It’s been interesting to watch Reggie’s Portra Recipe grow in popularity over the years. It was created by Reggie Ballesteros (website, YouTube, Instagram), and I published it in the summer of 2022 with his permission. I’m not sure where it ranked in 2022, but it didn’t crack the Top 10. In 2023 it was the 9th most popular. It climbed to #3 in 2024. This year, Reggie’s Portra is the number one most popular Film Simulation Recipe on Fuji X Weekly, just edging out Kodachrome 64, which was the long-time reigning champion.
A few days ago, Reggie posted a video on YouTube explaining what changes, if any, he has made to the Recipe for use in 2025. When it was made, Reggie’s Portra was for X-Trans IV cameras, but now we’re well into the fifth-generation. So what adjustments did he make? I’ve included the video below, so that you can watch it for yourself.
Not trying to give away the answer, but the short of it is that Reggie doesn’t adjust anything. He uses the same exact Reggie’s Portra settings on fifth-generation models as he did on fourth-generation X-series cameras. He doesn’t make any adjustments whatsoever. The only change is the diffusion filter that he often uses.
On the Fuji X Weekly App, I’ve only included Reggie’s Portra as compatible with X-Trans IV models, specifically the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II (as well as the GFX100S). I didn’t include fifth-generation cameras (X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III, as well as GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF) because, on those cameras, there are some aesthetic differences—the largest being how deeply the color blue is rendered on certain film simulations, including Classic Chrome. It’s quite similar, but not identical; however, there is a simple fix to get them to be more similar: reduce Color Chrome FX Blue by one.
The difference between Color Chrome FX Blue Weak and Off is pretty subtle. If you’re not comparing photos side-by-side, you probably won’t even notice (even when directly comparing, you still might not see the difference immediately). It’s honestly not a big deal, but, if you’re trying to get Reggie’s Portra to most closely match the X-Trans IV results on a fifth-generation camera, then adjusting Color Chrome FX Blue from Weak to Off will do that. This is an adjustment that I make personally, and one that I recommend; however, there’s nothing wrong with not making that small change. Feel free to set Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak (as called for in the Recipe and as Reggie himself does it) or Off (as I do) on the Fujifilm X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III cameras, as well as the GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF. Either way works.
People have asked me why I haven’t updated Reggie’s Portra in the App for X-Trans V cameras, and the answer is simple: it’s not my Recipe to make a change to. It belongs to Reggie Ballesteros, and I certainly didn’t want to step on his toes by modifying it. Now that he has clarified how he uses it on fifth-generation cameras, I have updated the App to reflect that. It now shows in the Fuji X Weekly App as compatible with the latest cameras. It won’t render exactly the same as on X-Trans IV, but pretty similar—not enough of a difference to be concerned about (only very subtly divergent). I want to close this out by giving a shoutout to Reggie. His Recipe is great—both my wife and I use it ourselves. It’s a real honor to have it available to you on Fuji X Weekly. If you’ve never tried it, well, it’s almost a right of passage at this point, so be sure to program it into your camera today.
I know I’m in the minority but I actually dislike it and when shooting film im not a fan of Portra 400 either. The pastels are off putting to me in the same way people taste soap when the eat cilantro.
The good news is that there are lots of options. Not everything is for everybody, and there’s plenty to choose from to find what does fit your style.
I wonder if anyone has ever tried to make a cilantro flavored soap??
Film recipes will go on in perpetuity because tastes change. I just go with it.
Tastes, styles, trends, etc., do all change. Remember when orange-and-teal was all the rage?
I think a good reason for Reggie’s portra’s popularity is it’s designed for, and marketed as – flattering for human subjects. Which it is very good for of course. It also helps that it has a great informative video for the new user to go with it.
I also think that the popularity of Kodachrome 64 is that it has a cool name, and an absolutely banging photo of a gas station as it’s cover shot.
Many exceptional recipes fall by the wayside, whether they just get lost in the mix, or have a cover photo that doesn’t sell it as well as it could.
I think it’s really helpful on fujiXWeekly that you show portraits taken with all, or at least relevent recipes.
One of the downsides of (the exceptional) film.recipes, and other resources is that they don’t mix up the subjects. Film.recipes owner takes lots of lovely British forest scenes, but it can be hard to know how they’ll translate to the Andalusian countryside, or wherever.
Perhaps I’ve missed it, have you ever done a blog post, or a top 10 list of recipes that flatter portraits?
Great stuff as always, cheers
Here’s an article from about a year ago:
https://fujixweekly.com/2024/11/01/top-favorite-film-simulation-recipes-for-portrait-photography-as-decided-by-you/
Hi, I use Reggies Portra a lot, the only thing that bothers me is that it uses Dynamic Range: DR-Auto.
This prevents me from using the camera’s Program mode. The shutter and aperture info at the bottom of my screen is not shown. If I try and use program mode to change the aperture or shutter speed while the camera is in auto the DR-auto prevents this. Could a setting of 200% dynamic range be, ok?
What setting does the DR-Auto normally like to choose? 100% 200% or 400%? thanks.
Yeah, definitely feel free to use DR200. DR-Auto actually selects DR100 most of the time, and DR200 only sometimes (less on X-Trans V than X-Trans IV, interestingly), when there are bright highlights. It never chooses DR400. I like to protect the highlights, so choosing DR200 instead of DR-Auto seems quite reasonable.
A point often missed is that in his original video on his recipe, Reggie makes clear he adjusted WB to suit the best the skin tones of his family.
I of course have taken it as inspiration and adjusted accordingly to my needs. My kids are pale northern Europeans, what works for some won’t work for all.
People really should be encouraged to take all recipes as the first step to creating something on their own. But I think many genuinely don’t understand what all the settings do for an image or habe no interest.
I have said for many years: It’s always ok to season-to-taste any Recipe. It’s better to make a small adjustment and have it work better for you than to stubbornly stick with something that isn’t working ideally for you.