New: Fujifilm XApp

Fujifilm just released a new App, called XApp, for some Fujifilm X and GFX cameras, which is an alternative to the much maligned Cam Remote App. This new App has been long-rumored and highly-anticipated. It’s available right now in the app store!

Firstly, it’s disappointing that the new app is only for X-Trans IV and V cameras, plus the GFX100S and GFX50S II. If you have any other model, you’re stuck using the old Cam Remote App. I have both newer and older models, and it would be nice if I could use just one app instead of two, so I might just stick with the old Cam Remote App, since recently I’ve been able to get it to work for me most of the time; I’ll have to play with the new XApp more before I decide for certain, but on Day One, that’s the direction I’m leaning.

The new XApp does require your Fujifilm camera to be up-to-date on the firmware. I don’t update the firmware on my cameras each time a new one is released. I look at what’s in the update, see if any of it would seemingly impact me, and if so I’ll update the firmware—usually, I will wait a few days after the initial release. I do all this for three reasons: 1) if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, 2) it can be a hassle sometimes to update the firmware, and 3), on a very rare occasion (but it has happened), the new firmware update will be buggy and cause all sorts of havoc, usually followed by Fujifilm re-releasing the old firmware or releasing a quick update to fix the one they just put out.

I love Fujifilm Kaizen firmware updates, and I think they should recommit to that philosophy, but I don’t make it a habit to always update the firmware; however, because of this, I discovered that none of my current cameras could use the XApp without updating the firmware first. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me that this was a requirement (if I had watched the X Summit first, I suppose I would have known), and there were a few minutes of frustration before I figured it out; hopefully, being aware that your firmware needs to be up-to-date will help you have a smoother process than I did.

I captured this yesterday with my Fujifilm X70, which is not compatible with XApp.

My initial impressions after briefly using XApp are that the UI is definitely improved, connecting the camera to the app is much easier and quicker, and there’s a little more that the app can do compared to the old Cam Remote app. While it’s absolutely better than Cam Remote, it’s still pretty much the same functionality (for example, you still cannot transfer RAW files), so I think it’s important to keep expectations in check.

Interestingly, with XApp you can import global backups of camera settings, and restore those settings later. I haven’t played around with it much yet, but I think you could in theory have several different backups saved with different Film Simulation Recipes in each, and remotely restore whichever ones you need for various situations. Maybe a summer set, a winter set, a travel set, etc.. It would take some work to set up, but it has some interesting potential I think.

The app can also keep track of some data, specifically the number of frames captured, which film simulations (not Recipes, just the film sims) you used, the cameras, the lenses, and videos clips. If you want to dive into how you’re using your cameras slightly deeper, this might be a useful feature.

XApp is definitely an improvement. I’m disappointed that it is only for newer cameras, and you cannot use the app with older models. I’m not certain yet if I’ll keep both apps, and use XApp for my compatible models and Cam Remote for my non-compatible cameras, or if I’ll just stick with Cam Remote, since I can use it with all of my Fujifilm X bodies. I am glad, though, that Fujifilm finally addressed their less-than-stellar Cam Remote app by releasing an alternative. I’m sure many of you will find XApp to be a better experience overall than the old app.

Also announced today by Fujifilm are the X-S20 vlogger/travel camera (as Fujifilm put it) and Fujinon 8mm f/3.5, a tempting lens for architecture, real estate, and landscape photographers needing an ultra-wide option.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujifilm X-S20:  Amazon  B&H  Moment
Fujinon 8mm f/3.5:  Amazon  B&H  Moment

Fuji X Weekly App Update

The Fuji X Weekly App has been updated for both Apple and Android! Aside from some small maintenance items that you’re unlikely to notice, the big improvements are Widgets for Android and Spanish Translation for Apple. Your phone likely already updated the App for you, but if it didn’t, simply visit the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and download the most recent version.

If you don’t already have the Fuji X Weekly App on your phone or tablet, be sure to download it for free today! Consider becoming a Patron to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.

Widgets for Android

Widgets have been available for Apple users since October, but now they’re finally finished for Android! It was a bigger project than anticipated, and that’s why it took so long.

What are Widgets? Larger than app icons, Widgets give you quick access to information or provide a different way to interact with the app. My phone has literally been taken over by Fuji X Weekly Widgets, and it’s transformed how I interact with the App, turning my home screen into a Film Simulation Recipe launchpad!

Once you’ve opened the Fuji X Weekly App at least once since installing the update, Widgets are available to add to your home screen (click here if you are not sure how). Fuji X Weekly App Widgets greatly improves the user experience, and I bet they will take over your phone just like they did mine.

Spanish Translation for Apple

Thanks to the help of Fuji X Weekly community member Lucía Wiesse, the Fuji X Weekly App has now been translated into Spanish on Apple devices! Hopefully this will be available for Android, too, in the near future. I’m also hopeful that the Fuji X Weekly App can be translated into even more languages someday, since it is used worldwide. For now, I just think it’s really awesome that a Spanish translation is available for iOS users. If your iPhone’s Language is set to Spanish, the App will automatically translate; set your phone to English for the regular English version. Thanks, Lucía, for all your help!

Check out this video!

Photographer Tim Northey, known as TKNORTH on YouTube, posted a really cool video using the Random Recipe Selector in the Fuji X Weekly App while in Tokyo. This is exactly how I envisioned Random Recipe being used—such a fun way to use Fujifilm cameras and Film Simulation Recipes with your friends! Check out the video (above) if you haven’t yet seen it.

Review: Moment Tele 58mm Cellphone Lens

This review of the Moment Tele 58mm cellphone lens is long overdue. When I started developing the RitchieCam iPhone camera app about a year ago, I figured it would be a good idea to get some external lenses for my iPhone 11, which would come in handy when needing to capture the example pictures. While there are a number of companies that offer lenses that can be attached to your cellphone, the Moment offerings stood out to me as the “better” option, so that’s what I chose.

To use Moment’s lenses, you must also use their phone case, because that’s how the lenses mount to your phone. They have a case for many phone makes and models, so there’s a good chance there’s one available for your device. The case is good quality, and has survived nearly a year of heavy use and abuse. I cannot tell you how many times that I’ve dropped my phone and thought it was done for, yet it survived unscathed, without even a scratch! While I’m sure there are cases that offer more protection, I’m pretty darn impressed with how good the Moment case has been.

