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X-Pro2 low light AF speed


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Hi all,

 

I've had my XP2 for about a week. This evening I was in a slightly dimmed but generally well lit restaurant and was shooting with the 35 F2. I found the AF speed to be somewhat inconsistant (single shot, high performance, multi metering, centre AF point). For some shots it would lock on quickly but for others, it would cycle the lens through the focus range before locking on and was quite slow. The AF illuminator was set to on but was not engaging (to give you an idea of how dark it was). I know this isn't very scientific but I'm not getting the impression that the low light AF is as good as some are making it out to be. Could I be missing something? A setting perhaps? Could there be something wrong with the camera or lens? 

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I don’t think that you are doing anything wrong. I never use the AF illuminator which I disable, perhaps your camera is trying to decide whether to use it or not and that slows the process down. Try without.

 

I think that there are a lot of over-enthusiasts folks out there, once the honeymoon period will be over maybe objectivity will start settling in and people will be reacquiring a sense of reality.

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it is always difficult make this kind of comparisons especially because we aren’t there and you don;’t have a way to share this with someone else (unless you make a video and post it).

 

What I might consider normal might not at all be normal to you!

 

Plus there is always the chance that, indeed, you might have some setting which might work agains focussing speed.

 

Does this only happen with the 35mm?

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I just found this thread. I purchased the 35 f/2 with my X-Pro2 and I've found them to be fairly snappy together. Different lighting environments obviously yield different results but even in low lit rooms I thought it performed well. That said, I've been using Fuji's since 2013 and have moved into the habit of manual focus in low light - that started with my X100S and I just sort of carried that habit over to the X-T1 with the 16-55 and 50-140 lenses. 

 

I've never used the 35 f/1.4 so can't really compare to that - just the zooms listed above.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all,

 

I've had my XP2 for about a week. This evening I was in a slightly dimmed but generally well lit restaurant and was shooting with the 35 F2. I found the AF speed to be somewhat inconsistent (single shot, high performance, multi metering, centre AF point). For some shots it would lock on quickly but for others, it would cycle the lens through the focus range before locking on and was quite slow. The AF illuminator was set to on but was not engaging (to give you an idea of how dark it was). I know this isn't very scientific but I'm not getting the impression that the low light AF is as good as some are making it out to be. Could I be missing something? A setting perhaps? Could there be something wrong with the camera or lens? 

 

 

I felt the same way while shooting/testing xPro2 + 35F2.0 and 35F1.4. There was too much hype about the AF- While it does perform great outdoor/bright lights but indoor/or low lights the AF is constantly hunting. I have the illuminator off so it doesn't distract my subjects and I set my mode to be performance high. This helps a bit but still not as impressed as I hope it can be. My Leica Q does a better job in low light and it's blazing fast and sharp. Let's hope they can fix this via firmware update via optimization of the software. 

 

Regardless, I am happy with the camera because it meets my main needs, "small/discreet, ideal for streetphoto, quiet shutter when set to E-shutter, weather sealed (The Leica Q wasn't), Retro designs, great IQ off the jpegs and near canon-like support/service (Canon support is like Apple when you need them love it! ) . : )  

Edited by xovi
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  • 4 weeks later...

I dont have 35mm, But I'm having difficulty with 23mm f/1.4. It hunts and misfocus alot even when the focus is locked. I never had any problem with 23mm with my XT-1. So I guess the problem is on Xpro2.

 

Tried the 56 with xpro2 ... it's all good. focuses faster and better than 56mm on xt1.

 

Only had problem with 23mm so far.

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So far, focusing at night has been no problem with the X-Pro2. I have mostly used the 16/1.4 and the 50-140. I have used them both recently in 2 significantly darker places than a "slightly dimmed but generally well lit restaurant" with no trouble with AF speed. 

 

Low light means being a bit more attentive to having some contrast in the AF point. Any camera can hunt sometimes in the dark... my Nikons did and that is where I learned to be more attentive.

 

I've only had the X-Pro2 for a couple weeks, so have shot much more at night with the X-T1. Still, I'm confident to say that the X-Pro2 has been better in the dark than my X-T1. 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all,

 

I've had my XP2 for about a week. This evening I was in a slightly dimmed but generally well lit restaurant and was shooting with the 35 F2. I found the AF speed to be somewhat inconsistant (single shot, high performance, multi metering, centre AF point). For some shots it would lock on quickly but for others, it would cycle the lens through the focus range before locking on and was quite slow. The AF illuminator was set to on but was not engaging (to give you an idea of how dark it was). I know this isn't very scientific but I'm not getting the impression that the low light AF is as good as some are making it out to be. Could I be missing something? A setting perhaps? Could there be something wrong with the camera or lens? 

I have the same issue with the 35 f2. when I change to the good old 18 f2 I have no problems with AF in same light conditions...

Im not happy about the 35f2 even in bright sunlight It hunts a lot!

Edited by Tomppa123
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the camera settings play a huge role in the autofocus in dim light , and if you’ve chosen some over others any lens will hunt. If AF illuminator is enabled and not engaging is because it is not dim enough to engage otherwise it would.

 

Anyway here are some words of wisdom

 

http://www.fuji-x-forum.com/topic/648-disappointed-with-fuji-x-t1-firmware-40-we-have-tipps-for-you/

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Interesting thread. I shot a concert in a jazz club (low light and then some) with the xpro2 and the 35 f2 as well as the 56 1.2

 

The 35 f2 performed superbly, certainly better than anything I ever had with a Canon. Most shots were sharp, and I didn't feel too much lag. 

