Fujifilm’s Film Dial is probably the third most controversial design decision from the brand. First is the entirety of the X half camera, which has a vertically orientated sensor and frame advance lever. Second is the backwards-mounted rear LCD on the X-Pro3. Unlike the other controversies, the Film Dial is not just found on one model, but three (soon to be four) with certainly more to come in the future. With these contentious features, it’s understandable that people have mixed reactions.
Some people love the Film Dial. Some people could take-it-or-leave-it and its inclusion or exclusion is unimportant. Some people don’t mind it, but would prefer a different dial instead. And some people just loathe it.
Fujifilm had sent me an X-T50 to try out prior to its announcement. I didn’t know what the Film Dial was—it looked cool, but how do you use it? Initially, I didn’t really like it. I shoot with Film Simulation Recipes, and most Recipes work well with one specific Film Simulation and not nearly as well with others. Since the Film Dial (except on the X-E5… we’ll get to that later) only changes the Film Simulation and nothing else, it seemed like a useless feature to my photography. But then I had an epiphany: what if there was a “universal” Recipe or two, which was specifically designed for use with any and all Film Simulations? The Film Dial would become an important tool for maximizing in-camera picture aesthetics. So I went from disliking it to loving it rather quickly.
I think some of the criticisms are valid. Is a Film Dial more useful than a Drive Dial or ISO Dial? Fujifilm has never replaced an ISO Dial with a Film Dial, and I hope they never do. Complaining that a Film Dial was implemented instead of an ISO Dial is a little silly since the camera lines in question never had an ISO Dial in the first place. Still, of the two potential knobs, many people would prefer ISO over Film Simulation, and perhaps that is something Fujifilm should take into consideration. Fujifilm has replaced the Drive Dial with the Film Dial, and, for those who commonly use the Drive Dial, I can see how that might be annoying. Instead of a knob on top, Drive is now a button like on the X-E, X100, and X-Pro series. Most ideal might be to use a dual knob like the ISO/Drive dial on the X-T series (except Film Simulations instead of ISO), but Fujifilm hasn’t tried that yet—who knows, they might at some point. I don’t think this is a big deal for most people, but it is understandable. There was a similar sentiment when the four-way D-Pad was removed on most models, and it turned out that the majority acclimated without much heartache. My guess is that the lack of a Drive Knob on certain models will prove to be rather trivial in the long run.
The majority of complaints are from the loathers. They really hate the Film Dial and don’t even want to see it when they look at their camera. It bothers them deeply. Some even claim that they’ll leave the brand over its inclusion. It’s like kryptonite or something. I find this very, very strange. It’s weird. The main issue seems to be that the Film Dial is something they’d never, ever use. They dislike Film Simulations so much that they don’t want anyone to even think that they might (gasp!) use one. Of course the irony is that, outside of some drastic measures, they’re using one: Provia. That’s how their camera sees the world, and where their RAW edits begin. Yes, they can manipulate the files any which way and make any number of unique adjustments, but you have to admit that using Provia has at least a small influence over the final edited photo. Almost all of the Film Simulation haters are using a Film Simulation if they shoot a Fujifilm camera, but they’re either ignorant to that fact or they’re fully aware and are just being dishonest.
For (nearly) the last 15 years, many people have been buying and using Fujifilm cameras without digging into the menus, and as such never ventured beyond the Provia/STD Film Simulation. I’ve had a number of people tell me this. They’ve owned many Fujifilm cameras over the years, and never bothered to change the various IQ Menu items like Film Simulation, Dynamic Range, Color, etc., etc., until recently. When people say that they don’t use Film Simulations, what they often mean is that they’ve never tried anything other than Provia. They don’t know what they’re missing, and perhaps they don’t realize that it can be beneficial to their photography.
For example, a strictly RAW photographer might dismiss Film Simulations (and only use Provia), but not realize that a different Film Simulation might help them to better pre-visualize the shot. Perhaps a different Film Simulation is a closer aesthetic match to their style, and seeing the scene in those colors might help them, and maybe even improve their photography. I know of several photographers—some fairly well known—that use Recipes for this purpose. They’re not JPEG photographers—they RAW edit, and a couple even sell Lightroom presets—but the Recipes help them to visualize the finished photo while in the field, which helps them produce better pictures. Those who dismiss Film Simulations forfeit this great tool.
