Hi from Hyderabad, India - Help needed with focus

[TonyfromIndia]

Hi   I am currently living in Hyderabad, south India.   Bought my X 100 T a few weeks ago from overseas as its not available in India.  I am having a problem with initial set up of camera ... despite putting the shutter speed and aperture setting on automatic (A), the exposure compensation dial on 0 and the focus mode selector on S ... I am unable to get a clear in-focus shot.   Last night for example I took a mid shot of my wife working on a laptop from about half a metre distance ... but when I checked the focus using the Command dial (zoom in feature on replay) the face was 'soft'.    Perhaps there is another setting in the Shooting Menu that I have inadvertently changed?

 

Can anyone help with this problem?      many thanks   Tony

[addicted2light]

I can think of a few reasons:

 

- because it was dark, you probably shot at f/2. The X100's lens is notoriously quite soft at close distance @ f/2

 

- you focused at close distance, but you didn't engage the "Macro" function so the camera wasn't able to focus properly

 

- the camera chose a shutter time too long for you to steadily handheld the camera, and what you perceived as a soft image was so due camera micro-shakes (or subject movement) and not because errors in focusing

 

Try to replicate the shot in better light (daylight), engaging the "Macro" function if needed, stopping down the lens to f/2.8 and selecting a shutter speed of at least 1/60s (and use the ISO to expose properly). This way you'll be able to exclude malfunctions of the camera.

[TonyfromIndia]

Thanks for the suggestions a2l .... will follow up with another shoot.   

[gordonrussell76]

Yup Fuji cameras have automatic functions, and they will work well enough in daylight applications. In low light you need to take manual control, and in fact in Daylight you are better off using amnual control as well as its better to expose for the highlights and then bring up the shadows in camera or in your RAW editor.

 

However if you want sharp I would highly recomend using a shutter speed of 1/200 at least, because while you may not be moving your wife might be :

[addicted2light]

Thanks for the suggestions a2l .... will follow up with another shoot.   

 

 

You're welcome. Let us know the results!

Edited May 6, 2016 by addicted2light

[TonyfromIndia]

Thanks Gordon for the suggestions.   I will begin working with the manual mode over the weekend and see how it goes.

[gordonrussell76]

Good luck. Handy hint and this is by no means the right way its just a way of thinking I find that helps.

 

Shutter Speed - High = Freeze action, stable shots Low = Blur

Aperture - Low No (not low aperture as technically apertures of 1.2 is actually High and 22 is low, but thats annoying) So Low = Shallow depth of field good for bluring background in a portrait whiel subject remains sharp. Higher number mean more depth of field, better for landscapes etc up to about F11/16 where difraction starts to set in.

ISO - High equals more light, low = Less

 

REmember that a High aperture and a high shutter speed will mean less light so use ISO to compensate. But also remember then higher the ISO the more grain so the less sharp the picture will be.

 

Good starting point for shooting your wife above

 

A = F2 SS = 200 and ISO on Auto, it will automatically adjust the light for you, or if you are feeling brave adjust the iso to taste. 

 

G