AF-C. Either AF method can utilize all of the same sized focus points as well as any of the focus point options such as Single, Zone, or All.

There are two ways to tell the camera to start focusing; either by pressing the shutter button, or by using Back Button Focus (BBF) where a button other than the shutter release is pressed to activate AF. BBF an be used with both AF-S or AF-C and it allows you separate AF operation from shutter actuation. For example, for someone doing "focus and recompose", they could use BBF to obtain the initial AF and then press the shutter button any number of times without causing the camera to refocus again. The above example would be true for both AF-S and AF-C

AF-S - When told to autofocus using one of the buttons above, the camera will attempt to achieve focus and then will stop all focusing operations once the camera believes focus is achieved. No matter how long you half press the shutter, the camera will only AF once and then stop. If your subject moves, you will need to press the button again to initiate a new focus cycle.

AF-C - When told to autofocus using one of the buttons above, the camera will attempt to achieve focus just the same as above. The difference is that the camera will continue checking and adjusting focus as long as one of the buttons is still being pressed. If the distance between you or your subject changes while the AF button is pressed, the camera will continually adjust to maintain focus.

From my own testing, I see no difference in initial AF acquisition speed using AF-S or AF-C. Especially when using BBF, I don't think there is anything you can do with AF-S that can not be duplicated with AF-C.

I don't use BBF but for me on my X-T3, if the AF-C is trying to grab on a difficult subject it will do a couple of hunts and just give up whereas the AF-S will do a couple more hunts and grab the focus. I have been able to repeatedly test and prove this indoors and on items with low contrast.

Strange why they do this really. I used to leave my canon DSLR in continuous autofocus without problems but with Fuji X-T3, the AF-C is not as good so I do switch back to AF-S at times.