There’s no right or wrong way to do photography. One technique or method might work for one person but not another. Whatever works for you is what you should do. With that in mind, I can think of three ways that you can approach using film simulation recipes on your Fujifilm camera.
The SOOC live video series that Nathalie Boucry and I are doing focuses on one of those approaches: straight-out-of-camera JPEGs. Shoot JPEG (or RAW+JPEG) with your recipe of choice, and use the unedited or lightly edited pictures (crops and very minor adjustments) that come out of the camera (which is one-step photography). This is probably the most common way to use film simulation recipes, and this is the method that works for me, as it saves me a lot of time (which allows me to be more productive), and I find it to be more fun. Shooting RAW and using X RAW Studio is a similar approach, although it does add a step to the process.
The photographs at the top of this article, which I captured over the last two days, are straight-out-of-camera JPEGs (aside from some minor cropping on a couple). The recipes that I used for those pictures (the top three are one, the bottom two are another) are future recipes that will be published on this website (and the app) soon. The entirety of my post-processing workflow was simply this: 1) transfer the pictures from the camera to my phone, 2) crop the pictures that needed to be cropped, 3) upload them to my online storage. Done.
Another option is to shoot RAW with a recipe and post-process the pictures using a software like Lightroom, Capture One, RAW Power, Exposure, etc., etc.—the software will apply its interpretation of many (but not all) of the JPEG settings to the RAW file (obviously each program is a little different). This gives you a head start with your editing, as you’re already 70% “there” when you start, and you just need to finish it. This is a great way to speed up your workflow without losing the flexibility of RAW.
Another approach is a mix of the first two: shoot JPEG (or RAW+JPEG) and edit the JPEGs using a software like Lightroom, Capture One, VSCO, Exposure, etc. This might sound like an odd approach at first (why not just shoot RAW if you’re going to edit?); however, if you like the way the straight-out-of-camera JPEGs look, and feel only minor refinements are required to achieve the exact aesthetic you desire, this is a good option. The JPEG is 90% “there” and just needs small adjustments to finish. This is my wife, Amanda’s, preferred approach. This is also what Vuhlandes describes in the video below.
Whether you rely strictly on straight-out-of-camera JPEGs, or you edit your JPEGs, or you post-process your RAW files, film simulation recipes can be used on your Fujifilm camera to help you get the look that you want. There’s not one path that is right for everyone. What’s important is that you find the method that works for you. Hopefully, no matter your preferred process, there’s something on this website that you have found helpful in some way to your photography. If so, let me know in the comments! Also, tell me how you use film simulation recipes—which of the three method works best for you. Or, if you have a different approach that I didn’t mention, I’d love to hear it.
United Carrier – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4 – “Expired Slide”
United Carrier – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4 – “Expired Slide v2”
I set out to recreate the look of expired slide film. Perhaps expired is the wrong term, because the aesthetic that I was after is more like mishandled slide film—not stored correctly or developed promptly. Maybe it passed its expiration date because it sat in a drawer for so long, or maybe it was in a hot car for a couple of hours, but, whatever the reason, it definitely doesn’t look right.
Why would I want to create this look? Because it’s an interesting vintage aesthetic that was somewhat common in the film era. While most people would not want this outcome, interestingly enough, there are some film photographers (a.k.a. Lomographers) who do this kind of thing on purpose specifically because they want this look. The two film simulation recipes below are for those people seeking something different. Neither of these will likely be anyone’s “go-to” recipe, but if you want something that’s a bit unusual, these are ones to try.
The film simulation recipe called Expired Slide was actually the second one, as I created (what I now call) Expired Slide v2 first. I liked the original settings, but thought that it might be a bit too much, so I toned it back slightly. I posted examples of both recipes to Instagram and let you guys decide which one was best. The Expired Slide recipe won hands-down, but there were some who passionately preferred Expired Slide v2, so I’m posting both. The only difference is the white balance (and shift), otherwise they’re identical. Expired Slide has more of a red-orange cast while Expired Slide v2 has more of a red-purple cast. Both recipes (as of this writing) are only compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10 and X-E4 cameras.
