I think the joystick is kinda worthless

[Jwctp]

After shooting several thousands of photos using the X-T2. I realized I don't like the joystick. It's too slow. When I press the joystick to one direction, the focus point moves too slowly.

 

I shoot fashion/models mostly. So when the subject's head moves, I have to move the focus point to follow them. With the X-T1, I was able to mash the directional pads to move it. It was much faster than the joystick of X-T2. And no, I can't use face detect AF. I tried it, and it isn't fast enough, and it doesn't detect the face sometimes to make it useful for me.

 

I think Fuji needs to release a firmware update to speed up the focus point movement with the joystick.

 

What is everyone else's thoughts on the joystick? 

[petergabriel]

Perhaps make the speed adjustable.

[kimcarsons]

Yeah. It was a big disappointment for me when I first experienced it on the X-Pro2. I assumed it would be force-sensitive like the Thinkpad trackpoint/nipple. If you're limited to individual clicks or a slow repeat rate, then the joystick isn't really any better/faster (except that you're not overloading functions on the D-PAD buttons).

 

I use it, but I don't find it to be any better than e.g. using the D-PAD on the X-Pro1.

[Lumens]

When the XT-2 came out I wasn't impressed with the idea of a joy stick. I figured I'd never use it.  Now I find I am using it more and more.  It has more functions then just moving the focus point.  I keep finding new uses all the time.

[JoseM]

When the XT-2 came out I wasn't impressed with the idea of a joy stick. I figured I'd never use it.  Now I find I am using it more and more.  It has more functions then just moving the focus point.  I keep finding new uses all the time.

New uses like what, for example?

[Aswald]

It's faster than my finger presses. So, I use it all te time.

[voodooless]

Perhaps make the speed adjustable.

I agree. The joystick is not wothless at all, but I can imagine some people would like it to be a bit faster. 3 speeds would be cool!

[MartinP]

I agree. The joystick is not wothless at all, but I can imagine some people would like it to be a bit faster. 3 speeds would be cool!

...and 3 acceleration modes (linear, softly accelerated after each step, more accelerated after each step) (i guess many things could be adjusted smoothly via a curve adjustment and not in three discrete steps, but it would be easier with a touch screen)

[Jwctp]

I agree. The joystick is not wothless at all, but I can imagine some people would like it to be a bit faster. 3 speeds would be cool!

 

You're right, it's not worthless. It is a good idea. But the current implementation on my X-T2 is worthless. I would love different speeds. I used to play those old FPS games back in the day, and I would set my mouse sensitive pretty high. 

[Tom H.]

Yes, speed should be faster. Adjustable even better.

[Jackhandy]

After shooting several thousands of photos using the X-T2. I realized I don't like the joystick. It's too slow. When I press the joystick to one direction, the focus point moves too slowly.

 

I shoot fashion/models mostly. So when the subject's head moves, I have to move the focus point to follow them. With the X-T1, I was able to mash the directional pads to move it. It was much faster than the joystick of X-T2. And no, I can't use face detect AF. I tried it, and it isn't fast enough, and it doesn't detect the face sometimes to make it useful for me.

 

I think Fuji needs to release a firmware update to speed up the focus point movement with the joystick.

 

What is everyone else's thoughts on the joystick?

Probably talking out of my... hat, but isn't this kind of erratic movement what set 5 of the continuous af custom settings for?

If not, an explanation as to why not would be handy.

 

Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk

[Jwctp]

Probably talking out of my... hat, but isn't this kind of erratic movement what set 5 of the continuous af custom settings for?

If not, an explanation as to why not would be handy.

 

Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk

 

It's an interesting idea. The model isn't too erratic so AF-S is still good. I just have to change the AF point when the model changes, or when I want to try a different composition. 

 

Also, depending on the distance, body position, and my depth of field, the AF-C  settings won't work since it would focus on the body and not the head. But it does give me some motivation to try it out. I hope I don't get too many out of focus shots. 

[kimcarsons]

I find the most usable mode to be zone AF with the smallest zone shape. It's much quicker to move a box that size around. Unfortunately, unlike what the marketing material would have us believe, the X-Pro2 and X-T2 still seem to prefer to focus on the background if it's anywhere inside the focus box/point (except, of course, when you would like it to [e.g. focusing on an nearer arm/shoulder instead of a face when both are inside the box]).

[petergabriel]

Funny, I have a thread where I question the AF on the xpro2. Made a lot of test shots of my hand in a camera store with my own xpro1 a x100t, a x70 and a xpro2 and the xpro2 was the only one that left my hand blurry and the background in focus even though the green AF square confirmed it had focused on my hand. Seems like I see a lot of people confirming this tendency now in different threads.

[RM_Photog]

I love the XT2 joystick!

 

I'm surprised to see a thread like this. I use the joystick for every shoot and I wish my XT1 had one also. When I switch back to my XT1 with the directional pads in a setting where I need to switch focal points quickly, it makes me want to sell the camera to buy a second XT2. The best part about the Fuji joystick is it's continually adjustable, unlike Canon where you have to keep clicking it to move it around. The Fuji joystick will keep moving around the viewfinder as long as your thumb is controlling it, I love that! 

 

 

The only feature I really wish Fuji would add is where the focal point updates when you switch the orientation of the camera.

[jlmphotos]

Blasphemy I yell.  Blasphemy.   Actually in all seriousness I wish my X-T1 had one!  so the joystick some find useless I find to be a convenience.

