The Fujifilm X-T50 has a Film Dial, a new feature that likely will begin to appear on other Fujifilm models in time. It’s possible that it might eventually find its way onto most bodies (or some alternate iteration of the concept). While the Film Dial has been controversial, I think it has been largely misunderstood, and I don’t believe a lot of people realize the great potential of it. Back in May, I created a strategy—a universal Recipe—for getting the most out of the Film Dial, which really makes it a useful feature. I thought it would be worthwhile to show what that looks like in real-life practice.
In August I had the wonderful opportunity to travel from coast-to-coast, leading photowalks in San Diego, Denver, Nashville and Philadelphia. It was so great to meet you all! Throughout the tour I had a Fujifilm X-T50, and utilized the Film Dial several times. Interestingly, even if you don’t own an X-T50, you can still use this strategy by programing a Fn button to open the Film Simulation menu—the Film Dial Recipe doesn’t actually require the Film Dial to use. In this case, though, I used the X-T50 and the Film Dial, and I want to share with you four times where I put it into practice. I think seeing the results from actual use will help to demonstrate just how nice the Film Dial is.
The universal Film Dial Recipe (click here) works well with every film simulation. Some are better than others, but all of them are decent enough (even Sepia). Since the Film Dial only changes the film simulation and nothing else, the universal Recipe parameters—other than the film sim—remain exactly the same when you turn the Film Dial. Each time you turn the Film Dial and select a different film simulation, it is like having a different Recipe (even though the Recipe parameters didn’t budge), because each film simulation is so unique. Essentially, the Film Dial gives you up to 12 bonus Recipes right at your fingertips!
Denver Nighttime Street Photography
Exploring Nashville
New York & New Jersey
Massachusetts
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Fujifilm X-T50 in black:
Amazon, B&H, Moment, Wex, Nuzira
Fujifilm X-T50 in silver:
Amazon, B&H, Moment, Wex, Nuzira
Fujifilm X-T50 in charcoal:
Amazon, B&H, Moment, Wex
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Fujifilm’s film simulations are excellent. Seeing what the photo will look like live while taking the photo is an upgrade to taking professional photos. Capturing the mood later in Lightroom is not the same as how I felt on location. Statements like film simulations are only for beginners only show me that this comes from people who are not yet ready to understand professional photography. Capturing a mood live requires not only mastering ISO, aperture & time (the technical parameters), but also adjusting color grading (film simulations), highlights, shadows, color shifts, sharpness, etc. live. So not necessarily something for beginners. You can always make adjustments in Photoshop afterwards, but Photoshop can’t give me the live mood on location.
Unfortunately, my Fujifilm doesn’t have the film simulation wheel. The x-T50 is a bit too small for me (handle) so I would be happy if Fujifilm would equip another camera with this wheel.
I have been surprised (after meeting so many different people this year) how Film Simulation Recipes are being used. Quite obviously, there are many (myself included) who shoot JPEG and use the pictures straight-out-of-camera. I think this is how most use Recipes. Some others do that, but edit the JPEGs a little. Some others shoot RAW and use Recipes as a starting point (RAW editors like Lightroom can/will apply its version of its interpretation of some of the JPEG parameters to the RAW). Some others shoot RAW and use the Recipes to help them pre-visualize what the final edited photo will look like in the field (a visualization tool, not a creation tool). I met someone (an extremely talented and successful photographer who you might have seen) who shoots RAW+JPEG, edits the RAW, then layers and blends the SOOC JPEG over the edited RAW. There’s no right or wrong way, but I was definitely surprised by the variety of ways that they can be used.
Even if you don’t have the Film Dial, you can still use the Film Dial Recipe, and program an Fn button or the rear Command Dial to activate the film simulation menu, and you can do the same thing pretty easily.
Где же симуляция ASTIA?
Astia isn’t my favorite… so I didn’t use it much (if at all) in these four instances; however, I did use it somewhat extensively for another project that I will be publishing shortly.