Fujifilm X-M5 Autofocus Settings: A Beginner's Guide

The simplest good setup for the Fujifilm X-M5 is AF-C with WIDE/TRACKING for anything that moves, and AF-S with SINGLE POINT for anything that sits still. Then turn on face and eye detection for people, or pick a subject detection type like ANIMAL or TRAIN, so the camera knows what you want sharp.

Two settings decide where the camera focuses

Think of focus like a flashlight in a dark room. One setting decides when the flashlight moves. That is the focus mode. The other setting decides how wide the beam is and where it points. That is the AF mode, which you can think of as the focus area.

Fujifilm's manual says you can match focus to many kinds of subjects by mixing these two settings. You will find AF MODE in the menu under AF/MF SETTING. Fujifilm's quick start guide also puts AF MODE in the Q Menu, where you change it with the rear command dial.

One thing to know before you start: the X-M5 shows different MENU/OK and Q Menu options in stills mode and movie mode. If a setting seems to have vanished, check which mode you are in. The camera simply keeps two sets of menus, so nothing is broken.

Focus modes: AF-S, AF-C and MF

The focus mode tells the camera whether to focus once or keep focusing. Here is how Fujifilm's X-M5 manual describes each one.

Focus mode	What it does	Good for
AF-S (Single AF)	Focus locks while the shutter button is pressed halfway	Stationary subjects
AF-C (Continuous AF)	Focus keeps adjusting to changes in distance while the shutter button is pressed halfway	Subjects in motion
MF (Manual Focus)	You focus with the lens focus ring	Full manual control, or when autofocus can't find the subject

A simple way to picture it: AF-S is like pointing at a sleeping cat and saying "there." AF-C is like a puppy watching a ball roll across the floor, its eyes following the whole time.

There is also a setting called PRE-AF. With PRE-AF set to ON, the camera keeps adjusting focus in AF-S and AF-C even when you are not pressing the shutter button. You can leave it alone while you learn the basics and try it later.

Locking focus and back-button focus

The AEL/AFL button lets you lock exposure and focus, then move the camera to recompose while keeping those settings. Focus lock is also linked to the shutter button, and you can unlink it in MENU/OK > SET UP > BUTTON DIAL SETTINGS under SHUTTER AF. Unlinking it is how photographers set up back-button focus, where one button focuses and the shutter only takes the picture. It is a technique to save for later, once the basics feel easy.

AF modes: choosing where the camera looks

The active focus area on the X-M5 can be made bigger or smaller and moved around the frame. PetaPixel's review points out that the camera has a handy autofocus joystick, and Space.com's review notes a mini joystick for menu and focus point selection. The X-M5 also has onscreen touch controls for focus.

Single Point

Single Point focuses on the subject inside the one focus point you choose, for pin-point focus. Fujifilm's guide says this works well with shallow depth of field, so you decide exactly what is sharp and what is blurred. For example, a flower can be crisp while the wall behind it turns soft and creamy.

For portraits, Fujifilm suggests a single point placed over your subject's face, or their eyes if you are close enough. Single Point comes in six frame sizes.

Zone

Zone is a halfway house between Single Point and Wide/Tracking. You pick a grid of focus points, and the camera chooses a point inside that grid to keep your subject sharp, moving from spot to spot but staying inside that part of the frame. Fujifilm says the focus lever moves the zone and the rear control dial changes its size. Zone offers three frame sizes plus ZONE CUSTOM 1, 2 and 3.

For action, Fujifilm's tip is to make the zone large enough to cover the whole subject, place it roughly where you want the subject in the frame, and switch to AF-C. Picture a goalie guarding a net: the zone is the net, and the camera watches only that space.

Wide/Tracking

Wide/Tracking uses the whole frame and includes the subject detection modes. In AF-S, the camera focuses on high-contrast subjects and the screen shows which areas are in focus. In AF-C, tracking follows a subject moving around the frame by switching between focus points. To start tracking, place the focus frame over the subject you want to follow.

Fujifilm recommends Wide/Tracking when things are chaotic, like street photography or kids running around the garden. If the camera grabs the wrong thing, you can tap the screen to pick a different subject. Missing focus now and then in this mode is normal, and each miss shows you whether a smaller area would help.

ALL

The ALL option lets you cycle through the focus area choices without going back into the menus. With ALL selected, turn the rear command dial in the focus-point display to step through Single Point, Zone, the Zone Custom sizes and Wide/Tracking. You can choose which modes appear in that list under AF/MF SETTING > AF MODE ALL SETTING.

Fujifilm's guide to AF modes notes that you can't swap these focus area modes in SR+ AUTO mode, and suggests P or A instead. If you are still learning those letters on the dial, the guide Camera Modes Demystified: Auto, Priority and Manual explains them in plain words.

Face and eye detection

The FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING offers face, eye, and left-eye or right-eye priority autofocus. When the camera detects a human face, it gives the face priority over the background and adjusts focus and exposure for portraits. Right eye priority focuses on the subject's right eye, and left eye priority on the left eye.

