As you’re probably aware by now, you can easily transfer Fuji X Weekly Recipes straight from your phone to your Fujifilm camera. It’s quick and easy, and makes the whole Recipe experience even more of a breeze. This article is a quick-start guide for transferring Recipes from the Fuji X Weekly App to your phone. This new feature is available for both Apple and Android.
We need to get a few things out of the way first. The Recipe Transfer feature is compatible with all X-Trans V cameras, all X-Trans IV models except the X-T3 and X-T30, and newer GFX cameras. You can’t use this feature with older models, only the more recent releases from the last seven years. It may voids your camera’s manufacture warranty; the exact details of Fujifilm warranties vary from place-to-place, and warranty laws vary from country-to-country, so you may want to research what applies to you specifically before using this feature. My recommendation is to play it safe and wait until your warranty has expired, which is one or two years after purchase for most cameras, but could be up to five. This is also an unofficial, unlicensed program, and it carries a small risk, and the use of it is at your own risk. I’m saying all this to be transparent. If you are not comfortable connecting your camera, no worries—you can still program Recipes manually, the same as always. If you do wish to transfer Recipes, it’s free—send as many one-at-a-time as you’d like to any of your Custom Settings presets (C1-C7 on many cameras, C1-C6 on some, and C1-C4 on others). Groups of Recipes (called Recipe Sets) can be sent at once, but that is a premium feature that requires a Patron subscription. Let’s get to the guide!
How To Set Up Your Camera
Connection Setting is located in the Wrench subset on some cameras; for other models, it is its own subset.
This is called PC Connection Mode on some cameras.
The Recipe Transfer feature will not work without selecting USB RAW CONV./BACKUP RESTORE.
If you experience difficulty connecting your camera, this step might resolve it; otherwise it’s optional.
Typically On or Auto will work, but not always; set it to Supply Off/Comm On or Off (depending on your model).
How To Transfer Recipes
A high quality USB-C cable (2.0 or 3.0) is required; Apple Lightning cables don’t work.
The camera must be powered on while using the Recipe Transfer feature.
The Recipe Transfer icon is also located at the top of each Recipe in the App.
Tap “Choose Recipe”.
Choose the Recipe that you wish to transfer to your camera.
Pick the Custom Settings slot that you want to save it to.
Tap “Transfer” at the top.
You’re all set!
Of course, there can still be some issues. If you are having trouble, the first place to look is the FAQ/Troubleshooting guide within the App. If you do encounter issues that you cannot overcome, please send an email or DM me on Instagram.
For Apple, probably the largest problem is that Lightning cable doesn’t work. Six people reported to me that they were able to use an adapter (two reported that they used the official Apple Lightning-to-USB 3 adapter specifically intended for connecting iPhones to cameras), but I was unable to get it to work myself. So it is possible, but since I was personally unsuccessful, I have declared Lightning cables as incompatible with the Recipe Transfer feature. My apologies to everyone on older iPhones. Another issue is that X-Trans IV models won’t connect to all iPads; if you have an X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, or X-T30 II and are trying to transfer Recipes on your iPad and the camera just won’t connect, this might be the issue. I have not discovered how to resolve it yet.
For Android, phones must support USB host mode (USB OTG), which might need to be toggled on manually; to enable USB OTG, go to Settings → System/Connected Devices/Additional Settings (depending on your phone) → USB OTG/OTG Connection (depending on your phone). Most modern Android phones support USB host mode, and most will enable it automatically, but definitely not all of them. If your Android phone isn’t connecting to the camera, this could be the reason. I got one report that the process to resolve it was much more involved. Specifically, on his Nothing Phone 1, he had to select Developer Options, enable USB Debug, then select Default USB Configuration, and finally choose File Transfer. The exact method to resolve this issue can vary greatly from model-to-model-to-model (etc., etc., etc.), and there is no way to test it out on all (or even most) possible Android phones or create a comprehensive list of the exact process to resolve this problem should it occur. I have had several reports of people having to figure out the process for their phones, which was different than the methods described above. Thankfully, this shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
Film Simulation Recipes for Fujifilm cameras are extremely popular right now. I’ve been making them for over nine years, but it was around four years ago that they really began to take off. Back in 2017—months before I even started the Fuji X Weekly website, which first came online on August 21, 2017—I published my first two Film Simulation Recipes on a previous website that I used to run (which I closed down weeks before starting this one). Fuji X Weekly was originally intended as a long-term review of the Fujifilm X100F, and Recipes were only a small part of it at first. I called it Fuji X Weekly because I initially intended to publish one article per week, but I’ve exceeded that almost every week since giving it that name.
Early on I published two Fujifilm Recipes, one color using Classic Chrome and one B&W using Acros. These were modeled after two presets I commonly used in a software called Alien Skin Exposure, which I was really into at the time. I was shooting RAW+JPEG, and I had noticed that my edited RAWs didn’t look much different than the straight-out-of-camera JPEGs. I wondered if I made some adjustments to the in-camera settings, could I get them even closer? Sure enough, I could. With that I made my first two Recipes, which I dubbed Film Simulation Recipes.
Red Leaves In The Forest – Wasatch Mountain SP, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 – Velvia Recipe
I wasn’t the first to make Fujifilm Recipes. An early example dates back to October 2016, when Fujifilm published an article by Derek Clark called X-Pro2 in Barcelona (the article is no longer available), which, in a section discussing the limitations of Film Simulation Bracket, he wished for “our own recipe of Highlights, Shadows, NR, Colour and Sharpness baked in” for each of the three film simulations (instead of the same settings applied to all). In a different section of the same article, he provided the Color, Highlight, Shadow, Noise Reduction, and Sharpness that he used with Classic Chrome and Acros. While some settings were left out (for example, Dynamic Range, White Balance, WB Shift, and Grain), the basic framework for a Fujifilm Recipe was included, and (in the article) the word “recipe” was used to describe a set of settings, although he opted for “my settings” (instead of explicitly calling them Recipes) when it came to the actual parameters.
I discovered a bunch more who were making Fujifilm Recipes (although not by name) even earlier: Fredrik Averpil, Mathieu Gasquet, Marco Secchi, Marco Larousse, Thomas Benezeth, Eivind Rohne, Patrick La Roque, Kevin Bjorke, Kevin Mullins, Thomas Fitzgerald, and Bryan Gateb. There were probably others, too. These were the Fujifilm Recipe pioneers, paving the way with custom profiles, setting combinations, custom settings, favorite settings, programs, film emulsions, ready to go colour, film looks, picture profiles, and go-to settings for their Fujifilm cameras, publishing them online for the community—they deserve recognition for starting what would become a major trend many years later. Fuji X Weekly arrived immediately afterwards. I coined the name Film Simulation Recipe for Fujifilm JPEG parameters; however, it doesn’t matter who named it, I only mention it here because I’ve been asked a few hundred times who came up with the name. What I can say for certain is that this website played a major role in popularizing the term, and now it’s a part of the Fujifilm vernacular. Fujifilm even used “Recipe” in the X-E5!
The word “recipe” has been used in photography for a very long time, dating back all the way to 1856. The specific chemistry and time combinations for film development and printing have been casually called recipes for well over 150 years. In digital, Lightroom originally called their presets “Recipes” way back in 2001, and Capture One began calling their custom presets Process Recipes in 2007. Canon used the term “Recipe Data” and “DPP Recipe” in 2004 with the 1D Mark II. It’s a fairly common term in photography, becoming more widely used in the digital era within the last five or so years for in-camera JPEG customizations.
The focus of this website soon shifted from being exclusively about the X100F to all-things-Fujifilm, not restricted to one single model. Film Simulation Recipes were only a small part of it. I noticed that the Recipe articles tended to get more views than the others, so I put more energy into creating Recipes. Before long the catalog was over 50, with more being developed regularly. Since my background was in film photography, I tended to make Recipes that resembled different film stocks that I had shot or that I had a collection of negatives or slides for as reference.
Outside of a relatively small but growing community, nobody had heard of Recipes for Fujifilm cameras in 2019, not even Fujifilm. They first learned about it in 2020 from a photographer who told them he enjoyed shooting Portra and Tri-X on his X-series camera. Fujifilm had no idea what he was talking about, and the photographer was surprised that they were unaware of Fuji X Weekly. A few weeks later Fujifilm reached out to me to inquire what I was doing—what exactly is a Film Simulation Recipe—and that was pretty much the end of my contact with them for nearly four years. That December I launched the Fuji X Weekly App, which was the very first mobile library of Fujifilm Recipes. Initially at launch, there were 100 Recipes in the App; today, there are over 400! I don’t know how many people use Fujifilm Recipes, but over 150,000 have the Fuji X Weekly App on their phones right now, and there are many people who use my Recipes but don’t use the App, opting to get them straight from this website instead.
While the Fuji X Weekly App launch brought a lot more attention to Fujifilm Recipes, it wasn’t until the Fujifilm X100V went viral in fall of 2022 that things really began to take off. Seemingly overnight, the Recipe community doubled in size, and it’s only continued to grow since. Fuji X Weekly has been the most popular resource for Fujifilm Recipes for approaching a decade now. A few of you have been along for the journey from the beginning, some joined in fairly early on, and others are more recent. There are some photographers who are brand-new to Fujifilm and the whole Recipe concept, and have no idea the history behind it—if that’s you, welcome aboard! I hope you found this article interesting. I never imagined that this whole Film Simulation Recipe thing would grow so large, or that it would have such a profound impact on my life, the Fujifilm community, and photography as a whole. It’s been a privilege to have a front-row seat to it all, and an honor to have so many create photographs using the various Recipes that I created. I want to conclude this by saying thank you to all of you, I really appreciate you and your support.
