More New Fujifilm Firmware Autofocus Tests: From “My Nikon Z8 Can’t Manage This” to “Usable but Not Yet Perfect”

Thierry Gibralta

Thierry Gibralta shared a follow up autofocus test video which you can see above. I will provide a quick summary, but seeing with your own eyes is always the best option.

  • VIDEO AUTOFOCUS
  • previously constantly pulsing and hunting. Now much less pulsing. Overall for static talking had the X-H2S video AF can be used now
  • walking away and towards the camera, the AF overall sticks to the person. When walking away, it can lose focus for a second or two, but that’s not relevant for his work, because he does not need to film people who walk away from the camera. Focus is not really smooth, there are some steps in the focus, but it is still for sure usable footage. A client would not really notice those AF steps.
  • when running towards the camera, the AF steps are more visible
  • when moving around with frequent turns, with eye AF, as long as the distance does not change too much it is good. If distance changes a lot and if you move out of the frame and then back, the focus can have a hard time. But with face detection he did not have this issue, so if you shoot people dancing, better use face detection
  • in the past, when people passed by in the background, the AF would jump to the person passing by. With new firmware, eye/face detection did not get distracted by people passing by. He tested it with people passing behind and in front of the camera, and it would occasionally lose him, especially if he placed himself on the very side of the frame. If he stays in the center, the camera usually picked him up. But if you are on the side of the frame, it can jump to a person more in the center of the frame
  • camera on the table with objects on the table and camera moved to focus on one object or the other. Multi Mode without subject detection. This gives the biggest problems. The camera did not detect the objects close to it on the table. Multi without subject detection is the worst performing
  • STILLS AUTOFOCUS
  • tracking is working very well and most pictures are in focus (people walking around and on bycicles)
  • success rate is pretty good
  • not perfect. he had instances like tracking a person on a bicycle but then the AF jumped to 2 kids walking by nearby
  • CONCLUSION
  • Autofocus is drastically improved over previous firmware
  • It is not perfect
  • for his work (wedding etc) and what he does, now he can use it for his work
  • he’d like smoother focus transitions and eliminate the times it jumps to another person. Also Multi mode with no subject detection should be improved

Orsonneke1

Orsonneke1 says on dpreview:

I have been testing the latest firmware on the XH 2 wide open on my bordie.

My dog is a good and difficult subject to test focus performance.In the past quite some miss focus on the nostrils , black-white high contrast transition zones.

Even when eyes almost closed and the eyes being surrounded by black fur, the AF performance is now very good! Using the XF 50/1 wide open here with good results, is quite an achievement!

My Nikon Z8 cannot manage this!!

Andrea Cimini

Andrea Cimini was very critical about the mess with Fujifilm’s AF. Now he tested the new version, especially for stills photography tracking mountain-bikers jumping and racing around, side by side with an X-H2S with older firmware.

Conditions: 20fps, strong backlight, electronic shutter, biker racing.

  • with face detection
  • old firmware 93% hit rate (perfectly super sharp images)
  • new firwmare 98% hit rate (perfectly super sharp images)
  • with subject detection
  • old firmware 95% hit rate (the ones not in focus are totally out of focus, NOTHING was in focus at all)
  • new firwmare 99% to 100% hit rate (the totally out of focus does not happen anymore. It can focus on something else)
  • with car/bike detection
  • old firmware: 87% in focus
  • new firmware: 93% in focus
    NOTE: the new firwmare started tracking the subject from more far away compared to the new firmware
  • using wide tracking (not subject detection, but you put the focus box on anything and it will keep tracking it)
  • condition: biker suddenly appearing in the frame
  • old firmware: 85% in focus
  • new firmware:  96% in focus
  • Conclusions so far
  • it’s not at level of competition, but the autofocus is usable again
  • now he feels a bit safer and he can go shooting an assignement without fear
  • electronic shutter gives better results. With mechanical shutter the percentage drops by 10% (at 20fps)

To make it clear: while there was an improvement, for his type of (very challenging) sports shooting conditions (bikers racing inside forests), he thinks Fujifilm must improve even further. But it is workable again.