There’s no right or wrong way to do photography. There’s no right or wrong way to use Film Simulations or Recipes (I’m surprised sometimes how people use Recipes, occasionally in very unexpected ways). Do what works best for you, whatever that is. If you only ever want to use Provia and factory-default IQ settings, that’s cool. I just don’t understand the disdain that some have for the other Film Sims, and (more importantly) for those who appreciate them. There shouldn’t be such hate. There are some buttons that I never use on some of my cameras, and I don’t look at those buttons with disgust or think less than of people who do use them—it would be ridiculous of me to do so. How silly and strange would that be! Yet there are people who do just that when it comes to the Film Dial, and are very open about it, plastering it across the internet.
A long-time Fujifilm photographer told me recently that he never bothered with the various Film Simulations because he shoots RAW and didn’t see the point in trying them. Then he purchased a Fujifilm X-T50. Seeing the Film Dial on the top of the camera made him curious, so he began to try the different Film Sims, and he realized that he likes some more than Provia, especially Classic Negative. Eventually this led him to find Film Simulation Recipes, and he begun shooting JPEGs for the first time. He told me that none of this would have happened if the camera had a Drive Dial instead of a Film Dial. That’s why Fujifilm is putting one of their greatest assets—their amazing in-camera profiles—right on top of their cameras for all to see, and super convenient to use. It was such a great move by the brand.
The Film Dial isn’t perfect, though. First, the X-T50 and X-M5 (along with the upcoming X-T30 III) should have the ability to save Recipes into FS1, FS2, and FS3, just like the Fujifilm X-E5. I really hope Fujifilm does that. Second, why can’t all of the Film Simulations on the Film Dial have the ability to save Recipes? I should be able to program a Provia Recipe, a Velvia Recipe, an Astia Recipe, a Classic Chrome Recipe, etc., etc., into the various slots on the dial. That would be strongly welcomed by a large portion of Fujifilm’s customers. Third, Classic Negative was inexplicably left off the X-E5 Film Dial; I know that not every Film Simulation can make the cut, but Classic Negative should have been included. There’s room for improvement, and I think Fujifilm is working towards making it better.
Personally, I like the Film Dial and appreciate seeing it on more and more cameras. It can be quite useful, especially when paired with a “universal” Recipe. And it will only improve with time. Those who complain about the Film Dial, there’s validity to some of the criticisms and Fujifilm should ponder those; however, some criticisms are just plain silly. Those who say that it’s dumb or garbage or makes them feel sick or want to change brands—I just don’t get it. Nobody said that you have to use the Film Dial (simply keep it set to C), or even that you have to buy a camera with a Film Dial. Nobody is forcing you to do it. And the world doesn’t revolve around you, anyway. People use cameras in all sorts of ways, and all of those ways are valid. Fujifilm has no obligation to make a camera for your preferences and your preferences alone. To think otherwise is strange and narcissistic. The Film Dial is not kryptonite, and you’re not Superman. It can be a useful tool if you take a moment to figure out how to best utilize it for your photographic circumstances—even if you’re a strictly RAW shooter who dislikes Film Simulations, it can be used to your advantage. For the JPEG photographer, it adds significant straight-out-of-camera aesthetic versatility. In other words, the Film Dial is awesome! I think it’s quite smart for Fujifilm to prominently place it on particular cameras, like the X-T50, X-M5, and X-E5.
What I think is missing is the ability to transfer various custom film simulations directly between the camera and the app. The phone could store the various recipes and quickly transfer them to the camera when needed. Please suggest your modified app to Fuji.
I was able to suggest something like this directly to Fujifilm. I’m not sure if they’ll do anything with it or not.
Wonderful article. Many thanks.
I am a first time Fuji camera owner and I bought the X-T50. I use the film simulations a lot and this feature was the decisive feature to buy the camera. But it was only when I did read your article about the “Universal film recipe) that I started using the film disk. Since then I use it a lot including film simulation bracketing.
