Someone recently asked me an interesting question: Why do Fujifilm photographers love Kodak-like Film Simulation Recipes so much? The most popular Recipes on Fuji X Weekly are overwhelmingly those that attempt to replicate Kodak films. Recipes with names like Kodachrome, Portra, Gold, and Tri-X consistently dominate the popularity charts, often by significant margins. In fact, looking at the most popular Recipes of 2026 so far, six of the top seven are Kodak-inspired. That’s quite remarkable when you consider that these are Fujifilm cameras we’re talking about, and Fujifilm has its own rich film heritage, including legendary emulsions like Velvia, Provia, Superia, and Acros. Yet, for whatever reason, most Fujifilm photographers seem drawn to Kodak-like aesthetics. I even once disguised my Fujifilm X-T5 to look like a Kodak camera and only used Kodak-inspired Recipes, which was a fun experiment.

I suspect that nostalgia plays a significant role in answering this question. For generations, Kodak was by far the most popular film brand, especially in the United States. If you’re older than 25, there’s a good chance that at least some of your family pictures were captured on Kodak film. Perhaps your parents used Gold 200 or Ultramax 400 to document birthday parties, summer vacations, Thanksgiving dinner, and Christmas morning. Maybe your grandparents photographed their life on Kodachrome slides. Even if you’ve never personally loaded a roll of Kodak film into a camera, you’ve undoubtedly seen countless Kodak photographs throughout your life. Those colors have become deeply embedded in our collective visual memory. When we think about what film photography should look like, there’s a good chance that we’re imagining something produced by Kodak.

Another possibility is that Kodak simply made some really fantastic films over the decades. Kodachrome was legendary for its distinctive colors, contrast, and archival longevity. Portra became a favorite among professional portrait and wedding photographers for its flattering skin tones and relatively subdued colors. Kodak Gold was an affordable consumer film that delivered warm, vibrant photographs. Tri-X was beloved by generations of photojournalists, street and documentary photographers for its tonality and grain. Each of these films had its own unique characteristics, and each developed a dedicated following. They weren’t necessarily better than their Fujifilm counterparts—that’s a matter of personal preference—but they certainly established themselves as iconic photographic emulsions, and for good reason.

Let’s not overlook the aesthetics of the Recipes themselves. Many Kodak-inspired Recipes produce photographs that strike a balance between realism and nostalgia. Oftentimes they are colorful without necessarily being oversaturated, and warm like a happy memory yet still somehow natural. Of course, that’s a broad generalization, as (for example) the Kodachrome 64, Kodak Vision3 250D, Kodak Gold 200, 1976 Kodak, and Kodak Portra 160 v2 Recipes can look quite a bit different from one another. There’s tremendous variety among the various Recipes that attempt to mimic Kodak film stocks. Nevertheless, many of these aesthetics seem to strike a sweet spot between looking modern and resembling something pulled from an old family photo album. There’s something attractive about how these Recipes make pictures look, which people seem to like.

It would be a mistake, however, to overlook the power of a familiar name. Suppose that I publish two nearly identical Recipes, but name one Kodak Portra 400 and the other something completely unrelated to both Kodak and Portra. Which do you think would receive more attention? I actually did this, and can tell you that the one with both Kodak and Portra in the name is much, much more popular than the one without either, despite the very similar picture aesthetics. People recognize the brand name, and many are specifically searching for those particular film aesthetics. Someone who wants their digital photographs to resemble Portra 400 is much more likely to search for that name than an unfamiliar generic Recipe title. This creates something of a snowball effect: popular Recipes receive more attention, which makes them even more popular. The longstanding success of Kodachrome 64, Reggie’s Portra, and Kodak Portra 400 v2 on Fuji X Weekly might be partially explained by this phenomenon.

There’s also the interesting relationship between Fujifilm’s digital technology and Kodak’s photographic heritage. Because Fujifilm allows photographers to customize their JPEG output to a somewhat extensive degree through Film Simulations, White Balance, Highlight, Shadow, Color Chrome Effect, etc., etc., it’s possible to achieve a tremendous variety of aesthetics without ever opening a RAW editor. Rather ironically, one of the most popular ways to use this technology is to imitate films produced by Fujifilm’s longtime competitor! Classic Chrome, in particular, is an excellent foundation for Kodak-inspired Recipes. It’s the underlying Film Simulation for many of the most popular Recipes, including Kodachrome 64, Reggie’s Portra, Kodak Portra 400 v2, and Kodak Gold 200. In a strange twist of fate, Fujifilm photographers help to keep Kodak’s heritage alive in digital photography.

For some reason, Recipes inspired by Fujifilm’s emulsions don’t typically receive the same attention. There are many wonderful Superia, Velvia, Astia, and Provia Recipes available, some that are among my personal favorites. Classic Negative, which was inspired by Fujicolor Superia film, is one of my most loved Film Simulations. Yet, even with the popularity of Classic Negative and the more recent Reala Ace Film Simulation, Kodak-inspired Recipes continue to dominate the charts. I don’t believe that this means Kodak made better photographic films than Fujifilm, as both companies produced some truly excellent emulsions. Back in the film days, Velvia was probably my favorite slide film. Rather, I suspect that Kodak’s particular combination of aesthetic familiarity, nostalgia, and name recognition gives it an advantage that’s difficult to overcome.

Probably most fascinating of all this is that many photographers using these Recipes have never shot the original films. Some weren’t even born until after certain emulsions were discontinued. They’re not necessarily recreating their own memories; instead, they’re embracing photographic aesthetics that feel nostalgic, whether they’ve personally experienced it or not. Maybe that’s the real magic of these Recipes: they allow us to make brand-new photographs that somehow feel like old memories. And, for whatever reason, Kodak-like Recipes seem to do that particularly well.