Is the autofocus of the new XH2S really that good?! In this video, I compare the Fujifilm XH2S autofocus vs the Fujifilm XT3 for photography. Considering that both the Fujifilm X-T3 and Fujifilm XT4 have the same autofocus performance, this test should help YOU figure out if the XH2S is worth the upgrade or not, when it comes to those who prioritize autofocus for low light, wedding photography, and sports photography.
Note, AF % improvement was calculated using the following formula:
[ (X-H2S % – X-T3%) / X-T3% ] * 100 = % improvement in AF performance over the X-T3
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Comments
50 responses to “Fujifilm XH2S Autofocus vs XT4/XT3 for Photography”
What are your thoughts? Has the af improved as you’d expect?
If you’ve got a friend with an a7IV, I’d love to see how it does with these same tests
pinoy k sir?
Great intro! Looking forward to the X-S10 wedding video!
Great tests Reggie. I mainly shoot wildlife photos with my Nikon D7500 + Sigma 150-600mm C lens which works well. I also have the Fujifilm X-S10 which is fine for walkabout photos/video. I did try the tracking AF & it seemed to work okay on birds most of the time but the new X-HS2 with that new XF 150-600mm lens could be a compelling option-but the price is a bit steep! I having been looking to buy the XF 70-300mm lens but it is in short supply here in the UK, very frustrating!
Hello, I jus got the X-H2S and I have a question, when I move the camera from hip to the eye I feel a part moving inside the camera, do you feel the same thing, is it the IBIS? I never had this problem with my X-T4 or other IBIS cameras.
I want see more with the 50mm f/1
Well explained review. Thanks.
I have been using my XH2s now since 28 June. In good light shooting with the 100-400 mostly wildlife and birds. This camera is worth every penny and and more than 2x faster than the Xt3. I would go as far as to claim that locking focus on to a bird happens 3x faster, that is awesome as in many cases the birds don't hang around for the XT3 to lock focus, especially if the bird is amongst branches and not in the open. Using it in the streets on the first day I was amazed at the distance it pics up the faces. For street photographers i think this will enable some amazing images in a run and gun style.
Thanks for this review!!
Your thoughts are spot on where it concerns family time. I do find myself taking numerous takes with my x-t3 just to ensure I get the in focus shot – which due to kids then getting bored or restless isn't always the best posed photo or the one where everyone is looking at the camera at the same time! But it's not just the time lost from being in the moment with the family, it's later the extra time in my own world culling and checking focus – the precious time I could spend relaxing with wife with a glass of wine!
Family portraits you have 5 seconds before the smiles turn to frowns and someone starts clowning around or protesting!
The price is an important aspect, though. I'd happily take the bonus effect on family shoots as a pro, taking advantage of tax rebate on a work tool as well. But I'm just a hobbyist and family documenter. And I don't like paying for a lot of features I know I won't make the most of – especially on the video front.
Also physically, I'm not sold. I like the retro dials, and when I want to be more spontaneous shoot in aperture priority mode. The one dial in would be happy losing is that exposure comp. and it is gone… But I'd like it replaced with a custom dial not a screen. And for photos I definitely prefer the X-t3 style over the X-t4 style. All in all too far away from the x-t3 which I really enjoy still.
Very interested in how the AF of the x-h2 compares, given it is likely to be very similar to the X-t5. But I am just as curious what the promised AF upgrades to the older cameras will bring. Sadly probably late 2023/ early 2024 to allow the x-h2 to sell – but I hope I'm wrong.
Really liking the focus of your new content – keep it up!
Thank you!! As someone shooting sports and motorsport with an X-H1 (which works fine with the right AF settings) was great to see these comparable tests against an even newer model.
Fujifilm has great cameras and lens. But Fujifilm has only crop matrix((((( I use Canon EOS R6 for my YouTube videos. It is fantastic camera. I love it))))💙
Kids on a bike is def a perfect stress test 😂😂😂
Reggie, thank you for this video. I used the XT3 for professional use and this type of comparison is what I’ve been looking for.. Please consider doing a video on general use of the H2s with more emphasis on the “S” for still photography. Question, any thoughts on a 40 mega pixel crop sensor H2 camera.? 40MP seems excessive for a crop sensor.
All the best to you and your family. Travis
I would love to see this test after the expected firmware update to the tracking algorithms Fuji said to expect for older bodies. great video 🙂
Nice review!!! What did you use to record the camera display?
Reggie out here doing gods work. Thanks for this man!
Great review…good to see a more photo orientated test rather than video! I do a lot of catwalk photography, often in quite poor light, so it was really good to see your hit-rate indoors. I’d be interested to hear if there’s much improvement in image quality at higher ISOs over the X-T3?
Looking forward to X-T5. But give us the Reason why you should/not upgrade to the X-H2s.
Getting the whole family involved. I like it!
Haha loved the opening!!🤩
Thank you for this video and it unfortunately confirms my fears with the X-H2S.
My biggest takeaway from this video is validation. I love all of my Fuji gear…and my Canon gear. But Fujifilm's autofocus is still very poor in this demonstration of the X-H2S. If I even moderately criticize Fujifilm autofocus online it creates an upheaval of detractors. These are very low hit rates on both cameras and I continue to read that the AF on the X-T3/X-T4 is very good.
