I purchased my Fujifilm X-T5 when it was released back in November. I’ve received several messages lately asking why I haven’t published a review of the new camera. I think it’s because they are considering buying one themselves, and they want to know if it’s actually “worth” upgrading to or if there is something they should be aware of. Basically, some people want to either be talked into buying it or talked out of buying it, as it’s a lot of money and a big decision—which can be paralyzing—and you want to be wise with it. Lots of research is essential, and finding opinions from those you trust can be invaluable. I’m honored and flattered that many of you consider this website to be trustworthy.
At the beginning of each year, I like to take some time to consider how things went the prior year, what the current trajectory is, and where I want things to go. For Fuji X Weekly, I really feel that a slight shift in trajectory is needed, and in some ways I began moving towards that last year, even if I wasn’t sure the why and where. After much consideration, I have a clearer vision of where I want this website to go in 2023, and how to achieve it. I haven’t communicated these changes to you (until now, I suppose), but you’ve probably already noticed some.
There’s actually a lot going on behind the scenes. Many different projects are in the works. I’m juggling quite a bit right now. When the time is right, there are many exciting things that I look forward to announcing and sharing with you. Some projects might never work out, which has happened before (that’s just they way it goes sometimes), but I do believe that most of these will come to fruition. Some will take much longer than others, so stay tuned for these announcements over the coming weeks and months.
One thing that I haven’t announced (but you might have already picked up on) is that I’m doing more to explain and suggest when to use various Film Simulation Recipes. There are so many to choose from, and it can be difficult to know which to try. Then, when you find one you like, maybe the weather or light changes, and you don’t like it nearly so much in that situation. Now what do you do?
The trouble with suggesting Recipes is that, while one person might love one for a certain light and situation, another person might hate it for the same light and situation. For example, in the very same day, one photographer told me that they used the Kodak Portra 400 Recipe for a professional portraiture photo shoot and they couldn’t be more happy with the results, while another photographer told me that they tried that same Recipe for portraits and the results were horrible. Each person has their own tastes and style, and what will work for one person won’t work for another. I could suggest to you the Recipes that I think are good for various situations, but you might completely disagree with my assessment. Still, it can be helpful have a starting point.
Some of the articles that I’ve published so far in 2023 to help out with this are Five Film Simulation Recipes Every Social Media Influencer Should Try on Their Fujifilm X100V, Using Film Simulation Recipes to Recreate Vintage Looks — 10 Recipes to Try Today!, Elevating Your Street Photography with Fujifilm Film Simulation Recipes + 5 Recipes to Try Today!, Creative Collective 040: FXW Zine — Issue 15 — February 2023 (with the article: 10 Film Simulation Recipes for Cloudy Days), The 10 Best Film Simulation Recipes on the Fuji X Weekly App, and 5 Film Simulation Recipes every Fujifilm X-T5 Photographer Should Try. This actually started late last year with the Which Film Simulation Recipe, When? series. You can expect a lot more similar content moving forward because this is where I want to focus more of my time and energy. Even when I’m publishing new Recipes, I’m trying to do a better job of briefly explaining what situations or light they might work best in. Hopefully this is helpful to you.
None of this is completely new. For example, in the SOOC Live broadcasts, not only have we discussed at length a Film Simulation Recipe in each show, but for awhile now we’ve suggested several Recipe for use in specific situations or for various genres of photography. Without giving away what’s in store of Season 3, which kicks off tomorrow, I can tell you that we’re doubling-down on that concept. Be sure to tune in, and subscribe to the new SOOC Live YouTube channel.
What does any of this have to do with a review of the Fujifilm X-T5? Simple: I’m moving away from product reviews. For now—and I don’t know if this will last forever or if it’s just for a time—I won’t be publishing any camera or lens reviews. I want to focus a lot less on telling you what is good or bad about various gear, and focus more on how to use your get to achieve the aesthetics you want straight-out-of-camera. I’m not going to publish a review of the X-T5, but instead publish more articles on using Recipes with that camera (and other camera, too, definitely not just or even mostly the X-T5). I want to help you get the results you want out of your camera, and product reviews, which take a lot of time to put together, get in the way of that. Besides, there are so many reviews of the Fujifilm X-T5 already, what could I possibly add? The only things I would say is that X-Trans V renders the color blue slightly deeper on some film simulations, Auto White Balance can be quirky, Nostalgic Neg. is similar to Eterna, and if you are doing long broadcasts the camera might overheat. Those are the only things that I would add to what others have discussed, and I’ve already said them. If you have been waiting patiently for my review (that won’t come), I hope this is somehow helpful to your decision to buy or not buy; mostly I would say trust your gut, because deep down you know whether or not you actually “need” that new camera, or if it’s just Gear Acquisition Syndrome, New Camera Envy, or Fear of Missing Out.
While not publishing camera and lens reviews might be seen as negative, I hope that the revised vision for Fuji X Weekly is very positive, and that the benefits of the changes far outweigh what must be left behind. I invite you to come along for the ride, and let’s see where all of this goes.
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujifilm X-T5 in black: Amazon B&H Moment
Fujifilm X-T5 in silver: Amazon B&H Moment
While useful, there is I think an ephemeral nature to product reviews, whether it’s camera, glass, etc. A greater discussion about making the most out of a camera (but more pointedly a detector) and making the most out of images seems to me a better and more sustainable long-term view. I’m in the camp where with a small number of cameras on hand, I’d like to learn how to make the most of what I have and what I like to photograph. I have effectively 3 cameras, but I’ve only effectively been using 1 over the last few years; what that 1 is may be self-evident by the number of my replies to your posts.
