Autofocus - is there one system that is generally accepted as being the best?

bl0at3r

bl0at3r

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Been out the DSLR space for a while. Dabbled with Canon, Nikon crop & full frame and Olympus/Panasonic M43 over the years but have been using X100’s for the last few years. Currently have an X100VI and I think the autofocus probably lets it down slightly.

Is there a general acceptance that a particular system/manufacturer has the best all round autofocus - for single shot, tracking and subject detection?
 
I’d say canon has the edge (since the launch of the R5 and R6). I believe this is the general consensus too. Watch a lot of the Northrop’s, and peta pixel and they say generally the same
 
Not at all sure there’s a definitive answer. All the current models are extremely good. I can speak for Sony, Olympus and Nikon even Fuji. All have very capable systems. There’s always gonna be a winner for a certain scenario.
 
I'm not really sure that there's much between them and it also really depends on what and how you'll be using it for. Even if there is a 'best' now, it probably won't be within a few months when the next model from another company comes out. I do feel that you can get more out of a camera when you've spent some time mastering it. Just my opinion.
 
trevorbray said:
Not at all sure there’s a definitive answer. All the current models are extremely good. I can speak for Sony, Olympus and Nikon even Fuji. All have very capable systems. There’s always gonna be a winner for a certain scenario.
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dragonfly said:
I'm not really sure that there's much between them and it also really depends on what and how you'll be using it for. Even if there is a 'best' now, it probably won't be within a few months when the next model from another company comes out. I do feel that you can get more out of a camera when you've spent some time mastering it. Just my opinion.
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What these gentlemen said. (y)

It's seldom the camera that limits you ... and never was.
 
I do think you can become overwhelmed by autofocus. As someone who prefers static scenes a simple point and lock on a centre point is good for me. I can always use the old trick of half pressing the button and recomposing, if need be. I looked through the viewfinder of a Nikon ZF recently and it was like black magic. It was Satan's work. It was all over the place.
 
I think slightly is maybe an understatement but use is key here but even so most reputable reviewers will agree that Fuji AF generally isn't the best even on the latest of the X100 series. I had a couple of the older models (S and F) and even though my AF needs shouldn't be taxing I've never had so many out of focus AF pictures from a (non compact) digital camera although mashing the button can help but it's not going to be a total fix. I think most people buying into these cameras realise this and are buying for other reasons.
 
You can more or less guarantee that whatever AF system you're using, you have will be the wrong one according to someone on the Internet.

The R6m2 works very well indeed for me - but any EF-adapted lens seems pedestrian in performance compared to native RF lenses. I'm n=1, I'm not statistically significant.
 
It is usually going to be a camera system issue than user issue....

My A7Riii will focus the quickest and most accurate, esp with eye AF. I've not compared them but probably the A7 next followed by the X100f. The Yashica film camera focuses the slowest.... ;)
 
I would think that most cameras will Focus 100%, the trick is getting the focus point on what you want in focus. Easier for landscape dead difficult for bird in flight.
 
For tracking, my opinion is Sony and Canon at the top depending on which company has released their top models with Nikon slightly behind with Olympus. Fuji seems to be having a lot of negative press recently about their servo tracking. Panasonic seems to catching up since they abandoned DFD contrast and switched to phase detect. I think autofocus tracking accuracy only matters for a small amount of photographers (sports, birds, motorsport , the rest of us don’t really need that sophisticated level.
 
bl0at3r said:
Been out the DSLR space for a while. Dabbled with Canon, Nikon crop & full frame and Olympus/Panasonic M43 over the years but have been using X100’s for the last few years. Currently have an X100VI and I think the autofocus probably lets it down slightly.

Is there a general acceptance that a particular system/manufacturer has the best all round autofocus - for single shot, tracking and subject detection?
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I have Canon and Fuji and colleagues have Nikon. My Fuji GFX AF for single shot is fine, tracking and subject detection is OK but not great. Between the Canon R's and Nikon Z's both excellent for tracking and subject detection and only challenged in the most difficult situations. The new Canon R1 and R5M2 look like putting Canon ahead. I've not used Sony since a couple of years so can't comment on Sony but as far as I know, also excellent.
 
All the top end mirrorless have excellent AF. Much more important now is whether you want specific lenses, and the cost of them for a particular camera system.
 
As a lifelong Pentax owner I was told get CaNikon because AF is better. I did get D3. (could've got a 5D2 but OH would have stolen it!)

Lightning fast AF, brilliant. Also got a 2nd body D7100, brilliant AF. Go to airshows and still have my trusty Pentax K-3 in the bag, Whether I started shooting with D3 or D7100, I'd fire off a couple of shots and buffer is immediately full - so if the camera was on Ch I'd get a max of 9 shots and unable to capture the remaining part of the flypast, Put Nikon down, pick up K-3, although slower to acquire it was as accurate as the D3/D7100 but no buffer restrictions - so although I might miss the first part I get the rest of the sequence. Thankfully my current pair D850/D500 have decent buffers and can be relied on without taking my Pentax gear out as well.

So, message is, no point aiming for perfect AF performance if another aspect of the camera is found wanting.
 
bl0at3r said:
Been out the DSLR space for a while. Dabbled with Canon, Nikon crop & full frame and Olympus/Panasonic M43 over the years but have been using X100’s for the last few years. Currently have an X100VI and I think the autofocus probably lets it down slightly.

Is there a general acceptance that a particular system/manufacturer has the best all round autofocus - for single shot, tracking and subject detection?
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Sorry but this question sounds a bit like; 'I've been out in my 2015 Ford Ka today and it's not really fast enough - so can someone tell me the fastest car to buy please?'. That'd obviously be a daft question; so lets come up with a sensible one. What do you want to spend, what kind of photography do you want to lean on, and what lenses you thinking about.

Though; back to the car analogy - as people have posted above, most cars are faster than yours so it doesn't matter which one you pick.

A Canon R8 and RF35mm are a kinda direct replacement, but obviously there's no point in getting an interchangeable lens camera unless you're looking to buy other lenses too.
 
Ok, appreciate the replies.

For the majority of the time I use the X100VI for snaps - and the majority of those snaps are static subjects.

And I probably don’t use the focus settings to their fullest for the occasions when I have found oof pics - for clarity we’re not talking F1 cars, birds in flight or children/pets running around, but more where there is a bit of difference in the subject over a second or two e.g. cars moving up the queue at the entrance to a car show or people walking across the frame.

Maybe it’s also a skill issue and I need to experiment more with the camera (y)
 
bl0at3r said:
Ok, appreciate the replies.

For the majority of the time I use the X100VI for snaps - and the majority of those snaps are static subjects.

And I probably don’t use the focus settings to their fullest for the occasions when I have found oof pics - for clarity we’re not talking F1 cars, birds in flight or children/pets running around, but more where there is a bit of difference in the subject over a second or two e.g. cars moving up the queue at the entrance to a car show or people walking across the frame.

Maybe it’s also a skill issue and I need to experiment more with the camera (y)
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TBH Alan i'd stick with it and maybe even try manual focus on the occasions you can see it struggling. I shot an entire music gig last night with a ZF and manual focus Voigtlander with a hit rate of 99.5%. You could also try over exposing a little and upping the ISO, so easy to clean up files these days as long as you don't under expose too much.
 
The AF on my X100V is not that bad, I often use it for mountain bike photography. With the next generation processor the X100VI should be even better. Are you using the AI modes?


Riding the skinny by Lewis Craik, on Flickr
 
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