In my last article I showed you my “ultimate” Fujifilm travel kit, which I took on a recent trip to Arizona. In this article I will share with you the film simulation recipes that I used while in The Grand Canyon State!
In my kit are two Fujifilm cameras: an X100V and an X-E4. The X100V is capable of saving seven recipes, while the X-E4 is capable of saving eight, which means that I could have had as many as 15 different film simulations ready-to-go between the two cameras! Of course, with the Fuji X Weekly app, I had access to many, many more, which I could have quickly programmed if I had wanted to. I ended up using 10 different recipes: two on my X100V and eight on my X-E4.
While I could have used as many as 15 recipes, and I ended up using 10, I think no more than eight film simulation recipes for one trip might be a better strategy. It would have made a lot of sense to have the same ones programmed into both cameras, just for consistency. Still, it’s fun to see how different recipes do in various situations, so maybe consistency isn’t as big of a deal as enjoyment is—there’s something to be said for both, so maybe it’s important to find the right balance, and that number is likely different for each person.
On my Fujifilm X100V I had seven film simulation recipes programmed into the camera, but I only used two on this trip. I ended up using the X100V a lot less than I thought I would, mostly because the X-E4 had just arrived, and I was trying to put it through its paces. If I had shot with the X100V more, I likely would have used more than just two recipes with it. On my next trip I plan to program the two cameras with, for the most part, the same recipes.
Of the eight film simulation recipes that I programmed into the X-E4, two are currently early-access recipes only available to Fuji X Weekly Patrons on the Fuji X Weekly app: Vintage Negative and Lomochrome Metropolis. These two recipes will eventually be free to everyone, but right now only Patrons can access them.
The recipes that I used the most are Fujicolor Superia 800, Kodachrome 64, and Kodak Tri-X 400. If I only used those three for the trip, I would have been happy, I think. But it’s fun to try different ones. For example, Lomochrome Metropolis and B&W IR aren’t always easy to use, but in the right situations they can produce stellar results.
Which of one these film simulation recipes is your favorite? Which one that I didn’t use should I on my next adventure? Let me know in the comments!
To respond to the above questions, I like all the recipes, but I liked Kodachrome 64 and The Rockwell the most for this trip. For your next adventure, I would definitely have to say that you should try out Cinestill 800T and Kodacolor (the Kodacolor recipe that had color set to -2). I have always wanted to see you using Cinestill 800T more, since it can get some fantastic results. It would be cool to see a blog post about Cinestill being shot during the day. Kodacolor is great because of how it renders blues and yellows… I just love it. Great job Ritchie!
Also, is it true that the Clarity feature does the same thing as a pro mist or cinebloom filter?
Yeah, kind of, when it’s set to a negative value. It’s not 100% the same, but a digital facsimile, for sure.
I appreciate it so much! I think both of those suggestions are great, as those are both recipes that I personally like but also don’t use nearly often enough.
From this series I loved so much the colors in Kodachome 64 (“American Motorcycle” looks phenomenal) and the Rockwell, which drew a smile on me because those are precisely the type of photographic motives or subjects he usually shows in his camera reviews, the colors made me think in fact in his Canons “that even with saturation cranked to maximum it looks natural” : )
I have a Fujifilm X100S and exploring your free app I am discovering a lot about my camera. Quite thankful to your generous work, Ritchie. Peruvian greetings.
I appreciate your feedback, encouragement and kindness! I do think Ken would like The Rockwell recipe if he ever tried it. Kodachrome 64 is definitely a personal favorite of mine. Thank you for the comment!