I appreciate the feedback! I’d love to know what the one camera is, and what the other two are, too. 😀
I was lucky to pick up a 2nd-hand Fuji X70 which over the last number of years I’ve been using a lot for its versatility and portability. I still have a Canon EOS6D mark1 with 24-105, 70-300, and a 50/1.4. I used to carry all of that with me for a 2-week trip: ooof. Finally, I have a still-working 6th-generation iPodTouch which I’ve had since 2016.
That X70 is a special camera. 😀
Hi, do u plan do more for x-trans II cameras? Would like to c new recepis.
Yes, I will. They’re slow to come out. I published 7 in 2022, and there are currently 31 in total on the App.
There are two main reasons why I publish less X-Trans II recipes than for newer cameras. The first is that, according to polling and statistics I have, about 75% of cameras that people are using Film Simulation Recipes on are X-Trans III or newer (with the vast majority being X-Trans IV). X-Trans I, II, Bayer, and GFX make up a combined 25%, so there are fewer recipes for those cameras. Second, the older the model, the less JPEG options there are, so there are fewer various aesthetics that can be created. Simply, you can do more with the newer models, so there are more recipes for the newer models. With all of that said, you can still expect new X-Trans II recipes to be released in the coming months.
A great idea that will force us to use all recipes in a more creative way 🙂 I look forward to what is to come!
Awesome! 😀
I like this direction. There are so many recipes that, as a result, I just stick to a few I know and like. The article about which one to use based on lighting conditions was a great platform for exploring a few recipes that I hadn’t tried. Another layer I’ve been adding is film recipes based on season or time of year. Kodak Gold seems one obvious choice for summer. Not sure about winter, but the stock Classic Negative kind of works for me. But then, what to use if you spend Christmas in Southern California?
Anyway, I look forward to digging into a curated selection of recipes!
Awesome! Can’t wait to produce more content that is helpful to you in this way! 😀
I sure am loving my X-T5, Ritchie! For a NON-video shooter like me, it’s the perfect camera!
It’s a great camera! 😀
thank you for your thoughtful post on reviewing gear….
not long ago, your post about the X-T4 vs X-T5 upgrade left me wondering about ‘needing’ an X-T5… and I discovered that I didn’t….
I sold my X-H1 and bought an X-T4 instead (love the format of the X-T line over the X-H) and could not be happier….
Awesome! I think the X-T4 is really under appreciated in the Fuji world, mostly because of the rear screen (which I think has its advantages and disadvantages, and is overall not nearly as big of a deal as it’s made out to be).
Hi Ritchie!
I’ve recently got my first Fuji camera (X-T3) and found out your site. It has been a great journey trying out the different recipes you’ve came up with, so thanks for the time invested.
On the reviews topic, I agree with your direction. Although it’s interesting to know your thoughts about the latest and greatest, camera gear is already extensively covered in other websites and YouTube, and what makes Fuji X Weekly unique are the recipes, so it makes total sense to focus on that.
I liked the Legoland post, seeing what a real world shoot looks like to you. One thing I believe would be interesting in this kind of article and goes along with your new route is telling us WHY you decided to go with given recipe, what factors you weighted when deciding which one to use so that we will also be able to figure it out for our own scenarios.
Thanks for doing this and keep on keeping on!
Thanks for the feedback! I should have stated why I chose Kodachrome 64 for that visit. I wanted an iconic travel aesthetic, and I thought the recipe would do well (although it ended up being less sunny than was forecasted when I chose that recipe). Thanks for your comment!
It is not 2005 anymore. Any new camera/cellphone/monitor/laptop is efficient to accomplish any task any user will want and more. Rather than reviews I appreciated your words about the ethos of the design in the XT-5, its meaning. How to create and being creative in a personal way with the amazing devices of today now is the challenge I think, even more that I.A. is entering the creative fields .Thank you for the guidelines, Ritchie.
Very true! And even some things from 2005 are making a comeback with Gen Z. But, yeah, product reviews seem to be becoming more and more pointless, yet how to creatively use that gear is not talked about often enough. I appreciate your thoughtful input!
Hi Ritchie,
I am quite new to the X-T5 but not the Fuji-World itself, because I have been using the X100V and I love both cameras. What I just realized is the entirely different way how custom settings C1-C7 work on those cameras. On the X100V it’s basically just the recipe (IQ settings), on the X-T5 however, it is also Auto-ISO settings, Face Detection, and other settings. This is really frustrating.
I would really love to have “global settings”, e.g. Face Detection. This should not change when selecting a different custom setting.
How do you deal with that situation? Maybe this is something for a new blog post because this new way of dealing with custom settings makes the idea of using recipes way more difficult. I think what Fuji had more in mind that you maybe use C1 for portraits, C2 for landscape, C3 for action shots, etc…
Any help, tips, suggestions highly appreciated.
Thanks for your great work, Ritchie!
Fujifilm introduced this I believe on the X-E4 (maybe the X-S10, I’m not certain), and it makes more sense with the minimalistic philosophy of the X-E4; otherwise, I wish Fujifilm hadn’t done this change. C1-C7 should be for the IQ settings only, in my opinion. What I did is program C1 as I wanted it, and copy-and-pasted it into C2-C7, so they’re all identical. Then I just change the IQ settings in each for whatever recipe I want programmed. Unfortunately, if there are things that you frequently change (photometry, for example), it is baked into the preset, so any time you power off the camera and back on, you have to make the change again. I would recommend programming a function button as a shortcut for those things that you frequently adjust. I hope that makes sense.
Thanks Ritchie! It makes totally sense and that’s the way I do it. I hoped that there is a better way to deal with this. But it seems like there isn’t. 🙁
It would be so great if you could set what settings are preset-based and what are global.
I think Fujifilm should have C1-C7 for IQ, and then another maybe C1-C4 for the other settings. That would have made more sense, I think.