One cool thing about the Moment case is that it has the “MagSafe” stuff built-in. I have this tripod-mount accessory that attaches to the case (via magnetism), which has come in handy a number of times. It’s a really good method to mount your cellphone to a tripod, if that’s something you do. There are a number of other accessories that you can buy that also use magnets to attach to your case, but the only one that I personally have used is that tripod accessory.

I had never used an external lens before with a cellphone, so I was definitely a novice when I started—I didn’t really realize how it all worked. On my iPhone 11 case, the lens mounts only over the main camera. The iPhone 11 has two rear facing cameras: 1x (26mm full-frame-equivalent) and 0.5x (13mm full-frame-equivalent). The Moment lenses cannot mount over the 13mm lens, only over the 26mm lens.

I have two Moment lenses: 18mm and 58mm. The Moment lenses are actually “conversion” lenses, and the millimeter numbers don’t actually mean anything. The 18mm is a 0.5x wide conversion lens, and the 58mm is a 2x tele conversion lens. Using the 18mm lens on the 26mm camera actually makes it 13mm, which is the same focal length of the second camera. In other words, the 18mm lens is pointless for the iPhone 11; however, I’m sure it makes sense for other cellphones. The 58mm lens makes the main camera 52mm, which is a very useful focal-length. The focal-length that these lenses will be on your cellphone depends on the focal-length of the cameras on your cellphone (either times by .5 for the 18mm lens or times by 2 for the 58mm lens). Clear as mud? I think if Moment had simply called the one lens 2x teleconverter and the other .5x wide-converter (instead of using millimeter numbers) it would save a lot of confusion. As you can imagine, the Moment Tele 58mm lens is the one that I used by far the most.

Initially I was disappointed by these lenses. I think my expectations were significantly askew. I figured that I’d be impressed by the image quality when using these lenses vs. not using them; however, the image quality will never be greater than that of the lens permanently attached to your cellphone. These lenses won’t improve on what the manufacturer installed on your device. Instead, what you get is either a longer or more wide-angle focal length without a loss in image quality. It’s much better to use the 58mm lens than “zoom by cropping” (a.k.a. digital zoom). The image quality produced by these lenses is determined mostly by the image quality produced by your phone.

iPhone 11 + Moment 58mm – RitchieCam App – “Instant Color 3” – Arches NP, UT

The reason to use the Moment Tele 58mm lens is to double the reach of your built-in cellphone lens without degrading the image quality (or, if it does degrade the image quality, it’s extraordinarily minimal and not really noticeable). That’s what this lens does, and it does it well. It doesn’t do much else, so keep your expectations in check.

When I carry the 58mm lens with me, I get three focal-length options on my iPhone 11: 13mm (using the 0.5x camera), 26mm (using the 1x camera without the Moment lens), and 52mm (using the 1x camera with the 58mm lens). Those are all excellent focal-lengths to have available. While I prefer to use my Fujifilm cameras over my cellphone, as Chase Jarvis coined, the best camera is the one you have with you, which is sometimes my cellphone. When I do use my cellphone for photography, I appreciate having the Moment Tele 58mm lens, because it affords me additional flexibility.

I said two paragraphs ago that this lens “doesn’t do much else” which isn’t completely true. There’s a small amount of pincushion distortion, which, when combined with the distortion in the iPhone 11 camera, can do some weird things to straight lines when photographing brick walls. The solution: don’t photograph brick walls. There’s also some interesting lens flare that shows up sometimes (see picture below), which I personally like, but maybe you won’t, depending on how you feel about lens flare. The Moment lens is also softer in the corners than the 1x iPhone camera.

iPhone 11 + Moment 58mm – RitchieCam App – “Faded Film” – Canyonlands NP, UT

The build quality of the Moment Tele 58mm lens is excellent, made of metal and glass. It has six elements in four groups, and the glass has multi-layered anti-reflective coating. It comes with a lens cap and carrying bag. The lens is small enough that you can easily take it with you, although when attached to the phone, it’s unlikely that the phone will fit into your pocket (unless you have particularly large pockets).

I have used the Moment Tele 58mm lens for nearly a year now. It’s not an essential cellphone accessory, but it’s certainly nice to have around. I found the lens and the Moment case (that you are required to have in order to use the lens)—plus the tripod-mount accessory—to be useful to me. If you do a lot of cellphone photography, you might want to take a closer look at these Moment products, and consider if they might be useful to you, too. Like a lot of things in the photography world, these products are not cheap, but if you think you’ll use them regularly, they might very well be worth the cost. The best place to find these products is on Moment’s website.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Moment Tele 58mm lens B&H
Moment MagSafe Tripod Mount B&H

Gallery:

iPhone 11 + Moment 58mm – RitchieCam App – “Vintage Kodak” – Arches NP, UT
iPhone 11 + Moment 58mm – RitchieCam App – “Sunny Day” – Canyonlands NP, UT
iPhone 11 + Moment 58mm – RitchieCam App – “Instant Color 3” – Canyonlands NP, UT
iPhone 11 + Moment 58mm – RitchieCam App – “Standard Film” – Canyonlands NP, UT
iPhone 11 + Moment 58mm – RitchieCam App – “B&W Fade” – Arches NP, UT

What is RitchieCam? It’s an easy-to-use streamlined camera app intended to bring one-step photography to the iPhone. You’ll find 18 analog-inspired filters so that you don’t have to edit your mobile pictures if you don’t want to. I think you will appreciate the app, yet it is designed for anyone and everyone with an iPhone, and not just photographers. You can read all about it at RitchieCam.com. The app is intended to be a useful free tool, yet for $9.99 (USD +Tax annually) you can unlock all of the filters and features for the best app experience.

Thoughts on Apps & App Development

Since I have three apps now—Fuji X Weekly, Ricoh Recipes, and RitchieCam—I’ve been asked by several people for advice on app development. I’ve also been meaning to discuss some of the things I’ve learned, because it’s interesting, and maybe it’s useful information to a few of you. I’ve hesitated to write this as it might seem like a boring topic—perhaps even controversial or offensive at times—and unrelated to Fujifilm, but I truly hope that by the end there’ll be something for you. I write from real-world experience, but I’ve also researched this fairly extensively over the last year-and-a-half (including reading several books on the topics), so I’m not making this stuff up.

I have received a lot of criticism over the pricing structure of my apps. There are three options: free, freemium (the app is free, but there’s a fee for some features), and premium (not free). Within freemium and premium are three options: one-time fee (to unlock everything), à la carte fees (pay individually for this or that), and subscriptions (reoccurring monthly or annually).

