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| Amtrak train #138 traveling at ~79mph. This is from a JPEG file using the Eterna Film Simulation. (click to enlarge) X-T5; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 34mm; 1/1600th sec. @ f/8; ISO 800 |
Just a quick note and question.
Yesterday, being a beautiful early fall day with moderate temperatures, low humidity and perfect skies, I took out my Fujifilm X-T5 kit to photograph some fast Amtrak passenger trains. It was just a casual day out to sit quietly by the railroad, read, catch up on some podcasts and enjoy the day. Twice while photographing oncoming trains my X-T5 completely froze. I had to remove and re-insert the battery to return it to operation.
Just for the record, my X-T5 has never before locked up or frozen. I purchased it in 2022.
I had my camera set for:
Manual Mode
Auto ISO
AF-C with Back Button Focus
Vehicle Detection Enabled (Note: worked very well)
Continuous High @ 10fps
Electronic Front Curtain Shutter
Raw + JPEG (experimenting with some of the film simulations)
Out of the 7 high speed sequences of trains I photographed yesterday, two of those experienced the camera completely locking up, both after three exposures. Those were sequences #5 and #6 of the seven. In the other five high speed exposure sequences the camera performed perfectly.
My first inclination was to think the memory cards may have something to do with it. That is a common cause for lockups. My second thought was to suspect the last firmware update.
However, I have used the same two Angelbird 128gb SDXC UHSII V90 cards in the camera for over a year. In the past I used the same two cards while photographing birds-in-flight at 15 and 20fps with no issue.
I updated the camera's firmware at the end of June and have only shot one high speed sequence with it in July with no problems. All other uses have been either single shot or low speed (5 fps) sequences, usually a short burst of three images.
Have any of you X-T5 users experienced a lockup recently? If so, were you able to determine the cause?
The first thing I will do is change memory cards. If it locks up again, I'll contact Fujifilm USA and bring it to their attention. Also, I'll check Fujifilm's website for which memory cards they certify as completely compatible.
If it is the firmware update from June, I should be able to hear from one or more of you as well as find some comments on the Internet.
I'm anxious to hear from you as I now don't trust the camera to perform flawlessly if I want to shoot using Continuous High for frame advance.
UPDATE (09 22 2024): I’ve replaced the Angelbird cards with two older Sony Tough SDXC cards that I’ve used in several cameras. Under roughly the same circumstances using pretty much the same camera settings, the camera has not locked up. If anything changes, I’ll provide another update.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
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According to FujiRumors, the most recent update for the X-T5 has somewhat addressed the continuous autofocus problems stemming from the firmware update prior to it. The discussion of the problems have centered around missed focus, not locking up, but I could have forgotten mention of lockups. According to FujiRumors reading of comments, the problems with continuous autofocus (and possibly lockup) are reduced by lowering the continuous autofocus frame rate setting to CL 7 or 5 frames. I don't know if this is practical when shooting trains. In any case it shouldn't been necessary. Right now there's rumors that Fuji could offer a decrement update which will return the firmware to the state before the update that caused all the problems; not sure how that would come about. I used CH 10 frames on an X-T5 in June for a hydrofoil race before installing the update, and didn't have any lockup issues. Hope there's a simpler solution for your issues; keep us posted as much as you can; I don't comment much but your input is appreciated..
ReplyDeleteRich Thomas, rthomasgarfield@comcast.net Tacoma, WA
Rich, thank you for your comment and information. I’ve had no issues with AF, contrary to a lot of comments and emails I’ve received over the past two years. In fact, all of the images that I made yesterday were in sharp focus. I know many others have AF issues with their X-T5, X-H2 and X-H2s cameras. So there’s that. I’ve changed the memory cards and substituted a couple of tried and true Sony cards that I’ve used in five or six cameras over the past few years with no issues. I’ll see how they work. If, after a large number of high speed sequences, there are no issues using the Sony cards, anecdotally, the Angelbird cards may have been the issue. But we won’t know for sure. It may be just a coincidence. In any case, I’ll report back if I have or don’t have lockup issues with the Sony cards. ~Dennis
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