My X-T2 Locked Up! What Gives?

Gull Practice; ugly but sharp!  (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 50-140mm f/2.8 lens @ 140mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

Last week a strange thing happened (for me, anyway).  My Fujifilm X-T2 locked up while I was photographing.  That has never happened before.

It was a very nice, cool, crisp, autumn day and I thought I needed to get out of the house and make some photographs.  Specifically, my annual wildlife outing to Virginia's Eastern Shore is again coming up next month and I needed to get in some practice in timing shots, quick reaction to changing conditions, etc.  After all, it has been since the spring that I have done any bird or wildlife photography and I'm a bit rusty in my technique.  (Too many photographers think they don't need to practice, in my opinion.  Ask a musician, sports star in any field, or any other professional if they practice!)

My plan was to drive over to one of my favorite spots, Poquoson, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay, find some gulls and other birds and practice photographing them in the water, as they land and as they take off from the pilings and docks.  However, first, since I was going to pass the railroad tracks, I thought I would catch one of the two daily Amtrak passenger trains as it came into town.  I wanted to try a very high frame rate using the electronic shutter instead of the mechanical shutter, which has always been my choice of shutters.  The train would be passing shortly after I would arrive so a quick stop would give me a second opportunity for practice.

I arrived at the railroad tracks and set my camera to manual exposure (1/1600th sec. @ f/6.4), ISO 200, electronic shutter, 14 fps, AF-C, zone focus (9X9), #2 on the AF-C custom menu and auto white balance.  As I said, I don't think I've ever used the electronic shutter before so I wanted to test it for speed and any rolling shutter distortion.  The sun would be at my back as the train traveled south southeast.  I found the perfect spot for a good composition and marked it in the dirt.  I also determined the appropriate focal length for my composition.  The train travels at about 80 mph (129 kph) and, from the time it rounds a bend until it is at my location, is about 10 seconds.  Everything needs to be set, based upon experience, before hand.

I watched the train come around the bend and into sight.  I walked the 20 or so feet (6 m) to my spot.  I turned my camera on, raised it to my eye and when the train was within my frame, I pressed the shutter button, the camera instantly focused on the front of the train and I saw the camera (through the EVF) take several exposures—then—just stop and the EVF go black.  What?

The last of the four Amtrak images recorded before the camera locked up. (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 42mm; 1/1600th sec. @ f/6.4; ISO 200

I lowered the camera and looked at the LCD and a message appeared telling me to turn the camera off then turn it on again.  Again, what?  I have 20,000 exposures on this camera body and I've never had this happen?  What gives?

Perplexed, I walked back to and got into my vehicle, turned on the camera, pressed the image review button and no images appeared?  What again?  I saw it fire off at least three shots, I thought?  I checked both memory cards as my normal procedure is to have RAW images written to my primary card and JPEGs written to the backup.  No images on either card.  I really can't figure this one out.  But now the camera now seemed to work just fine.  I just shook my head and continued to think about what could have happened?

I then drove over to Poquoson and commenced to photograph gulls coming, going, flying, swimming, sitting, etc.  As I said, practice quickly framing, composing and capturing moving and flying birds.  The camera seemed to work just fine. However, I used the mechanical shutter set for 8 fps and shutter priority.  I still had the camera set for AF-C and zone focusing as I did with the Amtrak images.  I didn't need any faster fps, hence using the mechanical shutter.  After several shots, I looked at the LCD and pressed the image review button and, guess what?  There were now four Amtrak passenger train images on both cards along along with the gulls I just photographed?  Where did the Amtrak images come from?  They weren't on the cards 15 minutes before?  I continued to photograph for the next hour and captured the gulls as I planned.  I then drove home.

After returning home I started to do some research as I have been aware of "lock up" issues with various Fujifilm cameras by others.  Nothing I had ever experienced, however.  After reading and researching, I think I may have an answer.  Nothing for sure, but maybe an answer.

It seems that my primary memory card in combination with the 14 fps using the electronic shutter may be the cause of the lockup.  I use a Lexar 64gb 2000X UHS II card in slot 1.  A Sandisk UHS II 300mb/second card in slot 2.  I've never had any issues with either card with the 20,000 previous exposures but the Lexar card may be the culprit, considering no images were written to the cards until after I started photographing the gulls.  I've read several comments by users of the Lexar 2000X card that they had issues with it.  Now couple that with me using the electronic shutter at 14 fps (14 fps is not available with the mechanical shutter), which I've never done before and that makes me suspect that that combination may have had a hand in the lock up.  In the end, I guess I'll never be absolutely sure.  I'll keep using this card and see if it happens again.  If it does, then I'll switch to another card and wait for another lockup, which probably won't happen anyway.

Have any of you experienced a lockup with your X-T2 with this card or another card and were you able to determine the cause?  If so, leave a comment so we all can benefit from your experience.

This little incident brings up another issue for me.  I don't have a backup camera for my Fujifilm system.  I have two M4/3 cameras but only one Fujifilm camera.  This incident made me realize that if I were out photographing a good distance away from home (and didn't bring my M4/3 gear along) and had only the X-T2 and a lockup from which the camera didn't recover or some other malfunction happened (or I dropped it or it was stolen), I would be stranded without a backup.  I think I need to do something about that.

Am I disappointed in my camera locking up?  No, not really.  As I said I have just over 20,000 exposures in this camera body and it has been perfect.  I don't have any fear that it will happen again, but there certainly is a possibility.  I don't plan on using the electronic shutter at 14 fps often so that may eliminate that factor.  Also, I have several other UHS II cards that I can use, if necessary.  If I experience any other unusual things with the X-T2, I will certainly pass it on.

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Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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