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You can also find Fuji X Weekly on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon. I’m not always on social media, but I try to post semi-regular updates. Hopefully you’ll find these to be fun and informative extensions of this website.
This film simulation recipe began as an attempt to fulfill a need. You see, there are many Fujifilm cameras (like the X-H1) that are not capable of saving the White Balance Shift within Custom Presets, but there’s a solution: if each Custom Preset uses a different White Balance type, the camera will remember one White Balance Shift per type, and you won’t have to remember to adjust the shift when switching presets. This makes the camera experience more enjoyable.
The problem is that most film simulation recipes use the Auto, Daylight, or Kelvin White Balance types, and you have seven Custom Preset slots. The remaining White Balance types have a limited number of choices. Prior to this recipe, Incandescent had only one option: Eterna Bleach Bypass. Now, if you are using this solution, you can choose either this Analog Monochrome recipe or the Eterna Bleach Bypass recipe—one color and one B&W—for one of your C1-C7 slots.
I didn’t model this Analog Monochrome recipe after any specific film. Instead, I simply set out to create some settings that look good. This recipe has nice contrast with deep blacks, and whites that are bright yet don’t easily clip. I set Grain to Weak for a clean look, but feel free to try Strong for a grittier look. I feel that it has a very nice classic B&W film aesthetic that some of you will really appreciate.
Acros+G
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: +1
Shadow: +3
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: -1
Grain Effect: Weak
White Balance: Incandescent, -8 Red & -8 Blue
ISO: Auto up to ISO 12800
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this “Analog Monochrome” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-H1:
Find this film simulation recipe and over 200 more on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!
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Did you know that there’s a faster way to switch between the C1-C7 Custom Presets on your Fujifilm camera?
The C1-C7 Custom Presets are a great place to store up to seven Film Simulation Recipes. Not all Fujifilm cameras have the ability to store Custom Presets, but most do, and they’re pretty easy to program, especially after you’ve done it a time or two. Once you have the Custom Presets programmed into the camera, for most models, you access them by selecting the Q-Button, which brings up the Q-Menu. In the Q-Menu you can scroll through the C1-C7 options using (usually) the Rear Command Dial. There’s some variance between models, so your camera might be different, and there’s more than one way to access Custom Presets, but this is likely how most of you do it.
If you have an X-Trans III or X-Trans IV camera, with a couple exceptions, there’s a faster way to switch between Custom Presets. This will work only if your model has the ability to assign “Select Custom Setting” to the Rear Command Dial. For those with a capable model, on you camera, select Menu and go to the Set-Up (Wrench) subset, select Button/Dial Setting, then Function (Fn) Setting, scroll down to R-Dial, and choose Select Custom Setting. That’s it! Now let’s try it out.
To switch between C1-C7 Custom Presets, simply push the Rear Command Dial to open a C1-C7 menu on your screen. Use the Rear Command Dial wheel, Joystick, or D-Pad to scroll through the options, and push the Rear Command Dial, Joystick, or the OK button to select the one you want. Because you can use the Rear Command Dial to open the menu, scroll through the options, and select the Custom Preset, you can do this very quickly with one finger while looking through the viewfinder. For some of you, this will noticeably improve your Fujifilm user experience!
Obviously if you use the Rear Command Dial for something else already, this might not be a good solution for you. And this won’t work on every Fujifilm camera. I have my X100V, X-T30, and X-H1 programmed this way, and I much prefer this method for switching between C1-C7 Custom Presets. I think some of you will, too.
If you do program your Fujifilm camera this way and find that it works better for you, let me know in the comments!
After my Why I Love… series, which included the Fujinon 18mm f/2, Fujinon 27mm f/2.8, Fujinon 35mm f/2, and Fujinon 90mm f/2, I’ve been asked a few times which Fujinon lenses I currently own. I have a few third-party lenses and a number of vintage lenses, too, but the questions were specifically which Fujinon lenses are in my collection, so I’ll just talk about that.
My favorite Fujinon lens is the 27mm f/2 (read my review here). Because this is also my wife’s favorite lens and we share it, I often use the Fujinon 35mm f/2 (read my review here) as an alternative that is a close second-favorite. When I want to go wide-angle, I use the Fujinon 18mm f/2 (read my review here), and when I want to go telephoto, I chose the Fujinon 90mm f/2 (read my review here). This is actually a really good wide-standard-telephoto setup, and if I wasn’t sharing lenses, I’d only need the 27mm or 35mm and not both.
Some of you might be surprised to learn that I have other Fujinon lenses (and I’m not talking about the one permanently attached to my Fujifilm X100V). I own a Fujinon 100-400mm telephoto zoom (read my review here) that I occasionally use when I need something longer than 90mm. It’s the most expensive lens that I’ve ever purchased, and for how much it cost, I don’t use it nearly as much as I should. My wife owns three Fujinon lenses (that I have access to): the Fujinon 10-24mm f/4, the cheap kit Fujinon 16-50mm (read my review here), and the Fujinon 50-230mm (read my review here). The 10-24mm lens is the most used of those three, and I do borrow it occasionally, but if my wife isn’t using the 27mm f/2.8, then she’s using the 10-24mm f/4 (especially for video), so it’s not always available. The 16-50mm lens is almost never used by either of us, although it has been attached to a camera for video a few times. I borrowed the 50-230mm lens occasionally before I purchased the 100-400mm, but now it’s pretty much never used, except by my wife every once in a long while.
