Fujiron

Sweet Creek Falls one of ten, Mapleton, Oregon. X-H1, Viltrox 13mm F1.4.

Great Blue Heron, Oregon. X-H2s, Fuji 150-600.

Hiking the Heceta Head Trail to the lighthouse on a foggy Oregon Coast morning. X-P1, 16mm F2.8.

I've owned more cameras than I can remember and have only had three issues and they're all with Fuji cameras. The first was the electronic board on my X-T10 failed and I sent it in and had it repaired by Fuji. The second is the rear control dial on my X-P1 is working erratically and I found that Fuji US is no longer repairing them. The third was the skin and door on my X-T1. The skin came off and the door warped where it would no longer close. Unfortunately it happened outside the replacement Fuji had offered and I paid to have it re skinned and a new door installed.

I just purchased an X-T1 and the rear control dial works intermitently when in review mode. When I turn it to enlarge the photo it will start to enlarge the image then suddenly go backwards and shrink the image. Sometimes it works perfectly and sometimes not and sometimes it will turn the image into a small boxlike image that moves around the screen. Is this a design flaw or is it an electronic component wearing out?

The colors here are so far off I pulled it.

Belted Kingfisher male X-H2s, Fuji 150-600.

Pigeon Guillemot, X-H2s, Fuji 150-600.

Female Belted Kingfisher Waldport, OR. X-H2s, Fuji 150-600.

Pied-billed Grebe X-H2S, Fuji 150-600.

Driftwood Beach Waldport, OR, X-H2S, 8-16F2.8.

I've been into bird and wildlife photography for many years and went from an X-H1 and 100-400/70-300 with 1.4TC to the X-H2S and Fuji 150-600 recently and have come to many of the same conclusions about the BIF tracking already stated here. What I've noticed about the combo is the bird setting does very well on locking onto the bird's eye and getting sharp focus on the birds head i.e. the eye and beak but even stopped down to F11 lacks sharpness with the rest of the bird in many instances. I'm comparing the sharpness of the small feathers in DOF and the sharpening I have to add in processing to get them to come into sharp focus compared to the X-H1 and 70-300+1.4TC (a very good combination for birding and wildlife IMHO). As far as BIF I haven't had much luck with the X-H2S and 150-600 but write that off to technique as the 150-600 is a longer lens than either the 70-300 and 100-400 and, for me, requires training my 75 year old muscle memory to handle the size and magnification of the longer focal length. My keeper rate is increasing the more I use the combo and practice technique for BIF but on the Oregon coast we have so many dark gray days I have to use a higher ISO to get the shutter speeds necessary at F8/F11 to capture moving birds and that of course degrades image quality. In the few days of bright sun we get I'm very pleased with the combo.

Common Merganser X-H2S, Fuji 150-600.

I'm a general photographer meaning I generally shoot whatever I see that's interesting except weddings. Don't do those anymore. I own 14 Fuji and non fuji lenses and the one's I use most are the 10-24 (OIS), 16-55 F2.8, 70-300 (+1.4TC), and the 150-600. Those cover everything I do, the other lenses I've paired up with the various fuji cameras I've owned that the lenses they're paired with were developed together.

Red-tailed Hawk preening. X-H2S, 150-600.

Corvalis, OR. X-T10, 16mm F2.8.

Corvalis, Oregon. X-T10, 16 mm F2.8.

On The Beach In Fog. X-H2s, 70-300+1.4TC, Acros+R, slight grain added.

I've been using my X-H2S for several weeks now and have had very little luck getting it to lock on and focus for BIF (Birds In Flight). It does a fair job of locking onto a sitting bird but absolutely will not recognize a small (think sparrow size and smaller) BIF. Yes I'm using the bird and subject recognition features but other than large slow moving birds I've got zero BIF images. I'm using the X-H2s with the Fuji 70-300 and sometimes the 1.4TC and am curious to know what settings those of you who have attained usable images of BIF are using so please share. I'm not going to list mine now as I'd like to know what others are using first then do a comparison. Please let me know your settings and lens used. Thanks!

Great Egret With Nosh, X-H2S, 70-300+1.4TC.

I don't either the dpad works just fine. Easy peasy.

Great Blue Heron, X-H2s, 70-300+1.4TC. As a rule I don't like bird photos in B&W but this Oregon coast day was so gray and dreary very little color showed up so I went with B&W minimalism.

B&W of driftwood on Yachats, Oregon beach. X-T1, 10-24.

I've been on the fence about the X-H2s primarily due to price. I preordered the 150-600 and cancelled the order because I wasn't seeing any wildlife (primarily birds) photos that I thought were any better than what my X-H1 and 70-300+1.4TC are producing. Perhaps my success rate of BIF and the ability to zoom in closer would have made photographing birds a little easier but shelling out $4,500 for the out fit is a little too much for a retired hobbyist on a fixed income. I've decided to see what the 40mp model will do with the sharp Fuji lenses I've acquired and specifically an X-T5 which should be a little less expensive.

Black-headed Grosbeak 1st winter. H-H1, 70-300+1.4TC.