I have created many wonderful film simulation recipes for X-Trans III cameras, but none of those can be used on my Fujifilm XF10. I had to create brand-new film simulation recipes for this camera. I used my experience with other Fujifilm cameras to create different straight-out-of-camera looks that I would appreciate.
You can only have one custom setting saved on the XF10. The default settings that I have programmed for the camera are my Classic Chrome recipe. If I want a look with more saturation I’ll adjust the settings to my Velvia recipe. If I want black-and-white I’ll adjust the settings to my Monochrome recipe. It’s a little bit of a pain to be constantly switching, so I try to not go back-and-forth any more than I need to.
While I use these recipes on my XF10, they’re compatible with the X-T100, X-A5, X-A3 and any X-Trans I or X-Trans II camera. The rendition might vary slightly from model-to-model, but the overall look should be fairly consistent. These settings won’t translate to X-Trans III or X-Trans IV.
Aside from some minor cropping, the photographs in this article are all straight-out-of-camera JPEGs. I like to keep my workflow as simple as possible, and Fujifilm’s different film simulation options allow me to rely on camera-made JPEGs. Using JPEGs instead of RAW saves me a ton of time. I appreciate being in front of a computer less and behind a camera more.
Below are my Fujifilm XF10 film simulation recipes!
Classic Chrome
Ghosts of the Past – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm XF10
This is my go-to film simulation option. I use it significantly more often than the other recipes. It has a classic Kodak film look, although not exactly like any one in particular. I think it most closely resembles 1960’s era Ektachrome, but it’s not an exact match. Even so, it looks great and is quite versatile. It has a lot of contrast, just vibrant enough colors and a warm tone.
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR-Auto
Highlight: +1 (0 sometimes in high-contrast situations)
Shadow: +2
Color: +1
Noise Reduction: -2
Sharpening: -1
White Balance: Auto, +3 Red & -4 Blue
Kids At The Lake – East Canyon SP, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Bolsey 100 – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Terminal Windows – SLC, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Flag On A Pole – Layton, UT – Fujifilm XF10
FED 5c Window – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Velvia
Vibrant Bloom – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Velvia was one of my favorite films. It produced incredibly vibrant colors. Apparently Fujifilm didn’t intend to make such a wild film, it was more of an accident than anything else, but it quickly become the standard film for color landscape photography. Something interesting that I recently learned is one of the people who helped develop Velvia for Fujifilm also helped develop the Velvia Film Simulation. The film simulation isn’t a 100% match to Velvia 50, but perhaps closer to Velvia 100F. My recipe is intended to produce a look that is closer to Velvia 50.
Velvia
Dynamic Range: DR-Auto
Highlight: 0 (+1 in low-contrast situations, -1 in high-contrast situations)
Shadow: +1
Color: +2
Noise Reduction: -2
Sharpening: -1
White Balance: Auto, +1 Red & -3 Blue
Historic Dragon – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Scattering of Red – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Sunlight Through The Forest – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Green Leaves – Layton, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Yellow Amid Red – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Monochrome
Shy Horse – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm XF10
The XF10 lacks Fujifilm’s greatest film simulation: Acros. Instead it has the old Monochrome option, which is alright but not nearly as good as Acros. Despite this, it is possible to get nice black-and-white camera-made JPEGs from the XF10. There are four different options, and to understand what each does one must understand what different colored filters do to black-and-white film, as +Y simulates using a yellow filter, +R simulates a red filter and +G simulates a green filter. If you know how to use color filters on black-and-white film then you know when to pick which option on the XF10.
Monochrome (Monochrome+Y, Monochrome+R, Monochrome+G)
Dynamic Range: DR-Auto
Highlight: +1 (+2 in low-contrast situations)
Shadow: +2 (+1 in high-contrast situations)
Noise Reduction: -2
Sharpening: -1
Wishes Waiting – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Plastic Fingers – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Hat Abstract – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Dream – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm XF10
Tilted Pier – East Canyon SP, UT – Fujifilm XF10
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Hi Richie! I bought a second-hand XF10 and I love your classic chrome recipe! However, I’ve noticed that skin tones become overly bright in bright daylight. What ISO setting do you typically use? Any tips to fix this would be greatly appreciated!
I would adjust the exposure down a little. It might be that you are slightly overexposing, and -1/3 or possibly -2/3 exposure compensation (from what it is when too bright) should fix it.
Hi! When you adjust the settings, does it save every time or every time you open the camera you have to adjust to these settings?
It will save the settings, but on Bayer models, only one set of settings (one Recipe) can be programmed at any given time.
Hi Ritchie, I know this is about photography and simulation recipes. But maybe, you know why the video on the fx10 is looking so choppy? I see some videos on YouTube about this camera and they look so much better than my videos. in my videos everything looks distorted. (This is my first time owning a Fuji camera)
The quick answer is that shutter speed is too fast; use an ND filter.
The longer answer:
Video is essentially just a string of stills with sound. Let’s say you are at 30fps. If your shutter is 1/500, then you are only capturing 3/50th of that one second, and 47/50th of that frame is uncaptured. Now if your shutter speed is 1/60, 1/2 of that second has been recorded as part of your video. The goal is to get the shutter speed to be close to the fps. So something like 24fps with a 1/30 shutter speed would be really good for a smooth video.
I guess, also, if everything looks distorted, that could be due to an electronic shutter, which can cause rolling shutter and banding effects. Use a mechanical shutter instead.
Hey Richie! I’ve got a Fuji X-A2 and I’ve been testing out some of your recipes. When you mention only being able to use one at a time, are you talking about saving it to the “C” (custom) mode on the dial? On mine, that mode loads all of that info, so I’ve set that one for my B&W. And then in my normal shooting mode, I’ve got your Classic Chrome recipe configured.
Oh, that’s interesting. I didn’t realize. Two Recipes at any given time is twice as good as just one. Thanks for the report!