Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 4 – Part 5
When should you use which Film Simulation Recipes on your Fujifilm X-Trans III 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. Also, check out Part 2 (click here) if you missed that.
Like Part 2, I set out to recommend seven recipes, one for each C1-C7 Custom Preset, that don’t share the same white balance type, because X-Trans III cameras—X-Pro2, X100F, X-E3, X-T2, X-T20 & X-H1—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. It was a difficult task, but I think I came up with a good set for you.
If you have a Fujifilm X-T3 or X-T30, you can use these recipes, too, by simply setting Color Chrome Effect to Off. Also, if you have a newer X-Trans IV camera (or X-Trans V), you can use these recipes by additionally setting Color Chrome FX Blue to Off, Clarity to 0, and choosing a Grain size (either Small or Large).
C1 — Improved Velvia — Golden Hour
For sunrise or sunset photography, this “Improved Velvia” Film Simulation Recipe is one of your best bets! It’s great anytime of the day or night when you need vibrant colors, so it has a lot of versatility, but it is especially nice during “golden hour” when the sun is low to the horizon. This recipe uses the Auto white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I’d probably still choose this recipe.
Alternatives for “golden hour” photography:
Velvia
Kodak Ektachrome 100SW
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Ektar 100
C2 — Kodak Gold 200 — Midday
“Midday” is simply daylight conditions outside of when the sun is low to the horizon, and for this category I’m recommending Kodak Gold 200. Even though this is a recipe for the X-T3/X-T30, it is fully compatible with X-Trans III cameras. It’s great for sunny conditions—midday or otherwise—and is good for landscapes and portraits. If you have this programmed into your camera, you’re going to use it a lot, perhaps more than any of the others. It uses the Daylight white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I’d still choose this one, although each in the alternatives list are excellent options, too.
Alternatives for “midday” photography:
Kodachrome II
Dramatic Classic Chrome
Everyday Astia
Kodak Ultramax
C3 — Ektachrome E100GX — Overcast
If it’s a rainy, overcast day, the Ektachrome E100GX is an excellent Film Simulation Recipe to try. It’s also great for many daylight situations, so it offers good versatility. This recipe uses the Fluorescent 2 white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type I would choose Fujicolor Superia 800 instead, but this is a close second-best, and I feel good about recommending it anyway.
Alternatives for “overcast” photography:
Fujicolor Superia 800
Fujicolor Pro 160NS
PRO Neg. Hi
Kodak GT 800-5
C4 — Color Negative — Indoor
For natural light indoor photography, I recommend the Color Negative Film Simulation Recipe, which is another one that’s intended for the X-T3/X-T30, but is fully compatible with X-Trans III cameras. It uses the Fluorescent 1 white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type I would choose Agfa Optima 200 instead, but this is still a solid option.
Alternatives for “indoor” photography:
Agfa Optima 200
Fujicolor Pro 400H
“Eterna”
Eterna
C5 — Fujicolor NPL 160 Tungsten — Nighttime
For nighttime or indoor artificial light situations, try the Fujicolor NPL 160 Tungsten Film Simulation Recipe. It does especially well for “blue hour” photography at dusk or dawn, when the sun is below the horizon. This recipe uses the Fluorescent 3 white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I would choose CineStill 800T instead, but this is a good second-best.
Alternatives for “nighttime” photography:
CineStill 800T
Classic Chrome
Melancholy Blue
Cine Teal
C6 — Xpro — Alternative Process
There aren’t very many options for this category, but the Xpro recipe is an excellent recipe, producing a cross-process aesthetic. It uses the Kelvin white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I would probably choose the Cross Process recipe instead, but this is quite similar, so you can’t go wrong either way.
Alternatives for “alternative process” photography:
Cross Process
Vintage Kodachrome
Vintage Kodacolor
Vintage Agfacolor
C7 — Analog Monochrome — B&W
Last but certainly not least is black-and-white, and for that I recommend the Analog Monochrome Film Simulation Recipe. This recipe is really good for most situations. It uses the Incandescent white balance type; if I wasn’t concerned about white balance type, I would be happy with this recipe or any in the alternatives list below, which are all good.
Alternatives for “B&W” photography:
Acros
Agfa Scala
Ilford HP5 Plus
Kodak Tri-X Push Process
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Thank you for this, Ritchie. Although I occasionally use the SOOC JPEG (I prefer the darkroom) when choosing a film simulation recipe, I often suffer from the tyranny of choice. These posts have helped me focus on which handful of recipes to use “when”. I tend to pick one and stick with it in the same way that famous film photographers of the past would use just one or two film stocks.
I think tyranny of choice is a real problem, unfortunately. I’m glad that this is helpful! 😀
haha ‘tyranny of choice’ I love that phrase!
This was a great post Ritchie, I enjoyed reading it! Usually, I pick one recipe and stick with it for the next 36 exposures. This article gives me some good information for when I consider where and when I’ll most likely be shoot over the coming days.
Thanks to the new widget feature on your app, I can list my favourite film sims there, in the C1-C7 order on my camera, so I always have the WB shift to hand.
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear it. 😀 😀 😀
Great post! We need one like it for Ricoh recipes 😅
That’s a really good idea! Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks Ritchie! Like others, I get confused with too many options. I ended up selling the X-E2s and moved to the X-E3 so just restarting with these. Quick question, why not Portra 400 for golden hour here as you recommended in for the IV trans sensors?
Probably realised here that it’s because it’s the same WB shift! 🙂
Kodak Portra 400 is excellent for golden hour, but it wasn’t picked number one because of the white balance, and the quirk of having to switch WB Shifts when changing between the C1-C7 presets.
Thanks Ritchie! This is great! As you recommend Kodak Gold 200 for sunny days and Ektachrome E100 GX for overcast days, do you think also that Kodak is more appropriate for nature photography and Ektachrome for urban photography?
On the recommendations for nighttime photography, don’t you think that CineStill 800T is more appropriate at dark and with artificial light situations and Fujicolor NPL 160 Tungsten is more appropriate for blue hour.
Thanks!
I think both Kodak Gold 200 and Ektachrome E100GX are good for nature and urban. Which one is “more appropriate” is likely subjective. I’ve used each of them for both scenarios with much success.
Fujicolor NPL 160 Tungsten is indeed most ideal for “blue hour” photography, while CineStill 800T is more ideal for after dark; however, they’re both decent enough for each situation that you could use whichever. But, if you consider the WB Type and whether or not you have to adjust the WB Shift when switching Recipes, you might choose one over the other for that reason.
Thanks for the input!
Hi Ritchie! First, I want to thank you for the wonderful job you have been done for this community… really amazing!
Just to share my experience… after trying several recipes I finally came with 5 favorites on my X100F that fulfil my needs:
C1 – Kodak Gold 200 (for outdoor daylight as long whenever there is sun and golden hour)
C2 – Kodak Portra 400 for X-T3/X-T30 that happens to work very well for X100F (for outdoor portraits whenever there is sun; it happens that this film simulation has the right adjustments in highlights, shadows and color from the Kodak Gold 200 for portraits)
C3 – Fujicolor Superia 800 (for overcast days and indoors under natural light)
C4 – CineStill 800 (for nightime and under artificial light)
C5 – Kodak Tri-X 400 (for black & white)
I just need to adjust the WB Shift for Daylight when I swap between C1/C2 and C5.
Many thanks!
Very nice set! Thank you for sharing! 😀