Focus On...

 

Don't ask.        Photo: © Stan Banos

This is the photo which finally taxed my patience with my pair of Fujifilm X-T1's, and finally made me purchase a minty X-T2. Looked fine when I took it, only to find upon closer inspection that it was out of focus! Fortunately, I was able to somewhat salvage it using Focus Magic trial software. Although still not up to properly focused standards, it did a fairly remarkable job and is at least now suitable for book proportions. It's a snapshot for sure, though one that never fails to bring a smile to my face when viewing.

I had previously noticed that every so often (about 1 out of every 30 shots or so), either X-T1 would produce an off focus image using my 14mm (21mm equivalent), even without action in direct sunlight. It never cost me a photo I really liked until this one, and it usually (though not always) occurs when I reshoot the same composition repeatedly (something I don't usually do)- as if though the focusing algorithm (or whatever) couldn't deal with the fact that it had to refocus a scene already in focus and then instead of just laying low and leaving well enough alone, just panics and short circuits. Dunno, but that's my 'tech breakdown' till someone offers a better one.

I've been resisting using manual focus in a digital world, perhaps, a viable alternative is to just make better use of the back focus button- I keep forgetting it's there, that it actually exists, it's not part of my muscle memory. Though I'll have to concentrate on doing just that, since I'm not getting rid of either X-T1, I still value their image making capabilities, and their resale value is well past due. It's just hard to... focus and/or concentrate all that much on anything when confronted with subject matter as above...