I remember a long time ago heading out with my old Canon AE-1 loaded with a roll of 35mm film. If I had planned ahead, I might have had a second or third roll in my pocket or camera bag. You were limited by the film you had loaded into the camera, and maybe the film in reserve. Having just a few options felt like a gift. Today, we find ourselves in a very different place. Fujifilm cameras offer a deep set of JPEG controls—there are over 400 hundred Fuji X Weekly Recipes and probably thousands available elsewhere online, so the possibilities seem nearly endless. And yet, sometimes, that abundance doesn’t feel freeing—it feels paralyzing.
Curiously, the more choices we have, the harder it can be to choose. You scroll through Recipes, finally narrowing it down to just seven—which you program into your camera—and head out to shoot. But instead of fully engaging with the scene in front of you, you find yourself wondering, is this the right Recipe? Which of these seven should I choose? Should I switch? Should I find a different Recipe entirely? Would another be better?
Film didn’t work that way. When you loaded a roll of Kodachrome 64 or Portra 400 into your camera, you were committed, at least for 24 or 36 frames. Not because it was objectively the best choice for every situation, but because it was the choice you made when you loaded the roll. And in that commitment, you weren’t second-guessing, you were seeing. You worked with the light you had, the colors in front of you, and the characteristics of the film you chose. Limitations are not restrictive, they’re clarifying.
Fujifilm Recipes can function in much the same way, but only if we allow them to. The key is not to chase the perfect Recipe for every scenario, but to select a few that resonate with you and stick with them long enough to understand them. Learn how they respond to different light conditions. Discover their strengths, and (just as importantly) their weaknesses. Over time, those Recipes not only become familiar tools, but extensions of your creative voice.
I think a simple approach can be helpful. Narrow your choices to just two or three Recipes. That’s it. Ideally, pick ones that complement each other, such as a versatile everyday color Recipe, a less versatile but stylized option, and maybe a black-and-white. This small set will cover most situations without overwhelming you, and it is more obvious when to choose each. Then commit to them. Don’t switch constantly. Give each Recipe time to prove itself. Use it in different lighting conditions and with different subjects. Pay attention to how it renders colors, how it handles highlights and shadows, and how it shapes the mood of your images. The goal is not to find a perfect match for every scene, but to learn how your chosen Recipes behave.
Once you’ve done that, select a different set of two or three and repeat the process. Then repeat it again. Once you’ve done it five or six times, you’ll have a really good idea of which seven Recipes are your favorites, and when each should be used. It will be second nature. And you might find yourself mostly sticking with a few of the seven, while the majority are only used occasionally when the time is right. When each Recipe has a role, the decision becomes easier because you’re no longer guessing, you’re selecting with intention.
This doesn’t mean you should ignore the wealth of Recipes available. Far from it. Exploration can be a lot of fun. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the choices, consider the suggestion above. Use the tools available in the Fuji X Weekly App, such as the new Filter By Categories feature, to really narrow it down. Then choose only a few, and really get to know them before trying out others.
The question isn’t whether there are too many Recipes—maybe there are, maybe the most ideal one for you hasn’t been created yet—it’s how many you truly need, and how do you find those. For most, we probably need less than we think we do—a few really good ones that match our personal aesthetic preferences and that we’re familiar enough with to know how to get the most out of them. A few well-chosen Recipes, used consistently, will take you much further than a camera full of options you’re unsure of when and how to use. Try out a few and use them for awhile, then try out a few more, until you’ve got a set that you’re comfortable with and have confidence in.
See also:
Fujifilm Recipe Starter Pack — 7 Recipes to Try First on Your X-Trans V Camera
15 Fujifilm Recipes for Travel Photography
12 Fujifilm Recipes for Rainy Days
7 Fujifilm Recipes for Dramatic Street Photos
26 Fujifilm Recipes to try in 2026
Too much choice makes choice difficult, that is one of the findings of Daniel Kahneman, the father of behavioral economics.
