From Near-Perfect to Imperfect: Exploring Fujifilm’s Latest Autofocus Issues and a Surprisingly Simple Fix

Let’s Talk Autofocus

I speak four languages. This linguistic advantage allows me to encounter a multitude of perspectives and follow many more content creators than probably most of you.

And in my journey feeding my Fujifilm hunger on YouTube I stumble on just everything: from huge channels notorious for their clickbait titles and superficial knowledge of the Fujifilm system, to the hidden gems that, despite their depth of expertise, haven’t gained the recognition they truly deserve.

Over the years, I have learned to filter out those I trust from those I don’t.

One of the guys I trust is Andrea Cimini.

Who is that guy you ask?

A professional sports photographer using Fujifilm since many years now. And we actually shared his channel once here already:

The AF Issues Seen from a Pro Sports Photographer

Back in April, a flawed firmware update triggered many YouTubers to release videos about how bad the Fujifilm autofocus is.

Fujifilm did release a “fix” in June.

So all good now?

Well, not really.

While things have improved with the latest firmware, there are still some issues.

In a nutshell we could say: the older firmware of Fujifilm’s 5th generation gear is superior to the newer firmware.

Andrea Cimini for example explains how with firmware 1.00 in his X-H2S he got awesome results compared to the ones he is getting now with firmware 7.00.

Same goes for Thierry Gibralta, who compared X-H2S firmware 1.03 vs 7.00, and you can clearly see that, side by side, the 1.03 firmware is much more solid, with great tracking, little to no pulsing and definitely a very solid autofocus that can be easily trusted.

And it’s also this initially solid autofocus, that convinced Andrea Cimini to buy the Fujifilm X-H2S for his sports photography.

The Problem in Depth

Now, since I guess many of you do not speak Italian, I will sum up the video of Andrea in bullet points. But if you can, watch the video (and follow him).

  • in the last year, the firmware updates of Fujifilm were not reliable
  • when he tested the X-H2S with firmware 1.00, he was stunned and thought Fujifilm finally caught up with the best
  • he tried the X-H2S at several sport events and in one bicycle race with 400 people participating
  • he took 2,300 pictures and only 27 were out of focus (98.8% in focus)
  • over time, the more he updated the firmware, the more the autofocus got worst
  • with eye detection, some times the eye detection says the eye is in focus, but it is not
  • the hit rate at 10-15 fps drops a lot
  • in sports photography, when in 5 to 8 fps, the hit rate is between 80% to 95%
  • in sports photography, when in 10 to 15 fps, the hit rate is between 30% to 50%
  • if the situation in sports photography are particularly difficult (backlight, inside a forest, etc), the hit rate drops further
  • linear motor lenses don’t focus so “linear” in video. He compares the 16-55mm with LM vs the 18mm with LM and the 16-55 is smooth, but the 18mm is jerky
  • firmware 7.00 improved things and the hit rate went up. But it’s still not where it was with the initial firmware

So why does he still stick with Fujifilm?

  • best value for money ratio
  • he shares a chart where he compares a Sony and Fujifilm system, and a Sony system would cost him 5,000 Euro more than a Fujifilm system
  • moreover, he grabbed the flagship Fujifilm X-H2S vs the non-flagship Sony A7IV
  • The X-H2S has better EVF, better LCD, faster bursts, better video specs, etc.
  • With Sony A7IV he would make an upgrade in terms of Autofocus, but a downgrade on pretty much all the rest

He ends up saying that Fujifilm Italy contacted him asking all the details about the problems he is encountering, the settings etc, and that they would forward everything to Fujifilm Japan.

He still believes in the brand, there are lots of reasons he wants to stay with it (which he quickly lists in the video). So please Fujifilm, do something about the autofocus.

The Easy Solution

So, Andrea Cimini and Thierry Gibralta have shown that the first iterations of Fujifilm’s 5th generation autofocus was solid and significantly superior to what we have now.

Solid tracking, incredibly high hit rates at fast fps, smooth focus transitions with little to no pulsing and so forth.

So the solution could be actually a pretty easy one: Fujifilm should take that older AF algorithm and just put it back into their 5th generation cameras.

But as of now, the choice users have is: should I upgrade to the latest firmware to get all the other goodness that Fujifilm has generously given us for free (Reala Ace, red frame indicator, etc), or downgrade at my own risk, give up on Reala Ace & Co, but have again the great autofocus of almost 2 years ago?

I made the choice for myself already. I upgraded. But I don’t really shoot critical sports photography. And for my use, the latest X-T5 June firmware has fixed the issues that arose with the April firmware. In fact, I used it for a family travel in Rome and Tuscany and it worked just great for me. So I rather keep Reala & Co, as the autofocus is good for my type of use.

And honestly, I do not recommend anyone to make DIY downgrades. If anything goes wrong, you won’t be covered by warranty.

