Every new camera I get has a learning curve, and changing to another brand greatly increases the learning curve.

Auto Focus with the Fuji X-E2 has been challenging due to learning how the camera works the best. This was true when I learned all the settings for my Nikon D4. When shooting sports, I use different AF settings than regular photojournalistic shooting, which I usually do with my storytelling style.

I am finding this to work best for the photojournalism shooting style.

First, go to the shooting menu and the [camera 4] section. The top four menu items in that submenu all deal with AF.

For the AF MODE, I am finding I like to use the Multi-Mode

In the AF Multi-Mode, when the shutter button is pressed halfway, the camera automatically detects high-contrast subjects and selects the focus area.

It is generally pretty quick and usually picks the closest object with high contrast to the camera.

For the most part, I am leaving the Face Detection off. I might choose to have this setting on if I shoot portraits or a group photo. Intelligent Face Detection sets focus and exposure for human faces anywhere in the frame, preventing the camera from focusing on the background in group portraits. Choose Face Detection for shots that emphasize portrait subjects.

If PRE-AF ON is selected, the camera will adjust focus even when the shutter-release button is not pressed halfway. This increases the battery drain. Generally, this is off for me.

To use the focus points, you must return to the first menu item, AF Mode, and pick AREA. Once this is selected and you are not in Face Detection mode, you can move this green box around on the grid points.

You must push the AF button to activate the screen you see above.  Then, you can toggle around the screen using the four buttons around the Menu OK Button to navigate.

When you select a point, you can increase the size of the green box to account for more area and determine the contrast needed to bring the camera into focus.

Here, you can see I increased the box size for focusing.

All these functions work with AF as long as you choose C [continuous] or S [single] on the front of the camera.

The one thing Fuji needs to do in a firmware upgrade allows you to override grab the focus ring and adjust the focus. This is where Nikon and Canon are superior, for now.

You can adjust everything manually in the M [manual focus] setting. I will not go into those settings right now.

AF Setting Tip

Once you have everything set the way you like it in the menu, you can save the setting in Custom Settings. That can be found in the three menus>Edit Save Custom Setting.

I am using a few of these custom settings. I hope that Fuji will do a firmware upgrade allowing the user to change the name of those settings rather than being stuck with “Custom 1” when I might like to call it “Portrait” or “Sports,” for example.

Sound Tidbit

The beeping noise is the camera’s default setting. When the camera locks in focus, you hear a beep. Please don’t make my mistake of choosing to turn the sound off.

Do not use the Silent Mode to turn the sound off the beeping. When you do, the flash will no longer work. This includes the internal and if you use any external flash.

You can turn the sound off by going to the Sound Set-Up screen.

The next thing you choose in the menu is Operation Vol.

I put my setting to OFF. Now, I no longer hear the beep, but the flash still works. Hey, I missed a bunch of photos because I had the camera in Silent Mode and never could figure out why my moment stopped working. I thought I had broken the camera. I had to wait and read the manual to find out why.