DPReview listed their Top 5 Best Fujifilm Film Simulations in the video above. I think it’s great that they’re highlighting Fujifilm’s great JPEG options and give light to some of the film simulations. While I’m sure that they made adjustments to the stock settings, I feel like they haven’t discovered the joy of film simulation recipes, and are mostly using the stock settings. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, because out-of-the-box the different film simulations are great, but with some tweaking you can achieve all sorts of different looks. I think it’s something that they’d really appreciate, if they only knew.
I went on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App (available for iOS and Android) and filtered by Camera and Film Simulation. If you are a Patron on the App, you can filter the recipes by camera model or sensor, and by film simulation or color/b&w—the best app experience is reserved for Patrons. For this experiment, I chose the Fujifilm X100F and Classic Chrome. There are 15 different options, each with a different aesthetic (Vintage Kodachrome didn’t fit on the screenshot list). Those are just the X-Trans III recipes that use Color Chrome. If you don’t filter by camera or sensor, there are 45 recipes that use Classic Chrome (and over 150 total recipes)!
I know in the video they say that Classic Chrome is “gross” but perhaps it’s only because they haven’t used the right film simulation recipe. It could be that one of those 45 mentioned above produces a look that they’d love.
I don’t want to rehash DPReview’s video, so instead I will list some of my personal favorite recipes, organized by Film Simulation (they’re not ranked), which you’ll find below. There are so many to choose from, and narrowing it down is a tough task, so obviously not all of my favorites made the list. There are so many Classic Chrome and Classic Negative options that I love, so those two were especially difficult to decide what to include below. Hopefully you’ll find this this exercise helpful, or at least fun, and maybe discover a new recipe to try.
No Credit Tires – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – “Sepia”
Now it’s your turn! Which of these film simulation recipes do you like best? Which recipes that I didn’t include are your favorites? Let me know in the comments!
Nobody pays me to write the content found on fujixweekly.com. There’s a real cost to operating and maintaining this site, not to mention all the time that I pour into it. If you appreciated this article, please consider making a one-time gift contribution. Thank you!
My favorite, which I use daily, is the Ultramax 400!
Good for photos of people, landscapes, in the sun, at night.
After I loaded it into my X100V, it never left it.
Always fun to visit yor blog, thanks. It appears that it is not possible to use grain in movie mode? A bit shame, since the videos will loose some of the desired look.
thanks for your creative work. what happens editing wise after when the image files are in the computer? Im not saying the files should not be edited at all. One example is white balance. a film sim has its characteristics that WB just totally wipes out. Its back to a digital look. Richie, any thoughts?
I don’t even include a computer in my photography workflow. Literally SOOC JPEGs transferred from my camera to my phone, with some cropping/straightening applied if needed, and uploaded to storage. While that works great for me, I understand that doesn’t work for everyone.
I don’t know of any RAW software, aside from X RAW Studio, that does a good job keeping the essence of the recipes with its interpretations and applications of the JPEG data, so if you want the edited RAW and SOOC JPEGs to look the same, it will require manipulations, sometimes significant edits. If someone wants the aesthetics created via various recipes, the best way is to use the camera-made JPEGs and not edit (or minor edits). I hope this makes sense.
My favorite, which I use daily, is the Ultramax 400!
Good for photos of people, landscapes, in the sun, at night.
After I loaded it into my X100V, it never left it.
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear it!
I love Classic Chrome.
Awesome! I appreciate the input!
Always fun to visit yor blog, thanks. It appears that it is not possible to use grain in movie mode? A bit shame, since the videos will loose some of the desired look.
Grain, Clarity, and the Color Chrome Effects are not available in movie mode unfortunately. I hope Fujifilm fixes this in the future.
thanks for your creative work. what happens editing wise after when the image files are in the computer? Im not saying the files should not be edited at all. One example is white balance. a film sim has its characteristics that WB just totally wipes out. Its back to a digital look. Richie, any thoughts?
I don’t even include a computer in my photography workflow. Literally SOOC JPEGs transferred from my camera to my phone, with some cropping/straightening applied if needed, and uploaded to storage. While that works great for me, I understand that doesn’t work for everyone.
I don’t know of any RAW software, aside from X RAW Studio, that does a good job keeping the essence of the recipes with its interpretations and applications of the JPEG data, so if you want the edited RAW and SOOC JPEGs to look the same, it will require manipulations, sometimes significant edits. If someone wants the aesthetics created via various recipes, the best way is to use the camera-made JPEGs and not edit (or minor edits). I hope this makes sense.