 

The 56 f1.2 was real bad. It would hunt forever, and many shots if not most ended up slightly to massively out of focus. 

 

Note that with the 56 this has not only been happening in low light for me. I do hope that firmware fixes will solve that. 

Edited by Sammael99
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My impression is that my new X-Pro 2 has pretty good low-light AF, but no better than that of my X-T 10. Comparing different people's experiences is tricky because there are so many factors in play. Shorter lenses are more of a challenge for phase-detect AF than longer ones because they produce less phase separation, and some subjects (e.g. ones with strong perpendicular lines) are more phase-detect-friendly than others. So if you're in a scenario in which PD falls short, you're back to ol' contrast AF... and that's still an area where I feel Fuji lags behind Olympus and Panasonic, to name two.

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I use an X-Pro2 on movie sets, where light levels are generally ridiculous these days.

 

I never use the focus assist lamp, obviously (I would be asked to step off if it ever came on) and in fact have black tape over it just to be sure.

 

When it's really bad, I get one shot in three. I just accept that. Some lenses are better than others.

 

No system is perfect. Frankly my Nikons were no better locking in low light. I'm hoping the X-T2 will be better at AF but my guess it's the same engine different chassis. Still buying one! Love the X-Pro2, limits and all, looking forward to the X-T2.

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I've not had any issues.  The 35 f2 only struggles for me at a certain distance from the subject.  If I'm having trouble I take a half step back and it's fine.   I used it as my main lens at a wedding the other week and it was superb.  I did a shoot a little while back with a friend of mine.  We were both shooting a model in a dark urbex environment.  She was using the X-T1 and 35mm 1.4.  I was using the X-Pro2 and 35mm f2.  I nailed every single shot without issue where she was really struggling.  It may be that I know where to focus having had a few years experience and I'm just not thinking about it, but I do think the X-Pro2 is a bit faster.  Where it is much faster is tracking moving subjects.  I've just put something on my blog about that ( www.mikecroshaw.com ).  Even the 56 doesn't give me many problems as long as there is not much movement.  I do find the X-T1 a little more forgiving than the Xpro2 in terms of being able to shoot with a lower shutter speed though, especially on the 56.

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Hi all,

 

I've had my XP2 for about a week. This evening I was in a slightly dimmed but generally well lit restaurant and was shooting with the 35 F2. I found the AF speed to be somewhat inconsistant (single shot, high performance, multi metering, centre AF point). For some shots it would lock on quickly but for others, it would cycle the lens through the focus range before locking on and was quite slow. The AF illuminator was set to on but was not engaging (to give you an idea of how dark it was). I know this isn't very scientific but I'm not getting the impression that the low light AF is as good as some are making it out to be. Could I be missing something? A setting perhaps? Could there be something wrong with the camera or lens? 

 

Mine are absolutely the same. In a moderately dim environment (something around f/2, 1/50, 2000-3000 ISO) it sometimes almost instant, sometimes it crawled from closest distance to infinity for 2 seconds!

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I'll cautiously support this too. In the light that HiZis describes (about EV3 - restaurant lighting), I find that good DSLRs focus faster when shooting people, especially if there's a small amount of movement. But in dimmer light, I find the X-Pro2 does better than DSLRs - giving accurate (but slow) focus in light darker than a Nikon D750 can focus in, both with f/2.8 lenses. I've found that the X-Pro2 can focus pretty reliably on stars too - something most DSLRs struggle with.

Settings I've found to help: High performance mode; release priority; single point AF and play with the size of the AF point (bigger = more sensitive in low light, but less precise on the thing you focus on); make sure NO PART of the AF area is outside of the phase-detect points; Face-detect off in dim light (it forces contrast detect); and if you're shooting burst with C-AF, turn on Pre-AF and buy lots of batteries.

If anyone disagrees with any of these, or has more to add, I'll be keen to know. Can't wait for Rico's book for a good analysis of this.

Dean 

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Hi all,

 

I've had my XP2 for about a week. This evening I was in a slightly dimmed but generally well lit restaurant and was shooting with the 35 F2. I found the AF speed to be somewhat inconsistant (single shot, high performance, multi metering, centre AF point). For some shots it would lock on quickly but for others, it would cycle the lens through the focus range before locking on and was quite slow. The AF illuminator was set to on but was not engaging (to give you an idea of how dark it was). I know this isn't very scientific but I'm not getting the impression that the low light AF is as good as some are making it out to be. Could I be missing something? A setting perhaps? Could there be something wrong with the camera or lens? 

 

The truth of the matter is complicated. First, in the situation you describe it is likely that almost any camera's autofocus (AF) system would be challenged by the very low light. Second, AF is not a perfect thing — it does not always work perfectly nor does it always work quickly. It eventually requires some skill to operate. Third, the truth of the matter is that mirrorless cameras, despite the enormous progress they have made, still do not generally AF quite as well as DSLR systems.

 

After using an XE1 for 3 1/2 years (and doing a lot of low light photography) I'm quite impressed by the AF ability of the XPro2. 

 

Dan

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  • 1 year later...

It is possible that XF 23mm F2.0 might be a little faster in AF than it's older brother the XF 35mm F2.0, but I've done no scientific comparison tests for this statement. In low light, when your lenses started to hunt for focus, my best ways to cope with the situation are:

 

1. enlarge the green square focus point (less spot precision, but higher AF speed)

2. Directly focus on zones with contrast, in my frame

3. Use manual focus mode with Focus Peaking activated. I may save battery, time and nerves and probably get more sharp pictures.

:)

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