But, that's just me.

[pete1959]

Agreed...too slow for fast paced work.

 

So slow that I'm back to focus and recompose.

[petergabriel]

Funny, how things turn out only a few of months after release where features like the joystick was highly praised. Now both the x pro 2 and x t2 seem to suck in sooo many ways :-)

Guess the moral is: never buy a newly released model till after a couple of months when the frenzy has cooled down and real life experience start to show its ugly head :-)

Guess I will stick with my excellent x pro 1 ;-)

Edited December 11, 2016 by petergabriel

[kimcarsons]

Funny, how things turn out only a few of months after release where features like the joystick was highly praised. Now both the x pro 2 and x t2 seem to suck in sooo many ways :-)

Gues the moral is: never buy a newly released model till after a couple of months when the frenzy has cooled down and real life experience start to show its ugly head :-)

Guess I will stick with my excellent x pro 1 ;-)

 

Indeed. The more time I spend with the X-T2 the more I've come to realize that the improvements it offers over the X-Pro1 for still image quality/performance are marginal. This goes for the autofocus performance too. Yeah, it's much faster under a very specific set of ideal circumstances, but the rest of the time it falls back to a contrast detection cycle which is exactly the same speed (and accuracy) as the X-Pro1. Honestly, I think I could only recommend the X-T2 over the other cameras if you really need to shoot video (esp 4K) and need to do it with Fuji's lenses for some reason, or you have a similarly strong desire to shoot long/fast bursts.

 

It would be nice if the X-Pro1 had a finer grained grid of contrast AF points like the X-Pro2 and X-T2 do though (possible via firmware update but unlikely). 

Edited December 8, 2016 by kimcarsons

[kimcarsons]

Oh, but I almost forgot: For me the real killer feature of the X-T2 and one of the two reasons I prefer it over the X-Pro2 (the other being the tilt screen) is a silly little thing they could have done ages ago, even back with X-Pro1: USB Charging! No longer do I have battery anxiety or have to carry a extra batteries and a charger. I just carry a little USB power bank (that I have anyway for charging my phone) (it's also a flashlight...) I don't think I'll ever buy another digital camera that doesn't charge over USB.

Edited December 8, 2016 by kimcarsons

[Jwctp]

Oh, but I almost forgot: For me the real killer feature of the X-T2 and one of the two reasons I prefer it over the X-Pro2 (the other being the tilt screen) is a silly little thing they could have done ages ago, even back with X-Pro1: USB Charging! No longer do I have battery anxiety or have to carry a extra batteries and a charger. I just carry a little USB power bank (that I have anyway for charging my phone) (it's also a flashlight...) I don't think I'll ever buy another digital camera that doesn't charge over USB.

 

Wow, I didn't know that was possible. 

 

Indeed. The more time I spend with the X-T2 the more I've come to realize that the improvements it offers over the X-Pro1 for still image quality/performance are marginal. This goes for the autofocus performance too. Yeah, it's much faster under a very specific set of ideal circumstances, but the rest of the time it falls back to a contrast detection cycle which is exactly the same speed (and accuracy) as the X-Pro1. Honestly, I think I could only recommend the X-T2 over the other cameras if you really need to shoot video (esp 4K) and need to do it with Fuji's lenses for some reason, or you have a similarly strong desire to shoot long/fast bursts.

 

It would be nice if the X-Pro1 had a finer grained grid of contrast AF points like the X-Pro2 and X-T2 do though (possible via firmware update but unlikely). 

 

While it might be true for image quality, there would be more reasons why one would choose X-T2 over X-Pro1. It just depends on a photographers needs. 

 

Video (4K) like you mentioned is one. The ability to tether is another. The tilt screen might be important to some people (it is for me). The ability to change the ISO quickly with a dial is also handy. The vertical hand grip is also convenient. And the general snappier feel makes taking photos a little bit easier. 

 

For a beginner or even for some enthusiasts, a cheap X-Pro1 would still be a very adequate camera. Not everyone would need all those new features to make great photos. 

[tarasaudi]

For me, the joystick was the main reason to upgrade from XT-1. I used to shoot with Canon 5D MkIII and select focus point manually. I don't regret switching to Fuji but I was really missing the joystick. Now that I have a joystick, 24Mp sensor, hugely improved focusing and superb lenses I am satisfied with equipment and need to develop the photographer in me. 

[johant]

Blasphemy I yell. Blasphemy. Actually in all seriousness I wish my X-T1 had one! so the joystick some find useless I find to be a convenience.

But, that's just me.

Canon also has a kind of joystick. I never liked it, so I am not really surprised.

[aladroer]

I agree the joystick speed is too slow. Although I would love to use the 325 focus points setting, I can't. The movement is too slow. Therefore, I have to work with the 91 focus point setting, even if sometimes this forces me to move the camera afterwards. This doesn't mean I would prefer using the D-pad. Although I could set the camera to move the focus point with the D-pad, I prefer using the joystick and configure the D-pad for other functions. But I would love Fuji gave us the possibility to move the focus point with the joystick faster.

[ranger9]

Yup, it's too slow, and the other thing that annoys me is that it's locked while you're tracking focus, which means you can't recompose while trying to follow a moving subject. I'm like some of the other posters -- I still use it, but I'm disappointed that it isn't really as useful as I was led to believe by the early reviews.