One-time fees used to be the most common, but are much less so now. Why? Apps used to be popular for a season, then the next trend would make them irrelevant, so the life cycle of apps was typically pretty short, usually two years or less. Nowadays apps have a much longer lifespan—often a decade or even indefinitely—so the one-time fee model makes no sense. You wouldn’t buy a vacuum cleaner and expect it to be up-kept and improved upon by the manufacturer for years to come—not without additional fees, anyway—but people expect that from apps and software. Apps that use this model are abandoned as soon as new customers become less frequent. There are numerous apps in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store right now that succumbed to this fate. In my research I came across countless apps that hadn’t been updated in years, where the most recent review was two years old, and it was begging the developer to update the out-of-date app. This model is good for short-term projects, but is not good if you want an app to be around for years and years to come, because as soon as the financial motivation dries up, the app is neglected and abandoned.

The apps that use à la carte fees are often gaming and dating apps. You pay to unlock something, such as a level redo, puzzle hint, or something like that. This can be affective, but you have to be careful because if not done tastefully it can come across as scammy. People don’t like paying “hidden” fees around every corner.

So that leaves us with the subscription model, which is a win-win, and allows the app to continuously improve into something greater over time. This is best-case for the developer because it ensures continuous resources, and best-case for the customer because it ensures the app will improve regularly over time and not be left abandoned. More and more apps are going this route, and it is now the most common model. It’s all rainbows and roses except for one thing: many people don’t like subscriptions in general, and some people passionately oppose it with all their heart, as if it were some great evil.

Premium apps are good if you can get the word out. It can be tough to gain traction, because most people don’t want to pay for things, so they won’t buy it. That’s why freemium is often preferred. Here’s the thing, though: 95% of people will use the app for free, and only 5% will subscribe—it’s actually more like 8% on Apple and 2% on Android (yes, this is true!). Apple users are much more likely to spend money on apps than Android, but either way we’re still talking about small percentages. That also means that 95% of people will pass on premium apps. With freemium, for 95 people who are using it for free, they’ll tell others, which will lead to 20 new users, and one of those will subscribe. That’s why a lot of developers choose freemium over premium—it’s a little easier to gain the traction you need to be successful.

Now let’s talk about free apps, or even the “free” aspect of most freemium apps. There are two sayings: there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and if you aren’t the customer than you are the product. Both are true. In addition to all of the time I put into creating, maintaining, and improving apps, there’s a real cost that I pay out of pocket. In fact, each time one of my apps is opened on your phone, I am charged an extraordinarily small fee, which does add up. Just because you are not paying, doesn’t mean someone else isn’t paying on your behalf. That lunch might be free to you, but it isn’t free.

If you aren’t willing to be the customer, app developers turn you into the product. They sell you ads or—much worse—sell your data. Ads are annoying, but a lot of people are willing to put up with them in exchange for something being free. For app developers, unless you have millions of users, ad revenue doesn’t add up into anything more than pocket change. The real money is in data harvesting. Companies want to serve personalized ads that are highly affective, and they need to know everything about you in order to do this. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry because it works, and, because of this, you unknowingly spend much more than the cost of an app subscription. That’s the cost of being the product.

Here’s the creepy part. If I were to harvest data with, say, the RitchieCam app, I could know so much about you. If I have access to your GPS, I could know where you live, and, comparing that with Zillow, I could know more-or-less how affluent you are. I could track where you work, and, referencing Google maps, could know what industry you are in. I could know where you shop. I could know where you eat out at. I could know where your kids go to school. Since I have access to your camera and library, I could deduce the size of your family, your family’s genders, who your friends are, if you have pets, I could read the text on your screenshots. I could do all of this and so much more. Rest assured that I do not collect or sell any data whatsoever, which isn’t particularly common, because I’m leaving money on the table. Most free and freemium apps are indeed collecting and selling your data, because there’s no free lunch, so they’ve turned you into the product for profit.

What I have said might sound farfetched, but it isn’t. In fact, what I pointed out was really just the tip of the iceberg. You have apps on your phone right now—apps that you regularly use and trust—that go well beyond what I described in the previous paragraph. Have you ever talked about something out-loud and five minutes later see an ad for it? Ads are highly personalized and targeted because your apps know so much about you, and companies pay big bucks for that knowledge, because it means even bigger bucks—your bucks—become their profits.

Again, I want to make it clear that none of my apps collect or sell data. It’s to my own detriment that I do this, but I do it for you because you deserve it, and it’s the right thing to do, even if it is rare. On my apps, you are never, ever the product. I “pay for your lunch” for you if you are using the apps for free, and I happily do that.

You might be surprised to hear this, but I am told frequently that I do not give enough away for free. I am told that I am selfish and greedy because I have the audacity to charge “so much” for things. I am told that my approach is wrong. I am sorry if you feel that way, but I deserve something for my work, right? Trust me, I’m not rolling in the dough or becoming wealthy from this. I have enough to put food on the table, a roof over my head, and take trips sometimes (adventures are often more worthwhile investments than gear), but I couldn’t go out and purchase a GFX system right now. This is to say that the perception of my compensation is often exaggerated and misunderstood—I’m doing alright, but if I were indeed greedy and selfish I could be doing better. The accusations are hurtful because they’re untrue.

There’s a lot that can be debated on what exact paths are the best paths. I chose the freemium model after much research and advice from others with experience within the industry. Some might disagree with that decision. I chose not to turn those using the apps for free into products. Some would say that’s leaving money on the table, and everyone else is doing it anyway. I chose the subscription prices for a reason—I’ve received a lot of criticism from that, and many “Monday morning quarterbacks” tell me that I got it all wrong, although the books I’ve read and those I’ve spoken with within the industry tell me that I am where I should be (I “got it right” thanks to all the research that wen’t into the decisions to begin with, but there’s always different paths and varying philosophies). As Abraham Lincoln stated, “You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.” In other words, nothing that I do will make everyone happy, but I hope that many people find my apps to be helpful and worthwhile tools. I hope that most of those who subscribe find it to be worth their money, and that they don’t feel ripped off or swindled—that they’re good values for what they deliver. Not all will feel that way, though, and that’s just the way it is.