In order of most used to least used by both my wife and I combined: 27mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 90mm f/2, 10-24mm f/4, 18mm f/2, 100-400mm, 50-230mm, 16-50mm.
Now it’s your turn! Which Fujinon lenses do you own? Let me know in the comments!
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujinon 10-24mm f/4 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 18mm f/2 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 35mm f/2 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 90mm f/2 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 100-400mm B&H Amazon
Fujinon 16-50mm B&H Amazon
Fujinon 50-230mm B&H Amazon
Anders Lindborg (Instagram) sent me a black-and-white film simulation recipe to try, which he modeled after Ilford Pan F Plus 50 film. Anders, you might recall, created the Kodak Tri-X 400 recipe, teamed with Thomas Schwab to create the Kodak T-Max 400 recipe, made seven Fujicolor Pro 160NS recipes, created seven Fujicolor Pro 400H recipes, and made an important D-Range Priority discovery. His contributions to the Fujifilm community are significant! The Kodak Tri-X 400 recipe is a favorite of mine that I use frequently, so I’m personally very grateful to Anders for his hard work on this recipe and all the others.
And hard work it was! Anders sent me a lengthy note on his process to create this recipe, and I want to share with you a short snippet just so you get an idea of the effort put into this. “I checked the spectrum sensitivity chart and looked for any significant bumps in the wavelengths,” he wrote. “For the largest bump, I checked what color it represents to try to match it as close as possible with the white balance shift. This recreated the bump in the recipe to make the simulation a bit extra sensitive to that specific color.” This was point four of seven in his process, and shows the kind of effort that can go into creating film simulation recipes.
Ilford Pan F 50 Plus is a low-ISO, contrasty, sharp, detailed, fine-grain, black-and-white negative film. It has the punchiness of a mid-ISO film, but is very clean, and can be printed large and still appear crisp and fine-detailed. Of course, how a film is exposed, developed, scanned and/or printed will affect the exact aesthetic. Ilford Pan F 50 Plus is one of the best black-and-white films you can buy today, and this recipe is a pretty darn good facsimile of it.
“This one needs some care,” Anders wrote of this recipe, “and really soft light is recommended for portraits, but the reward is wonderful! If you’re looking for drama, this is it. Great in studio where lighting can be controlled, but can sometimes also work nicely for certain kinds of street photography. High contrast with a really classic black and white look, emphasis on the black.”
I modified Anders recipe a little. His version calls for Shadows to be +2 and Clarity set to 0, but he says that +2 Shadow can sometimes be too strong, and that +1 is not always strong enough, but +1.5 (for those cameras that are capable) is probably just right. I wanted to use this recipe on my Fujifilm X100V, which isn’t capable of .5 Shadow adjustments, so I set Shadow to +1 and Clarity to +2 (to increase the contrast, similar to what +1.5 Shadow might be)… alternatively, Shadow +2 and Clarity -2 is an option, too, but I didn’t like it quite as much. Because of Clarity, I decreased Sharpening to 0 from +1 (what the original recipe calls for). Instead of -3, I set Noise Reduction to -4, which is my preference. If you want to use Anders full recipe, set Shadow to +2 (or +1.5 if your camera is capable), Clarity to 0, Sharpness to +1, and Noise Reduction to -3. Otherwise, you’ll find my slightly modified version below. This recipe is compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4 and X-T30 II cameras.
Monochrome
Dynamic Range: DR100
Highlight: 0
Shadow: +1
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: 0
Clarity: +2
Grain Effect: Weak, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Off
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Off
White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -6 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 (for best results, try to limit the ISO to 1600 and lower when able)
Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +1/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Ilford Pan F Plus 50” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X100V:
Find this film simulation recipes and over 200 more on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!
Happy New Year, everyone!
The second issue of FXW Zine is out now, and if you are a Fuji X Weekly Creative Collective subscriber, you can download it now.
What’s in the January issue? How big is it? There are four articles: Behind the Picture: The Story of Rock Balanced, Rising At Dawn, The Man Who Came Back, and Yosemite In Vintage Color. There are 29 photographs, including the cover image (above). This issue is 20 pages long cover-to-cover. I hope that you find it entertaining and inspiring!
Note: this was a Creative Collective article, but now it’s available to everyone.
View and download Issue 02 of FXW Zine here:
It’s been a wild year—at least for me, and I imagine for many of you, too. As 2021 winds down and 2022 quickly approaches, I thought it would be fun to look back at the most-viewed articles of the year. Since it’s 2021, I decided to share the Top 21 articles. Below that, just for fun, you’ll find the most overlook (least viewed) articles of 2021.
