Here are the Top 20 most popular film simulation recipes of 2020! I used page views to rank these recipes. Those with Kodak, Kodachrome or Portra in the name are quite popular. More than half of these use Classic Chrome as the base. It’s interesting to compare these to the 12 most popular recipes of December 2020. Only one black-and-white recipe made this list, which isn’t too surprising because color is more popular than monochrome. No Bayer, X-Trans I or X-Trans II recipes found their way into the top 20, only X-Trans III and X-Trans IV.
Without further ado, here are the Top 20 most popular film simulation recipes of 2020:
Thanks for the list! I also started using the app (and became a patron 😉 ). It would be great if the filter options in the app would also include filtering on white balance (e.g. only film simulations that use the AWB setting, or Daylight).
Thanks for your hard work in creating those recipes!
I appreciate the input! Once I get the Android app out, I’m going to work hard to get a nice update to the app published that will add some great functionality and make it better. Some additional filter options are a part of the plan. Thank you for your support!
Interesting statistics, thanks!
Not so long ago I have been using recipes, and so far my favorites are ACROS 100 and AGFA SCALA 200x.
Thanks a lot for your work!
Your list is no surprise to me. I get the feeling that most Fujifilm users are photographers that started with or grew up using film cameras. This list shows the nostalgia and love we have for the films of yesterday. I love and use most of these simulations on the list, just something about the look and feel of those films and film simulations. I also have Velvia very close to the top of my list, which for me was a film I fell in love with the first time I used it.
Thanks so much, Mark! I think you are right, a lot of Fujifilm users used to shoot film, and of course Kodak was the most popular film-maker (probably still is). Like you, my opinion is that Velvia was/is such an incredibly great film. I appreciate the input!
I think the pattern is seasonal. Some recipes work better in particular situations than others. For example, it’s winter in New Jersey, and the skies are mostly cloudy all day. 🤪 I think I’ve seen the sun twice today. Your Classic Chrome recipe is my favourite colour film simulation recipe, and your Kodak T-Max 400 is my favourite monochrome recipe. I think Classic Chrome and Kodak T-Max 400 are perfect for the flat light.
Over the summer, I used Kodak Portra 160 and Kodak Portra 400 more. The images had a bright warm summer vibe. I think Kodak Ektar 100 would be great too.
In the spring, when my wife and I hiked the greening woods and forests around the area (with lots of social distancing), I found Kodak Ektar 100 produced the vibrant results I wanted.
Awesome! Yeah, it absolutely makes sense that it’s seasonal, because some recipes work better in different lights and colors. I bet each month the Top 10 (or 12 or 20) would be somewhat different. That would be interesting to study. Thanks for the input!
Thanks for your mails – my favourites with my Fuji X100V are the Classic Negative and the Kodak Tri-X 400.
I also have Leica’s and that may declare my b/w love ?
As usual top-notch post. Also, congrats for a successful 2020, hoping for better 2021… But here’s the thing. How did you find out which recipes are more popular? is it just through site visitors or comments and other sources as well?
It’s based off of page-views on the site (WordPress keeps track of it); the most “popular” recipes are the ones that were viewed the most (I have no idea if page-views equal actual use). It’s not a perfect method, but it’s the best I have. With the app, I have no idea which ones are used most (I don’t track anything on the app).
Hi there.
I have been using your film simulations for some weeks now. And while I respect the work put into these profiles I’m afraid I have to say they do not match the results I expected. I wonder if the mistake is on my side because so many people praise these film simulations so highly – even say this is what made them buy into the Fuji system. Let me explain: I have been using LR presets which I absolutely adore for more than a year now. They simulate various film also. I use Fuji 400H and ektar 100 among others. Trying to duplicate the results with your simulations failed on a jpeg sooc. The jpegs do not even look similar. If I tweak the jpegs by adjusting exposure and white balance, the difference becomes more acceptable, however, still not close enough for my liking. But then again, why shoot jpeg if I have to use some post processing anyway?