For those wanting to create an app, you have to know that, no matter how much research you do, and no matter how much of your heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears you pour into it, there are some who won’t like it and some who will criticize your decisions. Mean and hurtful things will be said about you. You can’t make everyone happy, and you have to know that and accept that, but if you do what you believe is right—especially if you’ve done extensive research—you’re going to make some people happy just for the fact that you did it. The tricky part is figuring out how to maximize happiness and minimize the dissatisfaction, while also being fair to yourself, because you deserve satisfaction and compensation for your time, money, and hard work that you poured into it. It’s definitely a difficult and precarious balancing act that has to be regularly analyzed and addressed, and perhaps adjusted if needed.

I know this lengthy article has nothing to do with the regular content of this website, but I hope it is helpful for a few of you, and that most of you got something out of it (even if it is simply awareness of what your apps are doing behind the scenes). I didn’t write this as any sort of complaint or “woe is me” statement, because I don’t mean it that way whatsoever. I am quite happy with what I’m doing, and I know that it is helpful to many of you—it is even having an impact on the photography continuum, something I never imagined would happen! I’m really honored and blessed to be a part of this. I’m extraordinarily flattered and humbled if I’ve impacted your photography in some small way. It really is my pleasure to do all that I do for the Fujifilm community. With all of that said, I think it is important to be authentic, which means being vulnerable, and sharing this information is one way to do that. Perhaps somehow this was a meaningful article for some of you, and maybe it was worth your time today to read, even if it wasn’t about Fujifilm cameras.

Fuji X Weekly App: Android Apple
Ricoh Recipes App: Android Apple
RitchieCam App: Apple

Introducing RitchieCam!

Surprise! I just released an iPhone camera app. I call it RitchieCam, and it’s available in the App Store right now for free!

What is RitchieCam? It’s an easy-to-use streamlined camera intended to bring one-step photography to the iPhone. You’ll find 17 analog-inspired filters so that you don’t have to edit your mobile pictures if you don’t want to. I think you will appreciate the app, yet it is intended for anyone and everyone with an iPhone, and not just photographers. You can read all about it at ritchiecam.com.

This is a project I’ve been secretly working on for nearly a year. While I always thought it would be difficult and complicated, I had no idea just how much so! I’m extremely happy with how it turned out, yet I hope that this is just the beginning, as there are several new features and improvements already in the works, and even more on my wish-list. I’m very proud of RitchieCam, and I hope that you find it fun and useful. I personally have enjoyed using it over the last several weeks, including on a road trip to Moab, Utah.

RitchieCam is free! Or, really, it’s a “freemium” app, and for $9.99 (USD +Tax annually) you can unlock all of the filters and features.

Some pictures I captured with RitchieCam on that Moab road trip:

Standard Film
Faded Film
Instant Color 3
Analog Gold
Night Negative

200 Film Simulation Recipes on the FXW App!

A significant milestone was reached when I published the new Kodak High Definition Plus 200 film simulation recipe yesterday: 200 recipes on the Fuji X Weekly App! Yes, if you have the Fuji X Weekly App on your mobile device, you have access wherever you are to 200 film simulation recipes for Fujifilm cameras! Amazing!

If you have a Fujifilm camera and don’t have the Fuji X Weekly App on your phone or tablet, be sure to download it now! The App is free, but becoming a Patron unlocks the best App experience, so consider becoming an App Patron today.

Let’s countdown the last 10 recipes that brought us to 200:

191 — Ektachrome E100GX (Nov 17th)
192 — Retro Gold (Nov 21st)
193 — Retro Gold Low Contrast (Nov 23rd)
194 — Fujicolor Analog (Nov 29th)
195 — Kodachrome 25 (Nov 30th)
196 — Vintage Kodacolor (Dec 6th)
197 — Fujicolor NPL 160 Tungsten (Dec. 6th)
198 — Ilford XP2 Super 400 (Dec. 10th)
199 — Winter Slide (Dec. 13th)
200 — Kodak High Definition Plus 200 (Dec. 13th)

Which of these ten recipes are your favorites? Let me know in the comments!

There are actually more than 200 Fuji X Weekly film simulation recipes! Unfortunately, I’m not able to include in the App the ones that require double exposures because they’re more complicated and the format doesn’t allow it. So when I published Retro Gold Low Contrast, that was actually the 200th Fuji X Weekly film simulation recipe. The recipes below are ones you won’t find in the App, and are in addition to the 200 that are there.

Faded Monochrome
Faded Monochrome (X-Trans II)
Split-Toned B&W
Bleach Bypass
Faded Color
Vintage Color Fade
Faded Negative

Have you ever tried any of these double exposure recipes? If so, which one is your favorite? Should I make more like these?

Fuji X Weekly App is One Year Old Today!

Happy birthday!

The Fuji X Weekly App originally launched on iOS one year ago today! Later, in the spring, it launched on Android. And, less than a week ago, an update was released that made it even better! There’s more coming, too, that will further improve the App. I’m always adding new film simulation recipes, and it’s approaching the 200 mark rather quickly.

It’s been an amazing 12 months!

The Fuji X Weekly App has been downloaded over 180,000 times! Now, some people might have the App on more than one device, or they switched devices and downloaded the App more than once. So I’m not sure how many individuals have downloaded it, but it is absolutely mind-blowing that it has been downloaded that many times! There are about 45,000 active users (meaning, individuals that have used the App at least once in the last month). By far, the vast majority of people use the free version, yet the best App experience is unlocked by becoming a Patron, so if you’re not a Patron, you’re missing out on some great features. Also, Patrons help support the App and other great things within the Fujifilm community. Without the support of Patrons there would be no App, so I want to give a big “Thank You” to all the Fuji X Weekly App subscribers!

If you own a Fujifilm camera, you should have the Fuji X Weekly App on your phone and/or tablet. If you don’t, download it for free today!

New Patron Early-Access Film Simulation Recipe: Fujicolor Analog

Cotton On – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V – “Fujicolor Analog”

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 already 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 called Fujicolor Analog. I was asked to recreate the look of a certain photographer, and I noticed that a lot of their photographs had a Classic Negative aesthetic, so I thought it would be easy to mimic. It turns out that this person shoots a lot of film, including (but not limited to) Fujicolor C200 and various Superia emulsions, as well as digital (but not Fujifilm, as far as I can tell), using RNI and perhaps some other filters or presets. Nothing said what each picture had been captured with, so it became difficult to recreate. After a little frustration, I decided to select only pictures with a certain aesthetic to attempt to emulate. I believe these might have been captured on a Superia emulsion, but they might not have been—they might not even be film! I think I was able to create a pretty close facsimile to this person’s aesthetic… at least one of the many various (but still somewhat similar) looks that this photographer has.