You turn this on in AF/MF SETTING > FACE/EYE DETECTION SETTING. If there are several faces, tap the screen to move focus to another person. With WIDE selected as the AF mode, the focus stick can switch subjects too.

Why eyes? When you look at a photo of a person, your own eyes go straight to theirs. If their eyes are sharp, the whole picture feels sharp.

Subject detection

Subject detection teaches the camera what kind of thing to look for. On the X-M5 it can be set to ANIMAL, AUTOMOBILE, MOTORCYCLE & BIKE, AIRPLANE and TRAIN, and you turn it on from the Q Menu or the AF/MF SETTING menu.

Digital Camera World explains that the X-M5 uses the X-Processor 5 and Fujifilm's latest autofocus algorithms, so it can recognize human faces and eyes, animals, birds, insects, cars and other vehicles. Their reviewer described picking up birds swimming on a lake and detecting the eye of a goose.

Match the setting to what is in front of you: ANIMAL for your dog, TRAIN at the station. If you forget to switch and the camera ignores your subject, that is a reminder, not a failure. Change the setting and shoot again.

Fine-tuning tracking for moving subjects

The way the X-M5 follows moving things depends on the focus behavior you set for AF-C. In the stills menu you can choose from SET 1 through SET 5 to suit your subject, or SET 6 CUSTOM for your own settings. The custom set lets you adjust TRACKING SENSITIVITY, SPEED TRACKING SENSITIVITY and ZONE AREA SWITCHING.

One ZONE AREA SWITCHING behavior has the camera lock focus on the subject at the center of the zone and then switch focus areas as needed to track it. You can also choose whether the individual focus frames show on screen in Zone or Wide/Tracking, and turn on the AF-assist light to help autofocus.

A good way to learn this comes from Fujifilm's own challenge: photograph the same subject with Single Point, Zone and Wide/Tracking, then compare how you worked and what you got. Try one tracking set at a time the same way, so you can see what each change does.

Autofocus for video

Movie mode has its own focus settings. Subject detection options in movie mode are the same as in stills, but you must adjust them separately. Fujifilm's quick start guide suggests AF-C with AF MODE set to MULTI, plus Face/Eye Detection, so the camera tracks people around the frame as you film. Subject detection modes work in movie mode too.

A few movie rules from the manual:

• With subject detection on, the camera switches to continuous AF even if you chose Single AF.
• With face detection on, choosing Single AF also switches the camera to continuous AF.
• Subject detection is not available in manual focus.
• In Continuous AF, the camera tracks the subject if you press the focus stick to the center or touch the screen.
• In Single AF, you can refocus any time by tapping your subject on the screen.

The movie TRACKING SENSITIVITY setting decides how long the camera waits to switch focus when something passes in front of or behind your subject. A higher value means the camera takes longer to refocus when you try to switch subjects. Think of it like a guard dog: a high setting means it stays loyal to one person and ignores strangers walking by.

What reviewers found in video

PetaPixel's review found the X-M5's tracking good for photos but not as good for video. Their reviewer saw the camera sometimes shift focus to the background or drift before finding the subject again, and adjusting the defaults made tracking stickier but still imperfect. In photo mode, PetaPixel compared the X-M5 against the Canon EOS R10 and found an almost identical hit rate.

PetaPixel suggested the Sony ZV-E10 II offers more consistent autofocus for vlogging, while the X-M5 suits manual focusing on a gimbal. If you are weighing that camera, see the Sony ZV-E10 II autofocus guide. Digital Camera World also notes a product showcase vlog mode that jumps focus to anything held up to the camera.

When autofocus can't find the subject

Fujifilm's manual is honest that the camera may not be able to focus on some kinds of subjects. That happens on every camera, and it is your cue to take the wheel.

In manual focus, you can still tap the screen to autofocus on a chosen subject. You can also press the button assigned to focus lock or AF-ON to autofocus on the selected area. Then use MF ASSIST to help your eyes:

• Focus peaking highlights high-contrast outlines, so you turn the ring until your subject lights up.
• A focus meter shows a needle that swings left or right, and you adjust until it points straight up.
• Colored squares show green for in focus, yellow for in front, and blue for behind.
• FOCUS CHECK zooms in automatically when you turn the focus ring.

The distance indicator shows a white line for the distance to your subject and a blue bar for the depth of field.

Starter settings to copy

These are simple starting points. Change them as you learn what you like.

Situation	Focus mode	AF mode	Detection
Portrait, person sitting still	AF-S	Single Point on the eyes	Face/Eye on
Kids or pets running around	AF-C	Wide/Tracking	Face/Eye, or ANIMAL
Action in a predictable spot	AF-C	Zone, sized to the subject	Match the subject
Flower or product on a table	AF-S	Single Point	Off
Talking to camera on video	AF-C	MULTI	Face/Eye on

Once you like a setup, save it as a custom preset; Fujifilm says focusing modes are saved along with your other settings. And if you ever feel lost, turning the mode dial to AUTO lets the camera detect and track subjects with AI autofocus on its own. That is a safety net, not a step backward.

For the rest of your camera, the Fujifilm camera menu setup guide and best Fujifilm camera settings for beginners walk through what to change next.