The new Film Dial on the Fujifilm X-T50 has become one of the most controversial features ever included on a Fujifilm camera. There’s been a lot of hate for it expressed on the internet. There seems to be two camps who dislike it: those who shoot RAW, and those who use Film Simulation Recipes. I believe that the Film Dial has been largely misunderstood, and that it will become more appreciated over time.
The RAW-only group dislikes the Film Dial because they don’t care much for in-camera film simulations. Some will say that they don’t use film simulations at all (of course, they say this while using Provia… film simulations cannot be disabled, so they’re always using one…), and some will say that they apply the film simulations in-post using Lightroom or Capture One, and not in-camera. For this group, the Film Dial is a complete waste of space, they say.
The Film Simulation Recipe group dislikes the Film Dial because you cannot program it with Recipes; it only changes the film simulation and nothing else. They would prefer that each “film” on the Dial could be custom set as a Recipe. That would be really cool, actually, and think that’s a great idea—maybe Fujifilm could do it in the future. Also, a C1-C7 Dial (or increase it to 10 or 12 or more) would have been most ideal. Still, the Film Dial can be useful for this group by utilizing a “universal Recipe” technique, which I used extensively in August traveling across the country. So I think there are two parts to this: 1) a frustration that it could have been implemented better, and 2) not fully realizing the potential that it does have in its current iteration. Nothing can be done about the first point (aside from Fujifilm changing it either with a firmware update, or how it is implemented on future models), but for the second point its a matter of getting the word out—once people try my solution (or something similar… Reggie’s Portra works pretty well for this, too), I think it will be much more liked.
This year I’ve traveled quite a bit, and met hundreds of fellow Fujifilm photographers across the country, and even some from other countries. In doing so, I’ve learned that there are a variety of ways that people are using film simulations and Recipes. Some of these things I would have never even thought of. It’s truly amazing! I want to briefly share them with you.
The number one way that Film Simulation Recipes are being utilized is for straight-out-of-camera photography. This is how I use Recipes, personally, for my own pictures. Basically, the JPEG produced by the camera is the finished photo, aside from sometimes cropping/straightening and maybe some small/minor adjustments occasionally. This saves so much time, and can make the processes more enjoyable—I could list a whole bunch of benefits, but that’s not the point of this article. Straight-out-of-camera photography was once highly shunned by the photographic community at large, but now it is much more acceptable and common, and I believe that—as a pendulum swing response to years of over-editing and now AI—photography as a whole is moving in this direction; authenticity is a big buzzword right now. Another approach is to shoot RAW+JPEG and utilize X RAW Studio or the in-camera RAW reprocessing to change the Recipe after-the-fact.
Another way that people use Recipes is similar to above, just in-conjunction with more robust editing. The SOOC JPEG isn’t the end, it’s the starting point. Camera-made JPEGs have a lot more tolerance for manipulation than they used to, and a light-to-moderate amount of editing is perfectly ok. So the camera gets you a significant distance to the finished picture, and a little editing finishes the job. Sometimes this group will shoot RAW+JPEG and edit the RAW instead of the JPEG when faced with a challenging light situation.
Some people use Recipes, but they shoot RAW+JPEG and don’t usually utilize the camera-made JPEG. If a picture needs to be shared quickly, the JPEG is there, but otherwise the RAW is used. Since software can/will apply its version of its interpretation of some (but not all) of the JPEG data to the RAW file, the Recipe provides a shortcut to a finished RAW-edited picture. It shaves off a little time at the computer, while also producing a ready-to-share JPEG whenever that is needed.
A much less common use—which I was actually quite surprised by but it makes a lot of sense—is Recipes for pre-visualization. JPEGs are rarely or never used; instead, the Recipe allows the RAW photographer to get a better idea of what the finished picture will look like while in-the-field. Utilizing a Recipe that is similar to the photographer’s aesthetic, they can basically see the end result even before opening the shutter. It’s such a great tool for the RAW photographer, but it seems to be highly underutilized, likely because it just never occurred to most to try it.
One last method, which might surprise a lot of you, is the combination of RAW and JPEG photography. There’s an extraordinarily talented photographer (there’s a good chance you’ve seen his pictures) who told me that one of his techniques is to shoot RAW+JPEG with Recipes, edit the RAW file, then blend the SOOC JPEG overtop of the edited RAW. He told me that he does this because the camera-made JPEG has a certain quality or soul that can’t be replicated with RAW-editing and he doesn’t want to lose that, but he needs a certain level of control for his style of photography, and by combining the two, he has the best of both worlds. Amazing!
There’s no right or wrong way to use film simulations and Recipes, there’s only what works for you and your photography. It’s your art, so do it however you want to. My point, though, is that the Film Dial, which I suspect will make its way onto more Fujifilm cameras in the future, can actually be quite useful to both groups who have decried it. I think the potential has yet to be fully explored or understood.