Personally, I am overwhelmed by the number of recipes available, and yet, I created at least three of them, that I run on both my cameras in addition to four that are from FujiXweekly.
The one, I use by default and that sits on C1 is the Kodachrome 25, it is probably the nostalgia, and the fact that one can finally have the looks of Kodachrome 25 in light conditions, that are less ideal than summer sun.
On C2, I have one, that is almost redundant, given that I use Kodachrome 25 mostly, the Kodachrome McCurry.
Then, I created a Velvia recipe, since the ones that I find here either pop too much, or are too greenish. This one goes on C0.
When it comes to black-and-white, I created two recipes with the help of AI and my personal input and modifications, mimicking an Ansel Adams look. One of them accentuates clouds in the blue sky (on C7), and the other one is more neutral, but kind of does an automised version of the Zone system (on C6). Depending on the scene I switch between these two.
Then I use two other recipes, the Portra 160v2 (on C4), which I slightly modified, and for artificial light, I use a modified Cinestill 800T (on C5).
This whole game leaves one space (C3), where I put a new recipe every once in a while.
So, yes, there are too many recipes, but on the other hand, the choice is not enought, at least for me.
Sometimes I think that an increased bank, perhaps C1-C10 or C1-C15, would be nice. Other times I think that C1-C7 is too many. In any event, finding the “right” Recipes to include is a journey. Thanks for the input!
Time to re-iterate my “Ten Commandments” structure.
Table your requirement “styles”.
Distribute your prejudices accordingly. Until Fuji supports sub-directories, only your top choices can be stored.
Thus, a sensible choice, under your fingertips. Do the agonising at your leisure, if you have nothing better to do.
Malcolm
The sub-category idea is intriguing, and could be especially easily implemented on the cameras with a Film Dial. It would be interesting if Fujifilm ever did this.
I find that saving some representative photos across different scenarios in a folder and switching between tons of recipes on Fujifilm X Raw Studio makes it quicker to understand the characterestics of each recipe and discover your own taste of color
A folder with representative photos is a great idea to better/more quickly understand the characteristics of each Recipe.
And it’s not just the choice but also the time spent programming the choices into the menu, especially when using more than one camera! This is one of the advantages of film: the programming only involves inserting the film.
I depend on the recipes though for Fujifilm / digital and am taking a long-term view to see how my choice and number of choices evolve. At the moment I am happy only to use Reggie’s HP5 for b&w as I am now so familiar with it, while my colour choices are still not so certain. I am inching towards a one each of a chrome look, colour negative look and b&w look but then again I like that your articles help us in choosing looks that are good for different weather and seasons. And not to forget that this in my case at least is still less time consuming than struggling with raw processing and especially colour balancing.
I guess it’s two sides of the coin to have all the options there and we just have to apply our own instincts and preferences when it comes to how many to have ready for action. And as you have often said, each recipe can look different depending on how the exposure level is set as well!
It would be nice if Fujifilm offered a better way to add Recipes to cameras. I’ve offered to help them with such a thing. I’m not sure what their future ideas/intentions are regarding this.
I’ll file this one also under “places where the Xhalf was cooking.” I can see a benefit to the “film camera mode” there. Lock in one recipe, shoot a roll of XX shots, then change. You can end the roll early if you want. However, it in general can be beneficial to make a creative choice early, commit to it as a limitation. The Xhalf leans into one way of doing that.
By the way, they appear to be $550 from Fuji as factory refurbished models. That’s almost tempting.
Yes! Love the X Half for that type of experience. Would be cool if Fujifilm would bring something similar to some other cameras, maybe the next X-Pro.
This would make the system exponentially more powerful. I think it’s even more important than many other camera tech. I also feel if this is not done by Fuji, one of the other companies will beat Fuji to the line and take market share.
