Quick take: In part 2 of my Fujifilm X-H2S firmware 7.10 testing, I answered viewer questions by retesting video autofocus in the rain with the 50mm F1, 18mm F1.4 and 33mm F1.4. The 50mm F1 is still the hardest lens to track with, but the 18mm and 33mm were immediately better. Product-focus handoffs can lag a bit. For talking heads, and for how most people actually shoot, it's fine.
Answering Your Questions
My first firmware 7.10 video got a lot of questions and comments, so I went back out, in the rain, to address them. The biggest one was minimum focus distance: some people thought I was holding products too close to the lens.
A Reminder About These Tests
A lot of these tests aren't how most people use a camera. A talking-head setup, like the one I'm in when I talk to the camera, is how I'd actually use it. I had no problem tracking athletes with the X-T3 for photo and video, so I expected this to be fine. What I find odd is where it struggles, because it excels in so many other areas.
The Setup
I used the X-H2S, recording the screen externally so I could check focus, and went back to Fuji's default autofocus settings. Later I also tried AF speed +3 and tracking sensitivity +4, then went back to the defaults, which felt better.
Fujifilm 50mm F1: The Hardest Case
I started with the 50mm F1 because it's the most challenging lens to track with, roughly a 75mm F1.4 full-frame equivalent. I measured its minimum focus distance with a tape measure (about 27 inches) and stayed beyond it.
Face and eye detection: it held onto me well, even picking up my eyes when I couldn't see them myself, and even below the minimum focus distance. With face and eye detection on, the tracking was better than my Canon R5 C with the RF 85mm could do.
Hand-in-front tests: it took a while to refocus, but for a talking head where you're on screen the whole time, I don't think it looks bad at all.
Center point and tracking modes: object tracking was hit or miss. Every time I complimented it, it did exactly what it wasn't supposed to.
Fujifilm 18mm F1.4
Switching to the 18mm F1.4, a lens far more people will actually use, was immediately better. Not even close. Its minimum focus distance is about 4.3 inches, and it tracked me walking around the frame, ducking down and partially underexposed without a problem.
Fujifilm 33mm F1.4
The 33mm F1.4 was also good. From experience, if these two are good, the old 16mm F1.4 will be too. It focuses well, it's just noisy because of its older clutch design. Generally, the more telephoto the lens, the more these subtle autofocus differences show up.
The Product Test
On product handoffs, it gets there gradually but takes a moment, and there's a lag I can't explain. It wasn't because I was too close. The 18mm focuses down to about 4 inches, and the Sigma 10-18mm to 12cm, so I wasn't near the limits. For actual product shots, I always use manual focus anyway.
Handheld
Off the tripod, shooting the way someone would to make money, it focused immediately in most cases. The further away the subject, the easier it is.
Verdict
Autofocus did improve. In the specific areas where it failed before, I'm pushing it hard and it hasn't improved as much there. But for moving back and forth, and for a talking head where it doesn't jump off me once it's locked, I think it's fine.
We expect perfection from cameras now, and if you shoot long enough on any system, you'll find flaws. Fuji just happens to be what a lot of people use, and its film simulations are better than everyone else's picture profiles.
I followed up with a photo-focused test using the 150-600mm. See X-H2S firmware 7.10 for photos (part 3).
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