X Pro 1 Focusing...I need help. Desperately.

[derelict]

I know that there are a couple of threads but they have not clicked with me. I just got a basically new XP1. I have wanted one for a while for the sensor and look. I am normally a motorsports/ sports shooter so I am used to an SLR/ DSLR and the RF thing is really perplexing to me.

I use the OVF as much as possible. I have the 23/2 on it and my first shots on AF were off. Focus square where I want it to be, green to confirm focus, and then either front or back focus. So, I go to the menu and find the parallax boxes option so now I have a solid white box, a dotted/ slotted white box, and a green box. I now attempt to focus on something about 5 or 6 feet away from me. There is a gap between the white boxes. I place the solid white box on the subject, confirm focus with half push (AF-S) mode, green box lights up but it is not where I placed to focus point. Push shutter and I miss focus. It is either very sharp in front or behind. I have used a film rangefinder and the manual focusing (aligning "spots") is really simple. This is driving me nuts. Where I place the focus square seems to have no bearing on where the camera actually focuses (green square).

What am I doing wrong here?

[Herco]

You may want to check out fujifilm_xpro1_manual_en.pdf (fujifilm-x.com) and esp. page 86 or CORRECTED AF FRAME (fujifilm-dsc.com) for the X-Pro2. The latter is the same, but better described.

Though technically the X-Pro cameras are not rangefinders, the OVF has the same parallax issue as rangefinders have. That means that for shorter focus distances the frame (and therefor also the focus point) is different than for infinity, simply because you're not looking through the lens, but through the OVF which is slightly right and up from the lens. The deviation is larger for short focus distances and becomes insignificant for focus on infinity.

When you switch on the Corrected AF Frame setting you get a dotted white focus box to the right and below the original focus box. The solid white focus frame is for infinity. The dotted white box is for 80cm focus distance (50cm in the X-Pro2). As soon as you half-press the shutter release (or press the AF-L button) while trying to focus on subjects closer than infinity two things happen:

- the outer white frame line indicating the outlines of your image shifts to the parallax-corrected position: that will be the new outline of the final image;

- a green focus box appears indicating the corrected focus area based on the parallax shift. It will be anywhere between the solid white and dotted white focus box depending how far your focus actually is.

The camera focuses on the green focus box area. If that is not the area you intended, you need to slightly move the camera and re-focus. This requires some practice. Sometimes its best to switch to AF-C mode because the camera will re-focus wherever you point it. 

However, whenever focus is critical and distance is short (e.g. macro or portrait), you're better of using the EVF-mode of the viewfinder. An alternative is manual focus with focus peaking assistance. When you focus, the OVF switches to EVF to show the focus peaking and then goes back to OVF for composition.