kalani_kane
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 p.1 #7 · Morris's Fuji Birds In Flight and Action Setup – Updated 3/15/2025 | |
I've learned so much from FM forum for years but only joined recently, so if this is at all helpful, here are some additional x-h2s & gfx 100sii setting ideas from a non-pro enthusiast, newly interested wildlife photographer/videographer:
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xH2s
Shutter Type -> ES (Electronic Shutter needed for Pre-shot ES)
Drive Mode -> CH High Speed Burst "10" (CH High needed for Pre-shot ES)
Focus Mode -> Wide/Tracking
AF-C Custom Settings -> Set 2 "Ignore Obstacles & Continue to Track Subject"
Subject Detection Setting -> "Animal"
AF+MF -> switch to "ON" (NOTE: this setting Disables pre-shot ES!)
Focus Check -> "Peak" (Focus Peak Highlight Red(Low))
Custom Settings Dial:
C2 -> set to Animal detect (stills), shutter speed 1/800s
C1 -> set to Bird detect (stills), shutter speed 1/2500s
AE-L button mapping -> "C1 | Recall Custom 1 Setting"
Tip: Never ever use the physical red "record" button for video! This is meant as a "quick capture" and ignores all video settings, including subject detect or AF-C, and pulls focus for every object like a tree. Pretty awful since I chose the x-h2s for one-handed stills & video capture. You need to always turn the left dial control to "Video" or setup a Cx to video (but gets tricky if you've set it up already to C2-> "animal still", C2->"video still" and toggle between the two). Bummer.
When hiking, I set C2 for opportunistic stills "Animal", which I care more about, and use mapped "AEL" C1 recall button to switch to C1 "Bird" (but I'll probably map this now to video "Animal" after abandoning the red-button video button method)
I use AF then MF with peaking almost exclusively to initially find focus in dense brush, but once locked it seems to hold ok in STILLS (in video, give up and use manual-only)
Note for video, both x-h2s and 100sii do not have "AF-C Custom Setting" for video so instead you need to set in "Movie" using physical dial, "AF-C Custom Setting" to Tracking Sensitivity +2, AF Speed 0 (I guess on these, since I was advised to just use Manual focusing only for video...)
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100sii (very new to me, coming from the 100 since launch)
too slow for ES, so set to EF (E-Front Curtain Shutter)
Shutter Type -> EF (E-Front Curtain Shutter)
Drive -> CL Low Speed Burst 2.0 fps (Using High Speed 7.0 or 5.0 seems fine, will switch shutter from EF to MS or you can set MS+ES, but with MS camera shake & general screen blackout vs. x-h2s blackout-free ES shooting experience makes me prefer Low Speed Burst for now)
Focus Mode -> Wide/Tracking
AF-C Custom Setting -> Set 2 "Ignore Obstacles & Continue to Track Subject"
Subject Detection Setting -> "Animal"
AF+MF -> switch to "ON" (especially in snow, AF fails so I use MF override)
Focus Check -> "Peak" (Focus Peak Highlight Red(Low))
Fn4 Button (front button) -> Subject Detection On/Off (I wish this cycled between subjects, but Fuji only allows On/Off from what Subject you have already set, frustrating...)
No Pre-shot ES available
Most Important Note!: half-pressing the shutter seems to work ok to first lock on subject, but shooting one frame then loses focus which absolutely sucks to re-acquire! Therefore, I *exclusively* use back-button-focus "AF ON" and layer 2 shots per front shutter button, which allows focus to remain locked on subject after shots. This has been the only successful approaching BIF-type shot attempts so far after my first and only opportunity (Eagle shot). Tracking a traversing BIF seems fine with either focusing method since it's easier to re-acquire focus.
Generally, one benefit of using 100sii vs. x-h2s is the ability to crop in, of course, but it helps to not try (need) to fill the frame with the subject (bird) and it's easier to track (vs. using a dot-sight to track).
I'm enjoying the 100sii & 500+1.4TC considerably so far, but by no means am a "wildlife" photographer nor will AF, subject detect, pre-shot/pre-capture or high speed frame rates match specialized FF systems (Fuji's inability to subject switch or auto detect is super frustrating, so choosing between Animal, Bird, People or turn off is a massive pain and along with everything else worth switching systems if wildlife or pre-capture BIF is really your main or only thing). Thanks!
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