The way to go is to ask Fujifilm to give us the autofocus solidity they once already had. Take that older algorithm and give it to us. And then, build up even better from there.

Why a Digital XPan Fujifilm TX-3 Camera is NOT Needed

Look guys,

I am fan of the idea of Fujifilm launching the Fujifilm TX-3 digital XPan camera in 2028.

I support this idea and I hope that that rumor will become true in a few years from now.

And I am not the only one.

FR-reader Pavel has written a wonderful article about why a digital XPan is needed and has shared lots of gorgeous samples.

I have also added my own thoughts to this debate.

But FujiRumors is a community. And in a community we can have different ideas.

And we love to give space to people who have a different view on certain things, even if those views do not match with my ideas.

And today it’s Timothy (Instagram @gibsonetal), who dropped me an email and told me why a digital Fujifilm TX-3 XPan camera is not needed.

I’ll share this thoughts below and you are free to drop your feedback in the comments below.

No ultra-wide TX-1 or XPAN? Just get an anamorphic lens!

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Mitakon Speedmaster 80mm f/1.6 Preorders Available and Reviews

The Mitakon Speedmaster 80mm f/1.6 is now available for preorder at BHphoto here.

Make sure to check out the reviews below in case you are interested in this lens. They’ll help you to take the best buying decision.

And yes, it is a manual focus lens. And it’s f/1.6 on medium format GFX. Shot wide open you’ll have your challenges to nail the focus. So be aware of that. But it certainly sounds like a fun lens to use and for a decent price.


This (Rare) Fujifilm Bug Drives Me Nuts… and Nobody Talks About it!

This is a rant.

And I can rant on this blog, because FujiRumors is a 100% free and independent space, so I can write whatever I want.

And today I need to let this out.

Because it’s frustrating me.

So, what’s the issue?

Well, I just was in Venice for a day trip with my family.

My weapon of choice: the Fujifilm GFX100S.

So we arrive in Venice, I take out my GFX and start shooting.

And all is nice and good, except for one thing that totally drives me nuts.

Sometimes… or should I say rarely… when I review the image and press the command dial to check its sharpness, the camera, instead of zooming into the detected autofocus point (usually the face/eye), zooms into a completely irrelevant and out-of-focus part of the image. As a result, I have to scroll through the image to reach the eye and finally verify the focus.

That’s weird, because the camera…

  1. perfectly found the face
  2. perfectly found the eye
  3. perfectly placed the AF box on the eye
  4. perfectly nailed the focus on the eye
    … but then….
  5. randomly throws me to some casual part of the image when reviewing the focus accuracy of the image

This should not happen, because when clicking the command dial, the camera should always automatically zoom into the detected autofocus point.

Look, it happens very rarely. Out of the many images I took in Venice, only 2 images had this problem (the images were sharp, but the wrong AF point is magnified when reviewing the image).

But 2 images out of many is still 2 images too much.

This simply should not happen. Especially in Venice, when I just want to quickly check that the image is sharp before people jump into my frame again, having to scroll for a couple of seconds to verify the camera nailed the focus is very annoying.

I’ll share an example in the video below. You can see that face detection did its job. My wife’s eyes are 100 megapixel sharp. So the camera knew what it had to focus on and placed the AF box perfectly on her eye. And yet, when reviewing the image, it zooms into a 100% out of focus area of the image and I have to scroll back on her eye.

Unless this is some sort of user error I am not aware of (if so, please let me know in the comments), I’d define this is a bug. A very rare one. But a stupid one. And Fujifilm has to fix it.

And it should be the easiest fix in the world, since the camera focuses correctly and all it has to do is to zoom into the focus point, not some random part of the frame.

So I hope Fujifilm, who very likely reads this now, will give us a quick fix for that.

End of my rant.

And btw… Venice was wonderful. And the GFX did a fantastic job there, especially considering the difficult light conditions (we stayed there over the hottest and brightest hours, between 10AM and 4PM. But those GFX files are just the most versatile on the known universe… or shall I say in the known universe without having to pay 30K for a Phase One or so. It just handled the though conditions without problems.

UPDATE: I think I noticed a pattern now. I explain below.

CASE 1 – All Good
I use face detection. Camera detects face. I half press shutter. Recompose. Face detection stays locked on the eye. I can recompose how wildly I want. Once I press the shutter and then review the image, the camera brings me to the eye of the subject, even if I recomposed.

CASE 2 – The Problem
I do the same thing as above. So I use face/eye detection, half press the shutter and then recompose the image. The only difference, when I recompose, the camera loses the face/eye just for a fraction of a second but then very quickly catches the face/eye again. Once the green box is again on the eye, I fully press the shutter. When reviewing, the camera will bring me not to the last known AF point (the green box on the eye), but on the point where the AF box was when it shortly lost the face/eye of the subject.

To me this confirms it is a bug. It should always bring you to the last known AF point.

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