Expired Slide:
Forest Flowers – Ponderosa State Park, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Velvia Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +2 Shadow: -1 Color: -4 Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -2 Clarity: -2 Grain Effect: Strong, Large Color Chrome Effect: Strong Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong White Balance: 5500K, +7 Red & -2 Blue ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Limited 4404 – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Free – Boise, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Free Signs – Boise, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Construction Crane – Boise, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
10:45 – Boise, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Red Fence – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Tulip Blooms – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Dark Payette Lake – McCall, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Mossy Trunk – Ponderosa State Park, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Expired Slide v2:
Caterpillar – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Velvia Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +2 Shadow: -1 Color: -4 Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -2 Clarity: -2 Grain Effect: Strong, Large Color Chrome Effect: Strong Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong White Balance: 5000K, +8 Red & 0 Blue ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Red Barn – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Jump Pad – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Stack of Buckets – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
The Oaks – Ogden Canyon, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Lake Marina – McCall, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Two Dogs Swimming – Ponderosa State Park, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Jon Fishin’ – McCall, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Log in the Water – McCall, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
Payette Lakeshore – Ponderosa State Park, ID – Fujifilm X-E4
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Pink Roses – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – “Fujicolor Pro 400H Box Speed”
In my last post, entitled A Different Approach, I shared Anders Lindborg‘s new take on film simulation recipes, which included seven different Fujicolor Pro 160NS recipes that he invented. This is Part 2 of that article. Below you’ll find another seven recipes, this time for Fujicolor Pro 400H! If you haven’t read the first post, you’ll want to do that now, because this will make a lot more sense if you have that prerequisite understanding.
If you don’t want to take the time to read it (or if you’ve already forgotten), here’s a quick summery. Anders’ approach is to have a good base recipe that works well in most circumstances, but also have subtle variations of that recipe, that mimic pushed and pulled film, for when the conditions require either less contrast (pulled) or more contrast (pushed). You can use all seven Custom Presets in the Q Menu to save each of these recipes if you want, or just save the base recipe (called “Box Speed”) and adjust to the various variations on-the-fly, or save the base setting and have the variations programmed into X RAW Studio. Also, by design these recipes will work with any film simulation, even though they call for PRO Neg. Hi.
Like the 160NS recipe, I’m only including the “Box Speed” version in the Fuji X Weekly app, and I encourage you to use the Notes section under the recipe to store the pushed and pulled variations. These seven Fujicolor Pro 400H recipes are compatible with the Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T30 cameras. If you have a newer X-Trans IV camera (X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10 and X-E4), Anders recommends setting Clarity to -3 and Grain to Weak & Large. If you have an X-Trans III camera, ignore Color Chrome Effect; the results will be slightly different, but it will still produce good results. For Pushed +3 and Pushed +4, feel free to try Grain Strong.
This recipe wasn’t intended to mimic Fujicolor Pro 400H film, but it does resemble it fairly well. A lot of people like to overexpose real 400H film to get a pastel look; unfortunately, this recipe won’t achieve that particular aesthetic (but look here and here). Anders created this recipe by modifying his Pro 160NS settings; I made a couple of small modifications to it, but mostly these settings are created by him. Thank you, Anders, for creating these recipes and allowing me to share them!
Fujicolor Pro 400H Box Speed
Pops of Red – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
PRO Neg. Hi Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: 0 Shadow: 0 Color: +1 Color Chrome Effect: Strong Grain: Weak Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -3 White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -3 Blue ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 (typically)
Free Pie – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Birthday Girl Coloring – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Shelf Plant – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fujicolor Pro 400HPulled -1
Snail – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
PRO Neg. Hi Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: -1 Shadow: -1 Color: +1 Color Chrome Effect: Strong Grain: Weak Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -3 White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -3 Blue ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 (typically)
If you are adding this recipe to the Notes in the app, consider using this abbreviation: Pulled -1: HL & SH -1.
Green Aspen Leaves – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tank Cars – Uintah, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Yellow Cat – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fujicolor Pro 400H Pulled -2
Hazy Mountain – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
PRO Neg. Hi Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: -2 Shadow: -1 Color: 0 Color Chrome Effect: Strong Grain: Weak Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -3 White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -3 Blue ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: 0 to +1 (typically)
If you are adding this recipe to the Notes in the app, consider using this abbreviation: Pulled -2: HL -2, SH -1, CLR 0.