Top 21 Articles of 2021
21. My Fujifilm X100V Cine Teal Film Simulation Recipe
20. My Fujifilm X100F Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation Recipe (PRO Neg. Std)
19. My Fujifilm X100F Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation Recipe
18. Fujifilm X100V Film Simulation Recipe: Color Negative 400
17. My Fujifilm “Classic Negative” Film Simulation Recipe (For X-Trans III)
16. Two Fujifilm X-Trans IV Film Simulation Recipes: Kodachrome II
15. Fujifilm X100V Film Simulation Recipe: Kodak Ektar 100
14. Fujifilm X100V Film Simulation Recipe: Kodak Tri-X 400
13. Fujifilm X100V Film Simulation Recipe: Kodachrome 1
12. My Fujifilm X100F CineStill 800T Film Simulation Recipe
11. My Fujifilm X-T30 Kodachrome 64 Film Simulation Recipe
10. Fujifilm X100V Film Simulation Recipe: Kodak Portra 800
9. My Fujifilm X100F Classic Chrome Film Simulation Recipe
8. My Fujifilm X-Pro2 Kodachrome II Film Simulation Recipe
7. New Nostalgic Negative Film Simulation + X-Trans IV Nostalgic Negative Recipe!
6. Fujifilm X100V Film Simulation Recipe: Kodak Portra 400 v2
5. My Fujifilm X100F Vintage Kodachrome Film Simulation Recipe
4. My Fujifilm X100F Kodak Portra 400 Film Simulation Recipe
3. Fujifilm X100V Film Simulation: Kodak Portra 400
2. My Fujifilm X100V Kodachrome 64 Film Simulation Recipe
1. How To Add Film Simulation Recipes To Your Fujifilm Camera
You might notice that all but one of these Top 21 articles are Film Simulation Recipes, which is not a surprise to me. These recipes are why most people come to Fuji X Weekly, and what I’m best known for. You might also notice that recipes modeled after Kodak film stocks tend to be the most popular, which shouldn’t surprise anyone since Kodak was the top-dog in the film world for a century or so.
Top 21 Most Overlooked Articles of 2021:
21. How To Add “Light Leaks” To Your Photos Using Page Markers
20. Fuji X Weekly App: Filtering by Camera or Sensor?
19. The Journey Is The Destination, Part 2: Time to Eat
18. FXW App: Filter by White Balance — How To Use This New Feature
17. Fujifilm X100F Face-Eye Detection
16. Capturing Family Photos – Being Both Behind & In Front of The Camera
15. Defending Tatsuo Suzuki
14. Fujifilm X100F – Digital Teleconverter + High ISO
13. 200 Film Simulation Recipes on the FXW App!
12. Fujifilm X100F vs. Sigma DP2 Merrill
11. The Journey is the Destination, Part 3: Lodging Locations
10. Digital Is Disposable
9. Creative Uses of Multiple Exposure Photography
8. Fujifilm X-A3 & Soviet Lenses, Part 3: Industar 61
7. Fujifilm X100F & Bokeh
6. Comparing “Classic Negative” and “Color Negative” Film Simulation Recipes
5. Fujifilm X-A3 & Soviet Lenses, Part 2: Jupiter 21M
4. Camera Basics: Shutter Speed
3. How To Use The Fuji X Weekly App (Videos)
2. Fujifilm X RAW Studio
1. The Artist Photographer
Many of these are old articles from several years ago, and a few are from this year. If you don’t recognize a title, consider clicking the link to perhaps see something you missed.
I want to take a quick moment in closing to thank everyone who has visited this website, shared articles, commented, downloaded the App, watched SOOC, and were otherwise a part of the Fuji X Weekly community in some way or another. You all are who make this whole project great! I truly hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and that 2022 will be a great year for you!
This is the first “Why I Love…” article that features a third-party lens. The Rokinon 12mm f/2 NCS CS was the very first prime lens that I purchased for my Fujifilm X-E1 when I was just getting into the Fuji system (you can read my review of it here). It’s the oldest lens in my lineup (not including the many vintage lenses I’ve acquired…). Despite being the first, it’s one of my least-used lenses today. Five years ago I used this lens regularly. I had the Fujinon 18-55mm f2.8-f/4 and this Rokinon 12mm f/2, and I used them about equally. Once I got a few vintage primes, the zoom lens was utilized less frequently (I’m not a big fan of zooms, even though Fujifilm does have some excellent options), and I soon sold it off. Not too long later I sold my X-E1 to buy an X100F. Even though I didn’t have a camera to attach it to, I kept the Rokinon 12mm.
When I once again got a Fujifilm interchangeable-lens camera, I regularly attached the Rokinon lens to it. However, as time went on, I used the lens less-and-less. It has nothing to do with the quality of the glass, which is quite good, especially considering how inexpensive this lens is. The reason why I employ the Rokinon 12mm f/2 lens less frequently now is because of the focal-length. The 18mm-full-frame-equivalent focal-length of this lens is just a little too wide for my current tastes. Still, it’s sometimes nice to go ultra-wide, and I’m glad that I have this lens for those occasions.
The Rokinon 12mm f/2 can turn an ordinary scene into something extraordinarily! The lens is both challenging and rewarding. If you want more dramatic pictures, this lens is an excellent place to start—just shove the glass right into the scene! It’s also an excellent option for astrophotography. Why I love this Rokinon lens is because it increases the drama of the picture, and can be extremely rewarding to use. And even though I use it less now, I’ve certainly got my money’s worth out of it!
Interestingly, Rokinon recently released this lens but with autofocus.