I consider myself quite experienced when it comes to editing and evaluating photos. I have never shot film myself, though. I do believe the LR presets I use are very accurate if I compare the results with other resources on the net. So, is there anything I still have to change or consider? I have been shooting Canon in the past and for the last three years Sony exclusively. I’m new to Fuji and oh yes, I shoot an x100V – could be useful this information…
Best
Jonas
There’s a lot to unpack here. First, in Lightroom, there are pretty much unlimited options for creating a look. Even so, presets aren’t 100% matched to film, they cannot be. Fujifilm cameras have very limited options compared to Lightroom, which makes achieving perfect results even more difficult (really, impossible). The next thing to consider is that one film can have many different aesthetics, depending on how it’s shot, developed, and scanned and/or printed, so a preset or recipe might mimic one look and not the many other possible looks from that film. You would need a preset or recipe to mimic each possible aesthetic.
The two examples that you give are two different stories. I’ll start with Ektar 100 (the X100V recipe, not the X100F). It was created by studying examples of the film compared to identical pictures captured with a Fujifilm X camera. The results from the recipe are a very close match to the film, but they aren’t perfect, in part because Fujifilm cameras max out at +4 Color, partly because there needs to be intermediate options between Highlight and Shadow adjustments (the X-T4 has this, but not the X100V), and partially because there needs to be intermediate options on WB Shift. Even with these limitations, it was amazing to me just how close the Fujifilm pictures looked compared to the actual film pictures. Again, so much depends on how the film was shot, developed, etc.
Fuji Pro 400H is one that I’ve never been able to faithfully reproduce on Fujifilm cameras, especially overexposed 400H (which is the look that most people seem to want). I’ve tried many times, but I’m not satisfied with what I’ve been able to create. I would say that recipe is “as close as I can get” but isn’t nearly as close as I’d like it to be.
I hope this is helpful information to you. I hope that you find a recipe that you like. I appreciate the comment!
Thanks for the list! I also started using the app (and became a patron 😉 ). It would be great if the filter options in the app would also include filtering on white balance (e.g. only film simulations that use the AWB setting, or Daylight).
Thanks for your hard work in creating those recipes!
I appreciate the input! Once I get the Android app out, I’m going to work hard to get a nice update to the app published that will add some great functionality and make it better. Some additional filter options are a part of the plan. Thank you for your support!
Any idea when the Android version will be available? I’m checking it out on my ipad but it would great to have on my phone on the go.
Hopefully soon! There’s been some obstacles, but we’re moving past them now.
Interesting statistics, thanks!
Not so long ago I have been using recipes, and so far my favorites are ACROS 100 and AGFA SCALA 200x.
Thanks a lot for your work!
Thank you for the comment! I’m not sure why the B&W recipes aren’t as popular, there are so many good ones! I’m glad that you like those two.
Your list is no surprise to me. I get the feeling that most Fujifilm users are photographers that started with or grew up using film cameras. This list shows the nostalgia and love we have for the films of yesterday. I love and use most of these simulations on the list, just something about the look and feel of those films and film simulations. I also have Velvia very close to the top of my list, which for me was a film I fell in love with the first time I used it.
Thanks so much, Mark! I think you are right, a lot of Fujifilm users used to shoot film, and of course Kodak was the most popular film-maker (probably still is). Like you, my opinion is that Velvia was/is such an incredibly great film. I appreciate the input!
I think the pattern is seasonal. Some recipes work better in particular situations than others. For example, it’s winter in New Jersey, and the skies are mostly cloudy all day. 🤪 I think I’ve seen the sun twice today. Your Classic Chrome recipe is my favourite colour film simulation recipe, and your Kodak T-Max 400 is my favourite monochrome recipe. I think Classic Chrome and Kodak T-Max 400 are perfect for the flat light.
