I get asked fairly regularly which Film Simulation Recipes are the most popular. For me, this is a fascinating topic, but it’s definitely hard to know definitively. While I get a glimpse on social media, my best gauge is the Fuji X Weekly website statistics; specifically, which Recipe articles are viewed the most. I don’t collect any data on the Fuji X Weekly App, so that’s no help—although, if I did, it would likely offer the most accurate picture; however, it would still be impossible to know which Recipes people programmed into their Fujifilm cameras, or how often they used each. Perhaps a survey would be particularly useful, yet even it has its limitations. While certainly a flawed method, page-view website statics offer the best glimpse at which Film Simulation Recipes are the most popular, so that’s what I’m using for this article. These are simply the Top 25 most-viewed Recipes on the Fuji X Weekly website last month (January 2024).
Most of the time these lists are pretty predictable. Those with Kodak brand names in the title—Kodachrome, Portra, Gold, Tri-X, etc., etc.—are the most popular. Classic Chrome is the king of film simulations, as the majority of the most-viewed Recipes are based on that film simulation. X-Trans IV Recipes, especially for the X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II cameras, tend to be the most popular.
This time, however, I was a surprised by many of the rankings. The top two—Kodachrome 64 and Kodak Portra 400 v2—did not surprise me at all. Those particular Recipes are far-and-away the most popular. Third place, which made this list despite being so new (released towards the end of the month), is a good deal behind the top two. Reala Ace is now the most popular Classic Negative Recipe, edging out Pacific Blues. Kodak Vision3 250D is the only Recipe that uses Eterna, and Kodak Vision3 250D v2 is the only one that uses Nostalgic Neg.. There’s also only one PRO Neg. Std Recipe and one Acros, while five use Classic Negative and 16 (of the 25) use Classic Chrome. By far the most popular X-Trans II Recipe is Classic Kodak Chrome, which ranks 21st. Fujicolor C200 v2 is the only App Patron Early-Access Recipe that I’ve ever seen make it into one of these lists.
Without any further delay, below are the most popular Recipes of last month!
Top 25 Most Popular Film Simulation Recipes of January 2024
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Find these Film Simulation Recipes and many more on the Fuji X Weekly App!
Glad the camera does not have Anscochrome.
To me mimicking the deficiencies of old color films is a liability. I shoot raw and make my own WB decisions.
The little button atop the camera near the shutter release on my x100v I have set to shutter delay. I think its default was film simulation.
Like this:
https://fujixweekly.com/2022/09/01/fujifilm-x-e4-x-trans-iv-film-simulation-recipe-gaf-500/
I love stats. Fun and informative.
Do this every month, please. 😀
Thanks! I appreciate the encouragement! 😀
Kodak Portra 400 is listed twice 5th & 12th?
5th place is X-Trans IV version, 12th place is X-Trans III. The two Recipes are pretty divergent from each other.
https://fujixweekly.com/2020/05/15/film-simulation-review-kodak-portra-400-new-vs-original/
Hey I recently stumbled on your blog while shopping around for a new camera as my film camera is starting to become a bit too pricey unfortunately, so I was doing some research to find out if there were any new age cameras that could mimic that 35mm film feel and so I found your page and it gave me hope! Your photos are absolutely beautiful and was just writing a comment to see exactly what your favorite camera would be for the price point? I am not a professional photographer or anywhere close but I do enjoy capturing the beauty in simple things and just want something not too fancy that can take nice decent photos and can capture the film like feel but not break the bank as it’s just a little hobby I am picking up. I feel like you are very knowledgeable and was wondering if you could help me out as there are so many options! Thanks!
I’m not sure what your price-point is… the “Cadillac” option would be the Fujifilm X-T5. The X-T30 II is a more budget-friendly option that’s easy to recommend. If that’s still too much, going the used route might make sense—something like the X-T20 or X-E3 could be good alternatives. I hope this helps!
Thank you very much for the publishing this list!
I suppose, it would be more useful if it would be divided by camera type. I am sure, that which Film Simulation Recipes are the most popular very depend on camera.
I mean that list of recipes popular between XT3 owners will be different from the list of preferable reciptes of XT5 users.
I suppose what I should do is put which categories the Recipe belongs to. For example, Vibrant Arizona is both X-Trans IV and X-Trans V. Vintage Kodachrome is X-Trans III. Kodak Gold 200 is X-T3/X-T30 + X-Trans III. It’s not always straightforward, but at least those reading will know if a particular one is compatible with their camera without clicking on it. Thanks for the feedback!
I always like seeing these kind of stats and like you wonder which ones are most programmed into people’s cameras. I like to add your recipes to X Raw Studio and see how they look with some of my raw files. Then save to my camera when want to try out. There are a few that never come off my X-T5 and X100V. Thanks for all the work and sharing them.
I wish Fujifilm would update their app to allow storing and loading of individual custom slots like X Raw studio so could have different recipes stored on my phone and easily be able to swap them out.
It would make a whole lot of sense for them to do that, and I hope they do. I’d love the ability to transfer a Recipe directly from the FXW App to the X App if that ability existed. Maybe someday, who knows?
That would be awesome! Especially with current ability to add recipes to FXW.