One film can have many different looks, depending on how it was shot, developed, and printed or scanned. I do believe this “Fujicolor Analog” recipe mimics the aesthetic of a Fujifilm color negative film, but which exact film, and how handled, is uncertain. What is certain is that this is a very nice film simulation recipe that some of you will love! It’s compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II cameras.

If you are a Fuji X Weekly Patron, it’s available to you right now on the App!

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this “Fujicolor Analog” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X100V:

Noble Fir – Kaysville, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Pine Trunk – Kaysville, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Burly Ladder – Kaysville, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Red Lights – Kaysville, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Utah Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Pine in the Sky – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Withering Blooms – Orem, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Peaks Above The Gap – Orem, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Arts – Draper, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Stop Spreading Germs – Draper, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Pharmacy Lift – Centerville, UT – Fujifilm X100V

FXW App: Filter by White Balance — How To Use This New Feature

The Fuji X Weekly App was updated just yesterday, and I want to discuss one of the new features that I think will be heavily used: Filter by White Balance! This feature is unlocked by becoming a Fuji X Weekly App Patron.

Filter by White Balance will be a game-changer for many of you. The most obvious use is for finding recipes that match the lighting conditions. Is it sunny? Find a recipe that uses the Daylight White Balance. Is it indoors in mixed lighting? Maybe Auto White Balance would be good. But there’s another way to use Filter by White Balance, which I’ll discuss below, that will make your Fujifilm experience even better!

If your Fujifilm camera is older than the X-Pro3, you cannot save White Balance Shift within the C1-C7 Custom Presets, and each time you change Presets, you have to remember to adjust the WB Shift. It can be a little annoying. However, for each White Balance type, the camera will remember one WB Shift, so if each of your C1-C7 presets uses a different White Balance type, when you switch Presets, you won’t have to adjust the WB Shift. Amazing!

Let’s take a more practical look at this. If you have a Fujifilm X-T3 (for example), we’ll Filter by Camera and select the camera. For the X-T3, you’ll have over 70 recipes to choose from!

Let’s select one recipe to be our C1 in the Custom Settings menu. We’re now going to Filter by White Balance, and tap Auto—there are nearly 40 recipes to choose from! If you find more than one that requires the same WB Shift—Classic Chrome and Velvia both use +1R & -1B, and Velvia v2 and Dramatic Monochrome both use 0R & 0B, just as a couple examples—you can actually use multiple recipes from this White Balance type, and potentially program more than just C1. For this example we’re going to pick just one, perhaps Eterna v3 (interestingly, Agfa Optima 200 shares this same shift, and could be used, too), to be our C1 preset.

For C2 we’re going to select Daylight. There are 12 options to choose from. Kodak Portra 160, Kodak Portra 400, and Kodak Gold 200 all share the same WB Shift, so, in theory, you could program all three of these into your Custom Settings presets. For this, let’s go with Kodak Tri-X 400 to be our C2.

Next, for C3, let’s select Kelvin. You have 15 to choose from. Let’s choose maybe Jeff Davenport Night.

For C4 we’ll go with the Fluorescent 1 White Balance. There are just two options, and we’ll select Kodak Vision3 250D.

It’s the same story for Fluorescent 2: there are only two options. We’ll choose Ektachrome E100G to be our C5 preset.

For C6 we’ll select Incandescent. There’s just one recipe: Eterna Bleach Bypass, so we’ll program that one in.

Lastly, we have C7, and for that we’ll select Shade. There are three options, and we’ll go with Porto 200.

Now we have our C1-C7 Custom Settings presets programmed! C1 is Eterna v3. C2 is Kodak Tri-X 400. C3 is Jeff Davenport Night. C4 is Kodak Vision3 250D. C5 is Ektachrome E100G. C6 is Eterna Bleach Bypass. And C7 is Porto 200. That’s a pretty good set! Since each preset uses a different White Balance type, you won’t have to adjust the WB Shift when you switch presets. For those White Balance types that don’t have very many options, such as Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, etc., if you didn’t like any of the choices, you could alternatively use two recipes that share both the same White Balance and WB Shift (such as the ones mentioned earlier).

You can come up with multiple combinations of these C1-C7 options, and keep track of them using the new colored Stars. Maybe use Green Stars for these seven recipes, and come up with another seven that can be used together and mark them with Blue Stars, and another seven that are marked with Purple Stars. Just an idea.

I hope this all makes sense. Filter by White Balance can be useful in more than one way. If your camera is older than the X-Pro3, this will make your Fujifilm experience more enjoyable, as you won’t have to remember to check the WB Shift each time you change presets. If you don’t have the Fuji X Weekly App, download it now. If you do have the App and it didn’t automatically update, be sure to visit the appropriate App Store and manually update it. If you are not a Fuji X Weekly App Patron, for the best App experience, consider becoming a Patron today!

Available Now: The Fuji X Weekly App Update!

The big Fuji X Weekly App update is available right now!

If your phone or tablet didn’t automatically update the App, be sure to manually update it right away. Depending on your device and how you have it configured, it’s possible that you might have to delete the App and reinstall, but most people shouldn’t have to do that in order to update it. Hopefully for most of you it happened automatically already, and you’re good to go. The App update is in both the Google Play Store for Android and the Apple App Store for iOS.

What’s in this “big” update? Plenty! Some of the things are for everyone, and some of the things are only for Fuji X Weekly App Patrons. Let’s talk about the improvements that are for everyone first, and then we will get to the good stuff that’s for Patrons.

View Sample Pictures Larger

Normal size pictures.
Tap to view pictures larger.

This is a pretty straightforward improvement: tap on a picture to view larger, and tap again to return to normal size. One request that I’ve received many times is the ability to enlarge the sample pictures in each recipe. Now you can! Of course, you can view them even larger (and see more of them) on the website—there’s a link at the bottom of each recipe.

Sort by A-Z, Z-A, Newest-to-Oldest, & Oldest-to-Newest

Before this update, you could only sort the recipes either alphabetically A-Z or chronologically Newest-to-Oldest. Now I’ve added Z-A or Oldest-to-Newest as options. If you know the name of the recipe and it begins on or after the letter N, sorting Z-A might make it quicker to locate. Or if you know that a recipe you are looking for was published awhile ago, sorting Oldest-to-Newest might make more sense. This should make it a little easier and quicker to locate what you are searching for.