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Rokinon 12mm f/2 (manual) B&H Amazon
Rokinon 12mm f/2 (auto) B&H Amazon
Rokinon 12mm f/2 with Fujifilm X-E1*:
Rokinon 12mm f/2 with Fujifilm X-T30 & X-T1:
*Note: the Fujifilm X-E1 pictures were captured before I began making Film Simulation Recipes.
I took my Fujifilm X-H1 to downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, loaded with my Kodak Gold 200 film simulation recipe, to do some urban photography. Attached to the camera was a Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens, which I find to be a good focal-length for cityscape and street images.
Kodak Gold, which was introduced in the late-1980’s and is still around today, is a general purpose color negative film. It was originally called Kodacolor VR-G, then Kodacolor Gold, and finally Gold. It replaced Kodacolor VR. While the film has been improved a few times over the years, it still looks pretty much the same today as it did in the 1980’s. My film simulation recipe is an approximation of Kodak Gold for Fujifilm X-Trans III plus the X-T3 and X-T30 cameras.
For those following the SOOC video series, Kodak Gold 200 is the current recipe-of-the-month. Fujifilm X-Photographer Nathalie Boucry and I will be discussing this recipe, including showcasing your pictures captured with it, in the next episode. We’re taking January off, so the next video, which will be Episode 01 of Season 02, will be on February 10th. Be sure to mark your calendar! Since there’s extra time to shoot with this recipe, we’d like to show two of your pictures in the next episode, captured in different light situations and/or of different subjects. Upload your pictures here to be featured in the next video!
In the meantime, this article is a photoessay of five photographs captured in downtown Salt Lake City with a Fujifilm X-H1 using the Kodak Gold 200 film simulation recipe. Enjoy!
Find this film simulation recipe and 200 more on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!
So you got a Fujifilm camera for Christmas—what a wonderful gift! You might be wondering, “Now what?” What things should you do or get? This article will hopefully provide a little clarity to these questions and more.
First, I always recommend reading the manual. They’re a little boring and overwhelming, so nobody wants to do that, but it’s important to know your gear inside and out, and the best place to begin is the user manual. Thankfully, Fujifilm has made their digital manuals easy to explore, so you can quickly and easily find the exact topic you’re searching for. I recommend spending a couple of hours reading the manual right after you’ve removed the camera from the box, and thereafter picking one topic to read each day for a month or more, just so you become very familiar with your new camera. If user manuals aren’t your thing, the alternative would be to go onto YouTube and search your camera with the words “setup guide” (or something similar) and you can watch someone explain it.
If you are new to photography, you should gain some basic knowledge. There are lots of articles and YouTube videos that explain the general principals of photography. A few years ago I published an article that you might find helpful (click here) on photography basics.
After that, you should download the Fuji X Weekly App onto your phone and/or tablet (click here for Android, and click here for iOS). The App is a library of over 200 Film Simulation Recipes (camera settings to achieve various looks straight-out-of-camera) for Fujifilm cameras. It’s free, and advanced features can be unlocked by becoming a Patron. This article (click here) briefly explains how to program these “recipes” into your camera. Also, the SOOC video series is an excellent resource that you should explore.
At this point you are ready to have lots and lots of fun with your new camera! But you still might have some questions, such as what accessories to buy next. I’ll answer that below, although it will depend on the exact model you have. Also, if you’re interested, read about my “ultimate” travel kit (click here).
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujifilm X100V
If your new Fujifilm camera is an X100V—or perhaps an older X100 model—there are a few accessories you should consider. You might not want or need them all, but you should look into these and determine what (if any) will be beneficial to you. Below is a list of recommended X100V accessories:
Fujifilm NP-126S Battery (you’ll want at least one spare)
SD Memory Card (I prefer to not skimp on quality)
Case, Neck Strap, or Wrist Strap (the strap Fujifilm provides is ok, but you’ll probably want something different)
Adapter Ring and Hood (so you can use filters and weather-seal the camera)
UV, Polarizer, Black Pro Mist, and/or CineBloom filters (you’ll want at least one)
Tele-Conversion Lens and/or Wide-Conversion Lens (to add versatility)
Tripod
Camera Bag
Fujifilm X-Pro3, X-T3, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30, or X-T30 II
If your new Fujifilm camera is an interchangeable-lens model—X-Pro3, X-T3, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30, X-T30 II or an older model—there are a few accessories you should consider. You might not want or need them all, but you should look into these and determine what (if any) will be beneficial to you. Below is a list of recommended Fujifilm interchangeable-lens-camera accessories:
Fujifilm NP-126S Battery or Fujifilm NP-235 Battery for X-T4 (you’ll want at least one spare)
SD Memory Card (I prefer to not skimp on quality)
Neck Strap or Wrist Strap (the strap Fujifilm provides is ok, but you’ll probably want something different)
Zoom Lens: 18-55mm, 16-55mm, 16-80mm, 10-24mm, 18-135mm, 50-140mm, or 55-200mm (consider upgrading the kit zoom)
Prime Lens: 18mm, 23mm, 35mm, 50mm, or 90mm (you’ll want at least one prime lens)
Flash
Tripod
Camera Bag
Obviously, you don’t need everything in these lists (and there are alternatives). Often less is more, so don’t worry about having everything, because photographic vision is much more important than photographic gear. You have a camera and a lens, and that’s really all that you need to capture great photographs, but it is nice to add a few tools to the toolbox. In this case, those “tools” might be gear, but they might be skills, so a book like The Art of Photography might be a worthwhile investment, as well as experiences (going places with your camera). As you gain more skills and experiences, you’ll have more clarity on what gear you actually need to better achieve your vision.
