X-T1 Trackside at Le Mans - Another Continuous Auto Focus Test

Porsche 919 hybrid at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Official Test on Sunday 1 June

A couple of weeks ago I posted a blog testing the AF-C function on the Fujifilm X-T1. I put the system through its paces by taking candid images in a busy pitlane at Imola and I found the system on the X-T1 was a vast improvement over that of the X-Pro1.  

Yesterday at Le Mans I had the opportunity to give the Continous AF system a more rigourous test when, in my role as the FIA Media Delegate for the event, I was asked by the Race Director to go trackside to photograph some new kerbs that had been installed at the last corner.  He wanted to see how the drivers were dealing with the raised kerbs that are designed to keep the cars from cutting the corner and gaining an advantage.

After completing the assignment I put the X-T1 into AF-C mode and set the frame rate to 8 frames per second.  Using the Fujinon 55-200mm I followed several cars through the corner and this sequence of eleven shots of the Ferrari 458 is typical of the images I was getting.  

Shot 1 of 11

Shot 2 of 11

Shot 3 of 11

Shot 4 of 11

Shot 5 of 11

Shot 6 of 11

Shot 7 of 11

Shot 8 of 11

Shot 9 of 11

Shot 10 of 11

Shot 11 of 11

I was also pleased to report that despite shooting RAW + JPEG, the buffer didn't fill up and the camera was still able to continue shooting while processing the images.  This is probably down to the fact I have one of the new 100mb./sec high performance SD cards and these are ideal for use in the X-T1

The system wasn't 100%, the AF would sometimes lose the lock and stop until it had regained the focus.  This was usually down to the shiny paintwork on the car and while the Fuji AF-C system is probably not as good as the ones on the DSLRs from Nikon or Canon, even they sometimes fail to cope with shiny objects. I would say I had a 80-90% hit rate on the sequences I shot and I am pretty impressed by this and shows that CSC cameras have come a long way in a short space of time.

Once locked on the AF followed the cars through the corners and shooting an exposure of 1/1600 @ f4.8, with ISO200 set on the camera, the images were sharp. All the images of the Ferrari are JPEGS straight from the camera with just a bit of work on the contrast in Photoshop Elements 11. 

The problem is the 200mm Fujinon is not really long enough for motorsport photography, especially at a track like Le Mans, but in the right conditions the X-T1 / 55-200 combination works very well.  

While the DSLR is still king for sports and wildlife, if anyone tells you that Compact System Cameras have no place at a sports event, please point them at this blog. 

I look forward to the new f2.8 zooms and the long superzoom that Fuji have on the road map for the end of 2014 / start of 2015. 

UPDATE: This blog has created a bit of debate on the various Facebook Groups I use.  I need to point out that I am not working at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a photographer and if I was I wouldn't be using the Fuji X-T1 for my work trackside.  

I am the Media Delegate for the event and in that role I use the X-T1 and X-Pro1 to capture what I need for the website and social media stories that I write. At no time did I say on this blog that I advocate that the Fuji X-T1 is going to replace the DSLR trackside for the professional photographers that make their living from taking and selling racing images. Fujifilm doesn't have the lens line up to do that yet and while the AF-C function is excellent, it still isn't as good as those used by Nikon or Canon on their professional level cameras. 

The point of this blog was to demonstrate the improved capabilities of the AF-C function on the X-T1 and the fact that you can follow and capture fast moving objects on the camera if you wish.  

All images shot on a Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF55-200mm f3.5/f4.8R OIS lens

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