X-T5 blurry corner-to-corner pictures?

[mjoseph67]

Hi friends. I have a question about my new Fujifilm XT-5. 

In single AF, single point AF Mode, with Focus priority selection on (Pre-AF is off) about one in every 100 pictures will be completely out of focus (totally blurry). Back screen “touch” focus is OFF. I am shooting at 1/500 of second (see attached pic). Body firmware version is 4.21 and lens version (16-55 WRII) is 1.00. I am an experienced photographer and believe I am focused on, say, the background, but the camera will take a picture that, corner to corner, is out of focus.

Is there a problem with the camera? I only have one lens (16-55 WRII) so I can't really test if it is a lens problem, and the problem, since it appears random, is difficult to replicate.

Any one have a similar experience? What should I do? I have tried turning off the MF+AF mode and turned on pre-focus ... next time I travel I'll check and see if the blurriness persists.

THANK you so much expressly for your time and wisdom, and I look forward to exploring this forum more as I start my new life as a Fujifilm shooter! (moving over from Nikon!)

I reached out to Fujifilm, and this was the message received: 

"

Hello,

 I do not feel there is an issue with the camera, auto focus is not infallible or perfect. But if you feel there is an issue you can send in your camera and lens to be evaluated."

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Edited Saturday at 01:36 AM by mjoseph67
added firmware version for body and lens.

[abmet]

What aperture and where was the focus point?

[pw-pix]

That is typical for the X-T5, I was having a significantly worse hit rate before the last two firmware updates.

A non-moving scene with a clear, central subject, plenty of light and contrast, single point AF in S mode, completely out of focus (even though it gave focus confirmation in the viewfinder) . That was with modern lenses like the XF 18/1.4 and Viltrox AF 13/1.4. It was occurring more like one in 20 photos.

I still have wildly varaiable results with the XF 150-600 and C mode AF when shooting birds, sometimes it's better to have subject detection (bird) off, sometimes on. It's very frustrating out in the field and has lost me several lifetime opportunities.

I like to 40MP sensor and the results when it works well, but I contemplate selling the X-T5 and purchasing an X-H2S in it's place. That seems more economically sensible than a wholesale switch to another brand for bird photography.

Additionally, the recently publicised tech documents from Fuji about the AF and settings for various subjects and lens types seems to have made my X-T5 and XF 150-600mm slightly to moderately worse for bird photography.