Fujifilm’s Film Simulations are not mere digital filters. Harnessing more than 70 years of knowledge and experience making photographic and cinematic films, Fujifilm set out to infuse their X and GFX cameras with an analog soul. With a combination of complex elements, these Film Simulations provide a wide variety of looks inspired by film or darkroom techniques. There are 20 different Film Simulations on the latest models, and it can be overwhelming to know where to begin. I like some more than others, but which are best is personal—my preferences might be different than yours. For me, five Film Simulations have emerged as iconic, and are my personal favorites. There are others that didn’t make this cut that I also appreciate and use regularly. Each Film Simulation has its moment when it works really well.
My five favorites are Acros, Classic Chrome, Classic Negative, Nostalgic Neg., and Reala Ace. We’ll take a look at each of them. I will also recommend a few Film Simulation Recipes, selected for those who want to experience the full power of Fujifilm’s renown JPEG engine. Recipes use the various JPEG parameters made available by Fujifilm to customize the aesthetic of the Film Simulations, producing a variety of looks that are often based off of classic film stocks.
Acros – The Soul of Black & White
Top: Fujifilm GFX100S II & Kodak Tri-X 400; Bottom Left: Fujifilm X-T5 & Kodak T-Max P3200; Bottom Right: Fujifilm X100F & Agfa Scala
Acros is Fujifilm’s crowning achievement in monochrome photography. This Film Simulation replicates the tonal response and grain structure of real panchromatic film. It features smooth gradation, deep blacks, and beautiful highlight roll-off. Acros is unique because Grain is applied algorithmically and varies depending on ISO and exposure, giving it an organic analog-like feel. Fujifilm offers three filter variants: Acros+R (simulates the use of a red filter), Acros+Ye (simulations the use of a yellow filter), and Acros+G (simulates the use of a green filter), further mimicking the tonal rendering of black-and-white film.
This Film Simulation shines in genres where texture and tone are essential, especially street photography, portraits, documentary, and minimalism. Acros is ideal when you want to eliminate the distraction of color and focus purely on light and form. When paired with the right Recipe, it can evoke the gritty spirit of classic film stocks like Tri-X, or deliver a softer tonality for quieter moments. The Acros Recipes below are some of my personal favorites.
Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak T-Max P3200
Agfa Scala
Classic Chrome – A Kodak Aesthetic
Top: GFX100S II & Kodachrome 64; Bottom Left: Fujifilm X100VI & Kodak Portra 400 v2; Bottom Right: Fujifilm X-T4 & Reggie’s Portra
Classic Chrome was modeled after classic photojournalism photographs, and produces a documentary-style look. The reference pictures were emulsions like Kodachrome and Ektachrome. While Fujifilm will never say Kodak, Classic Chrome has a distinctive Kodak-like color palette. With a slightly lower saturation and stronger contrast than many other Film Simulations, it can be used for a bold-yet-somehow-subdued look.
Classic Chrome is great for many genres. It can be adapted for landscapes, portraits, travel, street and urban scenes, or storytelling photography. It’s the most popular Film Simulation for those who use Recipes, and the most iconic Recipes use Classic Chrome as their foundation. Below are the most popular Film Simulation Recipes—not only that use this Film Sim., but out of all Recipes.
Kodachrome 64
Reggie’s Portra
Kodak Portra 400 v2
Classic Negative – Fujicolor Superia Film
Top: Fujifilm X100VI & Fujicolor Superia 800; Bottom Left: Fujifilm X-E4 & Pacific Blues; Bottom Right: Fujifilm X100V & Fujicolor Reala 100
Classic Negative is based on Fujicolor Superia, a line of consumer films known for rich colors and its 4th layer technology, which provided versatility in a variety light situations. It’s a bold Film Simulation with a unique ability: the way it renders is dependent on the brightness of the picture, behaving somewhat similar to the film when overexposed or underexposed—delivering complex, sometimes unpredictable color shifts. Greens can appear silvery, reds can pop or fade depending on the lighting, and skin tones have a nostalgic rendering. The results are reminiscent of pictures found in many photo albums from the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Classic Negative is especially well suited for snapshots of daily life and family vacations—really, any subject where you want a stylized, analog-inspired aesthetic. It exaggerates contrast in a way that feels emotionally driven, almost like how memory transforms color and mood. It’s one of the most fun Film Simulations to experiment with, and the Recipes built on it often have strong personalities.
