PROBLEMS WITH FOCUS AND SHARPNESS

[JayneO]

Hello I hope you can help. I have recently switched to the Fuji system from Nikon full frame. I am having some real problems with focus and sharpness, when using the 55-200mm lens. I previously used the Nikon 70-200mm which I know at 2.8 is faster, but there’s no way I should be experiencing the problems with focus and sharpness I’m having, as an experienced photographer! I hope someone can help me. I am using Back Button Focus now too which I hoped would solve the problem but it hasn’t. It’s mainly for the sports side of my work, ie horses in training. I am focussing with BBF and single point (largest area) fully open aperture, continuous focusing and I cannot seem to work out what’s going wrong. I attach a sample image of what I am talking about. The focus seems to be shifting. I always focus on the horses face but the capture is rarely in focus. My settings are auto ISO (max 3200) shutter speed various tried (from 1/250th – 1/1000th and even auto) and fully open aperture which ranges from 3.5-5.6 depending on the range. My custom focus settings are '2' which seems to be the most suited to the type of subject. I am thinking I may (reluctantly) have to go back to my full frame gear for this aspect of my work, unless I can solve it – particularly as it’s a paid job and I cannot afford to be taking out of focus shots. My other experiences with the Fuji have been excellent on the fine art side of things, no problems, and I LOVE my Fuji! Please help, am I missing something really obvious??!

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[jerryy]

First; It is possible you have a bad copy of the lens.

It looks like you posted a lot of information, but could you tell us some more?

Which body are you using? Is the lens OIS turned on? CL or CH? What happens when you try fully manual as in set ISO, aperture and shutter speed? Do you get focus lock notification when doing so? It sounds like you are trying zone focus, but what are the rest of the zone focus parameter settings? What are your settings for face and eye focus? Are you also using touchscreen focusing?

Here is a fast one I took just for example, in a very dark room. X-T30, 190mm, ISO 12800, ss 1/250, f4.8 no noise reduction or sharpening, etc. etc. using Morris' zone settings (written about elsewhere) on CH. Rescaled for internet, just minimal processing only. The subject refuses to stay still. The initial focus point was on the head. I use the regular top button for initial focus and then 'mash' it to get a burst of images. The example I am using is not the best of the burst, just an average shot, The reason to use such bad settings is that the results (focus etc.) are better in better lighting.

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The reason for the questions, is that the newer bodies have faster af for the same lens than do the older bodies. The zone focus setting also determine how fast the focus point moves, etc.

Edited February 17, 2021 by jerryy
Trying to get rid of bad word spellings.

[JayneO]

Hi, thanks for your help, I'm pretty sure the lens is fine, as its been good for other things. It's the XT-2 body, OIS is on, CH shutter, do you think maxing the ISO to 3200 is too low? I'm concerned about noise... I get the focus lock green square and beep yes. I'm not using zone focus, I am using single point but on the widest setting before it goes to zone. No touchscreen on the XT-2. In terms of eye and focus, I haven't changed these. Do you think I should use zone? My worry with this is, when the horses are running behind a rail, I don't want the camera to shift and lock focus onto that, therefore having some out of focus on the horse. Any info you can help me with is greatly appreciated! Jayne

[JayneO]

I'm using BFF too as I thought maybe using the top shutter button to focus and shoot may have been the problem, but it seems not...

 

[Herco]

There's also a setting in the AF menu determining whether you use release or focus priority. You might want to set this to focus priority. That will force the camera to acquire focus first before releasing the shutter. You can set is separately for AF-S and AF-C. Note that the combination of X-T2 and XF55-200 is not really fast in terms of focusing. There's also a lag between the green box and beep and the actual shutter release. Esp. when you have fast moving subjects to and away from the camera. The hit rate might therefore be lower than newer camera/lens combinations.

You mention Nikon FF and the 70-200/2.8 (superb lens btw). I'm not sure which Nikon you used, but even the fastest AF mirrorless cameras (Sony) have issues keeping up in terms of AF with DSLR cameras like a D610, D7xx or D8xx. And Fuji is certainly not amongst the fast focusing mirrorless cameras 😉

[JayneO]

Thank you. I've checked and it was on release priority, so I have changed that. I appreciate your help. I was using the D800 with 70-200mm lens, and it seems I might need to revert to this until I'm able to upgrade my Fuji model. I love my Fuji and it is serving me really well for my candid/fine art work and also coastal with filters and the 23mm f2. It seems to be then that the XT-2 and 55-200mm lens combo could be the issue...?

 

[jerryy]

Hmm, there are several thing to consider. Along with what Herco mentions;

1.) The X-T2 can certainly be used for sports, and will give you great shots, but a-lot of folks will use the 50-140 lens instead because it is a lot faster (focusing) than is the 55-200 on that body. Moving to a X-T3 or X-T4 will move the 55-200 faster (X-T30 also)

2.) For shooting the 55-200 on the X-T2, in Single shot mode, for shooting wide open as you are, try setting the focus box as small as possible instead of wide. That will help it focus faster and stay off the rail.

3.) Try going fully zone focusing; here is a link to the Morris settings:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1594539/0

CH on the dial, C on the body, OIS on, lens wide open Top button or back button focus as you wish.

I think you can go to ISO 6400 with hardly any, if any, noise for the lighting you have in your example shot. If you can keep the ss at 1/1000 or less, you might not need to.

I probably should have changed that cat photo to SRGB instead of leaving it as Adobe RGB, but well ... minimal processing.

Edited February 18, 2021 by jerryy

[JayneO]

Thanks so much for your help and advice, much appreciated! I'll give that a go