Fujifilm X-M5 Reviews: “Autofocus is Way Better than What YouTube Has Been Talking About”

Petapixel reviewed the Fujifilm X-M5. Regarding Autofocus they say:

  • comparing to Canon EOS R10, because that’s one of their favorite cameras as far as autofocus on APS-C goes at the same price
  • not quite the same hit rate of the Canon, but actually surprisingly close
  • in this price range there is nothing out there that gives you 10 bit, Log recording with 6.2K open gate
  • pre-production X-M5 had issue with focusing on the background. Production sample is much better but it can still be an issue
  • overheating: impressing performance for such a small camera body. And you can even use the Fan accessory for even better performance. Extremely impressive
  • probably the most capable video camera at that price

More reviews below.

AF Better than What YouTube is Talking About?

The first of Pav SZ looks actually very good in terms of Autofocus.

You can see the X-M5 keeps tracking the subject even when other people enter the frame. It had a few occasions in which the person turned around and it focused on the shoulder instead of the back of the head.

But as we reported and you can see here, also the Sony A1II (which costs $6,500) exhibits the same uncertainty every now and then. So if a $6,500 Sony camera can mistake a shoulder for an eye, then also the $800 X-M5 should be allowed to do that rarely.

Godwin Isaac (video below), was a bit worried about the X-M5 autofocus, given all the autofocus sh*tstorm YouTube is throwing on Fujifilm autofocus. But he says “autofocus is way better than what YouTube is talking about“.

So why is that? Why are so many people happy with the autofocus?

Pav SZ says that if you use it in real life shooting conditions, it will work just fine. But if you set it up for failure in rather tricky and unrealistic test conditions, it might struggle more than in real life use. So that’s his theory.

I Remain Utterly Disappointed ;)

My position remains unchanged: even in the most ridiculous never to happen absurd and unrealistic test conditions, I want Fujifilm cameras to never fail once. I will always be utterly disappointed if in a nonsense test Fujifilm cameras hunt for a fraction of a second. ;)

Of course I am exaggerating. But the truth is I believe there is still room for improvement, and Fujifilm has to work on it. And I am not kidding here: it’s paramount that they keep working on it. Clean up your code, get the algorithm right. And we have actually shared an article which shows in which areas Fujifilm needs to improve (and can improve, since they got it right with other cameras already):

Even more reviews below.

Video Reviews

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

FINALLY: New Autofocus Firmware and New Features Released for Fujifilm X-H2, X-H2S, and GFX100 II

Fujifilm has finally released the long promised autofocus update for the Fujifilm X-H2, X-H2S and GFX100II. Also new features have been added and bugs fixed.

No firmware update for X-T5 & Co yet, but Fujifilm has also promised that one to come within 2024. So do not panic. It’s coming, too according to official Fujifilm statements.

Feel free to let us know in the comments what your impressions are.

Full Firmware Details and Download Links

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

SIRUI 40mm T1.8 1.33X Super35 Autofocus Anamorphic Lens for Fujifilm X Mount Coming

Anamorphic autofocus lenses are the next big thing when it comes to cine lenses.

We already reported about the BLAZAR APEX 35mm T1.8 and a 50mm T1.8 1.33x anamorphic autofocus lenses which will also come for Fujifilm X mount (see a review by CineD below in video or at their website here).

Now also Sirui is entering this space with its own offering: the SIRUI 40mm T1.8 1.33X S35 autofocus anamorphic lens. The lens is now listed at Indiegogo and the campaign will go live on November 25.


Viltrox AF 56mm F1.7 XF Autofocus Lens for Fujifilm X Coming Soon

Viltrox has a couple of Fujifilm X mount autofocus lenses in the pipeline for 2024:

Well, it looks like we have to add the Viltrox AF 56mm F1.7 XF to the list of future X mount autofocus lenses for the Fujifilm X mount.

The price of the Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.7 XF should be similar to the one of the Viltrox AF 20mm F2.8 FE, which would be definitely a fantastic pricing as also highlighted by the Chinese Weibo account 独立摄影师联合会 who spotted the new lens.

So time for us to update the third party autofocus lens list for 2024:

❤️ Subscribe to FujiRumors YouTube Channel