Box Cars – Uintah, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Suburban Sunset – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Hazy Tree – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fujicolor Pro 400H Pushed +1
Yucca Leaves – Uintah, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
PRO Neg. Hi Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +1 Shadow: 0 Color: +1 Color Chrome Effect: Strong Grain: Weak Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -3 White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -3 Blue ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 (typically)
If you are adding this recipe to the Notes in the app, consider using this abbreviation: Pushed +1: HL +1.
Red Tree – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tree & Dark Clouds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
David Baldwin – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fujicolor Pro 400H Pushed +2
Wood Stripes – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
PRO Neg. Hi Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +2 Shadow: 0 Color: +2 Color Chrome Effect: Strong Grain: Weak Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -3 White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -3 Blue ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
If you are adding this recipe to the Notes in the app, consider using this abbreviation: Pushed +2: HL +2, CLR +2.
Mountain Biking – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Radar Mountain – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Bloomin’ Onion – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fujicolor Pro 400H Pushed +3
Three Artificial Plants – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
PRO Neg. Hi Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +2 Shadow: +1 Color: +3 Color Chrome Effect: Strong Grain: Weak Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -3 White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -3 Blue ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
If you are adding this recipe to the Notes in the app, consider using this abbreviation: Pushed +3: HL +2, SH +1, CLR +3.
Berry Bush Leaves #1 – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Berry Bush Leaves #2 – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Sky Leaves – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fujicolor Pro 400H Pushed +4
Old Phone – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
PRO Neg. Hi Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +3 Shadow: +2 Color: +4 Color Chrome Effect: Strong Grain: Weak Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -4 White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -3 Blue ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
If you are adding this recipe to the Notes in the app, consider using this abbreviation: Pushed +4: HL +3, SH +2, CLR +4, SHARP -4.
Berry Bush Leaves #3 – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Green – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Landscape Leaves – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Below are examples of using the Fujicolor Pro 160NS Box Speed recipe using other film simulations. You can do this with all of the pull and push variants, too, although I didn’t supply any examples of those because this article is already very long.
Nobody pays me to write the content found on fujixweekly.com. There’s a real cost to operating and maintaining this site, not to mention all the time that I pour into it. If you appreciated this article, please consider making a one-time gift contribution. Thank you!
Have you ever been to an amusement park and gone on one of those log flume water rides where you get thrilled and soaked simultaneously? That’s this film simulation recipe, which is appropriately called Grizzly Ride. Immanuel Sander (a.k.a. Captn Look), who created the Nature Neon and Creamy Color recipes, also invented this one (find him on Instagram and YouTube). I’m not exactly sure why he named it Grizzly Ride, but, when you look at the pictures captured with this recipe, it makes perfect sense. I want to thank Immanuel for creating this recipe, allowing me to share it here, and allowing me to publish his pictures—it’s much appreciated! Be sure to leave him a “thank you” in the comments.
This film simulation recipe reminds me of sepia, except with color images instead of black-and-white. It’s got a great vintage feel to it, reminding me of some old color pictures from my grandparents’ photo album. It’s one of my favorite recipes for natural-light indoor photography, but it also looks good in many other situations, too.
Because this recipe uses Eterna Bleach Bypass and some other JPEG options that are only found on the newest models, it’s only compatible (as of this writing) with the Fujifilm X-E4, X-T4 and X-S10 cameras. As a reminder, using Clarity causes the camera to pause briefly after the exposure, which will slow you down a little.
Eterna Bleach Bypass Dynamic Range: DR200 Highlight: 0 Shadow: +2.5 Color: -2 Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: -4 Clarity: -5 Grain Effect: Strong, Large Color Chrome Effect: Strong Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong White Balance: 6990K, +3 Red & -7 Blue ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Grizzly Ride” film simulation recipe:
Immanuel Sander
Photograph by Immanuel Sander
Photograph by Immanuel Sander
Photograph by Immanuel Sander
Photograph by Immanuel Sander
Ritchie Roesch
Onion Flames – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Hanging Lamps – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
New Sake Flavors – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
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One of my favorite film simulations is Eterna. There’s a special quality to it that’s different than the other film simulations, with its low contrast and muted colors. Yes, you can get pretty close to Eterna using PRO Neg. Std, but you cannot completely match the lovely subtle tonality of it. I think the Eterna film simulation is a little underrated, as it’s a great base for crafting recipes, and I was eager to create a new look with it—so I did!
Real Eterna is a motion picture film. Actually, there have been a number of different film stocks that Fujifilm has given the name Eterna to. The film simulation of the same name doesn’t exactly match any specific Eterna film, yet it has a great general Eterna cinematic feel. In my opinion, the Eterna film simulation is good for achieving an analog color negative film aesthetic.
The first recipe that I created that uses the Eterna film simulation is simply called Eterna, and I really like how that one turned out. I wanted to make something similar, but not identical, using the additional JPEG options that Fujifilm has added to their newer X-Trans IV cameras. I wanted a warm vintage film look—something that could possibly be confused as being actual analog—without being based on any specific film. I think it looks pretty good, and I hope that you do, too.
El Capitan – Yosemite NP, CA – Fujifilm X-E4 – “Eterna v2”
Because this film simulation recipe requires the new Auto White Priority white balance, it is only compatible with the X-T4, X-S10 and X-E4; however, for outdoor natural light photography, using Auto white balance will produce identical results, which means that you can use this Eterna v2 recipe with the X100V and X-Pro3! For indoor artificial light photography, using Auto white balance will produce overly warm images, so Auto White Priority works better, but right now only the three newest Fujifilm X cameras have that option. For the X-T3 and X-T30, in addition to using Auto white balance, you’ll have to disregard Color Chrome Effect Blue and Clarity, and consider setting Highlight to +2 and Shadow to +1 plus Sharpness to -2 to compensate, as well as disregard Grain size (simply use Strong). It won’t be identical, but it will be very similar—I tested it out on my X-T30 and it works.
Eterna Dynamic Range: DR400 Highlight: +3 Shadow: +2 Color: +3 Noise Reduction: -4 Sharpness: 0 Clarity: -3 Grain Effect: Strong, Small Color Chrome Effect: Strong Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong White Balance: Auto White Priority (X100V + X-Pro3: Auto), +4 Red & -7 Blue ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400 Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Eterna v2” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-E4:
Faux Plant on a Table – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
J.C. Higgins – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Empty Grapefruit Box – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Duerden’s Will Call – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Reaching Tree Branches – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Flower Tree – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Click – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Sevenhundred Sixty – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Nobody pays me to write the content found on fujixweekly.com. There’s a real cost to operating and maintaining this site, not to mention all the time that I pour into it. If you appreciated this article, please consider making a one-time gift contribution. Thank you!
These two recipes aren’t actually new, they’re just new to the app. I’ve created so many different film simulation recipes over the last few years, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of them all. Right now there are 135 different ones on the app! The two that I just added were somehow overlooked. By request, they’re now included on the app.
Let’s take a look at these two new (yet old) film simulation recipes!
Pointing Towards the Sky – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
My Kodacolor film simulation recipe is quite popular as it produces a great vintage-analog aesthetic that’s easy to love. Kodacolor film has been around for a long time—the name was first used by Kodak in 1942—and many different emulsions have had this brand name on it. Interestingly, Kodacolor was the first color negative film intended for making prints.
Stephen Shore shot a lot of Kodacolor, mostly Kodacolor-X and Kodacolor II, but also likely the original Kodacolor, Kodacolor 400, and Kodacolor-VR. While Shore did shoot 35mm film, he is most known for his medium-format and large-format photographs. Something I learned is that medium and large format Kodacolor film is more saturated than the 35mm emulsion. The only difference between the original Kodacolor recipe and the Stephen Shore Kodacolor recipe is that Color is turned up a little, otherwise they’re identical.
Smiling Jonathan – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
When Fujifilm introduced the Eterna film simulation on the X-H1, I received several requests to create a recipe that mimics it for cameras that don’t have Eterna. At the time, there weren’t many example pictures captured with Eterna, yet I made an attempt anyway, but it turned out to be inaccurate. Once I had a chance to use Eterna, I created this Faux Eterna recipe, which is much closer to the film simulation.
Here are the Top 20 most popular film simulation recipes of 2020! I used page views to rank these recipes. Those with Kodak, Kodachrome or Portra in the name are quite popular. More than half of these use Classic Chrome as the base. It’s interesting to compare these to the 12 most popular recipes of December 2020. Only one black-and-white recipe made this list, which isn’t too surprising because color is more popular than monochrome. No Bayer, X-Trans I or X-Trans II recipes found their way into the top 20, only X-Trans III and X-Trans IV.
Without further ado, here are the Top 20 most popular film simulation recipes of 2020:
