autofocus issues on FUJIFILM XT5

Reach out to Maarten for comment…He does amazing breakdown videos on many of the Fuji cameras including very non bias reporting… you may see something in this video but if not reach out and I suspect he will have some suggestions…

Looks like he has an update to this one and 2 or three other videos on the new X-T5…

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Chris Lee is an authority in Fujifilm cameras, maybe you will find the solution for your issue in some of his videos.

https://www.youtube.com/@pal2tech

Yer, that is why I buy most of my gear online.

I don’t own a Fuji camera, but I teach photography classes and must say the Fuji cameras appear very good. I am sure your problem can be resolved. Sometimes I find I have to reset the student’s cameras to factory default because they have tweaked something, the camera is mucking up and for the life of me I can not work out why. Solves so many issues. It might be worth trying. Also I feel you have two good options for using auto focus.

Option one: just use one single focus point with camera set to AF-S. Focus on the subjects eyes (if a person) and hold the shutter button half way down to keep focus locked. Then recompose the shot but do not change the zoom as this can screw up the focus.

Option two: turn on every focus point, but pay attention to which focus points the camera has selected to ensure your subject is selected by the camera.

Maybe if you could post an example of an image where you have been let down by the camera it might be informative.

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As I don’t know your experience in this area @Laut, I’m just commenting the following. Don’t feel offended, if you are already aware of this.

Maybe it has also something to do with your expectations? I mean, do you have comparisons regarding AF performance of the X-T4, X-T5 or X-H2?
They all don’t have outstanding AF performance, as they don’t have stacked sensors. A burst of 10 shots would give about 5 usable pictures on a fast moving subject.

The X-H2s (stacked sensor) has a faster AF.
You get really good AF performance on a level like the Sony A9.

The one that is experienced enough and has stock i mean…

Thx, i really like the FUJI’s also i have invested in lenses and really love the small body’s AND the design. I will figure it out. As someone pointed out: i maybe should have gotten the H2. But it is trial and error.
Next time I will post my question first and hear from you guys :slight_smile:

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A lot of useful answers here. I thought it would be useful to summarise everything in one place. I have an X-H1 not the T5.

Focus priority (not release).
Body and lens firmware updated.
Boost mode on.
Pre-AF may help but does drain the battery.
AF plus MF off
Shutter speed high enough? At least 1/1000 for fast action.
Don’t use the default mode for AF-C…try the others, and also try the AF-C recipe used by Morris (see DP review x forum and also on the Fred Miranda fuji forum) for his outstanding birds in flight images. Alan Hewitt (has a website in his name) also uses settings similar to Morris and gets great results. Mike Lix (posts on DPreview) also put up some superb images of dog frisbee using a T2. So Fujis can and do focus well even on difficult subjects.

Some older Fuji lenses have slow focus. I have the 55-200 and can take sharp photos of my cocker spaniel (fast, small target) so you should be OK with that.

Have a look at the Fuji x forum over on DP review and think about asking your question there BUT do search through for previous posts as this subject has been done to death, several times. Do post a photo with full EXIF to help others understand your problems.

Some posters on DP review x forum who have been with Fuji for years are suggesting (with evidence) that the 40mp sensor on the T5 (and H2) requires careful technique and settings to get the best results, more so than when using lower resolution sensors.

All cameras brands have problems - a quick search on DP review forums will find people having focus issues with Canon, Nikon and Sony.

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Petapixel’s review mentions autofocus as the weak spot.

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Weird that they would downgrade the X-T5’s autofocus performance on purpose compared to the X-H2… If this is not a hardware/firmware bug, which it shouldn’t be, it’s not a good outlook on Fujifilm. Expected this from a company like Canon but not from them as in the past(ignoring porting film sims) they’ve more or less shared performance between cameras with the same hardware, even bringing X-T4’s AF improvements to the X-T3.

@Laut

I just found an interesting quote

AF+MF needs to be turned off
as warned in the manual
which many would overlook.

It comes from this long thread: What's the deal with the X-T5 autofocus?: Fujifilm X System / SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

I do not have an X-T5 (I was tempted when it was released, but decided it would not give me enough benefits over my X-T4 to justify the price).

I decided to see whether those AF+MF settings also influence the X-T4 — and they do!

I just shot my faithful Siemens Star from a distance of about four feet, using an XF-50 lens.

  • At left, camera was set to AF+MF=ON.
  • At right, camera was set to AF+MF=OFF.

I let the camera autofocus in both cases.
I used The Gimp to collage the shots. Screen dump from The Gimp at 400%.

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

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I don’t think they have degraded the performance on purpose. Rather, it’s most likely due to the resolution of the sensor requiring more resources for the AF system. It’s simply much more data to process, so if the processor hasn’t been upgraded as well, it may not be fast enough for good performance.

My guess is that they intended this camera for situations where tracking AF can afford to be a bit slow (portraiture etc.).

That’s why I mentioned the X-H2, since supposedly they have the same exact internals, at least when it comes to cpu and sensor, (memory is smaller as evidenced by the smaller buffer).

If you’re using continuous autofocus you may want to look at the AF-C custom settings menu, which allows you to tweak how focus-tracking works and optimise based on your requirements. I’m still learning this stuff on my X-T4 and am assuming it is probably similar on the X-T5.

I’m going to try this on my X-T10— I think I’ve had AF+MF switched on since the day I bought it. If it works it could be a game-changer for me!

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@martbetz
Hmmmm… This gets trickier and trickier :-)))))
Qute from Fuji (re X-T4):

If ON is selected in focus mode S and focus has been locked (whether by pressing the shutter button halfway or by other means), focus lock can be ended and focus adjusted manually by rotating the focus ring.

Lenses with a focus distance indicator must be set to manual focus mode (MF) before this option can be used. Selecting MF disables the focus distance indicator.

If the lens is equipped with a focus distance indicator, set the focus ring to the center, as the camera may fail to focus if the ring is set to infinity or the minimum focus distance.

To be honest, for the purposes I have in mind, AF+MF is of little to no use to me — if turning it off improves the speed, it would be a welcome bonus. I mainly use manual (zone focusing — for street and documentary photography), but being able to stop down and use autofocus when the light is poor would be really useful.

I had AF+MF switched on but it’s just too easy on some lenses to accidentally touch the manual focus ring so I’m going to turn it off.

Others report similar problems (and others don’t). I have to say that this guy didn’t sell himself very well…forgot to lock his dials repeatedly, and apparently so ham fisted he changed settings pulling it out of a bag. I have done the first very occasionally, but never the other. Didn’t mention tweaking AF-C modes (maybe I missed it) so probably didn’t.

If anyone’s interested, I’ve found the link for Morris’ BiF setup: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1772910/0?nc=1#16037301 which also works on other bodies (H1, T2, T3). Morris is now using a H2S but was using a T3 before the H2S came out.

Also, if you are using the distance indicator in the viewfinder or rear screen, turn it off. It doesn’t work properly for focal lengths below about 35 mm and only causes more angst and confusion.

Last tip which works for me on my X-H1 for work with a long lens (Xf100-400): set aperture to whatever (say 6.4 to 8), set shutter speed to whatever is needed (I don’t want those to change), set ISO to auto base to 6400. Let the camera set ISO according to prevailing conditions. Don’t be afraid to let ISO get as high as is needed for a sensible shutter speed to freeze motion. You can get rid of noise but not motion blur.

Thx for summing up lockdown