I think people criticise this scroll wheel because it was poorly designed from the outset.
I would have found a scroll wheel for scrolling through C1-C7 more useful.
I definitely do not agree that it was “poorly designed”. Room for improvement? Sure. Not perfect? Sure. Bad design? Absolutely not.
A C1-C7 Knob (or, even better, C1-C12) would have been well received, I think. There are advantages/disadvantages for either approach—I certainly understand why Fujifilm went with the Film Dial instead. But I wouldn’t be against a Custom Settings Preset Knob at some point in the future, and even suggested that in the past. I think having Recipes scattered here and there on the camera will need to be addressed at some point.
I’ll argue against a C1-C7 dial. As I figure it, C1 is meaningless. It’s a variable that could mean anything. My Pentax K1 has U1-U5 on the PATM dial (Pentax uses T-for-time rather than S-for-shutter), but the U# options all are kind of nebulous.
What’s fascinating about a film sim dial is that Astia or Classic Chrome or Velvia–those all have MEANINGS. It’s kind of like how Fuji have Aperture and Shutter dials rather than untyped dials–each value on the dial has an inherent meaning.
In my current C1-C7, I know I have “Bird Provia” in 1, since I want something that will shoot fast with no clarity, no wonky color balance, that if I just want to get a shot of a bird while I’m out with mainly Black and White, or some other more extreme film sim, I can click right to something kind of neutral and truer to life. But whether my Velvia Slide Film or Vision3 250D recipe is on C3 or C4 is beyond my capacity to remember.
What I’ll say, however, is that a Film Sim dial should allow the option to have either (1) the status-quo, where non-film-sim settings all remain the same, or (2) to have ~all~ the settings change with the film sim. So you’ll set your defaults for each film sim, and when click to Classic Chrome, you get your Kodachrome or Ektar or whatever you have saved for that. And click to Velvia for something specific, and click to Acros for a different recipe than Monochrome. That would make it function a lot more like a C1-C7, but with fixed meanings. I’d know my Eterna will bring up Vision3 250D, rather than remembering what C# is Eterna and which is Chrome and which is Velvia.
Broadly, bang on for System default and 1st option settings.
We now have the issues of several, significantly different recipes based on the same film sim.
The logical solution, back to the “Ten Commandments”. Each film sim heads a folder of chosen recipes. No real reason for a limit here.
System default, the second entry for that SIM, followed by recipes. Favourite on the top.
Accessing such a filing system the difficulty. A rotary dial for your initial top level choice. Drop down search, via the screens.
Remembering your way about, I can’t really help.
This would not be difficult. The multiple layer menu concept is already used. Probably would require a bit more storage.
Cheap.
Who is next.
Best Rgds.
That’s a great suggestion. I think a switch of some sort could easily choose which of the Recipes you want to use.
Long before the Film Dial was introduced, I proposed a C1-C7 Dial (on some article on this website). Now, I think if the Film Dial had the ability to save Recipes for each of the Film Simulations, that would be most ideal.
Greatest assets, I think not.
Surely, a 40mp C sensor trumps all. Fuji, even couple it with the claimed sharpest C lenses available.
For me, the Leitz pattern Bowden cable socket is more than up there.
Personally I wish I could lock the Drive dial. Too easy to move, disastrously, by mistake.
The only features than interested me, incapacitated other more important things.
I would lock off the Movie option as well.
Rgds.
I said “one of their greatest assets” which I 100% stand by. I’d love to tell you why it’s both subjectively and objectively true, if you’re interested.
Fair enough. Your top five then.
Rgds
1) Fujifilm’s JPEG engine, built on Film Simulations, is the best in the business.
2) Film Simulations and Recipes are extraordinarily popular right now, driving camera sales—it’s one of the leading sales drivers over the last few years.
3) The straight-out-of-camera/Recipe movement that was popularized by Fujifilm photographers is spreading to other brands and across the industry.
4) Large communities, both online and in-person, have sprung up across the globe, that are primarily connected by Film Simulations and Recipes.
