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."

 

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Edited September 6 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 the 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.

Edited September 8 by pw-pix

[mjoseph67]

Thank you Abmet. 1/480 of a second at f 5.6, ISO 80. Focus point is dead center.

Edited September 8 by mjoseph67
forgot to add focus point.

[mjoseph67]

pw pix, thanks for your sharing your experience, and I am happy to know I am not the only person whom this has happened to. I held the X-H2S and really liked it, so I wonder if that may be a better camera to switch to ...

[BobJ]

Having had an x-t5 for several years, I can honestly say that I have absolutely never encountered this problem. The only failures I see are when tracking moving subjects and even then not often. So, in my experience, this is definitely NOT typical for the x-t5. Certainly not for static subjects at least.

Nothing to do with sharpness, but did you mean ISO 800? 80 doesn't make much sense with the x-t5. That would be within the extended range where you will get less dynamic range.

Either you are doing something wrong or there is something wrong with your camera or lens. Do you have the release/focus priority for af-s set to focus? If not that might be the problem. Also, it is not a good idea to have the face/eye detection on when there is noone in the shot.

[BobJ]

I repeat - there is something wrong. I have the same lens and an x-t5 and do not experience any sharpness problems. It may be that there are problems with a 150-600 lens, I don't  know, but mjoseph67 is using the 16-55. Make sure the af is set to focus priority and that you do not have af with mf set (if you have you could be accidentally moving the focus ring after autofocus). If that doesn't help get your camera and lens checked out.

[mjoseph67]

BobJ,

Thank you for mentioning that this is not typical. No, I meant ISO 80, as that is what the lightroom info indicates. Could that be a factor in causing blurriness?

Yes, both AF-S and AF-C priority selection are set to FOCUS.

What I will do is check the face detection setting - I "minimalized" my LCD display settings to hide whether or not it shows whether face detection (bug detection, etc) is on/off. 

Thank you for your help!

[mjoseph67]

BobJ,

Pardon my belated response, but I noticed two messages from you ... THANK you for your expertise/ care!

Yes, both afs are set to focus priority. What baffles me is how, if I get a green light indicator suggesting background focus at least, the XT5, it seems, randomly takes a blurry shot. 

This is another thing: I have double checked to make sure that AF+MF is OFF. Sadly, it appears that the problem persisted in a shoot at the Saint Louis Art museum in MO USA.

The problem appears difficult to replicate.

ALSO I will say that my Fujifilm XT5 is one of the new Made in Japan models shipped direct from Fujifilm. I got it shipped in new in box. My WRII lens I got from B and H, it seemed new in box - but I did find it odd that it was "not in stock" but the order immediately went through and was shipped anyway. 

I would have taken about 100 photos and two of them in a series turns out like this, progressing from sharper to out-of-focus to tack sharp at the end of series of 9 shots. See below for one of two blurry shots.

1/900 sec, broad daylight, f 7.1, ISO 320.

From this forum, the answers I am receiving are: 

Buy an X-H2S

Tolerate ~1/100 shots being blurry (but then I am always anxious .. what if the shot I really WANT is not up to my standards?)

OR

Send in the camera and lens to be evaluated. Again, when I emailed Fujifilm they replied via email, 

"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 September 13 by mjoseph67
Additional comment for clarification on green focus light..

[mw02veg]

Had my XT5 since launch  a total joy to use

Edited September 13 by mw02veg

[mjoseph67]

Mw02veg,

Respectfully, I do not find your post relevant to this topic (this was tagged under help/troubleshooting). I am in no way indicating that the XT5 is not very enjoyable to use. It is! The sharp pics are amazing, and the ergonomics of the camera are stellar. It just appears, with the best available information I have, that around 1/100 shots are corner-to-corner blurry. Do you have any ideas for fixing this? Thank you.

Edited September 13 by mjoseph67
edited for grammar/punctuation

[mw02veg]

5 minutes ago, mjoseph67 said:

Mw02veg,

Respectfully, I do not find your post relevant to this topic (this was tagged under help/troubleshooting). I am in no way indicating that the XT5 is not very enjoyable to use. It is! The sharp pics are amazing, and the ergonomics of the camera are stellar. It just appears, with the best available information I have, that around 1/100 shots are corner-to-corner blurry. Do you have any ideas for fixing this? Thank you.

