When should you use which Film Simulation Recipes on your Fujifilm X-T3 or X-T30 camera? With so many recipes to choose from, it can be difficult to know what recipe you should select in a given situation, and this article is intended to help you with that. If you haven’t read Part 1, it’s important to do so because it explains what exactly we’re doing—the backstory—which is important to understand. There’s a video to watch in that article, too. Take a moment right now to hop on over to Part 1 (click here) before continuing on with this post, if you haven’t viewed it already.
What makes Part 2 more challenging than the first article is that the X-T3 and X-T30 cameras cannot remember a White Balance Shift within the C1-C7 Custom Presets. If two recipes share the same white balance type but not the same shift, then when you switch presets you must remember to adjust the shift, too. That can be inconvenient and frustrating, so my best solution is to program recipes that use different white balance types and/or share the same white balance type and shift. The user experience is much improved, but you might not be able to program all of your favorite recipe at the same time, which is the one downside to doing this. What I set out to do with this article is recommend seven recipes, one for each C1-C7 Custom Preset, that don’t share the same white balance type, or, if they do, share the same shift. It turned out to be a somewhat impossible task, but I think I came up with a good set for you.
Also, if you have a newer X-Trans IV camera (or X-Trans V), you can use these recipes, too, by simply setting Color Chrome FX Blue to Off, Clarity to 0, and choosing a Grain size (either Small or Large). While Part III will cover X-Trans III, some of these recipes are compatible with X-Trans III cameras; the key is to look for whether they call for Color Chrome Effect or not—if not, it’s compatible with X-Trans III. Also, X-Trans III recipes are fully compatible with the X-T3 and X-T30 (just set Color Chrome Effect to Off), but I avoided those recipes for this article because I wanted to save them for Part 3.
Let’s dive in!
C1 — Fujichrome Sensia 100 — Golden Hour
Fujichrome Sensia 100 is one of my favorite recipes for sunrise and sunset colors. It does pretty well throughout the entirety of “golden hour” but when the sky is pink and purple and red it does especially well. This recipe is an excellent option for shade, and does pretty well in many situations, including natural light portraits, so it has some good versatility. It uses the Fluorescent 2 (sometimes called Neon 2) white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I would strongly consider Kodak Portra 400 v2 instead of this one, but I do think Fujichrome Sensia 100 is a solid choice for “golden hour” photography.
Alternatives for “golden hour” photography:
Kodak Portra 400 v2
Velvia
Velvia v2
Kodacolor
Vintage Kodacolor
C2 — Kodak Vision3 250D — Midday
This was actually a really touch decision because there are so many great options for “midday”—which simply is daylight outside of “golden hour”—and I had to choose one, so I went with Kodak Vision3 250D. This is such a good (and underutilized) recipe, and does well in a number of situations, including “golden hour” and shade and portraits and (of course) midday. It uses the Fluorescent 1 (sometimes called Neon 1) white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I could go with Kodachrome 64 or Kodak Portra 160 or Kodak Gold 200 or (of course) Kodak Vision3 250D and be very happy with any of them, they’re all good.
Alternatives for “midday” photography:
Kodachrome 64
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Gold 200
Fujicolor 100 Industrial
Urban Vintage Chrome
C3 — Classic Slide — Overcast
The Classic Slide recipe is one of my top choices for heavy overcast, rainy, dreary days. It’s also good for shade or midday or even “golden hour” photography—it’s another recipe with some good versatility. It uses the Daylight white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I’d still choose this one, but Negative Print is a good runner up.
Alternatives for “overcast” photography:
Negative Print
Eterna
Eterna v3
Fujicolor Pro 160NS
Lomography Color 100
C4 — Cinematic Negative — Indoor
Cinematic Negative is a very versatile recipe, and I like it for all of the situations we’ve talked about above, but I also like it for indoor photography, both natural light and (to an extent) artificial light (although I would consider a “Nighttime” recipe below as a first choice for artificial light). It uses the Incandescent white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, Analog Color would be my top choice for indoor natural light photography, but Cinematic Negative is a close second, so I’d be happy to have it in C4, where it could also be used for a number of other situations.
Alternatives for “indoor” photography:
Analog Color
Color Negative
Fujicolor Pro 400H
Warm Contrast
Polaroid II
C5 — Jeff Davenport Night — Nighttime
If it’s between dusk and dawn, especially if there are city lights, Jeff Davenport Night is the recipe to use. Period. It uses a Kelvin white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type I’d still use this recipe, no questions asked.
Alternatives for “nighttime” photography:
Kodacolor VR
Porto 200
Fujicolor Pro 400H Overexposed
Eterna Low Contrast
Polaroid
C6 — Expired Eterna — Alternative Process
The “Alternative Process” category is a fun one. These are recipes you probably wouldn’t use all of the time, only occasionally just for the joy of it. I chose “Expired Eterna” because of the white balance type—Auto—but if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I would choose Redscale, Cross Process Film, or Kodak Elite Chrome 200 Color Fade—any of them, they’re all fun. Vintage Color Fade also uses Auto white balance, but I didn’t choose it because it requires double-exposures, which can be tricky, but if you’re up for the challenge, go with that one instead.