I wanted to give another update to the new Recipe Transfer feature in the Fuji X Weekly App. I mentioned when this was first released that I expected to find a few bugs and issues, and that hopefully they would be small. So far, the bugs have been small and have been fixed via App updates. If your phone doesn’t automatically update your apps, you should double-check if you are on the latest version of the Fuji X Weekly App (click here for Apple; click here for Android). Some of the issues (not necessarily “bugs”) are a little larger, and I want to give you an update real quick.
First, on Apple, iPhones and iPads that use a Lightning cable don’t work. I have had some reports of people successfully using an adapter, like the official Apple Lightning-to-USB 3 that’s specifically intended for connecting to cameras, but when I was finally able to try it personally, I had no luck. I didn’t own any Lightning iPhones to test it on, so it took me some time to get one (plus various adapters—I tried a few), but I was unable to get it to work. At this time, I’m calling it: Lightning cable iPhones and iPads are not compatible with the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer feature. Since I have had a handful of reports of it working, I’m going to continue investigating, and try to figure out how to make it work; until that happens, I’m considering Lightning cable iPhones and iPads incompatible. If you are able to successfully make it work, please let me know.
Second, also on Apple, I have had some reports of the Recipe Transfer feature not working for iPads (with a USB-C connection, not Lightning) with fourth-generation models (X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-T30 II, and X-E4). It will work with fifth-gen cameras (X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III), just not fourth. This isn’t an issue for iPhones, only iPads. I’ve not figured out why yet, but I hope to get to the bottom of it. There might be a certain setting on the iPad that needs to be configured, but I’m just not sure why it works for some models and not others. Let me know if you are successfully able to connect your fourth-gen Fujifilm camera to a USB-C iPad.
Third, for Android, (as previously reported) the phones must support USB host mode (USB OTG), which might need to be toggled on manually; to enable USB OTG, go to Settings → System/Connected Devices/Additional Settings (depending on your phone) → USB OTG/OTG Connection (depending on your phone). Most modern Android phones support USB host mode, and most will enable it automatically, but definitely not all of them. If your Android phone isn’t connecting to the camera, this could be the reason. I got one report that the process to resolve it was much more involved. Specifically, on his Nothing Phone 1, he had to select Developer Options, enable USB Debug, then select Default USB Configuration, and finally choose File Transfer. The exact method to resolve this issue can vary greatly from model-to-model-to-model (etc., etc., etc.), and there is no way to test it out on all (or even most) possible Android phones or create a comprehensive list of the exact process to resolve this problem should it occur. I have had several reports of people having to figure out the process for their phones, which was different than the methods described above. Thankfully, this shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
The challenge with developing Android apps is that there is so much device diversity. With Apple, the hardware and implementation of the software is very consistent, which reduces a lot of the variables, and makes the process much easier. Worldwide, for every one iPhone model, there have been about 400 different Android models. That variety creates inconsistencies that can be difficult for developing apps, and that’s why it took longer for this feature to be released on Android than Apple.
For the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer feature to work, the Android device must support USB host mode (USB OTG), which might need to be toggled on manually; to enable USB OTG, go to Settings → System/Connected Devices/Additional Settings (depending on your phone) → USB OTG/OTG Connection (depending on your phone). Most modern Android phones support USB host mode, and most will enable it automatically, but definitely not all of them. If your Android phone isn’t connecting to the camera, this could be the reason. I got one report that the process to resolve it was much more involved. Specifically, on his Nothing Phone 1, he had to select Developer Options, enable USB Debug, then select Default USB Configuration, and finally choose File Transfer. The exact method to resolve this issue can vary greatly from model-to-model-to-model (etc., etc., etc.), and there is no way to test it out on all (or even most) possible Android phones or create a comprehensive list of the exact process to resolve this problem should it occur. Thankfully, this shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
One last thing that I’d like to address is that a few people have accused me (flatly or insinuated) of being a hypocrite for sounding the alarm back in June that connecting your camera to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported program will void your camera’s warranty, yet I released a feature that voids the warranty. Essentially, the sentiment was, “Why is it not ok for them but it’s ok for you?” The difference is that most other app developers with a similar feature did not disclose this to their audience, or—if they did—it was almost always in the fine print of the Terms of Service, where it was unlikely to be seen. Thousands of Fujifilm photographers, maybe tens of thousands, inadvertently and unknowingly voided their camera’s warranty. Those app developers were (or at least should have been) well aware of this, but they chose not to make their users aware (presumably because they didn’t want to risk lower revenues), which is unethical in my opinion. I have been upfront and transparent so that people can make an informed decision of whether or not to use this feature. In other words, the issue isn’t in the feature itself, but in the disclosure of the risks. Nobody should have their camera’s warranty unknowingly voided; if one chooses to do so, it should only be after being well informed. I hope that clears it up.
And I guess, finally, it should be noted that the exact details of your camera’s warranty and warranty laws vary from place-to-place. Some people are more protected than others. You should dig into what applies to you specifically. Also, just because you technically void your warranty, Fujifilm could still honor it, or perhaps not even realize that the warranty has been voided. My recommendation is to play it safe, and not use the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer feature if your camera is still under warranty; however, if you’ve done the research and feel comfortable with the risk, that’s up to you if you want to use it now instead of waiting. I just want you to be well informed, so that you can feel good about your choice. And I’ve done more than anyone (as noted by DPReview) to inform you of the risks.
The wait is over! The Android version of the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP) is now complete, and available to you right now in the Fuji X Weekly App. You can send Fujifilm Recipes straight from the App to your Fujifilm camera. This feature has been in the works for a very long time, and was completed for Apple before Android. Since premiering on iOS, I’ve been working double time to get it out on Android.
I don’t want to rehash everything I already stated in the Apple release, but I will reiterate some of it. I highly recommend reading that article (click here) before using this feature. It basically works the same on Android as it does on Apple, so most of that will apply to you, too. One difference is that your Android phone must support USB host mode (USB OTG), which might need to be toggled on manually (most phones will do it automatically); to enable USB OTG, go to Settings → System/Connected Devices/Additional Settings (depending on your phone) → USB OTG/OTG Connection (depending on your phone). If you use an adapter, it must support data transfer.
Not every Fujifilm model is compatible, but most of the newer ones are. Specifically, as of this writing, you can use the ATC RTP with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II, X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, X-T30 III, GFX100S, GFX50S II, GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF. Presumably all new cameras released in the future will also be compatible, but I won’t know for certain until they are available to test. Unfortunately, older models (such as X-Trans I, X-Trans II, X-Trans III, X-T30 and X-T3, X-series Bayer, and the first few GFX models) are not able to connect to the Fuji X Weekly App.
Very importantly, connecting your camera to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported program may void your camera’s manufacturer warranty. Fujifilm confirmed this with me. Please note that using the ATC RTP may void your camera’s warranty. Manufacturer warranties vary from country-to-country, and warranty laws vary from region-to-region, so read your specific warranty information very carefully, and research the laws that apply specifically to you. Some people are better protected than others; however, even if your warranty is technically voided, it’s possible that Fujifilm may decide to honor it anyway (or not realize it was voided) should something fail on your camera. It’s up to you if you want to take that risk, but my recommendation is to wait until after your camera’s warranty has expired (one or two years after purchase for most, but up to five years, just depending) before connecting to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported programs (pretty much any software that connects to your camera that’s not from Fujifilm or a major brand like Capture One or Adobe), including the Fuji X Weekly App. Whether you connect today, wait awhile before doing so, or never use this feature, that is a personal choice based on what you are comfortable with, having been well informed. I have connected all of my compatible cameras to the Fuji X Weekly App, including my brand-new GFX100RF, but that was my own decision based on my personal confidence in the App’s programming and in Fujifilm’s quality.
Whether on Apple or Android, if you’re having issues connecting your phone to your camera, the first place to look for help is the FAQ/Troubleshooting page within the Fuji X Weekly App. It’s a pretty good idea to read that before even starting, as there’s a lot of good information, some of which you’re likely to find helpful. I posted on Instagram how to configure your Fujifilm camera (click here) for ATC RTP, and you might find that helpful, too. I also have a short video showing this feature in action, which I’ve included below.
For those on Apple, a couple of quick final notes before ending this article. I just released an update with some small bug fixes and improvements, one related to the ISO setting on the camera. If your phone didn’t automatically update the Fuji X Weekly App, be sure to do so manually. This reminds me to remind you that the ISO on your camera needs to be at least the minimum for the Dynamic Range or D-Range Priority setting of the Recipe you want to transfer. For example, on fifth-generation cameras, Recipes that use DR400 will need a minimum of ISO 500, and fourth-generation need a minimum of ISO 640. For those with older iPhones that use a Lightning cable, it appears that the official Apple Lightning-to-USB 3 adapter (intended to connect the phone to cameras) is what’s required to get ATC RTP to work on your device. I have not tested this, it’s only from a handful of reports. I ordered an old iPhone and the adapter, and I hope to be able to confirm whether this does or doesn’t work by early next week.
Find more than 400 Fujifilm Recipes in the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
Rainbow over Hoboken – Hoboken, NJ – Fujifilm X-T50 – Pushed Analog
I don’t know if there’s any photography trend that’s hotter right now than Fujifilm Recipes. To say that they’re popular is an understatement. It’s a significant reason why Fujifilm cameras are doing so well right now, selling nearly three times as many units in 2025 as they did in 2023. Even Fujifilm has started to design their cameras around it, such as the ability to store Recipes into FS1-FS3 on the X-E5, and including the FRGMT B&W Recipe in a limited-edition GFX100RF. It’s revolutionizing photography. This trend doesn’t show signs of stopping, and I suspect Recipes will remain a popular part of the Fujifilm experience for years to come.