I bring all of this up because Fujirumors posted an article entitled Reframing the Debate: Fujifilm Film Simulations as a RAW Photographer’s Ally and with the subtitle Stop Hating Film Simulations. This is my two cents. There was such a big (and generally unfair) stigma towards JPEGs for such a long time; since film simulations have been heavily associated with SOOC photography, some people look down on them and their use. They see it as being beneath them or for amateurs-only. In doing so, they might be overlooking something that could actually be much appreciated. So I think it’s important to bring awareness to how film simulations and Recipes are being used—perhaps they can be helpful to your photography, but maybe you’ve never tried or have never considered how they might be. My hope is that this article will be enlightening to some of you, and that someone reading this will give Film Simulations Recipes a try for the first time.
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I use recipes both for SOOC (especially when doing events where I’m shooting oodles of pics that I won’t want to individually edit), and for pre-visualization when shooting street photography or small events, where I think I’ll probably end up editing the RAW files in Lightroom but I want to have something that looks fairly close in the EVF. And if the JPEGs turn out great, I’ll just use them instead of editing RAW.
That’s great! Kind of a combination of groups 1, 3 & 4, situationally dependent. I appreciate the input, Serge!
Personally I don’t really use RAW anymore although one card in the camera records RAW which I use as a backup. I love taking photos,and I love going out with one of your recipes and seeing what I get the way day. What I don’t love is sitting in front of a computer for hours changing what I’ve done.
I don’t have the new film dial and so I’ve read your pieces with interest but I just don’t see the point to be honest. It feels like a solution to a problem I don’t have. I have all the film simulations set on a button which I can access and change instantly. I like the drive button giving quick access to multi shot and bracketing.
Each to their own but I think it’s good Fujifilm are trying these things and hopefully each range of camera can continue to cater to each of us.
My vote for an upgrade would be for more than 7 customs slots as you just produce so many good recipes Ritchie!
It is, in a sense, a solution to a problem… but it really opens up the camera, adds a lot of versatility. It is like having up to 19 Recipes available at any given time (C1-C7, plus the Film Dial Recipes, which is like having up to 12 bonus Recipes…). However, as you point out, you don’t need the Film Dial in order to do it. The dial just makes it a bit more obvious and immediate. I think, whether one is doing it via a Film Dial or via an FN button, the “solution” brought about by the “problem” does add significant versatility by increasing the various looks one can achieve SOOC at any given moment. I think it illustrates well that Fujifilm should add more than seven custom presets, and they should consider trying a Custom Settings Dial (C1-C12 perhaps?) at some point. I appreciate the comment!
Maybe I’m missing something but I still do not understand how can it be useful for recipe shooters (other than using one universal recipe) or a raw shooter…
Well, the universal Film Dial Recipe is what makes it useful. It’s like having up to 12 bonus Recipes available, which greatly increases the number of looks that one can achieve SOOC at any given moment. For the RAW photographer, it can help with pre-visualization.
There was a time when I was using recipes, but in my opinion on my X-H2 too many parameters are stored in the custom settings. So when I switch from one recipe to another, also the focus mode, exposure measurement etc. was changed. This had two consequences: The first was that I set the aperture on the lens instead of using a dial (remember, I use a X-H2). The second consequence later was: I stopped using recipes.
Now I shoot RAW but still sometimes I change the film simulation (90 % I use Acros + R). The film simulation is stored in the RAW file as profile and I’ve configured my lightroom so, that the camera profile is used for development.
Then I’ve analyzed the recipes I’ve used and saw, that they all apply a similar tone curve. So I’ve created a tone curve in lightroom and added this to the preset that I apply while importing my RAW files to lightroom. Further settings of my preset: AUTO (which sometimes lifts the dark tones too much), a bit of clarity and a slight vignette.
As I am not a friend of grain this approach works best for me and gives me more options e. g. for denoise and more details in the dark tones.
I know you might say it’s not the same as applying the film simulation in camera, but I like the result.
I think the best strategy for C1-C7 is to program C1 however you wish the camera to be set up, then copy-and-paste that into C2-C7 so that the settings are 100% identical on each. Then you can go back and program whatever Recipes you want into each of them. If there is a commonly adjusted setting (such as focus mode or photometry), you set a FN button for quick access to that. I hope at some point Fujifilm will separate the IQ parameters from all of the others… perhaps have two separate sets of presets: one for IQ and one for AF, metering, sound, etc., etc..
As far as the closing sentence…. it’s very true that it is not the same, but what is most important is the very last thing you said: you like the results. If it works for you, that is what matters.
Doesn’t matter how many of this model are sold, it matters more how many people will continue to use this over the years and if this feature will be requested for future models.
But yes, for Fujifilm is important to recover the expenses. And this might harm them more, as they now punch the ones that are probably the most fervent Fujifilm X series fans.
I had to say it before taking a pause from “Fuji X Weekly” addiction.
Come back soon 😀
I think that most of the people who might feel “punched” by the introduction of the Film Dial would likely feel differently once they’ve tried it for themselves (particularly with my approach). My opinion is that the potential of it has been largely under-appreciated by the Fujifilm fanbase. With time, as more people have the opportunity to discover for themselves, I believe it will be viewed more fondly. And that’s with it in its current iteration. I believe that it could be improved upon, and there’s a chance that on future models (or even the current model with a firmware update) that it could be made even better.
How does one blend the Raw and the JPEG in post processing?
Layers and opacity.