Now, to the good stuff!

All of the improvements mentioned below are available for Fuji X Weekly App Patrons. The best App experienced is reserved for Patrons, so if you are not one, consider subscribing today! Simply tap the Gear icon in the App, and then select Become a Patron.

Filter by White Balance or Dynamic Range

There are two new Filter options: White Balance and Dynamic Range. Some users will benefit from Filter by Dynamic Range, but Filter by White Balance is huge! If your Fujifilm camera is older than the X-Pro3, you cannot save White Balance Shift within C1-C7 Custom Presets, and each time you change Presets, you have to remember to adjust the WB Shift. It can be a little annoying. However, for each White Balance type, the camera will remember one WB Shift, so if each of your C1-C7 presets uses a different White Balance type, when you switch Presets, you won’t have to adjust the WB Shift. For many, this is a game-changer!

Favorite with Colored Stars

One really great upgrade is Favoriting with colored Stars. Before, when you tapped the Star to Favorite a recipe, it came in one color (yellow). But now you can choose between five different colors: yellow, red, green, blue, and purple. The benefit of this is that you can use colored Stars to organize recipes. Maybe yellow represents the recipes currently loaded into your camera, red represents the recipes you want to try next, and green represents the ones you tried in the past and really liked. Or maybe yellow is your favorite portrait recipes, green your favorite landscape recipes, and blue your favorite street recipes. Use the colored Stars to categorize the recipes however is meaningful to you. This is a great organizational tool, and, for some, this makes the App a significantly better experience.

Blank Recipe Cards

If you’ve ever created your own film simulation recipe, or if you’ve found some elsewhere that you like (perhaps on the Fuji X Weekly Community Recipes page, such as AstiAmore in the example above), you can now add them to your App! A new feature is blank recipe cards that you fill out. You can even add your own pictures from your camera roll! At some point down the road the idea is that you’ll be able to export, import, and share these custom recipes; however, that ability isn’t in this update—with any luck it will come before summer. Several of you have asked for blank recipe cards, and now you have them! This is a great new feature that many of you will really appreciate.

There’s one other thing that I want to mention: if you tap the Gear icon in the top-left of the App and look way down at the bottom, you will see Shop The Latest Fujifilm Gear. These are affiliate links to B&H and Amazon. If you are shopping for some new gear and you happen to think about it, I’ll be compensated a small amount if you make a purchase using my links. It’s a simple way to support Fuji X Weekly that doesn’t cost you anything.

Below are even more images of the new and improved Fuji X Weekly App!

I want to give a special thanks to Sahand Nayebaziz for all his hard work on this App update! Without him, not only would the App not be nearly as good as it is, but there wouldn’t be a Fuji X Weekly App at all. Thank you so much, Sahand!

How To Use The Fuji X Weekly App (Videos)

I’ve been asked a few times recently to demonstrate through video how to use the Fuji X Weekly App. How do you get the most out of it? Some people are visual learners, and seeing it done makes much more sense than reading about it. If that’s you, this post is intended to help you.

I don’t currently have any videos that demonstrates this, as my two (below) only give a brief glimpse. They’re promotional videos and not how-to, although you can likely glean the gist of how it all works from them. I’m not really a “video guy” (just lightly dabble, I guess), so it’s not easy for me to whip something up real quick. However, I hope this article is helpful to you, as I share what is on YouTube regarding this. There are several great resources out there.

The SOOC series is a good starting point. For those who may not know, SOOC is a monthly live video series, with each episode focused on a different film simulation recipe. It is a collaboration between Tame Your Fujifilm (Fujifilm X-Photographer Nathalie Boucry) and Fuji X Weekly (Ritchie Roesch). SOOC is a fun and educational experience where we not only talk about Fujifilm camera settings, but also answer your questions and give tips and tricks. Basically, we’re trying to help you master your Fujifilm camera, with a focus on simplifying your photographic workflow.

As a part of this, Nathalie and I discuss and even demonstrate aspects of the Fuji X Weekly App. So if you are trying to understand how to use the App and how to get the most out of it, you without a doubt want to watch these episodes! They’re quite long, so under each video I’ve put a time that you should skip ahead to if you don’t want to watch the whole thing.

Skip to 48:43 & 1:06:30
Skip to 32:32
Skip to 23:58
Skip to 42:46 & 49:43
Skip to 21:00 & 29:20

Those SOOC episodes are great resources, and if you have the time I recommend watching them in their entirety. But if not, just skip ahead to those times under each video. Be sure to tune in on December 9th to catch Episode 06, as we will certainly discuss the App even more!

While I don’t have videos that show how to use the Fuji X Weekly App, other people have made some great videos that demonstrate how to do it! Yea! You’ll find these below—I’m sure they’ll be helpful to you.

Hopefully those above videos are great resources to you and will help you understand how to use the App. For those who prefer written words, check out these articles:

How To Add Film Simulation Recipes To Your Fujifilm Camera
Fuji X Weekly App: Filtering by Camera or Sensor?
Why You Should Become A Fuji X Weekly App Patron
Current 10 FXW App Patron Early-Access Recipes
Sneak Peek At The Fuji X Weekly App Update

The Current 10 FXW App Patron Early-Access Recipes!

One benefit of becoming a Fuji X Weekly App Patron is that you get early-access to some new film simulation recipes. There are, of course, a number of reasons why you should become a Fuji X Weekly Patron, including Early-Access Recipes—perhaps the best benefit might be the ability to quickly and easily find the recipes that are compatible with your camera. The best App experience is reserved for Patrons.

Currently there are 10 Early Access Recipes on the App. Right now these recipes are only available to Patrons, but they will eventually become free to everyone as new Early-Access Recipes replace them. Several are due to be replaced soon, so this list will probably look significantly different before the end of the year.

Let’s take a look at the current 10 Patron Early-Access Recipes!

Pushed CineStill 800T (X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II)

This recipe is intended to resemble CineStill 800T film, which is Tungsten balanced. Film can have many different aesthetics, depending on how it’s shot, developed, scanned or printed, and viewed, and this recipe is modeled after one particular look from this film. It’s good for night photography, but can produce interesting results in other light conditions.

Snow on the Stormy Mountain – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Empty Harmons Fuel Stop – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Ready To Go Nowhere – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

Pushed CineStill 800T (X-Pro3, X100V)

This is essentially the same CineStill 800T recipe above, but adapted for use on the X-Pro3 and X100V cameras. They’re nearly identical, yet very subtly different. Those with an X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II camera can use it, too, and you get to decide if you like this recipe or the one above better.