As one of the very first to create and publish Fujifilm Recipes, and one of the original resources for Recipes (basically, I was creating and shooting Recipes long before they were cool), I have had a front row seat to all of this. It’s amazing to me to see just how far it’s all come! I never imagined how much this would grow and grow. But not everyone appreciates this trend, or understands what this whole Recipe thing is even about, which has caused some myths to appear, many you’ve likely heard many times yourself. Let’s look at five of these myths, and quickly debunk them.
This has been discussed at length many times, so I don’t want to spend very much time on it, but—yes—Fujifilm Recipes are for amateur photographers, and they are also for professional photographers, and everyone in-between. There are many people of all skill levels that use Recipes on their Fujifilm cameras, including some names that you’re probably familiar with (but maybe you have no idea they use Recipes). There are some photographers who I would have never guessed use Recipes, but it turns out they do (at least sometimes). Those who claim that Fujifilm Recipes are only for amateurs would likely be shocked if they knew of all the people who are not amateurs that use them.
A couple of years ago when I started traveling around and meeting many of you in-person at various photography events and photowalks, I learned something that greatly surprised me: people use Recipes in all sorts of different ways. For example, I met several photographers who are strict RAW-only shooters; however, they’ve found a Recipe that is similar to their personal style, which helps them to better pre-visualize the final image while in the field, and it also gives them a shortcut to the finished photograph. Another shoots RAW+JPEG, and overlays and blends the JPEG into the edited RAW image. The developers of a large RAW software company largely use Recipes for their own photography, and even developed a tool to help them better match the RAW to their JPEGs whenever they need to edit the RAWs. Some people edit the out-of-camera JPEGs, finding it flexible enough to handle mild manipulations, while others (like me) are a lot more strictly straight-out-of-camera. There’s no single method, nor any one that’s better than another; instead, it’s whatever works best for you personally.
Recipes are Too Warm/Yellow
Buc-ees at Nighttime – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – Fluorescent Night
Many Fujifilm Recipes are warm with a yellow-ish cast, but so are a lot of films, especially many Kodak emulsions. Warming filters were once common in film photography, and some vintage lenses have a warm cast from their radioactive lens coating. Like film, many Recipes are daylight-balanced, and can produce an overly warm cast when used in artificial light scenarios. But, there are also lots of Recipes that aren’t warm, and don’t produce a yellow-ish cast. If you don’t like a warm-tinted image, find one of the many Recipes that are neutral or have a cool cast.
Recipes are just Instagram Filters
Misty Saguaro – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – Pacific Blues
Recipes are not filters, per se. For example, how the various film simulations render—especially Classic Negative and Acros—depend on how you expose the image. It’s integrated into the image processing pipeline, and is not an overlay. But on a more practical level, when you shoot with Recipes, you see the finished image in the viewfinder, which is a much different process and experience (with significantly divergent results) than adding a filter to an image after-the-fact. Aside from that, Fujifilm’s colors, which were developed using their long history of analog film, are second-to-none.
Recipes aren’t any Quicker than RAW Editing with Presets
Red Boat in Nyhavn Canal– Copenhagen, Denmark – Fujifilm GFX100RF – Avalon Ace
Of coarse Fujifilm Recipes are much quicker than the fastest RAW workflow. Why? Because the straight-out-of-camera JPEG is finished instantly, the moment that it’s captured. As I’ve said before: shoot more, edit less, and let your camera be your darkroom. But this only matters if that time savings is important to you personally—for me, it literally changed my life (no hyperbole), and is especially critical for my travel photography. For someone else, it may not be about the time savings, but more about the aesthetic the Recipe produces, or the ability to pre-visualize the finished RAW image in the field.
There’s no right or wrong way to do photography, only whatever works best for you personally. That might be RAW, that might be straight-out-of-camera JPEGs using Recipes, it might be a mix of both, or something else entirely. The pathway to your finished photograph matters much less than the picture itself. Do what works best for you, whatever that is. As long as you are happy with your process and pictures, that’s all that really matters.
The Fuji X Weekly App can now send Recipes straight from the App to your camera using a USB-C cable! Right now, this is only available on Apple, but it will be coming to Android within the next few months or so. If you haven’t read the announcement, there’s a bunch of important information in it, so I recommend starting there (click here)—it’s essential reading if you plan to use this feature.
The new Recipe transferring feature is called App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP for short). A few days ago I discussed some of the known issues, but a couple of those have since been resolved, plus a new issue has come up, so I wanted to give a quick update. Let’s dive right in!
The two known issues that were fixed are 1) Recipes that use DR-Auto were transferring as DR100 instead of DR-Auto, and 2) a warning—for Recipes with Grain Off—that Grain was not able to be set when in fact it was set correctly (the error message itself was the bug). Those have been fixed on the latest Fuji X Weekly App update. If your phone didn’t automatically update the App, you may want to manually do so now. This is actually the second update since the new feature was released, so even if you haven’t encountered any issues yet, you may still want to double-check that you are running on the latest version.
The other known issue is that iPhones that use the Lightning plug (not USB-C) do not work with this feature; however, I’ve had several reports that using a Lightning-to-USB-C adapter will resolve the problem. I’ve not been able to try it myself to know for 100% certainty, but there have been enough reports that I’m fairly confident that this will work for you, too.
The new issue is a weird one. It might only affect those on iPhone 16, but I’m not completely certain about that. It seems that very few have encountered this problem, and it’s unlikely that it will affect you. If you are not able to get the phone to connect to the camera, and it always just says No camera connected even though you’ve tried everything, there is a potential solution. If you’ve encountered this rare problem, go to the Settings App on your iPhone, tap Privacy & Security (which is towards the bottom), select Files & Folders, and find the Fuji X Weekly App. Make sure that it is only in the list once (not twice) and that it is On (green); if not, toggle it/them Off/On until there is only one Fuji X Weekly option (not two) and it is On (green). If you find two Fuji X Weekly folders, when you toggle them one will disappear. This should resolve the problem, and you’ll be able to connect the camera to the phone.
Lastly, I wanted to give a quick update on the Instagram problem I had previously talked about. For those who missed it, Instagram removed my post announcing this new feature, claiming that I had violated their community standards, which obviously is not true or even remotely close to true. Restrictions were placed on my account, punishing me for something I didn’t do. I later learned that this is a systemic problem, and a lot of other people have had similar experiences, which is unfortunate. I requested that Instagram review their decision, and a few days later my post was reinstated, and the restrictions removed from my account; however, I never got an explanation. I still have no idea why they did this, but at least it’s been rectified.
When I launched the new App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP) in the Fuji X Weekly App a few days ago, which allows you to send Fujifilm Recipes from the App to your camera, I said, “I do anticipate some bug reports, and hopefully they’re all very minor.” So far, they’ve all been pretty minor, but I think you should be aware of them.
First, if you have an older iPhone that uses a Lightning plug, in order to get this feature to work, you will need a Lightning-to-USB-C adapter. I’ve had two reports that doing this works, although I don’t have a Lighting cable iPhone to test it with personally. Those who have older iPhones, let me know if the adapter works for you.
Second, if you are an App Patron and attempting to transfer Recipe sets, and your iPhone iOS is 18 or older (and not 26), the app crashes. This was identified pretty quickly and has already been fixed. So if this is happening to you, either update the iOS on your iPhone or update the Fuji X Weekly App to the latest version, either option will fix the issue, and allow you to transfer Recipe sets.
Third, and probably most notably for most people, is that DR-Auto Recipes set Dynamic Range in the camera to DR100 instead of DR-Auto. This was working correctly in a beta before launch, so I’m not sure why it’s not now. It’s likely an easy fix once the issue has been identified. Sometimes with apps, a small change somewhere affects something else that is seemingly unrelated, and that’s my best guess for this. I’m hopeful that a fix will be in by Wednesday or Thursday, maybe sooner, so be on the lookout for an App update.
Fourth, Recipes with Grain set to Off will transfer correctly, but give a (false) warning that Grain was not able to be transferred. The bug in this case is the warning itself, and not the transfer. The App will set Grain to Off in the camera, so just ignore that error message.
Right now, that’s it. But please, no matter how small, if you encounter any issues let me know. I’d love to get this running as cleanly as possible. Your feedback helps to improve it, and is greatly appreciated.
In related news, I posted about the App update on Instagram; however, the next day, Meta removed my post for supposedly violating community standards, and they put some restrictions on my account. Specifically, Instagram claims that the post made “unrealistic claims or promises about economic gain” and violated their rules on “financial fraud and scams.” Of course, that’s complete nonsense and just boggles my mind how they came to that conclusion. It could be that their AI bots are not very good and are flagging and banning innocent content, or it was falsely (and maliciously) reported by someone trying to disrupt or sabotage the announcement, or maybe something else entirely. I have no idea. But, whatever the reason, it wasn’t right or fair. I’m being punished by Meta for something I didn’t do. I have appealed, but who knows how long that takes or what the outcome will be. If it was from a false report, will that person be punished for making the claim should the appeal return in my favor? Probably not.
In my IG Stories, I posted about this situation, and asked if this has ever happened to anyone else. To my surprise, I received close to 50 messages from people who have had nearly identical issues. Some of them even shared with me what they posted that got removed, and it was normal (non-controversial) content, similar to most other posts on the platform, and not a violation of community standards whatsoever. In other words, this is a very widespread problem that could happen to anyone. Any and every post has the potential to be falsely flagged and deleted, and the author punished for the next 365 days. It’s not cool, but this is what you and I agree to when we sign up. Mark and company make massive profits off of our content, and we sometimes get treated like dirt for no other reason than we agreed to their terms of service.