Pacific Blues
Fujicolor Superia 800
Fujicolor Reala 100
Nostalgic Neg. – Classic Americana
Top: Fujifilm X-E5 & Kodak Vericolor VPS; Bottom Left: Fujifilm GFX100S II & 1970’s Summer; Bottom Right: Fujifilm X-T50 & Nostalgic Americana
Introduced with the GFX100S and later made available in fifth-generation X-Trans V cameras, Nostalgic Neg. was designed to mimic the aesthetic of New American Color prints from the 1970’s. It was inspired by the works of William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld and Richard Misrach, among others. Like Classic Chrome, Nostalgic Neg. has a strong Kodak-like rendering, albeit from a different era. Nostalgic Neg. gives the feeling of looking through an old photo album filled with warm memories, especially prints from the ’60’s and ’70’s.
This Film Simulation excels in storytelling, and is especially great for travel and documentary photography. Nostalgic Neg. is an emotional Film Simulation, and Recipes built on it often lean into the sentimental, creating photos that feel more like visual poetry than true-to-life renderings.
1970’s Summer
Nostalgic Americana
Kodak Vericolor VPS
Reala Ace – Negative for a New Era
Top: Fujifilm X100VI & Fujicolor PRO 160C Warm; Bottom Left: Fujifilm X-E5 & Summer Sun; Bottom Right: Fujifilm X-T50 & Pushed Analog
Reala Ace is the newest Film Simulation in Fujifilm’s lineup. It blends natural color fidelity with enhanced contrast and shadow depth, aiming to strike a balance between documentary realism and artistic expression. The tones are clean and accurate, but never sterile—just enough pop to give photographs life without looking overly processed. It’s most similar to PRO Neg. Std, but isn’t exactly like it, either, with an obvious nod to Fujicolor PRO 160C color negative film.
Reala Ace is an excellent choice for all-purpose photography—whether you’re shooting travel, street, portraits, or landscapes. It can be adapted to a wide range of subjects, lighting, and moods. As a base for Recipes, it can be made to produce a variety of different looks. It’s not surprising to me that Reala Ace is becoming a go-to Film Simulation for many photographers.
Fujicolor PRO 160C Warm
Pushed Analog
Summer Sun
These five Film Simulations—Acros, Classic Chrome, Classic Negative, Nostalgic Neg., and Reala Ace—represent the heart of Fujifilm’s JPEG magic. Each offers a unique way to see the world. They allow you to create finished straight-out-of-camera photographs that look great and don’t need to be edited, especially when combined with Film Simulation Recipes. Film Simulations and Recipes are tools of expression, just like film stocks. Shoot more, edit less, and let your camera become your darkroom. Wow, I need to use that last sentence as a tagline or something.
Wow, great summary, and thanks for your recommendations. I haven’t tried some of the recipes mentioned yet. I’m looking forward to doing so.
Thanks, I appreciate your kind feedback!
For me, one of your very best articles and a very handy summary of the history and aesthetics of your (and mostly my) favorite simulations. I have these and up to four focal lengths all in one package together in my GFX100RF. Thanks, Ritchie and FujiFILM!
One query: could it be that Portra 400v2 comes out a bit greenier-yellowier on the latest GFX models than on X100VI etc?
Currently my fave is your Reala Ace recipe w/ the Classic Neg simulation and using Acros +R for b’w street/ and b/w in general.
Kodak Portra 400 v2 does have a bit of a green cast, particularly when not in sunny daylight. Interestingly, the film samples that it was modeled after (the scans, anyway) had a similar green cast sometimes, too (these were supplied to me by a certain photographer). I’ve been considering making a v3, too, after some other Portra 400 samples that don’t really match well with v1 or v2; interestingly, the Reala Ace film sim might be the starting point.
I appreciate your kind comment!
Hi Ritchie, have you ever tried to replicate the look of the photos from [gx]ace in a recipe? I know it’s probably hard because he does a lot of color grading in post but maybe it’s possible somehow.
Anyway thank you for your work!
I’m a big fan of GxAce, his YT channel is so unique and incredibly high quality. He definitely has a number of different looks, and each picture is probably fine-tuned (edited) individually. He has something like 130 Lightroom presets. I might be able to replicate the aesthetic of some of his photos, but it would definitely not match all or even most of his looks.
Short answer: buy the [gx]ace presets. That’s why he sells them!
Slightly longer answer: probably try the Cinestill 800T and Visions 250D recipes, and be sure to crank the grain. In general, Eterna + Grain seems like a good place to start. I think part of what would be hard is that there isn’t just one preset. Browsing the presets, a lot of them look pretty different.
Side note: subject matter matters a lot, too. Without the neon streets, is it really going to look the same, even with the same presets?
That’s great advice!
I know Velvia is in my top five. I like the bright punchy colors. I started with the X-T30 recipe, tweaked a bit for a newer processor with Chrome FX Blue. I like the nearly-original version a bit more than the v2 version.
https://fujixweekly.com/2019/04/25/my-fujifilm-x-t30-velvia-film-simulation-recipe/
I also shoot a lot of a particular Classic Chrome recipe, the Ektar 100. Lovely warm film sim, but being in New England, particularly in the fall, I had to take it down a notch, from 6050K Red+3 Blue 0 to 5990K Red+2 Blue 0. Different places all have their own color palates, and it’s important to be sure that you can tweak them a bit to best suit the location. What works fine in Utah might need an adjustment in Vermont.
https://fujixweekly.com/2020/08/10/fujifilm-x100v-film-simulation-recipe-kodak-ektar-100/
Velvia and Eterna were my two toughest cuts. It’s always ok to “season to taste” and make it work for you. Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Ritchie! I am a big fan of your work and have lost count of how many times I have forwarded people to your work. I have a challenge for you now – Is it possible to create a Harman Phoenix II recipe?
The funny thing is that I just purchased a roll of Phoenix (not the new II version) to help with the possibility of making a Recipe. Now there’s a new version…. 🤣
I think it’s a very challenging film stock (I’m not sure about the II version, I haven’t looked very deeply into it) because results vary so much from person-to-person. It also seems to have a cross-processed look, and I believe it’s actually a Tungsten slide film. Apparently, when processed in E6 (and shot at ISO 125) and with an 85B filter, it looks very normal. Ilford used to make slide film back in the day, I wonder if they simply dusted off an old recipe from back in the day?
With Phoenix… I think a recipe is as much about the vibe as accuracy. Slightly orange/teal, lots of grain, high contrast, limited dynamic range, glow-y highlights (so negative Clarity, or a bloom filter).
I spent a day (yesterday) working on a Phoenix II Recipe (based on the examples online), and I don’t think it’s possible. There’s a little red in the blue (not including halation… can’t mimic that until Fujifilm adds that effect), but yellow-green (more green than yellow) pretty much everywhere else. So you can get pretty close, except the sky is all wrong. Or you can get the sky to look right, but everything else looks wrong. Velvia might be the best base… except for the sky, where Classic Negative seems most appropriate. Of course (and as you’ve likely already seen), there’s still quite some divergent results from person-to-person.
I’m just going to leave the comment here.
This X-E5 reviewer in Germany (Fotoprofi) mentions your site 🙂
Thanks for sharing!