City Roses – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Cigarettes – Reno, NV – Fujifilm X100V
Hoop – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

Kodacolor VR (X-T3, X-T30)

This recipe resembles expired Kodacolor VR film. This film dates back to the early 1980’s, and is a predecessor to ColorPlus 200. A great option for a vintage analog aesthetic.

Inside City Creek – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Stones & Glass Ceiling – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Stoneground – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Vintage Color (X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II)

I described this one as an “artist’s recipe” because it produces a look similar to famed Hudson River School painter Albert Bierstadt, particularly his Yosemite paintings. It’s one of my absolute favorites!

Sentinel & Merced – Yosemite NP, CA – Fujifilm X100V
Yosemite Creek – Yosemite NP, CA – Fujifilm X100V
El Cap & Merced – Yosemite NP, CA – Fujifilm X100V

Old Kodak (X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II)

This recipe is an alternate take on the very popular Vintage Kodachrome recipe. Definitely has an old Kodak feel to it.

Wet Radio Flyer – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Suburban Storm – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Gumby on a Table – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

Fujicolor NPH (X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II)

Fujicolor NPH was a predecessor to Fujicolor Pro 400H. This recipe produces a nice Fuji print-film aesthetic.

Winter Evergreens – Weber Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Weber River in Winter – Weber Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Stepping Into the Night Circle – Sunset, UT – Fujifilm X100V

Vintage Negative (X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II)

This recipe was modeled after some old photographs that someone shared with me. In the right conditions it can produce incredibly excellent vintage results.

Vintage Berries – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Water Tower – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Suburban Reed Evening – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V

Porto 200 (X-Trans III + X-T3, X-T30)

The name is not a typo. Nor is there a film called “Porto 200.” But there is an X-Trans II recipe called Porto 200 (named after Porto, Portugal), and this is an adaptation of it for X-Trans III plus X-T3 and X-T30 cameras.

Yellow Bike – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Winter Trees – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Night Train – Clinton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Ektachrome (X-Pro1, X-E1)

Loosely resembles Ektachrome film… at least one of the 40+ emulsions that carried the Ektachrome name.

Diesel – Park City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1
Two Cans – Weber Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1
House Flag – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1

Color Negative Film (X-Trans II)

This recipe is an adaptation of the X-Trans I Color Negative Film recipe, but for X-Trans II cameras. Great for sunny days.

Yellow – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T1
No Swimming – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T1
Water Logged – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T1 – Photo by Jon Roesch

Find these film simulation recipes and many more on the Fuji X Weekly App!

New Patron Early-Access Film Simulation Recipe: Pushed CineStill 800T

Snow on the Stormy Mountain – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4 – “Pushed CineStill 800T”

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 already 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 called “Pushed CineStill 800T” and is compatible with the Fujifilm X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II X-Trans IV cameras. It mimics the look of push-processed CineStill 800T film. To create this aesthetic, I studied overcast daytime examples of the film, and, interestingly enough, it did quite well at night, too; however, I do believe it more faithfully mimics the film in cloudy daytime conditions—it does produce nice results in daylight or night, so feel free to use it anytime. Film can look different depending on how it is shot, developed, printed, or scanned. This recipe doesn’t replicate pushed CineStill 800T film under all circumstances, but in certain conditions it’s a good facsimile. I really like how this one looks, and I think some of you will really appreciate it, too!

If you are a Fuji X Weekly Patron, it’s available to you right now on the app!

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this “Pushed CineStill 800T” film simulation recipe:

Book & Minolta – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Happy Birthday Wish – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Ready To Go Nowhere – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Pipe Door – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Night Urban Path – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Empty Parking Garage – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Empty Harmons Fuel Stop – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Night Hydrant – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Wet White Blooms – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Little Wild Berries – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Clouds Building Over Green Ridge – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Pumpkins In A Patch – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Bee Boxes – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Hidden Townhomes – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Winter Dusting – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

The Fuji X Weekly Moment – Update 4

The Fuji X Weekly moment CineBloom giveaway is in its final hours. There’s not much time, so I hope that you participated for a chance to win one of five Cinebloom diffusion filters. The full rules and details are found here. So far, there have been over 400 submissions! Check out the #fujixweeklymoment hashtag on Instagram to see them all.

I want to give a huge “Thank You” to Moment for teaming up with Fuji X Weekly to make this giveaway possible! They did it because they’re big fans of this website, Fujifilm cameras, film simulation recipes, and the Fujifilm community. Moment’s website (shopmoment.com) is definitely one of the better camera stores out there (yet, really, they are so very much more than just “a camera store”). If you’ve never visited Moment, be sure to do so—you can thank me later.

I hope to announce the five Cinebloom diffusion filter winners on Monday (September 6th), so stay tuned!

Also, while I’m here, if you haven’t downloaded the Fuji X Weekly App, be sure to do so. It’s free, and available for both Android and Apple. If you are looking for a way to support Fuji X Weekly and all that I’m doing for the community plus unlock the best app experience, consider becoming a Fuji X Weekly Patron (available in the app)!

Fujifilm X-Trans III + X-T3 & X-T30 Patron Early-Access Film Simulation Recipe: Kodacolor VR

Inside City Creek – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

This film simulation recipe was an experiment. I started out with my Fujicolor 100 Industrial recipe, but instead of using a cool White Balance with a warm White Balance Shift, I did the opposite: I used a warm White Balance with a cool shift. After many adjustments to various settings, this ended up not resembling the Fujicolor 100 Industrial recipe much at all, but it does have a great vintage print-film aesthetic that I really like.

I wasn’t sure at first which film this recipe most closely resembled (since it wasn’t intended to mimic any specific film), although it seemed to have some similarities to Kodacolor VR. I already have a Kodacolor recipe, which does a great job at mimicking Kodacolor VR; this recipe and that one look somewhat similar, but definitely different. Then I ran across some pictures that looked very similar to the ones you see in this article, and it turned out that they were shot on Kodacolor VR film that had expired. So I think this recipe, while it does resemble Kodacolor VR, as well as ColorPlus 200 (which is a direct descendant of that film), it most closely looks like Kodacolor VR that’s been stored a little past its expiration date. Of course, one film can have many different looks, depending on how it was shot, developed, scanned and/or printed, and (in this case) stored, so this recipe serves as a nice alternative to my original Kodacolor recipe.