No I have not experienced the issue you are having unless I have focused wrongly 

[mjoseph67]

13 minutes ago, mw02veg said:

No I have not experienced the issue you are having unless I have focused wrongly 

Which I am sure doesn't happen often 🙃

[abmet]

I’ve had my X-T5 since launch and usually my missed focus shots are moving and using continuous focus.  I suppose it’s possible I’ve experienced this too but have just assumed I missed the shot or usually it’s lower light shots I notice most missed focus.  It seems like you’ve checked a lot of my thoughts that could be (release priority, AF+MF, face detection on, touch screen focus).  Do you ever half press shutter to recompose?  Could it be you half press and have slight delay before fully pressing?  Wonder if you could rent another lens and see if experience same issues.  I haven’t had my 16-55 mkii that long so I’ll watch for this more closely.  Wish I could help more. 

[jerryy]

I do not think adding this will help you much, but it may give you some perspective.

After reading your posts in this thread several times to make certain I am not missing anything, the numbers you are reporting are in line with those reported across the broad range of digital cameras by various manufacturers. Nikon, Canon, Sony, Leica, Fujifilm, etc. Use your favorite search engine to lookup (brand) af keeper rate. People are reporting af keeper rates now in the high ninety range. You will find page after page of tips and technique improvements for improving the keeper rate. As well as page after page from the manufacturers touting their new camera models with improved af keeper rates. af is vastly improved, but it still is not perfect.

It maybe that there is something slightly wrong with either your camera body or the lens, but I suspect that if you send it in to get it checked, it probably will be okay. Getting a new XH2 will make your camera dealer happy and it is a fantastic camera, but, …, getting it solely in hopes of better keeper rates is probably wishful hoping.

 For what it worth, (more of what you probably do not want to hear) back in the film days, a af keeper rate over 50% was considered great. Those expensive film rolls certainly did not hold the thousands of shots memory cards hold.

I very well understand the thought of maybe missing that one shot, try when possible to push the shutter button several times, those cards hold a lot of shots and it is easy to delete the extras.

I hope you get this resolved in a way you like.

[mjoseph67]

8 hours ago, abmet said:

Do you ever half press shutter to recompose?  Could it be you half press and have slight delay before fully pressing?  

I am almost always recomposing shots, yes. What would half-press delay do? 

I will rent another lens and check it out. Thank you Abmet!

[mjoseph67]

7 hours ago, jerryy said:

the numbers you are reporting are in line with those reported across the broad range of digital cameras by various manufacturers.

I had not considered AF keeper rates! Certainly this does put things into perspective. I would imagine extreme quality control for a company like Fujifilm, and moving from Nikon, I can say I have never had this experience before with the Nikon F6 or DF (on any lenses). I remain optimistic and pleased with the many excellent pictures I am capable to capture! 

It is just nice to have the soundness of mind that "near-perfection" in AF offers, which at least one other brand, Nikon, has offered me, anecdotally. I can't jump to conclusions, of course, and rule out my own user error, but I have noticed blurry shots corner to corner consistently. 

I will update when I send the camera in to have the company check it out!

Thank you jerryy for your care, knowledge, and insight!

[mjoseph67]

8 hours ago, abmet said:

and usually my missed focus shots are moving and using continuous focus.

The odd thing about these shots, are that they are always landscapes - I am standing still and the subject is! 

[mjoseph67]

*Update*

Called Fujifilm and the representative (who expected user error) suggested I take a series of photos on a tripod with/without AF (if the problem doesnt show up in their studio, they wil send it back & charge shipping). I took 125 shots focused dead center at infinity with/without AF (manual focus)... and the shots were perfectly clear. All 250! I noticed that, at times, I will zoom in and out while taking a photo, which, with the 16-55 WRII's rather herky-jerky zoom mechanism, could cause the blur. I am having trouble replicating it, and a tripod test with/out AF revealed clear pictures for a sequence of 250+ shots. Just info for posterity if other people report similar problems with this exact lens/body combination. I imagine any camera settings that would override a focused subject would cause blur (taking shots while AF is "hunting", etc)

******

Thank you everyone for your help and direction. If anyone else has ideas I havent thought of, feel free to share.

And I have decided to send the camera in for Fujifilm to check, with an open mind that there is a natural AF keeper rate.

I love my XT5 (had it for two months) and yeah, keep shooting, folks!

[A final sample blurry photo for future folks who may experience similar issues (you will notice nothing is in focus in foreground or background) ... ]

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Edited September 17 by mjoseph67
update after more tests on tripod w/ w/out AF.