5) The Fuji X Weekly website wouldn’t exist as one of the most popular websites for Fujifilm cameras if not for Film Simulations.
I accept your points but my T5 purchase was solely on the Fuji C sensor having the edge on the Canon. My rigs vignette on full frame. No other choices.
Generally tethered so although I dislike the Fuji on/off and release button and hate the Canon release forward, this issue doesn’t really matter.
Didn’t think any modern body still carried the Leitz Bowden release. A jump round the room discovery.
I don’t do people so Fuji industry leading skin tones are wasted.
My colours just need to support the features the client wishes to emphasise. Nikon and Canon excell here.
Why I miss Cibachrome so much.
No art, just craft
For me, roll and cut film. Ortho, FP4+ and HP5. Used Ilford since I was six.
Camera becomes very secondary to the lens and the tripod. My lenses are nearly all Fujinon large format.
Back in my head to the ’50s.
Art, no. Not good enough.
Daughter is though. The job.
Never sure what to carry as a notebook. Pocket Rollei TLR maybe. My Voigtlander 40mm pancake, has soul. The Nikon Z fc body, not so much. Just comfortable and pretty.
Best Rgds.
Malcolm.
I’m the grump who thinks ISO dials are useless anyhow*, so I’m 100% in favor of film sim dials.
I would probably tweak some of the implementation, but I love the concept. I think there’s two interesting ways for it to work. One is the status quo, where the dial changes just the film sim, but the rest of the settings stay the same. This would allow “floating” recipes, like the universal film sim, or out-there experiments, like using a recipe to represent low-latitude slide film that could change the base filmstock–Acros or Velvia or Classic Chrome slides–versus recipes designed to be more broad to take advantage of pushable shadows. The other core implementation would be to have ALL the settings chagne with the film sim. Astia is the whole recipe associated with Astia, Classic Chrome everything with that, Eterna bring everything with it such as Vision3 250D or Cinestill 800T, and so on.
And I’ll add that I think it’d be noticeably worse as a C1-C7 dial, since those are values without inherent meaning. Part of the charm of Fuji are the shutter dials and aperture dials, which have specific and knowable meanings. I think the Film Sim dial is going to be best when LITERAL and not variables that could be filled up by anything. The settings are The Thing Itself, and that’s special.
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*EV Compensation does a better job at conveying overall brightness or darkness of a scene, and shutter and aperture dials convey real creative choices. But except in rare cases where you’re deliberately cranking the notice, ISO isn’t a creative choice. Keep it as low as you can get away with. It’s very rare for someone to make a decision that “This image would be more interesting at ISO1600 versus ISO400,” in the way that making a choice between f/2 and f/8, or a choice between 1/125th and 1/500th makes a BIG creative difference.
For me, the ISO dial is essential.
It defines whether I can go as big as the client requires.
I can see an essential need to capping ISO for certain print sizes; no quibble on that.
I personally find a function button pulling up a menu sufficient to the task, and would rather have my dials available for points of real creative control.
Yes, I could release the dial if I had an ISO button, 125 and 200. If the light can’t give me F:8 at ISO 200, on a mount, I pack away. Few of my lenses go over F:5.6. I am using Macro rigs, large format lenses in big bellows or with the Fuji body on the back of a 5 x 4 for the movements.
Social camera, Zfc. Recreational, proper photography, B&W roll film if small and 5 x 4 sheet film for fun. Never really took to colour. Nearly convinced when we had CibaChrome.
My age maybe. Dad, press, carried a big leather case full of plates.
Best Rgds.
Each person has their own preferences and standards. I would recommend trying a higher ISO sometime on your Fujifilm camera… you might find that it’s actually better than you anticipated and very useable (or it might confirm why you have the restriction in the first place). On the latest cameras, I have a hard time differentiating the results between Base ISO and ISO 500 even when comparing large crops side-by-side.
I use Auto ISO like 95% of the time. For those 5% circumstances, the ISO Dial is nice to have on the top; however, for cameras that don’t have an ISO Dial, I don’t find its absence to be detrimental. The X100 and X-Pro dual Shutter/ISO dial is my favorite.