Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4
I get asked all of the time when to use which Film Simulation Recipe. With nearly 300 on the Fuji X Weekly App to choose from, it can be difficult to know when each Recipe should be chosen. Besides, you only have C1-C7 Custom Presets on your Fujifilm camera (most of you, anyway). Which seven Recipes should you have programed? When should you select them?
To understand the idea behind this post, it’s important to go back to Part 1, which explains it all. Definitely review the earlier articles in this series if you never saw them or if it’s been awhile. When I started, the Fujifilm X-T5 wasn’t even announced yet, and I had zero X-Trans V Film Simulation Recipes. By the time I published Part 4, I had a couple of Recipes for the X-T5, but only a couple. This followup had to wait awhile.
I still don’t have a ton of X-Trans V Recipes, but I do have just enough that I could complete this Part 5. I do want this to be an ongoing series, but new posts will likely be few and far between, so don’t expect a Part 6 anytime soon.
Below I will suggest to you seven Film Simulation Recipes (one for each C1-C7 Custom Preset) for you to program into your Fujifilm X-Trans V camera, and state when to use each. If you have a Fujifilm X-T5, X-H2, or X-H2S (or any other X-Trans V camera that is released after this is published), I invite you to try these Recipes for the situations that I recommend.
C1 — Kodak Portra 400 v2 — Golden Hour
Kodak Portra 400 v2 is a Recipe that does well at anytime during daylight hours, and as the name suggests it is a good option for portrait photography, but I’m going to recommend it specifically for “golden hour” near sunrise and sunset. This really could be your primary use-all-of-the-time Recipe, and that’s why I suggest placing it in C1, but when the sun is low to the horizon, make sure that this is the one you’re shooting with. I personally use this Recipe frequently.
Alternatives for “golden hour” photography:
Nostalgia Negative
Kodak Negative
C2 — 1970’s Summer — Midday
You might be surprised that Kodachrome 64 didn’t make it to the top-spot on this category. I love that Recipe and think it’s a wonderful choice—don’t be afraid to choose it over this… or even over Kodak Portra 400 v2 for “golden hour” photography. Yet, for midday—which I’m defining as daylight that’s in-between the “golden hour” light of sunrise and sunset—I think 1970’s Summer is tough to beat. It’s not the most versatile Recipe, but if the sun is out, it’s an excellent option.
Alternatives for “midday” photography:
C3 — Kodak Ultramax 400 — Overcast
For dreary overcast, Kodak Ultramax 400 is my favorite option. It is a versatile Recipe, so it’s not just good for rainy days, but many other situations, too, including golden hour, midday, shade, indoor, nighttime and more. This could be your go-to Film Simulation Recipe. Emulsion ’86 and Thommy’s Ektachrome are very good runners up, and could also be alternatives for C2.
Alternatives for “overcast” photography:
Emulsion ’86
Thommy’s Ektachrome
C4 — Timeless Negative — Indoor
For natural light indoor photography, my top choice is the Timeless Negative Recipe (although any of the Recipes listed above this could work well, too). Timeless Negative is an all-rounder that could be used in most situations and produce excellent results, but specifically I’m recommending it for natural light indoor pictures. For artificial-light indoor images, use the recipes for nighttime photography below.
Alternative for “indoor” photography:
Standard Provia
Nostalgic Print
C5 — Superia Xtra 400 — Nighttime
I don’t yet have a “Tungsten” Film Simulation Recipe for X-Trans V, but that doesn’t mean you are out of luck. I’ve gotten good results at night with both Kodak Ultramax 400 and Timeless Negative, but Superia Xtra 400 is my favorite for after-dark photography. Superia Xtra 400 is also good for any of the C1-C4 situations mentioned above, as it’s a versatile Recipe—it’s another that could be your go-to for any situation. The two alternatives mentioned below are great options for golden hour or midday photography—I prefer both for that, and Pacific Blues is one of my absolute favorites—but I have also had decent results with those two Recipes at night, so they are worth your consideration (either in C5, or in C1 or C2).
Alternatives for “nighttime” photography:
Pacific Blues
CineStill 400D v2
C6 — Vintage Bronze — Wildcard
In Parts 1-3, this category was called Alternative Process; however, for Part 4 and Part 5, since there is no Film Simulation Recipe that fits that category, it was renamed Wildcard. My top-option for it is Vintage Bronze, which produces vintage analog-like results in a variety of situations, including daylight and indoors. Alternatively, you could fill C6 with a favorite color Recipe that didn’t make it to C1-C5 above (such as Kodachrome 64 or Pacific Blues). Otherwise, the two options below are also great choices to program here.
Alternative “wildcard” Recipes:
Summer of 1960
CineStill 400D v1
C7 — Ilford FP4 Plus 125 — B&W
Technically speaking, Ilford FP4 Plus 125 is the only black-and-white Film Simulation Recipe made specifically for X-Trans V cameras—and it’s a very good Recipe! But, X-Trans IV B&W Recipes are also compatible with X-Trans V cameras, and of those Kodak Tri-X 400 is my all-time favorite. I definitely recommend that one, but Ilford FP4 Plus 125 is excellent, too.
Alternatives for “B&W” photography:
Kodak Tri-X 400
Ilford HP5 Plus 400
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Fujifilm X-T5 in black: Amazon B&H Moment
Fujifilm X-T5 in silver: Amazon B&H Moment
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Hi from Finland, Ritchie! First of all, thank you so much for your work! This is a huge help for all Fujifilm enthusiasts! Ritchie, lost my peace, I don’t sleep at night …. I really want to take the same photos as you, but it doesn’t always work out …I have Fujifilm X-T30 ii with 23mm/F2. Thanks a lot! Kind regards, Michael, Helsinki, Finland
I don’t want you to lose sleep! Are you saying that the Recipes don’t look “right” when you use them?
Hi Ritchie!! Hi from Finland again. Thank you for your reply. No…no…your recipes are beautiful! I just want to say, that I am new to Fujifilm and I try to make the same pics you get. Thanks a lot!
I appreciate your kindness! You are welcome!
Still waiting for Which Film Simulation Recipe, When ? For X-Trans sensor I for quite some time.
Sequence of the parts isn’t logical in my opinion. Oldest sensor first …
I do understand that you are excited about the X-T5 but not all your audience has that camera and like I mentioned before I’m not going to buy an X-T5 for 1 filmsimulation.
I have the XE-1 with the sensor which gives the most beautiful colors of all the X sensors…it’s the mother of all the X sensors so please some respect for the mother sensor.
Thank you so much.
Kind regards
Bart Van de Venne
There aren’t (yet) enough X-Trans I Recipes to properly be included in this series at this time. I have two X-Trans I cameras, and have had two other X-Trans I cameras in the past. I don’t know if I agree with “the most beautiful colors” statement (that’s very subjective… I like X-Trans IV best personally), but they are indeed good cameras even at a decade old.
The reason why Recipes for X-Trans I trickle out slowly is that not very many people use Recipes on X-Trans I cameras. There are right now far more people using Recipes on the X-T5 alone than the X-E1, X-Pro1, and X-M1 combined. It’s not even close. So I don’t put as much time and energy into it since it helps fewer people. Besides that, you can get a lot more various looks with the newer models than the older ones (which have far fewer options). But I do work on Recipes for X-Trans I… I have a couple experiments in my X-Pro1 right now, so they will continue to trickle out.
I hope this all makes sense. Thanks for the feedback!
Sure it makes sense.
Thanks anyway for all the effort.
Regards
Bart
Hey! New to Fujifilm, my photos always seem to have a slight blur/grain to them? I’m sure this is a feature of the camera, but My Canon80D takes really sharp photos whereas my XT30ii, even when settings are adjusted to give my photos a crisper and ‘smoother’ look, still come out grainy… Is this normal? or are there settings / presets I can use to take less grainy looking photos?
Thank you! 🙂
But grain is good! One of my complaints about modern photography is that it is often too clean, too crisp. I learned photography on film, and grain was an inherent quality. Oftentimes a desirable quality. My top recommendation is to embrace the grain!
However, different strokes for different folks, so this is what you can do: set Grain to Off, set Clarity to 0 (or a + amount), set Sharpness to 0 (or a + amount), and keep ISO in check. Then you should have crispy pictures.
If there is blur, you need to increase the shutter speed. If you are using non-Fujinon lenses, consider switching to Fujinon lenses.
I still suggest embracing the grain, though 😀
Thank you so much, that is super helpful! Maybe you’re right, time to embrace the grain… 😎
You might consider this Recipe:
https://fujixweekly.com/2020/07/18/fujifilm-x100v-film-simulation-recipe-the-rockwell-velvia/
Thank you so much for your suggestions and all your recipes. It was a really good starting point when I got my x100v. Now I also switched from Canon DSLR to X-T5 and this post here is my starting point as well.
But there is something wrong with C7? It’s not Portra 400, right?
And since I am writing: it would be great when the iPhone app supports multiple cameras. It’s a bit cumbersome to switch between x100v and x-t5 filter within the app. I am a patron, of course! 🤩
Additional tips and things I noticed:
– recipes could get searchable tags within the app (“overcast”, “dreamy”, …)
– user ratings?
– and the search function on this site is not that great. Mainly because the results are shown in full text (you could select post excerpt within the admin Interface)
All the best from Berlin and thanks again for your outstanding work!
Henning
Oh, geez. I’ve got that fixed, thanks for pointing it out! I appreciate your input!
Dear Ritchie,
Thank you very much for your job!
I also switched from Canon DSLR to X-T5 since my Canon 40D was stolen together with my car. 🙂
So I am absolutely new with Fujifilm and I really like it! I have a question if do not mind:
you have divided your recipes by sensors (X-Trans V, X-Trans IV etc).
But not all recipes exist for X-Trans V. For example: Kodak Porta 400, Kodak Porta 800, Kodak Ektar 100 can be found for X-Trans IV and not for X-Trans V.
Can I take recipes for for one sensor and use it for another one? Yeah, I understand that one can not use recipes for X-T5 for X-T3, but what about vise versa – recipes for X-T3 for X-T5?
Best regards,
Igor
Jerusalem
The answer is that you can use X-Trans IV (or even X-Trans III) Recipes on X-Trans V, but there are some things to note.
First, blue is rendered more deeply on some film simulations on X-Trans V, so you might have to adjust Color Chrome FX Blue, or just accept that it will render slightly different.
https://fujixweekly.com/2022/11/25/ive-got-the-fujifilm-x-trans-v-blues/
👆 That article will help you.
For X-Trans IV recipes intended for the X-T3 and X-T30, you’ll have to additionally decide on Grain size (Small or Large) and Clarity (0, unless you want to try something like -2). Also, for X-Trans III Recipes, you’ll want to set Color Chrome Effect to Off.
I hope that all makes sense.