Alternatives for “alternative process” photography:
Redscale
Cross Process Film
Kodak Elite Chrome 200 Color Fade
Vintage Color Fade
Cyanotype
C7 — Dramatic Monochrome — B&W
Last but not least is B&W, and for that I chose Dramatic Monochrome, which is a good recipe that I really like. It uses Auto white balance without a shift; however, the other Auto white balance recipe (Expired Eterna above) does use a shift. How I would handle this is I wouldn’t worry about the shift for this recipe, just use the shift of Expired Eterna, because, while white balance shift does affect black-and-white pictures, it’s not as big of an impact as color images, and it won’t significantly change the aesthetic of Dramatic Monochrome—only subtly—and you’re not likely to notice, so I just wouldn’t worry about it. If I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I would choose Kodak Tri-X 400 (read the article for that recipe to see how to make it compatible with the X-T3 and X-T30), because it is my favorite Film Simulation Recipe.
Alternatives for “B&W” photography:
Kodak Tri-X 400
Agfa APX 400
Monochrome Kodachrome
Ilford Delta Push-Process
Ilford HP5 Plus 400 Push-Process
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About the Kodak Tri-X 400. I saw in you applikation that there is a Kodak Tri-X 400 (X-T3 + X-T30). But in the Kodak Tri-X 400 for the X-T4 you say that it was made for the X-T3. Im a bit canfused.
Thank for this article. This helps a lot. And your doing a great job in this comunity.
The recipe was originally made by Anders Lindborg on his X-T3, which he shared with me, then I (with input from Anders) modified it for my X100V, which is what I published. I hope this makes sense.
Do the newer model cameras save separate WB profiles to each custom setting? Its the most annoying feature, i wish there was a fix for it.
Yes! The X-Pro3 and newer cameras (X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II + X-Trans V) can save the WB Shift within the C1-C7 Custom Presets.
I see “RITCHIECAM” and “ANDROID” on that Scrabble board (along with “IPHONE”) so is that a subtle hint that I might get the opportunity to use RitchieCam on my Android soon? 🙂
Seriously, though, thanks for doing this series… sometimes it’s a bit much to try to wade through all the recipes and figure out which ones I might want to use!
I wasn’t sure if anyone was going to try to read it. Keen eye!
There’s a lot of work going into the apps right now, so expect updates with improvements and new features coming shortly. There aren’t any plans at the moment for RitchieCam to come to Android (there are a lot of challenges to make that happen, more than iPhone), so sorry. The Android reference was simply because the Fuji X Weekly and Ricoh Recipes apps are available for Android. Didn’t mean to get your hopes up.
I appreciate your kindness!
It’s all good, I totally understand that developing an Android app is a totally different process than doing an iPhone one. Really, though, I do most of my photography on my camera though.
And… it actually occurs to me that I’ve got an older iPhone sitting around here somewhere that I can put RitchieCam on… so I’m gonna do that!
Definitely give it a try! 😀
Okay… so far I’m thrilled! Before I remembered I had the iPhone, I’d actually tried other apps, including FIMO (which is cool, but I’ve never been really happy with the quality of the pictures).
Also, I’ve really been wanting an X100T or V, or maybe an XE-3 or XE-4… the idea is to have something a bit less obtrusive than my XT-3 for getting shots of people at events. But those cameras are near impossible to get right now… but I actually think using RichieCam on the iPhone is exactly what I need. It’s small and unobtrusive, and the Dramatic B&W is pretty much right up my alley. I mean… everybody takes photos on their phones now, and it doesn’t scream “I’M A PHOTOGRAPHER!!!”
Using a phone for photography definitely allows you to get some shots that would be more difficult (or perhaps more uncomfortable) otherwise. I’m so glad that you like RitchieCam and figured out a way to use it 😀
Hi Richie, would you please do a which film simulation for the X100V please or will the Xtrans3 recipes you described be fine? Thanks Richard Henderson
This is for the X100V:
https://fujixweekly.com/2022/10/28/which-film-simulation-recipes-when-part-1-x-pro3-x100v-x-t4-x-s10-x-e4-x-t30-ii-x-trans-v/
Is there ever a time when you can use the custom white balance setting? For example. I love the Portra 160 outside. But indoors at night when I turn on the ugly yellow light my thaught was to use the costum whitebalance. Shoot something white so the camera can balance for the yellow indoor light. Make the Portra 160 shift and shoot. But I think its not the same with the Portra 160. But is there a film sim that would work with the costum white balance?
I have done one:
https://fujixweekly.com/2018/05/30/my-fujifilm-x100f-kodak-portra-400-film-simulation-recipe/
The issue is that the Custom White Balance measurement will be different each time it’s measured. Even if you were to use a grey card or something that can be easily replicated by everyone, if the light isn’t exactly the same, the results will be different, at least by a little. So it’s impossible to get consistent results by a group of people using different cameras in different places and with different light, and that’s why I abandoned trying to use Custom White Balance. But, it you are able to get a good Custom measurement that matches, say Daylight WB, you can use it in place of Daylight WB, and have two Daylight WB recipes in the C1-C7. I hope this makes sense.
fuji x weekly has made my first year with a Fuji ace this article is so helpful.
bc kodachrome 64, portra v2, and tri-x 400 are lots of people’s favorite recipes, I thought I’d share my method for using both. bc the shifts for those first 2 recipes are so close, and the shift is less crucial for b&w, I have all 3 set as custom presets on my xt30 using just the shift from the Kodachrome recipe.
those are my 3 favorite recipes at the moment and I love the joy and convenience of having all 3 loaded. the results have been great for my purposes, though I haven’t done an a/b test yet. at some point maybe I’ll upgrade to an xt30ii but for now I love my lil workaround.
these are my current presets:
c1- kodachrome 64
c2- portra 400 v2
c3- classic chrome
c4- velvia v2
c5- tri-x 400
c6- Jeff Davenport
c7- out of box default (for now)
Nice! Great tip on your workaround, thanks so much for sharing!