To solve this I say your software integrated to XApp and XRaw Studio would be the way forward. Just connect and check the looks in XRaw and then connect and add to the camera from XApp. Then adding a capability to create in XRaw and download to your app as well would be the icing on the cake.
A lot of Fujifilm users (myself included) no longer involve a computer in the workflow. If X RAW Studio is not a part of the steps (it’s my understanding that X RAW Studio is already capable of pushing Recipes to the camera), and it is done via an app (like XApp), that would be more ideal. I think a QR code system… maybe Fujifilm makes a system to create QR codes for Recipes, and you simply choose which C1-C7 you want to add to, select “add by QR code”, put the QR code into the frame, and—boom—that Recipe is now in the camera. Something like that could work, too.
Well said Ritchie!
“sometimes, that abundance doesn’t feel freeing—it feels paralyzing”
Some of us know this feeling from a pizzeria 😀
I went to one burger place locally, and the choices were just crazy, the menu was much too big. On another occasion I went to In-N-Out, which has only three choices: hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger. That illustrates the paralyzation of too many choices vs the freedom of only a few option.
Spot on Ritchie. I do a sideways bet with presets. I have just 4 dialled in for when I know what I want – hdr with cc base and dr, shadows and highlights accordingly – Kodak of some sort, – a strong grungy bw, – and because I live next to the beach on an island, Summer/Preet type. But generally I shoot all with classic chrome with highlight and shadow down so that it’s almost a neutral raw except its JPG, then I “developed” a lot of recipe presets in on1 and exposure 7 from that basic recipe into other base sims, for eg nostalgic neg etc with their recipes, and go from there if needed for a particular mood to fit the “story”. I guess it’s a cheats way of not having to use huge raws and use conversion presets.
It’s not “cheats” at all. There are so many ways to use Film Simulations and/or Recipes, some of which I’d never have imagined. None are more “right” or “wrong” than another. It’s about finding what works for you personally. Thanks for the comment!
I believe there are two main issues with the current implementation of Recipes.
1. Lack of standardization and discoverability
The way Recipes are described is inconsistent and lacks a unified structure or template. In practice, this makes it difficult to compare or select them efficiently. For example, commonly used attributes such as Daylight, Night, Golden Hour, or stylistic categories like Black & White or vintage American aesthetic are not systematically defined or tagged.
A more effective approach would be to introduce a structured format—ideally a table or database—containing all Recipes, with the ability to sort and filter by key parameters such as white balance, lighting conditions, color profile, and style. This would significantly improve usability and selection speed.
2. Inefficient workflow for managing Recipes on Fujifilm cameras
The current process of adding, modifying, or replacing Recipes directly on the camera is cumbersome and time-consuming. A more streamlined workflow would allow users to manage Recipes via a dedicated Fujifilm application.
Ideally, users should be able to view and edit Recipes on a larger screen, adjust parameters intuitively, and transfer them to the camera in just a few clicks. A standardized Recipe format combined with a simple point-and-click interface would greatly enhance the overall user experience.
I think to Point 2, you can already do that with X RAW Studio. I personally don’t use X RAW Studio because I have no interest in involving a computer in my workflow. For me, it is incredibly freeing to not use a computer for my photography. But that’s just me, everyone is different. I would prefer something that can be done via an app (maybe XApp), most ideally wirelessly.
As far as Point 1, the issue is: who’s going to do it? That’s a heck-of-a-lot of work, would probably take a team of people months and months to complete. And a lot of it is subjective. Maybe I think a Recipe is great for night, but maybe you think it’s terrible for it. It becomes a very, very difficult undertaking. With that said, I did such an undertaking last year, spent a whole lot of time, and the result was the Categories feature in the Fuji X Weekly App. It’s far from perfect, but I do hope that it is helpful to many users. Essentially, you can do as you already suggest, such as Daylight WB, Classic Chrome Film Simulation, Cloudy light, and for Street photography (reveals one result). Or Auto WB, Classic Negative, Film-Like, Golden Hour, and Street (7 results).