Over the summer, I used Kodak Portra 160 and Kodak Portra 400 more. The images had a bright warm summer vibe. I think Kodak Ektar 100 would be great too.
In the spring, when my wife and I hiked the greening woods and forests around the area (with lots of social distancing), I found Kodak Ektar 100 produced the vibrant results I wanted.
Awesome! Yeah, it absolutely makes sense that it’s seasonal, because some recipes work better in different lights and colors. I bet each month the Top 10 (or 12 or 20) would be somewhat different. That would be interesting to study. Thanks for the input!
Thanks for your mails – my favourites with my Fuji X100V are the Classic Negative and the Kodak Tri-X 400.
I also have Leica’s and that may declare my b/w love ?
Thank you! Those are both great recipes. I appreciate the input!
As usual top-notch post. Also, congrats for a successful 2020, hoping for better 2021… But here’s the thing. How did you find out which recipes are more popular? is it just through site visitors or comments and other sources as well?
It’s based off of page-views on the site (WordPress keeps track of it); the most “popular” recipes are the ones that were viewed the most (I have no idea if page-views equal actual use). It’s not a perfect method, but it’s the best I have. With the app, I have no idea which ones are used most (I don’t track anything on the app).
Hi there.
I have been using your film simulations for some weeks now. And while I respect the work put into these profiles I’m afraid I have to say they do not match the results I expected. I wonder if the mistake is on my side because so many people praise these film simulations so highly – even say this is what made them buy into the Fuji system. Let me explain: I have been using LR presets which I absolutely adore for more than a year now. They simulate various film also. I use Fuji 400H and ektar 100 among others. Trying to duplicate the results with your simulations failed on a jpeg sooc. The jpegs do not even look similar. If I tweak the jpegs by adjusting exposure and white balance, the difference becomes more acceptable, however, still not close enough for my liking. But then again, why shoot jpeg if I have to use some post processing anyway?
I consider myself quite experienced when it comes to editing and evaluating photos. I have never shot film myself, though. I do believe the LR presets I use are very accurate if I compare the results with other resources on the net. So, is there anything I still have to change or consider? I have been shooting Canon in the past and for the last three years Sony exclusively. I’m new to Fuji and oh yes, I shoot an x100V – could be useful this information…
Best
Jonas
There’s a lot to unpack here. First, in Lightroom, there are pretty much unlimited options for creating a look. Even so, presets aren’t 100% matched to film, they cannot be. Fujifilm cameras have very limited options compared to Lightroom, which makes achieving perfect results even more difficult (really, impossible). The next thing to consider is that one film can have many different aesthetics, depending on how it’s shot, developed, and scanned and/or printed, so a preset or recipe might mimic one look and not the many other possible looks from that film. You would need a preset or recipe to mimic each possible aesthetic.
The two examples that you give are two different stories. I’ll start with Ektar 100 (the X100V recipe, not the X100F). It was created by studying examples of the film compared to identical pictures captured with a Fujifilm X camera. The results from the recipe are a very close match to the film, but they aren’t perfect, in part because Fujifilm cameras max out at +4 Color, partly because there needs to be intermediate options between Highlight and Shadow adjustments (the X-T4 has this, but not the X100V), and partially because there needs to be intermediate options on WB Shift. Even with these limitations, it was amazing to me just how close the Fujifilm pictures looked compared to the actual film pictures. Again, so much depends on how the film was shot, developed, etc.
Fuji Pro 400H is one that I’ve never been able to faithfully reproduce on Fujifilm cameras, especially overexposed 400H (which is the look that most people seem to want). I’ve tried many times, but I’m not satisfied with what I’ve been able to create. I would say that recipe is “as close as I can get” but isn’t nearly as close as I’d like it to be.
I hope this is helpful information to you. I hope that you find a recipe that you like. I appreciate the comment!
Can you do a new list please?
That’s a great idea! Thank you for the suggestion!
You are very welcome.
As there are so many I struggle to choose so a top list will help me decide 😊😊
Thanks