It’s Christmas! I hope today brings you a moment of peace, and that you are embraced by love from those around you. May you be gifted with countless blessings throughout the coming year, while reflecting with gratitude the gifts of grace already received. And may your Christmas be exceedingly merry—one you’ll remember for many years to come!
It’s a true honor to have you as a part of the Fuji X Weekly community, and I’m blessed that I can share content that’s meaningful to you. It’s astonishing to me that this website (and App) and my film simulation recipes are having such a big impact on the Fujifilm and photographic community. It’s truly amazing!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
My wife, Amanda, captured these photographs of our family using her Fujifilm X-T4 and Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 (our favorite lens!).
Back in March I published My “Ultimate” Fujifilm Travel Kit. In that article I stated, “A good travel kit strikes a comfortable balance between practicality and petiteness.” I really feel that I accomplished that with this kit; however, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the lenses. Specifically, I had too many lenses, some of which didn’t really serve a purpose.
To quickly recap, my “ultimate travel kit” consisted of:
– National Geographic NG2344 Earth Explorer Shoulder Bag
– Fujifilm X100V
– Fujifilm X-E4
– Fujinon 18mm f/2
– Fujinon 27mm f/2.8
– Fujinon 35mm f/2
– Peargear 10mm f/8 fisheye
– 7artisians 50mm f/1.8
– Asahi Pentax-110 50mm f/2.8
So, nine months later, I’ve made some minor modifications. I’ve eliminated the Fujinon 35mm f/2 and the Asahi-Pentax 110 50mm lenses from the kit, although I still own and use them—they just stay home when I travel. The 7artisans 50mm f/1.8 remains for now, although I do hope to replace it with a Fujinon 50mm f/2 at some point, hopefully in the coming year. With the space that’s been freed up from the eliminated lenses, I’ve added a Ricoh GR to the bag, but obviously that’s not a Fujifilm item, so it’s an unofficial tag-along.
I mentioned yesterday that I’m an “Amazon Influencer” now, which means I have a “Shop” on their website. I can create, publish, and share “Idea Lists” in my Shop. How this relates to this article is that I created an Idea List for the current iteration of My “Ultimate” Fujifilm Travel Kit. All of the items currently in my kit can now be found in the “Ultimate Fujifilm Travel Kit Idea List” in my Shop. This might be helpful to some of you.
As my travel kit evolves, I will continue to periodically share with you what those changes are. Everyone’s wants and needs are different, and so I can only tell you what works for me. In the comments, be sure to let me know what’s in your Fujifilm travel kit, and why it works for you.
This film simulation recipe is called “Fujicolor NPH” because it is inspired by that film. Actually, I was attempting a Fujicolor Pro 400H recipe. I had a couple already: Fujicolor Pro 400H for X-Trans III and Fujicolor Pro 400H Overexposed for X-Trans IV. This was originally an Early-Access recipe on the Fuji X Weekly App, and App Patrons have had access to it for nearly a year; however, it’s been replaced by a different Early-Access recipe, so now it’s available to everyone! Since the time that I originally published this, I’ve made a new Fujicolor Pro 400H recipe that I’m quite happy with. This recipe is similar to Pro 400H film, but it’s actually closer to Fujicolor NPH 400, which was the predecessor to Pro 400H. Those two emulsions were similar, with only small differences, but in my opinion this recipe is closer to NPH 400, so that’s why I named it after that film.
Because this film simulation recipe requires Clarity and Color Chrome FX Blue, it’s compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II cameras. I believe those who own a newer GFX camera, such as the GFX 100S and GFX 50S II, can use it, too, although results will be slightly different. If you don’t want to use Clarity because it slows down the camera, you could alternatively use a diffusion filter (such as 1/8 Black Pro Mist or 5% CineBloom) instead.
Provia
Dynamic Range: DR100
Highlight: -1
Shadow: 0
Color: 0
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: 0
Clarity: -3
Grain Effect: Weak, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong
White Balance: 5250K, -3 Red & -4 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Fujicolor NPH film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-E4 & Fujifilm X100V cameras:
Find this film simulation recipe and 200 more on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!
Help Fuji X Weekly
Nobody pays me to write the content found on fujixweekly.com. There’s a real cost to operating and maintaining this site, not to mention all the time that I pour into it. If you appreciated this article, please consider making a one-time gift contribution. Thank you!
$2.00
The Fuji X Weekly App is free, yet becoming a Fuji X Weekly Patron unlocks the best App experience! One benefit of being a Patron is you get early access to some new film simulation recipes. These Early-Access Recipes will eventually become available free to everyone in time, including this new one. In fact, many Early-Access Recipes have been publicly published on this blog and the App, so now everyone can use them! Patrons help support Fuji X Weekly and, really, without them there would be no App. So I want to give a special “thank you” to all of the Patrons!