To the folks reading: THIS IS NOT GOOD AUTOFOCUS TRACKING PERFORMANCE FROM A MODERN CAMERA. Again, I love my X-T4/X-T30II/X-100V and can't stress that enough. But Fuji users need to realize this isn't good and I was really hopeful we would see Fuji catch up with the X-H2S. Any of my Canon cameras would have a hit rate between 80-100% on tests this simple – especially at 5fps. I put my money where my mouth is and own THREE Fujifilm cameras because they are such a joy to use and I love the image quality. But I just wish more Fuji users would come to understand that we're not seeing good AF performance at all. The X-H2S might show a box on something, but for whatever reason, we're still not nailing AF…I expected so much more from this camera.
Sell my XT3 worthy? I may have to scoop this one.
Thanks so much for this video Reggie! Sooo insightful as usual. I know you'll be leaving the wedding space soon, but if possible at all, I'd love to see some footage of you using the XH2S at your last few weddings and making a video about the best XH2S AF settings in low light/fast paced movements or scenes and the best lenses to pair the camera with to really bring our the best in it. A video about how you setup the camera (with custom dials, buttons, settings, etc) would be really helpful too for new owners! Thanks Reggie! You provide such good value to the Fuji/photography community.
The battery life is perfect.
Bro you nailed the intro title coming in on cue of the the trumpets!!! 🤌🏽 nice video dude!
Great video – thanks Reggie. As a still photographer this is exactly the type of tests I’ve been want to see. Completely agree with you about how precious and priceless family moments are.
Thanks Reggie for this great overview. This is the first proper test of the AF in realistic conditions that I have seen and has confirmed that my purchase has been a good one! Keep up the great work.
I’ll have to test it on the soccer and and football field but judging from the video, this is a fail in my book. It doesn’t appear to have caught up with the competition and is lacking behind what should be expected in a flag ship.
Was waiting for this review. Thank you ❤️ 😊
“Everybody’s talking about video…” and I still can’t understand is it reliable or not 🤐
Thank you for this test. How would you compare the eye AF stickiness/success at getting eye in focus to the A7IV (if you have tested that body)?
Nice editing Reggie.
My a7 IV have 99procent in this condition
Would like to see how the X-H2S is with 'rolling shutter' of the electronic shutter on fast-moving subjects. I shoot motorsports and the X-T2 and X-T4 are just not usable for this with the electronic shutter.
NIce review!!! and what a beautiful family, but i prefer the classic fuji buttons or dials. This camera is most for video shotters, and the best combo I think it's XT4 and an x100V.
Thank you for running these tests for STILLS photographers. YouTube folks (understandably) concentrate on the video aspects – which I don't really use this for and short the stills side. I've also got an X-T3, but I think I'm going to wait for an X-T5 to see what that brings to the table and at what price-point.
There seemed something wrong with the dog detect test – it didn't seem to detect the dog before it started running – it needs to acquire focus before it starts tracking
How is the low light / dynamic range for video vs x-T3, CANON R6, OR BMPCC 6K?
I’ve seen vids of xh-2 has the longest range in terms of locking onto they eyes from a distance….. By the time they officially release the final firmware this thing will rock.
great video but im very very disappointed, i love fuji for the image quality (if there in focus what is barley ever) i saved up for the xh2 but after so many rewvies im done with fuji sadly because 2500 for that Oo sry 300 bucks more and i get the sony a7iv and thats full frame i consider keeping my XS 10 with the 16mm but everthing else i sell. keep up the good work love it!
Good video but, only one thing worth noting: on the first test X-H2s was doing it's job and was latched to the girl, not the dog, when the dog covered her it started tracking it. So actually it was doing well all along, I wonder if you can turn off completely human detection without turning of animal af as well
First of all, thanks for the unbiased tests based on the REAL LIFE situations. Also, I agree with you that the photos of the family, and especially of the children running around (moving chaotically), who change (grow) so quickly and sometimes there will never be an opportunity to take the same shot again, are priceless and at the same time very demanding and these situations are Achilles' heel of Fujifilm even more than wedding photography (where everything is rather predictable) or many sport photographies.
So, this is the first video on X-H2S I have found that delivers this much needed data. Sure, the improvement is significant, but on the other hand, only the 80% efectiveness of the face detection with the just released flagship camera and the latest generation lens, XF33/1.4 shows that there is still a lot of work to do for Fujifilm (going from 80 to 95% hit rate could be much, much more difficult than the achieved transition from the 60 to 80%).
Would love to see how you set it up including the 7 custom banks. Coming from an XT3 the layout is quite different. Don't like that the front and back scroll wheels aren't pressable so will take a bit to get use to.
Let's face it no one buys a Fuji for it's auto focus performance and even this new X-H2S could not compete with the Sony AF. I have an X-T4 mostly for the colors and film simulations. If I have an important shoot that demands good AF my Sony takes care of it and as you stated the Fuji is even scary to take to indoor wedding shoots. Personally I feel that the XH2S AF will trickle down to the X-T4 in firmware in the very near future.
For me it was about auto focus mostly for wildlife and let me tell you it has improved a lot from the X T3 I only had it for a few days and I already thinking about selling my X T3.
Great video as always! I really do hope an update comes for the XT4 and XT3 with the new algorithm.
We need recipes lol great video
Thanks for this interesting test. I think it would have been interesting to see the success rate of the XH2S at full speed (20fps). Unfortunately, the issue for this camera is more video than still: less reliable autofocus, same for IBIS, exposure changing when zooming,….. Fuji would have made my life easier if they had fixed those issues already present on previous cameras. At 2,500 £/$/€, this thing plays in FF territory and I’m struggling to decide what to do now (coming from an XT2)!