Leaning Tower – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

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 already 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 compatible with Fujifilm X-Trans III and X-Trans IV cameras. For those with newer cameras, set Color Chrome FX Blue to Off, Clarity to 0 (or perhaps -2), and I’d suggest Grain size Large, but use Small if you prefer.

If you are a Fuji X Weekly Patron, it’s available to you right now on the app!

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this “Kodacolor VR” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:

Summer Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Corner Through Leaves – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Stones & Glass Ceiling – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Glass – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Building a Building – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Small Spaces Between – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Twilight Telephone Poles – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Stoneground – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Goes for Gold – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Night Parking – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Doki Doki – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Escalators – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Downtown Buildings – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Coming Train – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Trax – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Waiting on the Platform – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Glass & Sky – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tall Downtown Buildings – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30

Find these film simulation recipes and many 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

Fuji Features: Fuji X Weekly App

You guys all know about the Fuji X Weekly App, and I’m sure many of you have it on your phone. I wanted to mention the app again because early work has begun on a big update coming (hopefully) later this year. It will take awhile to get ready, but it will add some great functionality and features that will make it even better, and I think you’ll really appreciate the changes. I can’t yet discuss the specifics—just know that some great improvements are in the works.

Below are some articles and videos that I found via Google and YouTube that mention the Fuji X Weekly App. I’m sure that I missed a few (if you know of one, feel fee to share it in the comments), but you’ll find quite a few if you need some material to help you get through another Monday.

Exibart Street
Fujirumors
PetaPixel
Island in the Net
Fujistas

***Edit: I missed this one from just today!***

Petapixel

New Fujifilm X-Trans IV Patron Early-Access Film Simulation Recipe: Silver Summer

Wrong Way Shadow – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4 – “Silver Summer”

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 already 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 called “Silver Summer” and is compatible with the Fujifilm X-T4, X-S10, and X-E4 X-Trans IV cameras. It’s not modeled after any specific film, but it definitely has an analog aesthetic. It does have some unintentional similarities to Lomography Cine 200, but it’s definitely not an exact match. I really like how this one looks, and I think some of you will really appreciate it, too!

If you are a Fuji X Weekly Patron, it’s available to you right now on the app!

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this “Silver Summer” film simulation recipe:

Bee on a Thistle – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Lily – Sundance, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Tree Branch and Creek – Sundance, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Mountain Sky – Sundance, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Zigzag Sky – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Concessions – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Summer Slide – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Wood Coaster – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Don’t Stand – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Summer Swing – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Chains – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4

New Fujifilm X-Trans I Patron Early-Access Film Simulation Recipe on the App: Color Negative Film

Pink Roses – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1 – “Color Negative Film”

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, a few of the original early-access recipes have been publicly published on this blog and the app, so everyone can now 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 called “Color Negative Film” and it is perhaps the X-Trans I recipe that produces the most film-like results. It’s not modeled after any specific film, but it definitely has an analog aesthetic. In the right conditions it is simply beautiful! I think it will be many people’s go-to recipe for X-Trans I cameras.

If you are a Fuji X Weekly Patron, it’s available to you right now on the app!

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this “Color Negative Film” recipe:

Rising Up – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1
Red Leaves of Summer – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1
Backlit White Blossom – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1
Yellow Bench – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1
Log Bridge – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro1

Fuji X Weekly App Named a Top Camera App!

The Fuji X Weekly — Film Simulation Recipes App was named a “best Android camera app of 2021” by LeapDroid (read the article here)! Wow! I’m so surprised, and highly honored. Really, I’m shocked, as I never anticipated this kind of acclaim.

The article states that the apps in the list were selected for “exceptional performance” in one of three categories: User Experience, Core Functionality, or Innovated Solution. I’d be curious to know which category the app scored exceptionally well in. The article goes on to say that the list “is ranked based on a balance of review ratings, and number of reviews.” In other words, the Fuji X Weekly App made the “best Android camera app” list because of you! I’m grateful, and humbled by your kindness and support!

Of course the elephant in the room is that the Fuji X Weekly App isn’t a camera app (although it is definitely closely related to cameras and photography). Still, I’ll take it. A lot of work went into creating the app, and a lot of work continues to go into it, as some great improvements are in the works, which I hope to get out later this year.

I want to give a “thank you” to LeapDroid for including the Fuji X Weekly App in their list and an even bigger “thank you” to everyone who downloaded the app and gave it a review. You are appreciated! Also, I have to pause here for a moment and give a huge shout-out to Sahand Nayebaziz, who’s really the one that made this app (and the iOS version) happen. He’s the brains and skills behind the programming, and a talented photographer, too, who shoots a Fujifilm X-T4, often with the Kodak Portra 400 film simulation recipe. Thanks, Sahand!

Over 150 Film Simulation Recipes on the Fuji X Weekly App!

The Fuji X Weekly App surpassed a big milestone: it now has over 150 film simulation recipes!

Those recipes in the app are the same ones that you know and love from this website, but now take them with you on the go, and have them at your fingertips wherever you are! I made most of the recipes myself, which you can imagine takes a lot of time and work. There are some recipes that were created by others—fans of this website—and I always ask for and receive permission before publishing; plus several recipes that were a collaborative effort between myself and others. With all of these recipes, there are a whole lot of different picture aesthetics that you can get straight out of your Fujifilm camera. There’s nothing like this with any other camera brand!

Really, though, the app is just the beginning. There are so many great things that are in the works right now! I wish that I could share them with you, but I’m keeping it all under wraps until they’re closer to being ready. It takes time, and there are plenty roadblocks that I could encounter. I don’t want to overpromise and underdeliver. What I can say is that these things wouldn’t be possible without the support of Fuji X Weekly Patrons. Yes, becoming a Fuji X Weekly Patron unlocks advanced features on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App and gives you the best app experience, but what it really does is allow these great things that are in the works to become reality. Without the Fuji X Weekly Patrons these things wouldn’t happen, so let me give a big “Thank you!” to all the Patrons! Hopefully within the next few months I can begin to reveal and announce some of these great new things.

As always, I’m continuously working on new film simulation recipes. I have many that are being tested right now, and a long list of others that I plan to tackle. At the current rate, there could be over 200 film simulation recipes on this website and the app by the end of the year! Amazing!

Let me know in the comments which recipe is your personal favorite!