How do you use AF+MF on Fujifilm lenses with hard-stop focus rings?
Asked 6/5/2016
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On Fujifilm bodies, AF+MF autofocuses with a half-press, then allows manual focus correction with the focus ring. On some Fujinon lenses the focus ring has hard stops, so after AF the ring position does not re-center. That seems to limit how far I can adjust focus in one direction, depending on where the ring started. Is there a setting or workaround for this, or is AF+MF only meant for small corrections after autofocus?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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In the manual for the X-T10 or X-Pro2 (and probably others), when describing the AF+MF feature, Fujifilm suggests:
Set the focus ring to the center of the focus distance indicator, as the camera may fail to focus if the ring is set to infinity or the minimum focus distance.
This seems entirely reasonable. Of course you can't then get to extremes far away from the distance autofocus found — but, that's not what the feature is for. It's for fine-tuning. If the result is far off, you can either reengage the autofocus — or simply focus manually.
In your example diagram, you're not completely at the extreme, so you have room for a little fine-tuning and a lot in the other direction; starting in the center will give you more flexibility.
Of course, you could just only use this feature with lenses which don't have a hard stop. That's not just a flippant suggestion — the feature is actually most useful in that case, because with a continuously-turnable focus ring, you can't really estimate in advance, whereas with the lenses which do stop, you can set the ring manually to something you guess to be close (either using the distance scale or by feel). You can think of the AF+MF as a shortcut meant for lenses where this isn't possible.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
10y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
There usually isn’t a special setting to re-center the ring after AF. On Fujifilm bodies, AF+MF is intended for fine-tuning after autofocus, not for making large manual focus changes from whatever distance the lens happened to be set to before AF.
Fujifilm’s own guidance is to start with the focus ring near the middle of the focus distance scale. If the ring is left at minimum focus distance or infinity, autofocus may fail or leave you with very little adjustment range in one direction afterward.
So the practical workaround is:
- set the focus ring around the middle before using AF+MF
- use AF+MF for small corrections only
- if focus is significantly off, half-press again to re-engage AF, or switch to full manual focus
In short, this behavior is normal for these lenses. AF+MF works best as a fine-adjust feature, not as a full-range manual override after AF.
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