This new Patron Early-Access Recipe is modeled after some prints I found in a box that I thought looked interesting. I didn’t initially know what film had been used, but after locating the negatives I discovered it was something called Kodak GT 800-3, and I had no idea what that was. After much sleuthing, I found out it was Kodak Max Zoom 800, also known as Max 800. The film was shot in 2006 (I believe by my wife), and it was the third and final iteration of the emulsion (this version was introduced in 2000). Max Zoom 800 was replaced in 2006 by the similar Max Versatility Plus 800 (which was around for five or six years before its discontinuation).
Kodak made Max 800 film for point-and-shoot and disposable cameras—specifically, they marketed it for point-and-shot cameras with a zoom lens, which exaggerated camera shake. It was a cheap high-ISO consumer color negative film intended for the novice. It had a large latitude for underexposure and (especially) overexposure, but color reproduction was a little different (some have said bland or weird) when compared to other Kodak films. Kodak intended the film to be printed on Ektacolor Edge paper, but my samples were printed on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper (which certainly affects the aesthetic)—this recipe is modeled after my samples.
This Kodak Max 800 Patron Early-Access Recipe is compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II cameras. If you are a Fuji X Weekly Patron, it’s available to you right now on the Fuji X Weekly App! If you don’t have the App, download it for free today.
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this “Kodak Max 800” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-E4:
Amazon invited me to be an “Influencer” on their website. I never thought I’d be called an influencer, but I suppose to an extent I am (hey, I now have over 18K followers on Instagram! Thank you!). I certainly didn’t set out to be one. I’m just trying to be helpful as we journey together photographing with Fujifilm gear.
What does being an Amazon Influencer mean? Not much. I have a “Shop” on Amazon.com. Basically, I recommend products, and write a little blurb with a photo. It’s an affiliate program, and if you make a purchase, I get compensated a small amount. I have affiliate links already on this site, and every once in awhile you might see them. I try not to be pushy with the affiliate links, but they do generate a very small amount of money that helps pay the bills and such, so I include them (hopefully unobtrusively) when I can. It doesn’t cost you anything, and it helps to support this website. I appreciate those who do use them!
I didn’t realize at first, but there’s another way to view and interact with what I publish on Amazon (click here). It’s set up more like a social media feed, and I see potential to publish meaningful content through this view. I hope to make it meaningful, anyway, so that it’s worth your time if you should visit. I just started it, so there’s not much currently there, but more will be added in the coming days, weeks, and months.
Feel free to follow me on Amazon. Or feel free not to. Either way. I promise I won’t be pushy with it, and I hope this is a positive thing somehow for the Fuji X Weekly community.
It’s nearly Christmas, and a lot of people have time off of work at this time of the year. While this is a wonderful season for many reasons, there’s a chance that at some point you might find yourself a little bored. If you do, this article could be just what you need, because we’re going to do something fun and crazy. We’re going to capture surreal images without a lens!
Below is a photograph that I captured using a homemade pinhole “lens” (pictured above) that takes peculiar pictures. In this article I’ll show you how you can do this yourself—no special tools or skills required. It’s cheap (probably free, in fact), easy, and fun. All you need is an interchangeable-lens camera and a body cap.
Let’s do some homemade pinhole macro photography!
Note: this was a Creative Collective article, but now it’s available to everyone.
The first step is to locate a camera body cap. You probably already have one lying around somewhere that you don’t use; however, you might not want to “destroy” it in case you later sell your camera. I happened to have an extra one somehow. You can buy an “official” Fujifilm body cap for $10 or a generic one for $4. If you don’t want make your own, you can buy a pinhole lens for $70, and it’s probably going to be better than a homemade one. For this project, I used an official Fujifilm body cap that I already owned.
Step two is to drill a tiny hole in the center of the body cap. I didn’t have any drill bits that were small enough, so I used a screw, and stopped turning just as soon as the tip poked through. Even though the hole was small (which you can see in the pictures below) it was actually much too big. I put a piece of black electrical tape (you could alternatively use duct tape) over the hole on the inside of the cap, and then poked a tiny hole using a small sewing needle, sending it through the hole made by the screw, but not poking it all the way through. The hole needs to be especially small—that’s why they call it pinhole photography.
Once you have your pinhole lens made, the next step is to attach it to your camera. Within the camera menu, enable “Shoot Without Lens” or else your camera won’t let you capture a picture. Also, set the camera to Manual Focus—there’s no ability to focus, manual or otherwise, and maybe this doesn’t matter, but to me it makes sense to set it to Manual. Now you’re ready to shoot!
I discovered several things when I started capturing pictures with the pinhole lens.
First, the aperture is roughly around f/256. That means you need a lot of light! I used my Ilford XP2 Super 400 film simulation recipe on a Fujifilm X-H1 with the ISO cranked all the way up to ISO 12800—this was outdoors on a bright and sunny day, and the shutter speed was usually less than 1/100, sometimes much less. The “lens” doesn’t have any glass to focus the light, so it’s going to be soft, but, because of the tiny aperture, you’ll also have a huge amount of diffraction, so you just have to know going into this that the pictures aren’t going to be sharp. The extreme softness is a big reason why the pictures seem so surreal, and is a part of the charm—use it creatively!
Next, the focal-length is somewhere right around 20mm (30mm full-frame-equivalent). Knowing roughly the aperture and the focal-length, it’s possible to more-or-less calculate the depth-of-field, if I could figure out where the lens was focusing at. After several experiments, I decided that the point-of-focus is somewhere around 2″ to 2 1/4″, which puts the depth-of-field roughly between 3/4″ and 5″ (the pictures seem to confirm this). Nothing within that range will be anywhere close to “tack sharp” but will be a little less blurry than elsewhere. It also means that this is a macro lens, and you need to get close to the subject (although, again, use the blur creatively). All of this is variable, depending on the size of the hole and such.
I had strong vignetting in the pictures, so I used the 1:1 aspect ratio to minimize it. Because the vignetting wasn’t even (it was strongest on the bottom-right corner, and least strong on the upper-right), I cropped the pictures a little in an effort to even it out some.
Also, because of the tiny aperture, any and all dust spots on the sensor will be easily visible, especially in the lighter and less busy parts of the frame. Even a sensor that seems to be clean will likely show some dust spots.
Below are some sample pictures captured using the homemade pinhole lens on a Fujifilm X-H1. My favorite photograph is the one towards the top of this article.
If you are bored one day (or stuck in some photographic rut), give this DIY pinhole trick a try. You might not capture any award-winning images (although you never know…), but you’ll certainly have fun, and, if nothing else, photography should be fun.
I posted last week that the Fuji X Weekly App contains 200 film simulation recipes for Fujifilm cameras! A question that I frequently get asked is, “How do I know which film simulation recipe to use in a specific situation?”
If you crossed out the words “simulation recipe” from that question, you’d have a very common inquiry from the film era. Back then, at any given time, there were just as many (if not more) film choices as there are film simulation recipe choices today—especially at the height of film in the late-1990’s and early-2000’s. Over the years there have been hundreds and hundreds of emulsions, maybe over a thousand. How does one know which film to use?
It’s a little easier today because there are far fewer film choices (but there’s still a lot!). Do you want color or black-and-white? That’s where I always started. What’s the lighting going to be? That helps decide the ISO that will be needed. Also, if color, will I need daylight or tungsten balanced? What filters might I need? Those are important factors to consider. Do I want low contrast or high (although how I shoot and develop factors significantly into this)? If color, low saturation or high? These questions and more, which are asked before the camera is even loaded, helps determine the film choice.
The two biggest factors, however, for my film choice decision were usually these: availability and experience. While there were hundreds to choose from, I might only have five or six different emulsions in the refrigerator at any given time. If I was going to buy some film before heading out or in preparation for it, I would be limited by the availability of the store, and that might be 10 emulsions or 100, depending on the place. A lot of times it would come down to what I’d used in the past and had success with. After awhile you figure out which options work for you. I liked to try different films just to see what I might get, but I often found myself returning to the ones that I really liked, which explains those five or six in the fridge.
With film simulation recipes, some of the same factors that determined which film to use can also help to determine which recipe to use. Color or black-and-white? Daylight or tungsten? High contrast or low contrast? High saturation or low saturation? A big difference is that you are not limited to “the stock in your fridge” or what a store might carry. And maybe you don’t have a lot of experience with them to know which recipes might work well in a specific scenario. The more experience you get, the more you’ll know, but that takes time, perhaps years, of using different recipes in various situations.
My hope in the coming year is to do a lot more to help with this. I want to make it easier for people to determine which recipes might be good options in whichever photographic situations that they find themselves in. This, of course, is a pretty monumental challenge, not only because there are so many recipes (and always more in the works!), but because there are more potential photographic situations than there are recipes. This is something that books could be written about. Even so, I will do my best with this project, because I want it to be easier for you to determine which recipes to use when.
That’s great for the future, but what about now? What resources are available today to determine which recipe to program into your Fujifilm camera for whatever it is that you’re about to shoot?
The Fuji X Weekly App is a good starting point. If you are not already, become an App Patron so that you can unlock the ability to filter. Select your camera or sensor, then choose color or black-and-white, or a specific film simulation if you know that you want an aesthetic a certain film simulation produces. You can also filter by White Balance, which can potentially be helpful if you have an idea of the lighting conditions you’ll encounter, or Dynamic Range, which can potentially be helpful if you know how harsh the light will be. These tools help to determine which recipe to use by filtering out the ones that might not be good options.
Otherwise, my Film Simulation Reviews page and the SOOC video series are two other resources that might be helpful. Film Simulation Reviews are articles that show specific recipes in specific situations, so if you find yourself in a similar situation you can know how that recipe will do (whether good or bad). It’s not nearly as robust of a library as I’d like it to be, but it might be helpful nonetheless. In the SOOC videos, not only is a specific recipe discussed and used, but, in the “Special Occasions” segment, recipes for specific scenarios are suggested. Be sure to visit YouTube.com/c/FujiXWeekly to find those videos.
Of course, the sample pictures within the recipes are intended to give you a clue if it might be a good choice or not. I can’t provide sample pictures captured in every photographic genre and every lighting condition, but I try to provide a good mix to help you know whether it might work well for you or not. If you haven’t spent much time viewing the sample images, it might be worth your time to look longer at them. If you are a Fuji X Weekly App Patron, when you encounter a recipe that you think might work for you based on the sample pictures, use one of the Star colors to mark it, so that you can revisit it whenever you’re ready to program a recipe into your camera.
Much like with film, perhaps the best way to know whether a recipe will work well for your specific photographic situation is with experience. If you try it and it does well, now you know. And if it doesn’t, now you know. Program seven recipes into your C1-C7 Custom Presets, and see how they do. You can use the colored Stars in the App to help you keep track of which ones you especially like (maybe use green stars) and which ones you especially don’t (perhaps use red stars). After that, try another seven recipes.
I wish that I had a more helpful response to, “How do I know which film simulation recipe to use in a specific situation?” There are as many potential photographic situations as there are film simulation recipes to choose from, and it’s not always easy to determine which ones are best for what. The Fuji X Weekly App has some great tools that can help, and there are other resources, too, but the best answer is that it takes experience, which you’ll get as you try them out in various scenarios. The more you shoot with them, the more you’ll know which ones are good options for whatever situation you’re in. In the coming year I want to do more to help with this, so that there’s a little less trial-and-error involved on your part, and those with little or no experience don’t have quite as steep of a learning curve to climb. I have a long ways to go, but I am determined to make this website a better resource for those trying to figure out which recipes to program into their Fujifilm camera.
In these two “SoundBites” (as we’re calling it) from Episode 06 of SOOC, Fujifilm X-Photographer Nathalie Boucry and I discuss Color Chrome Effect & Color Chrome FX Blue features on Fujifilm X-Trans IV cameras. These are short snippets from the show, and it gives you an idea of the type of content that’s found in a SOOC broadcast. If you missed Episode 06, I’ve included it below, so you can view it in its entirety if you’d like.
If you’ve never watched, SOOC is a monthly live video series that’s interactive. It’s a collaboration between Nathalie and I. We discuss film simulation recipes, camera settings, and answer your questions. Basically, we’re trying to help you master your Fujifilm camera, with a focus on simplifying your photographic workflow.
The film simulation recipe used in both videos is Kodachrome 64. If you don’t have the Fuji X Weekly App, be sure to download it for free today!
In this “SoundBite” (as we’re calling it) from Episode 06 of SOOC, Fujifilm X-Photographer Nathalie Boucry and I discuss three film simulation recipes that are good for portrait photography. This is a short snippet from the show, and it gives you an idea of the type of content that’s found in a SOOC broadcast. If you missed Episode 06, I’ve included it below, so you can view it in its entirety if you’d like.
If you’ve never watched, SOOC is a monthly live video series that’s interactive. It’s a collaboration between Nathalie and I. We discuss film simulation recipes, camera settings, and answer your questions. Basically, we’re trying to help you master your Fujifilm camera, with a focus on simplifying your photographic workflow.
The three recipes discussed in this video are:
Kodak Portra 400 v2
PRO Neg. Hi
Fujicolor Super HG v2
Also, if you don’t have the Fuji X Weekly App, be sure to download it for free today!
Episode 06:
I’ve done several of these “Why I Love The Fujinon…” articles—including the 90mm f/2, the 35mm f/2, the 27mm f/2.8—but I’ve been putting this one off. If you’d read my review of the Fujinon 18mm f/2, you might already know that I have a love/hate relationship with it. I called it “the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” because it is simultaneously wonderful and disappointing—wonderful image quality, disappointing performance. I don’t want to rehash what I already stated in the review, so I’ll approach this a different way.
For a long time I shot 35mm film. I had a Canon AE-1 camera and a 50mm f/1.8 lens, and that’s it—one camera and one lens. After awhile, though, I began to collect gear. I acquired more cameras and more lenses. One lens was a Canon 24mm f/2.8. Coming from 50mm, the 24mm focal-length lens seemed to be extremely wide-angle to me. I found it challenging to use, but also highly rewarding, because the focal-length can make a scene much more dramatic. Below is a picture from the first roll of film where I used the 24mm focal length. For Fujifilm cameras, 16mm is full-frame-equivalent to 24mm, not 18mm (which is 27mm full-frame-equivalent), but the difference between 16mm and 18mm isn’t huge. I actually like 18mm more because it is a bit less extreme yet still very dramatic.
The 18mm focal-length is very useful for landscape or cityscape photography. It wouldn’t be my first choice for portrait photography, but it is great for when you want to exaggerate the space in the frame. It can turn a rather ordinary scene into something more extraordinary through embellishment. I think everyone should own a lens with this or a similar focal-length, and challenge themselves to use it—and it alone—on occasion, just for practice.
The 18mm f/2 is Fujifilm’s second smallest lens, so it is especially great for travel or walk-around photography. It’s a lens that you can leave on the camera all day, or have as a second lens, perhaps kept in a jacket pocket. The size and weight advantage of this near-pancake lens cannot be understated!
Ultimately, though, it comes down to the pictures, and it’s easy to love how the Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens renders images. When the pictures look as good as they do, it’s not hard to ignore the flaws (such as a slow and loud focus system). For this reason, the Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens is an essential tool in my kit. Yes, I do have a love/hate relationship with this little lens, but I lean much more closely towards the love side.
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R Amazon B&H
Example photographs captured with the Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R lens:
