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Before I get hazed for not knowing basic photography, I want everyone to know I am sincerely asking because I want to dial in a good formula in camera. I don't particularly like using ND filters for sunsets of the ocean because it usually causes me to dial in a slower shutter, blurring the waves. I want crisp, almost stopped motion if possible. In this past I have used ND on other camera systems with varied success. 2-4 stop is usually good. If there are no rocks in the image, graduated ND works great. Recently, I have been thinking about discarding the ND and going with an in-camera solution in my X-H2 or working with a 2 stop ND and doing the rest in camera. I used 200 dynamic range, ISO 400, +0.6 EC 1/210s with the Fujinon XF16mmF1.4 R WR at f/16.0 to achieve the attached photo. I've been shooting street at golden hour with 200 dynamic range with a lot of success, so I tried it on a sunset photograph and it worked out well. I think I could have gone +1 exposure compensation or greater and still rescued the highlights. I want to be able to lift the shadows a bit more, but not to the extent of if I had bracketed three images to be post processed for HDR, so I'm going to try 300 dynamic range and see what happens. Has anyone adjusted the tone curve in camera or anything else to achieve a well balanced photograph? Please share.

You mention that you worry you'll be criticized for not knowing basics. I won't; I'd suggest that you might simplify your approach. If you want crisp waves in low light conditions then you'll need a higher "speed" than 400 ISO. I shoot higher than that on an X-H1 and the images are noiseless for my purposes. I'd give up ND filters and high apertures and instead go with higher speed and lower apertures. I don't just use exposure compensation - I depend on it. But then again, I usually shoot off the hip. If I was shooting off a tripod I would take an ambient light reading with a meter, subtract 1⅓ or 1½ and go from there. I also don't know if this is a scene you can return to regularly or if it's a travel treat. Happy shooting.

When the scene is atypical, "larger areas of light gray/white, like cloudy sky" you need to use your exposure compensation dial to correct the camera's metering choices. Even if you are shooting raw, you need to help the camera in situations where the calculated exposure isn't what you intend, and isn't correct (quite subjective) for the scene in front of you. Large areas of dark tones will make the camera overexpose as it tries to get the overall scene to a mid grey. Large areas of light tones will make the camera underexpose as tries to get the overall scene to a mid grey. I turn on "exposure preview" or "picture effect" or whatever the camera model calls it so I can see in the EVF what is happening with exposure, and I also turn on highlight clipping indicators (blinkies/zebras) so that I can see if the highlights are blown out. Using these tools it fairly easy to judge exposure and adjust compensation appropriately.

*Update* Called Fujifilm and the representative (who expected user error) suggested I take a series of photos on a tripod with/without AF (if the problem doesnt show up in their studio, they wil send it back & charge shipping). I took 125 shots focused dead center at infinity with/without AF (manual focus)... and the shots were perfectly clear. All 250! I noticed that, at times, I will zoom in and out while taking a photo, which, with the 16-55 WRII's rather herky-jerky zoom mechanism, could cause the blur. I am having trouble replicating it, and a tripod test with/out AF revealed clear pictures for a sequence of 250+ shots. Just info for posterity if other people report similar problems with this exact lens/body combination. I imagine any camera settings that would override a focused subject would cause blur (taking shots while AF is "hunting", etc) ****** Thank you everyone for your help and direction. If anyone else has ideas I havent thought of, feel free to share. And I have decided to send the camera in for Fujifilm to check, with an open mind that there is a natural AF keeper rate. I love my XT5 (had it for two months) and yeah, keep shooting, folks! [A final sample blurry photo for future folks who may experience similar issues (you will notice nothing is in focus in foreground or background) ... ]

I do not think adding this will help you much, but it may give you some perspective. After reading your posts in this thread several times to make certain I am not missing anything, the numbers you are reporting are in line with those reported across the broad range of digital cameras by various manufacturers. Nikon, Canon, Sony, Leica, Fujifilm, etc. Use your favorite search engine to lookup (brand) af keeper rate. People are reporting af keeper rates now in the high ninety range. You will find page after page of tips and technique improvements for improving the keeper rate. As well as page after page from the manufacturers touting their new camera models with improved af keeper rates. af is vastly improved, but it still is not perfect. It maybe that there is something slightly wrong with either your camera body or the lens, but I suspect that if you send it in to get it checked, it probably will be okay. Getting a new XH2 will make your camera dealer happy and it is a fantastic camera, but, …, getting it solely in hopes of better keeper rates is probably wishful hoping. For what it worth, (more of what you probably do not want to hear) back in the film days, a af keeper rate over 50% was considered great. Those expensive film rolls certainly did not hold the thousands of shots memory cards hold. I very well understand the thought of maybe missing that one shot, try when possible to push the shutter button several times, those cards hold a lot of shots and it is easy to delete the extras. I hope you get this resolved in a way you like.

I’ve had my X-T5 since launch and usually my missed focus shots are moving and using continuous focus. I suppose it’s possible I’ve experienced this too but have just assumed I missed the shot or usually it’s lower light shots I notice most missed focus. It seems like you’ve checked a lot of my thoughts that could be (release priority, AF+MF, face detection on, touch screen focus). Do you ever half press shutter to recompose? Could it be you half press and have slight delay before fully pressing? Wonder if you could rent another lens and see if experience same issues. I haven’t had my 16-55 mkii that long so I’ll watch for this more closely. Wish I could help more.