There are two ways that I can respond to this. On one hand, I could stop using Instagram. Why am I allowing them to treat me this way? This seems like an abusive relationship that I’m enabling by staying. On the other hand, if it was removed due to malicious behavior by someone who dislikes Fujifilm, Recipes, or Fuji X Weekly (a competitive app developer, perhaps?), they win if I quit. I don’t even know if that’s the case, and I really hate to make any assumptions, so it might not be that at all. It might just be the terrible AI bots that Meta is using. So I’m not sure how to respond to this whole situation, other than to say Instagram really sucks, and I’m not happy with their platform right now. Maybe it’s a good time to consider an alternative.
I’m excited to announce a new feature in the Fuji X Weekly App: sending Recipes straight from the App to your camera! This will make Film Simulation Recipes much more accessible because it removes the necessity to manually program them into your camera’s C1-C7 Custom Settings presets. I’ve been working on this for about a year-and-a-half now, and I believe it will transform and significantly improve the Fujifilm experience for many people. There’s a lot that I need to discuss regarding this, so let’s dive right in.
The new feature is called App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol (ATC RTP), and it uses something called Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP), a standardized camera-to-software communication system that’s been utilized by all major camera brands for over 25 years. Fujifilm uses PTP for X RAW Studio and other programs. I was able to create the ATC RTP using publicly available information from both Fujifilm and the Fujifilm community, combined with lots of trial-and-error, plus a little assistance from AI.
Using PTP is generally considered very safe; however, there is a small inherent risk in unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported programs. While there’s not a lot that can go wrong with PTP, there is a minor chance of adverse affects, especially if not handled carefully by the developers. To mitigate those risks, we built-in many safeguards and heavily tested it (I tried my best to break my Fujifilm cameras using ATC RTP, and couldn’t—don’t attempt that yourself, though). I’m extremely confident in the safety of this feature, but I want to be upfront and transparent about the inherent precariousness. It’s better to lay out all the cards so that you can make an informed decision that you are comfortable with, and it’s important to me that you’ve read this disclaimer before connecting your camera to the App. If you do decide to use ATC RTP, it’s an experimental feature, and it is at your own risk. I do believe that this is about as safe as possible from an unofficial program, and I doubt you’ll find another option with as many safeguards or as heavily tested before release. Still, like with any new software feature, I do anticipate some bug reports, and hopefully they’re all very minor (be sure to let me know if encounter any, no matter how small).
Very importantly, connecting your camera to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported program may void your camera’s manufacturer warranty. Fujifilm confirmed this with me. I tried very hard to obtain a license from Fujifilm so that it wouldn’t risk voiding your warranty, but ultimately that didn’t work out (they told me that they only give licenses to large companies “like Adobe”). While that significantly delayed the release of this feature, if I had been able to obtain a license, that would have made the wait worthwhile. Since I was not able to get a license, using the ATC RTP may void your camera’s warranty. Manufacturer warranties vary from country-to-country, and warranty laws vary from region-to-region, so read your specific warranty information very carefully, and research the laws that apply specifically to you. Some people are better protected than others; however, even if your warranty is technically voided, it’s possible that Fujifilm may decide to honor it anyway (or not realize it was voided) should something fail on your camera. It’s up to you if you want to take that risk, but my recommendation is to wait until after your camera’s warranty has expired (one or two years after purchase for most, but up to five years, just depending) before connecting to any unofficial, unlicensed, unsupported programs (pretty much any software that connects to your camera that’s not from Fujifilm or a major brand like Capture One or Adobe), including the Fuji X Weekly App. Whether you connect today, wait awhile before doing so, or never use this feature, that is a personal choice based on what you are comfortable with, having been well informed (and I hope you appreciate that I’m not keeping this secret from you). I have connected all of my compatible cameras to the Fuji X Weekly App, including my brand-new GFX100RF, but that was my own decision based on my personal confidence in the App’s programming and in Fujifilm’s quality.
With all that out of the way, let’s talk about how this new feature can transform your Fujifilm experience. What ATC RTP does is push Recipes from the Fuji X Weekly App to your camera’s Custom Settings presets (C1-C7 for most cameras, C1-C6 for some, and C1-C4 for others). You can pick a single Recipe, and choose which Custom Settings slot to send it to, or—if you are a Patron subscriber—you can create and send sets of Recipes. No more manually programming them into your camera! This makes saving Recipes in your camera extremely simple, and changing them a breeze. You can also do it with your Custom Recipes, not just the 400+ Fuji X Weekly Recipes. Sending a Recipe from the App to your camera is completely free—use it as often as you’d like, as many times as you’d like. Going one-at-a-time, you can fill up your C1-C7 pretty quickly. Sending multiple Recipes at once is reserved for Patrons, and I included three Recipe Sets—Starter, Street and Travel—to get you started (with more to come). I have not yet figured out how to send Recipes to FS1-FS3 on the X-E5, so those will still need to be set manually.
Not every Fujifilm camera is compatible, but most newer ones are. Specifically, as of this writing, you can use the ATC RTP with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, X-T30 II, X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, X-T30 III, GFX100S, GFX50S II, GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF. Presumably all new cameras released in the future will also be compatible, but I won’t know for certain until they are available to test. Unfortunately, older models (such as X-Trans I, X-Trans II, X-Trans III, X-T30 and X-T3, X-series Bayer, and the first few GFX models) are not able to connect to the Fuji X Weekly App.
There are a bunch of important notes, so let’s work through them. First, as of this writing, the ATC RTP is only available on iOS [Edit: it’s now available on Android!]. Second, you need a USB-C (2.0 or 3.0) cable that is no longer than 4.9 feet (1.5 meters), preferably a good quality one. If ATC RTP is not working, try a different cable. Also, Lighting cables don’t work, but I’ve had reports that Lightning-to-USB-C adapters do work. Third, you need to make sure that your camera’s Connection Mode is set to USB RAW CONV./BACKUP RESTORE. This is found in the Network/USB (Connection) Settings section of the Menu. Next, you might need to set the USB Power Supply/Comm Setting to SUPPLY OFF/COMM ON (or just OFF, depending on your model), although most of the time AUTO seems to work. The USB-C cable needs to be connected to both the camera and the phone (try reconnecting if the App doesn’t recognize that your camera is connected). Your camera must be powered on for this feature to work (the camera’s screen will go dark when connected). Do not power off the camera or phone or disconnect the cable during a Recipe transfer. ISO and Typical Exposure Compensation are not transferred via ATC RTP, and should be set manually. Also, Video Recipes are not included in this feature.
It’s possible to get error messages after a transfer. If the camera rejects a setting, it will either be left unchanged or set to a default, which is a safeguard, and you’ll be notified. Some common settings that will get rejected are Dynamic Range and Clarity. Since Dynamic Range is ISO dependent, if the ISO is set lower than the minimum for the Dynamic Range (for example, DR400 with ISO 200), the camera will reject it. To fix it, increase the ISO and either try again or set Dynamic Range manually. Since Clarity is dependent on the Drive mode, if you are in burst (Continuous Low or Continuous High), HDR, etc., and not Still Image (a.k.a. Single or S), it will reject Clarity set to anything other than 0. To fix it, set the camera’s Drive mode to Still Image (S) and either try again or set Clarity manually. If you’ve never saved Custom Setting presets into your camera before, you may encounter some errors on the initial Recipe transfer, especially with the PASM models that require shooting modes to be set. You will need to fix the errors in the camera, such as selecting a shooting mode and adjusting the ISO within each preset, plus selecting the correct Dynamic Range setting. Within Custom Recipes, any free-form text must be spelled correctly in English in order to work; otherwise, use the dropdown menus. Also, for any Custom Recipe Sets that you create, make sure that the selected Recipes are compatible with the camera you are transferring to (if not, you will receive error messages when transferring).
That was a lot to lay out, but I hope you can appreciate why it all needed to be said. If the Fuji X Weekly App on your iPhone didn’t automatically update, be sure to manually do it now. You may also want to update your iOS version if it’s old. To begin using the App-to-Camera Recipe Transfer Protocol to send Recipes directly to your camera, tap the camera-with-arrow icon at the top of the Recipe list page or at the top of any Recipe within the Fuji X Weekly App. You’ll have to agree to the TOS and select OK a number of times. If you are a Patron, to create Recipe sets, tap the three dots at the top-right of the Recipe list page and select Manage Recipe Sets. I think many of you will really love this new feature, and it will transform your Fujifilm experience. Right now it’s only available on iOS, but it will be on Android pretty soon, too, so stay tuned!
Find more than 400 Fujifilm Recipes in the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
Over the last maybe two years, I’ve read here-and-there people say that yellow-tinted Fujifilm Recipes have a “piss filter” as if the photographer shot through a glass of urine from someone who is not particularly hydrated. The term has spread across the internet over the last eight months or so, it seems, with people now using it more frequently. Today, Selishots posted a YouTube video called 5 Recipes So Your Photos Don’t Look Like Piss. I’ve met Ben of Selishots a couple of times, and he’s a great guy—this article is not about him whatsoever (so don’t think for a moment that it is); however, I brought him up simply because his video motivated me to finally address the whole “piss filter” nonsense.
First, the term is clearly meant as a putdown. It began with and is still largely used by those who don’t shoot straight-out-of-camera and who don’t like the whole Recipe thing. Most of them would tell you that real photographers shoot RAW, not JPEG. It’s a derogatory term intended to make you feel “less than” about your photography. In my opinion, it’s shameful. I put it in the same category as other derogatory slang, and I don’t think the photography community should be accepting of such uninclusive language. Do we need to invent new terms to call out this toxic behavior? Formatism? RAW supremacists? I’d rather not go there, but I think it makes the point. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are any less of a photographer or that your photographs aren’t good enough just because you didn’t go about it the same way (the so-called “right way”) as they did. There’s no right or wrong way to do photography, and anyone who says otherwise is flat-out wrong and couldn’t be more wrong.
Buck’s Space Cowboy – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5 – Retro Slide
The statement also stems from ignorance. The people who use the term “piss filter” have obviously never shot film, and they’d be surprised to learn that many Kodak film stocks tend to lean warm (some historical emulsions didn’t just “lean” warm, but were obviously warm). Expired or mishandled film could sometimes have a strong yellow cast. Aside from that, it was very common 25+ years ago to use warming filters, like 81B or even W12—those are probably the closest to so-called “piss filters” in analog. Not to mention that classic lenses with thorium dioxide will turn yellow over time, basically making the lens itself a so-called “piss filter” of sorts. Lastly, color film photos can fade, and sometimes that can make them turn yellow-ish. In other words, if you know even a little about film photography, you know that yellow-leaning pictures are quite common, and not an oddity. When someone says “piss filter” they are admitting that they know very little about analog images or the history of photography.
Third, the reason people are drawn to warm-leaning looks is because they like them. We’re all different, and have different tastes—I don’t know why this is a difficult concept for some people. If a photographer likes their pictures with a certain color cast, why does that bother you so much? It’s their art, not yours. When someone says “piss filter”, that has to come from some kind of insecurity or jealousy; while it’s often stated with arrogance, there’s clearly something painful going on deep inside of the person uttering it. Interestingly, these warm-leaning looks only seem to bother people when they are from Recipes and not when they come via Lightroom presets. Psychologically, color actually matters a lot, as different colors affect the viewer in different ways. For example, yellow can make a person feel happy and positive; orange can make a person feel optimistic and enthusiastic. In general, these colors can often feel nostalgic, like a joyful memory from your childhood. It’s about the emotion and mood that the photographer wants to convey. Someone might not “get” why warm-tinted photographs are popular, but it’s not difficult to understand when you think about it for just a moment.
Horsetail Falls from Bridge – Columbia River Gorge, OR – Fujifilm X100V – Improved Velvia
Additionally, it shows a lack of knowledge about Fujifilm Recipes in general. There are tons—probably hundreds—that don’t have a warm cast. In fact, I published an article last year highlighting 15 Recipes with a cool cast. To assume that they all have a yellow cast just shows how little the person actually knows about this topic. Instead of conducting even a minimal amount of research, they put it down. Sad. With so many possible looks from Recipes, there’s bound to be at least one that is close to most people’s personal style. If one isn’t for you personally, find the ones that are. I’ve published more than 400, so you have a lot to choose from.
The term “piss filter” needs to die. It’s dumb. It’s narrow minded. It’s insulting. We should not tolerate it as a community, because we should not tolerate putting people down just because they’re different than us in some way. We’re all humans, trying to create pictures that are meaningful to us. Let’s be a bit more respectful, and a little less rude. Do photography however you want to do it, and create photographs in whatever manner you desire. There’s no right or wrong way, and there’s no right or wrong way for how pictures should look.
The article begins with, “Over the years, I’ve seen a wave of film simulation recipe apps appear—often trying to cash in on the popularity of Fujifilm’s JPEG recipes. Some have even reached out to me directly, offering free access in exchange for exposure on FujiRumors. And if you’ve never read about them here on FujiRumors, there’s a reason for that. Look, some are genuine apps built by true Fujifilm lovers. But honestly, there are also plenty made by people just trying to cash in on the Film Simulation Recipe community.”
That’s important context that hasn’t been stated anywhere close to enough. I’ve said it, but I’ve also been accused of being sour grapes over potential competition. I’m not afraid of competition, as I’m happy to point to The Film Recipes App, which was made by a genuine Fujifilm lover and Recipe creator (Justin Gould). What bothers me are the apps made by those who don’t actually create Recipes; instead, they’re aggregating “community recipes”, which are oftentimes just from myself or Justin or Reggie Ballesteros or someone on social media who shared a Recipe with their audience, only for someone else to add it to these other apps without credit to the actual creator (someone else gets credit instead). Even worse, these apps oftentimes use photographs without the knowledge of, permission from, credit or compensation to the actual photographers who created the images. For example, literally thousands of my photos have been illegally used in these apps (you can find some examples right now). Many others have had their pictures used illegally, too. Most of these apps are cesspools of copyright violations, which—as photographers—should be concerning to all of us. Not to mention that they skirt the line of plagiarism. And that’s not the end of the sketchiness, either. In my opinion, it’s harmful to the community, so bravo to Patrick at Fujirumors for pointing it out straight away.
Fujirumors then goes on to highlight a method for transferring Fujifilm Recipes from your phone to your camera using Fujifilm’s X App. Within the X App you can create backups of your camera’s settings. You can program a set of seven Recipes, save a backup, then change those seven Recipes, and save another backup. You can do this as many times as you’d like, and have a whole bunch of backups with different Recipes in each. You can give these backups different names so you know when to use them. These backups can be easily restored on your camera through the X App, giving you quick access to all of them at any given time. Amazing!
But, there are some significant caveats. First, the backups aren’t just C1-C7, they’re literally every single setting. So if you decide later that you want to change a sound or Fn button or AF setting, when you restore a backup, those changes won’t stay. So you really need to make sure you’re happy with your camera settings before doing this. Another issue is that sometimes a firmware update can render the backups incompatible with your camera. I’ve received a few different reports of that, so it’s a real thing. Next, if you change phones, there’s a potential of losing your backups. So it’s not perfect, but if you are ok with those issues, it might be worthwhile to try.
Ideally, Fujifilm would offer a way to set and store Recipes within the X App, and then wireless transfer those to the camera’s C1-C7 menu at any given time. That would be really cool, and I think it would be highly welcomed by the community. I’ve suggested it to Fujifilm a number of times, and I really hope they’re working on it. I do have some news related to this topic that I’m excited to share, but I need just a little more time, so stay tuned! In the meantime, if you don’t have the Fuji X Weekly App on your phone, now is a good time to download and use it for free; consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
This new Fujifilm Recipe began with a stack of slides. Some were mine from the late-1990’s and early-2000’s (captured on Kodak Elite Chrome 100 and Elite Chrome 200), some were my grandpa’s from the 1970’s (I believe captured on Kodak Ektachrome-X and Ektachrome 64, although I’m not 100% certain). I really liked the look of some of the pictures as viewed on a light table (how slides are viewed—whether printed, scanned, light table, or projector—greatly affects how they look). Later, I was flipping through some vintage Arizona Highways magazine issues from the 1970’s. Back then, they would sometimes include the technical information about the photographs, such as the film used (among other things). I was drawn to the look of some of the photos, and for a couple pictures the film used was provided, which (as it turned out) was Ektachrome-X. I used those slides plus the images in the old issues of Arizona Highways as inspiration for this Recipe.
While Ektachrome and Elite Chrome were the inspiration for this new Fujifilm Recipe, which I’ve named Retro Slide, it is not an attempt at accurately mimicking it. There was a lot of variance in the sample photos (to put it mildly), so I’m not sure that would have been possible, anyway. This is more an encapsulation of the general aesthetic. In particular, I wanted it to feel more like the slides on a light table than images printed in a magazine, but the influence of the magazine photos can still be seen and (hopefully) appreciated. While this is not a fully accurate facsimile of Ektachrome, it is close enough that you could consider this an Ektachrome Recipe if you wanted to, despite the name.
Caboose – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5 – Retro Slide
Like a lot of Fujifilm Recipes, Retro Slide is intended for sunny daylight photography. It can do well in other light situations, too, but it seems to be hit-or-miss, rendering either a little too warm or a little too cool sometimes. I did get some good results at night, but this wouldn’t be my first choice for nighttime photography. Because Retro Slide uses the Nostalgic Neg. film simulation, it is only compatible with fifth-generation Fujifilm cameras, which are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, X-T30 III, GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF.
Film Simulation: Nostalgic Neg. Grain Effect: Weak, Small Color Chrome Effect: Strong Color Chrome FX Blue: Weak White Balance: 5000K, -1 Red & +3 Blue Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: 0 Shadow: +2 Color: +4 Sharpness: -1 High ISO NR: -4 Clarity: +2 ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Retro Slide Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-E5:
Baloney Maroney’s – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Service Trucks – Stroud, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Skyliner Motel – Stroud, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Buck’s Space Cowboy – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Meadow Gold Clock – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Shops & Lofts – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
H Bar C Ranchwear – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
We Sell Kodak Film – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Out in the Heat – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Urban Nature Photographer – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Jonathan, Photographer – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Empty Bench – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Canyon Diablo Bridge – Two Guns, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Tireless Truck – Stroud, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Be Careful – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Philco Radio – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Ms. Pac-Man – Oklahoma City, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Soda Bottles – Arcadia, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Syrup & Gratuity – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Empty Ketchup – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Bar Stools – Tulsa, OK – Fujifilm X-E5
Conoco Tower – Shamrock, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Second Street Texaco – Winslow, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Auto Shop at Night – Winslow, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Love’s Trucks – Winslow, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Find this Fujifilm Recipe and over 400 more on the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
Central Camera Co.– Chicago, IL – Fujifilm X-T5 – 1976 Kodak
I get asked fairly regularly which Fujifilm Recipes are the most popular. For me, this is a fascinating topic, but it’s definitely hard to know definitively. While I get a glimpse on social media, my best gauge is the Fuji X Weekly website statistics; specifically, which Recipe articles are viewed the most. I don’t collect any data on the Fuji X Weekly App, so that’s no help—although, if I did, it would likely offer the most accurate picture; however, it would still be impossible to know which Recipes people programmed into their Fujifilm cameras, or how often they used each. Perhaps a survey would be particularly useful, yet even it has its limitations. While certainly a flawed method, page-view website statics offer the best glimpse at which Film Simulation Recipes are the most popular, so that’s what I’m using for this article. These are simply the Top 26 most-viewed Recipes on the Fuji X Weekly website from January 1st through July 31st of 2026.
The last time that I did one of these lists was on March 31st, and not much has changed. In fact, 25 of the 26 Recipes are the same. There’s only one new one, which also means that only one moved out of the Top 26. Many are even in the same position, or only moved minimally. These lists are quite predictable, so it doesn’t surprise me too much that this is nearly identical to the one I published back in March.
Street Musicians – Chicago, IL – Fujifilm X-T5 – Kodak Tri-X 400
As usual, those Recipes with Kodak brand names in the title—Kodachrome, Portra, Gold, Tri-X, etc., etc.—are typically the most popular. Classic Chrome is the king of film simulations, as the majority of the most-viewed Recipes are based on that Film Simulation. Classic Negative, Reala Ace, Acros, Eterna, and Nostalgic Neg. are neck-in-neck for the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth positions.
Without any further delay, below are the most popular Fujifilm Recipes of 2026 through July 31st!
Top 26 Most Popular Film Simulation Recipes of 2026 So Far
Reggie’s Portra, which uses Classic Chrome, is the number one top Film Simulation Recipe on Fuji X Weekly. Reggie Ballesteros created it in 2022 by modifying my Kodak Portra 400 Recipe to better suit his style and needs. Of the various Portra Recipes, this is the most versatile, and the most popular for portrait photography. Reggie’s Portra is compatible with X-Trans IV and X-Trans V cameras.
A Classic Chrome based Recipe for X-Trans IV cameras that was the long-time most popular Film Simulation Recipe for Fujifilm cameras on this website. It’s a lot of people’s favorite.
This is the X-Trans V version of Kodak Gold 200; the X-Trans III/IV version is found later in the list. The Kodak Gold 200 Recipes uses the Classic Chrome Film Simulation.
This is the X-Trans V version of Kodak Portra 400 v2; the X-Trans IV version is found below. This is another of my personal favorites. It uses Classic Chrome.
The Kodak Tri-X 400 Recipe, created by Anders Lindborg, is the long-time most popular B&W Recipe on Fuji X Weekly. It’s based on the Acros film simulation, and has compatibility with X-Trans III, X-Trans IV, and X-Trans V models. This is one of my absolute top-favorite Recipes.
It’s probably unfair to include this Recipe in the list because it’s not one, but 14 Recipes. It’s intended to be used with the Film Dial, or with any X-Trans V camera by mapping Film Simulation to a customizable button. I have no way of knowing which of the 14 are the most used.
This is the X-Trans V version of the Pacific Blues Recipe, which uses the Classic Negative film simulation, and is another personal favorite that I use frequently. The X-Trans IV version is just a little further down.
Earlier this year, Reggie Ballesteros created Reggie’s Superia, which uses Classic Negative and is compatible with X-Trans IV and V cameras. It will be interesting to see if its quick rise will be sustained long-term, or (like a lot of new Recipes) if it will slowly decline in popularity after the initial interest. My best guess is the former and not the latter.
A Classic Chrome based Recipe for X-Trans IV cameras that was the long-time #2 most-popular Recipe on Fuji X Weekly. While it’s still popular, it has fallen significantly over the last couple of years.
This is currently the highest-ranked Recipe that uses the Nostalgic Neg. Film Simulation (not including Universal Negative). It’s compatible with X-Trans V cameras.
The Film Dial Recipe, which is for X-Trans V cameras with a Film Dial, is another one that’s a bit unfair to include since it is actually 14 Recipes. I have no idea which of them are the most used. This is another personal favorite.
This version of Kodak Portra 400, which uses Classic Chrome and is compatible with X-Trans IV cameras (although it can be used on X-Trans V), was once commonly the third most popular Film Simulation Recipe on Fuji X Weekly. While it doesn’t rank nearly as high as it once did, it’s still quite popular.
Vintage Kodachrome, which is based on Classic Chrome, is one of the older Film Simulation Recipes on Fuji X Weekly (it was the fifth one published), and is compatible with X-Trans III cameras. This might be the most pivotal Recipe.
This Recipe, created by Anders Lindborg and the late John Sevigny, is reminiscent of scanned Kodachrome 64 slides, and is compatible with X-Trans IV cameras. It’s another Recipe that uses the Classic Chrome film simulation.
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White Boat at Nyhavn – Copenhagen, Denmark – Fujifilm GFX100RF – Copenhagen Negative
People often ask me why I think Fujifilm Recipes have become so popular. The answer seems obvious: they produce beautiful pictures. That’s certainly part of it, but I don’t think that’s the whole story. After years of creating hundreds of Recipes and talking with photographers from around the world, I’ve come to believe that what we’re really drawn to isn’t just the look, it’s how Film Simulations and Recipes change the experience of photography itself.
Photography has become increasingly complicated over the last few decades. Pick up a vintage film camera and you have three controls: aperture, shutter, and focus. ISO is determined by the film. If you developed your own film, that required learning a skill and access to special equipment; however, if you had a lab do it for you (and photo labs used to be everywhere), that simplified things significantly. Pick up a modern camera, and there are buttons and controls all over the body, and things become even more complex when you dig into the menu. Editing software, which is the modern equivalent of the darkroom, can be overwhelming, with nearly unlimited possibilities for photo manipulation, a skill that’s quite different than operating a camera. That’s all incredible, but it can also be intimidating and exhausting. Sometimes endless choice is less like freedom and more like work. The more complicated cameras and software get, the less enjoyable it can become. But Fujifilm offers an alternative approach, should you wish to use it.
Choosing a Fujifilm Recipe is a little like loading a roll of film into a camera, except that on most Fujifilm models you can have up to seven loaded at any given time, and you’re not limited to 24 or 36 frames—it’s unlimited. Once you’ve set the Recipes, you stop worrying about all the other possibilities, and simply photograph with what’s available to you. Interestingly, limiting your options often feels more freeing than having unlimited choices. It’s one of those wonderful paradoxes: less is more, and fewer options can actually make you more creative. As Pablo Picasso advised, “If you have five elements available, use only four. If you have four elements, use three.”
There is something deeply satisfying about seeing a finished photograph immediately. It’s not too dissimilar to the magic of instant film photography. Ansel Adams coined the term one-step processing to describe this, where the second step—the development step—is no longer required. “The effect of one-step processing on both amateur and professional creative photography has been revolutionary,” Adams stated. When the picture appears in the EVF or LCD and it already looks the way you envisioned, that’s exciting. It makes you want to keep photographing, which creates momentum. Instead of thinking, “I’ll fix it later in post,” you’re thinking, “Let’s make another picture!” That’s a completely different mindset.
Recipes encourage photographers to see differently. For example, if I choose a Recipe with warm colors and soft contrast like Kodak Portra 400 v2, I naturally start looking for scenes that fit it. If I’m using a dramatic B&W Recipe like Agfa Scala, I begin noticing shadows, texture, and shape. What I photograph and how I photograph it change depending on the Recipe I’m using. The camera hasn’t changed, but the way I’m seeing the world has. In other words, Fujifilm Recipes are creative tools that influence the entire photographic process.
Then there’s nostalgia. Whether you shot film for decades or were born long after its heyday, certain colors and tones feel familiar. They remind us of family photo albums, vacation snapshots, old magazines, classic photography books, maybe movies we grew up watching, or even our memories of how something looked and felt. Fujifilm has done something remarkable by bringing those visual memories into the digital age by way of Film Simulations, and Recipes build further on that foundation by recreating classic analog aesthetics.
Joshua Tree Hotel – Kingman, AZ – Fujifilm GFX100RF – Agfa Ultra 100 v2
There’s one final aspect that’s worth mentioning: community. I think there’s an especially deep desire right now for personal connections; while it may seem odd that camera settings would bring people together, they do. Real life connections have been made because of the Recipe community. In my experience, this is the kindest group in all of photography, chocked full of super nice people who are eager to help. In a sense, community is the recipe.
Photographers love Fujifilm’s Film Simulations and Recipes because they make photography accessible, enjoyable, less time consuming, and for how it changes the photographic process. They encourage us to spend less time behind a computer and more time behind the camera (and maybe even with other photographers). They remind us that creativity often flourishes within limitations, not despite them. And perhaps most importantly, they help us focus on what drew many of us to photography in the first place: the simple joy of making pictures.
This Classic Retro Recipe began as an accident. The Fujifilm X-E5 has a Film Dial, but Classic Negative was excluded as a default option; however, you can set it (or any other Film Sim that was left off) to FS1-FS3, which is what I did. The X-E5 also has the option to program Recipes into FS1-FS3, and you can toggle the Recipes on and off. I was shooting with the Film Dial Recipe set, so I turned off the three Recipes set to FS1-FS3 (only the Film Simulation would change and not the other settings). Later, I was using the Agfa Scala Recipe, which was set to my C1-C7, but decided that I wanted to use the Classic Negative Recipe that I had programmed into FS1; however, I forgot to turn the Recipe that was programmed into FS1 back on, so the camera simply changed Acros to Classic Negative without adjusting the other parameters of the Agfa Scala Recipe. I captured a couple of images, then realized my mistake.
When I was reviewing the photos, I saw those couple of images where I made the mistake, and I kind of liked them. It wasn’t quite right, but I saw the potential. I fiddled with the settings, then made some more adjustments, and later refined it a little more. You’ll noticed where the Agfa Scala influence is, but a lot of the settings ended up with a change, and the final Recipe is notably divergent from where I started. It’s not modeled after any film, but it reminds me a little of Kodak Ektachrome 400 from the 1980’s (perhaps slides that have faded a bit), or maybe FPP RetroChrome 400, which was expired surplus Ektachrome made for government use, later sold to the general public. I don’t think this is spot on accurate for either, but it seems to be in the very general ballpark for both.
The trick with the Classic Retro Recipe is underexposure. It’s very easy to clip the highlights (which you want to avoid doing), but aside from that, the underexposure is an important part of the aesthetic. For most pictures, you should be in the negative territory on the Exposure Compensation Dial. Classic Retro is compatible with all fifth-generation Fujifilm models, which are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III cameras. You can also use it on the latest GFX models, like the GFX100 II, GFX100S II, GFX100RF. For fourth-generation cameras with Classic Negative, you can use this Recipe, too; however, it will render slightly differently (but try it anyway!).
Film Simulation: Classic Negative Grain Effect: Strong, Small Color Chrome Effect: Strong Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong White Balance: Daylight, 0 Red & -3 Blue Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +4 Shadow: -2 Color: -1 Sharpness: -2 High ISO NR: -4 Clarity: +2 ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: -2/3 to -1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Classic Retro Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-E5:
Southwest Airlines – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Sky Tram – Phoenix, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5
Vines on a Train Bridge – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Cesar Chavez St – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Downtown and Colorado River – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Clouds Over Train Bridge – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
City Art – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Urban Flower Blooms – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Power Plant – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Double Decker Cars – Austin, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Greyhound Bus – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Four Flags – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Brick Building with Broken Glass – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Majestic Theater – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Aztec – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
River Boat – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Stairway – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Large Leaves – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Leaves by the Water – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
Amaranth Blooms – San Antonio, TX – Fujifilm X-E5
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I have an upcoming project, and as part of that I want to create some Troy Paiva inspired night photos. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Troy creates nighttime photos of abandoned buildings, cars, airplanes, etc., illuminated by colored lights and the full moon (check out his Instagram). For this project, I want to do something similar for some of the pictures. I don’t have very much experience with this type of photography, so I need some practice before attempting the important images.
Some critical parts for this project arrived yesterday, namely lights and a Fujinon 23mm f/1.4 lens*. I’m not sure yet if the 23mm f/1.4 is the lens that I want to use, but I think it might be. We’ll see. Fujifilm let me borrow it, so I can try it out before deciding. More important than the lens are the lights, which are cheap Neewer mini portable LED lights I found on Amazon for $27 each. I purchased two. All of this arrived in the mail yesterday, so as soon as the sun went down and the (nearly) full moon came up, I grabbed my trusty tripod, set up the camera, and took some test shots.
Because I parked on a dirt lot, it stirred up the dust. I had no intentions of having the car lights on, but it looked cool, so I tried a handful of exposures with the car lights. I set one LED light to red (actually, I thought it was a rusty orange color) and the other to green (I thought it was teal), placing the red light in the backseat and the green in the front. The Recipe I used was Vivid Velvia, but I modified it slightly, setting Color to +3 instead of +4 and Highlight and Shadow both to -2. I tried a few different angles. Then I moved the lights from inside the truck to underneath, placing them behind the passenger-side wheels. After a handful of shots I moved them back inside.
I quickly realized that two lights weren’t enough for what I wanted to achieve. More ideally I needed four, so I ordered some more once I got home. But, not to be defeated, I made a double-exposure picture using the multiple exposure feature in the camera, moving the lights in-between the shots. At the time, I was a little afraid that the Vivid Velvia images were a little too punchy, so I switched to an experimental Recipe I’ve been working on (not sure yet if it will get published); however, in retrospect, I think I should have stuck with what I had been using.
Overall, the experiment was a failure in that I didn’t quite achieve what I was hoping to achieve; however, it was a success in that I learned some important lessons. It’s a step closer to the goal. For certain, I need more practice. That’s the point of this article: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Don’t expect that your idea will work on the first try, and don’t get discouraged when it doesn’t. Learn from what went right and what went wrong. Go back out on another occasion and try again. With enough practice, eventually you’ll get it. I will practice a few more times before beginning the project.
Below are a couple more pictures I made last night. The image at the top of this article is my favorite, and the closest to what I want to create (although it’s definitely not quite right). The double-exposure at the bottom is another that’s along the lines of what I’m looking for. I’ll keep trying, and eventually get it right. I can’t wait for that to happen, and I’ll be thrilled when it does.
*Edit: I mistakenly said the lens was the Fujinon 18mm f/1.4 when it was the Fujinon 23mm f/1.4. Guess that’s what happens when I write an article before my first cup of coffee after just six hours sleep. Won’t do that again. My apologies, and I hope it doesn’t cause any confusion or problems.
This is Part 3 of what will be a five-part series exploring Fujifilm Recipes for each generation of cameras. Beginning with the latest models, we will work our way back towards the older cameras. For each article, I will suggest seven Recipes to try. This is intended for those new to the whole Recipe thing, who haven’t tried them before (or perhaps only a few Recipes so far). The intention is to provide you with a list of seven that you can program into your C1-C7 Custom Setting presets.
The list below, which are the seven Recipes for Part 3, is specifically for the Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T30 cameras, the first two X-Trans IV cameras, which are in a category of their own. If you have one of those two cameras, these are the correct Recipes for you. This is far from an exhaustive list of fourth-generation Recipes, it’s only seven really good ones to get you started. Something to note is that with the X-T3 & X-T30, you cannot save a White Balance Shift within C1-C7; however, the camera will remember one WB Shift per WB type. With that in mind, each of these use a different WB type so that you don’t have to remember to adjust the WB Shift when going from one Custom Setting preset to another. If you are unsure which Fujifilm Recipes to begin with, these are ones that I highly recommend.
Window to the City – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodak Portra 400 v2
Kodak Portra 400 v2 does well anytime the sun is out, but especially for “golden hour” near sunrise and sunset. As the name suggests, it’s a good option for portrait photography, but it’s excellent for many other genres, too. This Recipe uses the Daylight White Balance.
While Classic Kodak can be used anytime the sun is out, it is a great options for middle-of-the-day situations. This Recipe uses the Shade White Balance.
Street Lamp Sunset – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodak Ultramax
I like to have at least one Recipe programmed into my camera that’s highly versatile and can be used no matter the situation. One of my personal favorites is Kodak Ultramax, which uses Auto White Balance.
Although each of the first four Recipes have a Kodak-negative-like look, Kodak Vision3 250D produces a notably divergent aesthetic than the three above. This Recipe uses the Fluorescent 1 White Balance.
Fujichrome Sensia 100 offers a notably different look than the options above. It’s one of my favorite Recipes for sunrise and sunset colors when the sky is pink and purple, but is good for a lot of other situations, too. It uses the Fluorescent 2 White Balance.
Wet Glass Bokeh – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Jeff Davenport Night
If it’s between dusk and dawn, especially if there are city lights, Jeff Davenport Night is the recipe to use on your X-T3 and X-T30 cameras. Period. It uses a Kelvin White Balance.
Minolta SRT303b – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-H1 – Analog Monochrome
Filling out the last slot was tricky because most of the White Balance types have already been used. There are basically three options: choose an X-Trans III Recipe—which are fully compatible with the X-T3 and X-T30—that uses a different WB type (that’s what I’ve done here, as Analog Monochrome utilizes Incandescent); use an Auto WB Recipe—perhaps Ilford Delta Push Process—and disregard the WB Shift, and accept the results for what they are (which will be nearly the same, but not exactly the same); or use a Daylight WB Recipe—perhaps Kodak Tri-X 400—and substitute Daylight with Underwater, which is similar enough that you’re unlikely to notice the difference.
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Someone told me, “When I want a Recipe for a certain look, I just ask AI to make it for me.” I’ve heard a similar sentiment a few times. In fact, there are a couple of website and apps that will do it for you. Just upload a picture, and AI will create a Recipe that supposedly matches the picture. ChatGPT and other AI programs can do it, too. But is it any good?
It’s an easy test, actually. Use a photo that was made using a Recipe, and see if it comes up with the same or similar settings. If not, then it doesn’t do a good job. Test it again using a photo made using that same Recipe, and see if it gives you the same or similar settings as the first time. If it doesn’t, then it’s inconsistent and can’t be trusted. In order for AI to be a useful tool for this, it needs to be both accurate and consistent; if neither are true, it’s not a good tool.
If you upload a photo to AI and ask it to create a Fujifilm Recipe, you hope that it’s going to produce reasonably similar results to the photo you uploaded. If not, then what’s the point? You might as well just use random settings, or let darts or dice determine what to program into your camera. Someone once told me that AI is better than a complete novice, but not as good as an expert. I think there’s a lot of truth to that, but when it comes to creating Recipes, AI might actually be worse than the novice.
For example, I uploaded the image at the top, Bike Bags, which was made using my Provia Positive Recipe, and asked ChatGPT to make a Recipe from that photo. You can see my chat with AI below:
I noticed two things immediately. First, it has a lot of similarities to Reggie’s Portra. Certainly not 100% (and for sure it’s not as good), but there some obvious parallels. Second, it says to use base ISO 160 and also DR200; since the Dynamic Range settings are ISO dependent, you can’t use DR200 at ISO 160. A minor grievance, but it illustrates that AI isn’t fully versed in Fujifilm settings. This is how Provia Positive compares to AI’s “Nordic Harbor” (a.k.a. Reggie’s Portra tweak):
Provia Positive Recipe
ChatGPT’s “Nordic Harbor” Recipe
The results are pretty divergent. You might like the AI version (it’s basically Reggie’s Portra with a slight green cast), but you can’t say that it’s a good facsimile of the Recipe it’s suppose to look like. Using the same account, I started a new chat and asked ChatGPT again to make a Recipe using the same photo, but I worded the question slightly different. It basically gave the same Recipe but with four changes: Reala Ace instead of Classic Chrome, Color 0 instead of +1, Shadow -2 instead of -1, and WB Shift +1 Red & -3 Blue instead of -2 Red & -4 Blue. Let’s take a look:
Provia Positive Recipe
ChatGPT’s Reala Ace version of its “Nordic Harbor” Recipe
After this, I used a separate ChatGPT account and repeated step one precisely, and got even different results (this time it suggested Velvia). I then tried using different photos made with the same Provia Positive Recipe, and each time it gave me a different Recipe, and none were very close to my Recipe. Between the two accounts, I asked ChatGPT to make a Recipe based on a Provia Positive photo a total of 10 times. Even if it had given an accurate result once (which it didn’t), how could you trust it with divergent suggestions each time? How could you ever know which one would be most correct?
Provia Positive Recipe
ChatGPT’s third attempt, this time with Velvia
I then tried other AI programs and apps, and repeated the test. Interestingly enough, on my first attempt with Claude, it gave a Reggie’s Portra like Recipe (just like ChatGPT), but with an even stronger green cast than ChatGPT’s iteration. Gemini also chose Classic Chrome on the first attempt, but played it safe and didn’t venture very far from factory-defaults. After 10 tries with these other AI apps and programs, plus the 10 I did with ChatGPT, I had a total of 20 results. Three things shocked me. First, Classic Chrome was chosen nine times, far more than any other film simulations. I assume this is because Classic Chrome is by far the most popular film sim for those who use Recipes, and that’s influencing AI’s answers. Second, Provia wasn’t picked even once. Not one time did AI choose the correct film simulation—not Provia, the “standard” option. Even on the programs specifically intended for making Fujifilm Recipes from photos, it got it wrong. If I had picked at complete random, most likely I would have chosen Provia at least one time (there are 20 film sims, and I made 20 attempts, but nine of them are monochromatic and not color). Third, one time Acros was given for the film simulation. One of the AI’s thought that Acros—a B&W film simulation—was the most correct! Wow.
This article is already way too long, so let me wrap this up. Yes, AI can make a Recipe that is based on a photo that you upload to it. Anytime you ask AI to do something, it will give you an answer. But is that answer any good? When it comes to Fujifilm Recipes, probably not. First, as you can see above, AI couldn’t figure it out. It also gave a different answer each time, and sometimes very nonsensical ones. Both the inaccuracies and inconsistencies are major red flags, and demonstrate that it’s not a trustworthy source for this particular task. It’ll probably get there someday, but it’s not there today. This is a very easy test, one that you can do yourself. If you ever wonder if any AI program or app can make a Recipe that matches the aesthetic of a picture that you upload to it, simply use an image that you already know the parameters of; if it can’t match it—or at least be in the general ballpark of it—then it’s not a good resource. You might actually be better off throwing darts, rolling dice, or picking the settings out of a hat at random.
Fujifilm is presenting a number of summer seminars on travel lenses and travel photography across America. They’ve asked me to lead two of them: one in Austin, Texas, on July 8th, and one in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on July 25th. If you live in or near those two cities, mark your calendars now and be sure join in on the fun.
The Austin class and photowalk will be at Precision Camera & Video, located at 2438 W. Anderson Lane, on Wednesday, July 8th. The class will begin at 5 pm, afterwards—about 6:30 pm—we will head over to the Austin Public Library to walk around downtown with our cameras. The fee is $5, and you do need to register (click here). It’s going to be a great time of learning, community, and photography. If you live anywhere near central Texas, I hope to see you there!
Later in the month, on July 25th, I’ll be at Bedford Camera & Video in Oklahoma City. The full details are still being worked out, but it should be along the lines of an afternoon class followed by a photowalk. As soon as it’s all finalized, I’ll get the details out to you. If you live in or near Oklahoma City, be sure to check back periodically so that you don’t miss out.
I don’t have details on the other locations, so if you live outside of Texas and Oklahoma, check with your local camera stores to see if they have any events going on. It’s possible that they are hosting one of these summer seminars, and, if so, you’ll want to join in on it. If you live in Austin or Oklahoma City, I hope to see you this July!
Low Sun over Tetons – Grand Teton NP, WY – Fujifilm X-E4 – Ferrania Solaris FG 400
Among Fujifilm’s 20 Film Simulations, Eterna Bleach Bypass might be the second least popular, only ahead of Sepia. In my opinion, it is the most underrated and under-appreciated option. Introduced on the Fujifilm X-T4 in 2020, Eterna Bleach Bypass remains exclusive to newer-generation cameras, so those with older models don’t have it available to them. Of the recent Film Simulations—Reala Ace, Classic Negative, Nostalgic Negative, Eterna, and Eterna Bleach Bypass—this one seems to get the least love, which I think is a bit unfair.
To understand the Eterna Bleach Bypass Film Simulation, it helps to first understand what it’s trying to replicate. Bleach bypass is a film processing technique in which the bleach stage is reduced or skipped during development, leaving silver in the emulsion along with the color dyes. The result is an image with higher contrast, muted colors, and a gritty, dramatic tonality—almost as if a black-and-white and color frame were combined together into one. It’s a more common darkroom technique for motion pictures than still photography, but it has been used for both. If you have ever watched the movie Saving Private Ryan, you’ve seen actual bleach bypass. Fujifilm’s Eterna Bleach Bypass Film Simulation is essentially an approximation of their Eterna motion picture film processed this way. It has strong contrast and is the lowest saturated of all the color Film Simulations.
Eterna Bleach Bypass is not a “works for everything” type of Film Simulation like Classic Chrome, Reala Ace, etc.. It’s more for when the subject and situation are “right” for it. Because of that, many never try it, or if they do, it’s once or twice and never again. When used intentionally, it can create cinematic images with a moody character. If you want to add drama to urban environments, partially cloudy or overcast sky, mountain scenes, and much more, this Film Simulation will do it.
Technically, you can get pretty close to factory-default Eterna Bleach Bypass by using the Eterna Film Simulation and increasing both Highlight and Shadow while also lowering Color and making a WB Shift adjustment. But there are straight-out-of-camera aesthetics that are only possible with the Eterna Bleach Bypass Film Simulation. It has its own look that’s immediately recognizable once you become familiar with it. Eterna Bleach Bypass is way underrated and deserves more fanfare. If you’ve never tried it, below are seven really good Fujifilm Recipes that use Eterna Bleach Bypass. I invite you to try one today!
Bell & Cross – Tumacacori, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – 1960 Chrome
The aesthetic of the 1960 Chrome Recipe comes from several photographs in various 1960’s issues of Arizona Highways magazine (I collect old copies of Arizona Highways, there’s so much great photography inside), so it has a vintage feel to it. This Recipe has compatibility with fourth and fifth generation models.
Golden Light on Water – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – Ferrania Solaris FG 400
The Ferrania Solaris FG 400 Recipe is simply Kodak Portra 400 v2 with Eterna Bleach Bypass instead of Classic Chrome. Most Recipes don’t look particularly good when you change the Film Simulation, but in this case it does. This Recipe is compatible with “newer” X-Trans IV cameras (X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II); for fifth-generation models, set Color Chrome FX Blue to Off.
The very first Recipe that I created using the Eterna Bleach Bypass Film Simulation was LomoChrome Metropolis. This Recipe is compatible with “newer” X-Trans IV cameras (X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II); for fifth-generation models, set Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak.
Boardwalking – Pismo Beach, CA – Fujifilm X-E4 – Eterna Bleach Bypass
“Essentially black-and-white for color photography,” is how I described the Eterna Bleach Bypass Recipe. It’s compatible with “newer” X-Trans IV cameras (X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II); for fifth-generation models, set Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak.
Raindrops on a Pond – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100VI – Chrome City
Chrome City is found in the Universal Negative Recipe set, and is one of my favorite Recipes for dreary, rainy days. It’s intended for fifth-generation cameras.
American Paint Horse – Litchfield Park, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 – Kodachrome Blue
The Kodachrome Blue Recipe mimics improperly scanned Kodachrome slides. Due to its unique design, Kodachrome is the most difficult slide film to accurately scan, so there are a lot of examples of the film with a blue cast, including some of my own that the lab did a poor job scanning. This Recipe is compatible with “newer” X-Trans IV cameras (X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II); for fifth-generation models, set Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak.
The Pushed CineStill 800T Recipe was intended for daytime photography, but is actually most well suited for nighttime situations. This one is compatible with X-Trans V cameras; for “newer” X-Trans IV (Fujifilm X-T4, X-S10, X-E4 & X-T30 II) use this version, and for the X-Pro3 and X100V use this one that has Eterna as the base.
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