Fujifilm videos

Introducing Video Recipes for Fujifilm Cameras!

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

I’m thrilled to finally release an exciting project that has been in the works for over a year: Video Recipes for Fujifilm cameras! This has taken tremendous effort to complete. Even though there are significantly fewer settings available for video than for stills, I found that creating Recipes for video to be much more difficult. A lot of care went into them. I’m extremely happy to share these new Recipes with you today.

Any Fujifilm Recipe can be used for video, but there are some caveats. First, not all of the options that are available for still photography are available for video (and, to a much lesser degree, vice versa). Also, the various Film Simulations look very subtly divergent for video than stills, simply because the pipeline is different for color sampling, curves, sharpening, and noise reduction—the output is nearly the same, but there are some small inherent variations, with some Film Simulations affected more than others. All of this is to say that Recipes intended for still photography will work for cinematography if you ignore the settings that aren’t available in movie mode, but the outcome will not be 100% exactly the same. Aside from that, what works well for still photography does not always work well for video (and vice versa)—that’s why film manufacturers have some emulsions specifically for photographs and some specifically for motion pictures. With that in mind, I decided to create Fujifilm Recipes that are specifically designed for cinematography.

I just published eight brand-new video Recipes. All of them are compatible with fifth-generation cameras (Fujifilm X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III), while some can also be used with fourth-generation models. Additionally, these Recipes are compatible with newer GFX cameras, like the GFX100 II, GFX100S II, GFX100RF, and Eterna 55. If you are a video content creator who wants to take advantage of Fujifilm’s excellent colors and spend less time—or even eliminate—color grading, these Video Recipes are for you!

All of the footage in the sample videos are straight-out-of-camera, completely unedited other than length (and sometimes cropped and/or stabilized). The clips were not color graded or manipulated. If you were to use these Recipes for your cinematography, you can expect the same type of results. What you see is what you’ll get.

This Video Recipe project was a team effort. I developed the Recipes myself with input and feedback from my lovely wife, Amanda. The footage in the sample videos were made by several creators, who I’ll introduce in just a moment. Amanda edited all of clips into YouTube videos. The Fuji X Weekly App had to be modified, made possible by the talents of my app developer, Sahand Nayebaziz.

Now, let’s take a look at the six Video Recipes!

Chrome Color

The Chrome Color Video Recipe is warm and subtly colorful, with a strong Kodak-like aesthetic. It’s great for a summertime vibe. While it’s especially good for sunny daylight situations, it’s also quite versatile, and can be used anytime of the day or night.

Reala Color

The Reala Color Video Recipe is warm, light, and vibrant—yet somehow true-to-life—with an analog feel. It’s quite versatile, and can be used anytime of the day or night.

Nostalgic Color

The Nostalgic Color Video Recipe is soft, warm, and slightly muted—an aesthetic that feels like a memory. This Recipe evokes nostalgia, and is quite versatile.

Natural Negative

The Natural Negative Video Recipe is soft, light, and warm, yet true-to-life. It has a strong cinematic feel. This Recipe is extremely versatile, great for day or night or any other light situation.

Retro Fujicolor

The Retro Fujicolor Video Recipe is muted and contrasty, with a vintage Fujicolor look reminiscent of the ’80’s and ’90’s. The Recipe is highly versatile, and can be used anytime of the day or night.

Vivid Fujichrome

The Vivid Fujichrome Video Recipe is vibrant and leans warm; slightly contrasty with deep blacks. This is a bold Recipe for colorful subjects, and has a distinctive Velvia quality. It’s specifically intended for sunny daylight, but it can sometimes produce good results in other light situations. It’s especially great for sunset and blue hour.

Retro Cinematic

The Retro Cinematic Video Recipe emphasizes both warm and cool tones. In the right light, it almost has a split-tone effect. Depending on the situation, it can appear to have a warm cast or a cool cast. While this Recipe is intended for use in sunny daylight, it’s great for showcasing the blues of twilight and for emphasizing the warmth of artificial light.

Vision Daylight

The Vision Daylight Video Recipe is warm, somewhat contrasty (yet with great tonality), and subtly colorful—very summer-like—with a cinematic feel. It has a strong Kodak-esque motion picture aesthetic. This Recipe is specifically intended for sunny daylight situations, but can be interesting in other light, too.

Now let’s meet the cinematographers! I want to give a big shoutout and thank you to them, as they each played an important role in this project. Also, I want to give a special acknowledgement to my wife, Amanda, who produced the sample videos above, and was instrumental in this whole project—without her, none of this would have happened.

Kyler Steele

A New York City-based travel photographer and videographer, Kyler’s content evokes a feeling of nostalgia through his use of color and composition. He has collaborated with Hasselblad, Leica, and Fujifilm. His reviews, guides, newsletter, and educational content are popular on Instagram and YouTube.

AV

Austin, also known as AV and AVdidit, is a New York City-based landscape and travel photographer and videographer who aims to capture the emotion or atmosphere of a scene rather than strict realism. He has worked with B&H, Fujifilm, OM Systems, Cruise America, and more. You can find him on Instagram and YouTube.

Dave Geffin

A New York City-based photographer and cinematographer, Dave has worked with Fujifilm, Adidas, Amazon, Phase One, Elle, Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and many, many more. Dave has extensive experience with fashion, commercial, and editorial clients around the world.

B.Monét

B.Monét is an award-winning writer and director, who’s various short films have screened in dozens of film festivals and streamed on BET, Hulu, and Max. She has worked with Levi’s, Estée Lauder, Disney, Uber, and more.

Sahand Nayebaziz

Sahand is a Los Angeles-based portrait photographer and filmmaker since 2011. He’s also an app developer, and a vital part of the Fuji X Weekly team for over six years.

Jeffrey Sun

Jeffrey is an up-and-coming New York City-based photographer, content creator, and YouTuber who specializes in street and travel images. He has worked with various musicians, events, and brands, including Fujifilm.

Retro Cinematic — A FXW App Patron Early-Access Video Recipe for Fujifilm Cameras

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Any Fujifilm Recipe can be used for video, but there are some caveats. First, not all of the options that are available for still photography are available for video (and, to a much lesser degree, vice versa). Also, the various Film Simulations look very subtly divergent for video than stills, simply because the pipeline is different for color sampling, curves, sharpening, and noise reduction—the output is nearly the same, but there are some small inherent variations, with some Film Simulations affected more than others. All of this is to say that Recipes intended for still photography will work for cinematography if you ignore the settings that aren’t available in movie mode, but the outcome will not be exactly the same. Aside from that, what works well for still photography does not always work well for video (and vice versa)—that’s why film manufacturers have some emulsions specifically for photographs and some specifically for motion pictures. With that in mind, I decided to create Fujifilm Recipes that are specifically designed for cinematography.

What I love about the Retro Cinematic Video Recipe is that it emphasizes both warm and cool tones. In the right light, it almost has a split-tone effect. Depending on the situation, it can appear to have a warm cast or a cool cast. While this Recipe is intended for use in sunny daylight, it can also be great for showcasing the blues of twilight and for emphasizing the warmth of artificial light. The Retro Cinematic Video Recipe is a Fuji X Weekly App Patron Early-Access Recipe, which means that it is currently only available to App Patrons; however, in time it will be available to everyone. If you are a Fuji X Weekly App Patron subscriber, it’s available to you right now. The YouTube video that I’ve embedded below is a good sampling of what the Retro Cinematic Recipe looks like.

Retro Cinematic is a video Recipe, and is not intended for still photography; however, you can use it for stills by choosing a Grain size (either Off or Weak/Small), setting Color Chrome Effect and Color Chrome FX Blue to Off, and set Clarity to 0. I did not include a “typical exposure compensation” because you’ll want to carefully consider the exposure for each individual scene, and whether it should be brighter or darker will depend on the exact light situation and desired mood. This Retro Cinematic Recipe is compatible with all fifth-generation cameras, which (as of this writing) are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III. You can also use this with newer GFX cameras, too.

The stills below are from the video above. The video footage was captured using a Fujifilm X-H2s and X-S20. No color grading, just straight-out-of-camera clips. Footage by AV, Dave Geffin, B.Monét, Kyler Steele, and Jeffrey Sun.

Click here to find more Video Recipes!

Find this Fujifilm Recipe and hundreds more in the Fuji X Weekly App. Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.

Vivid Fujichrome — A Video Recipe for Fujifilm Cameras

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Any Fujifilm Recipe can be used for video, but there are some caveats. First, not all of the options that are available for still photography are available for video (and, to a much lesser degree, vice versa). Also, the various Film Simulations look very subtly divergent for video than stills, simply because the pipeline is different for color sampling, curves, sharpening, and noise reduction—the output is nearly the same, but there are some small inherent variations, with some Film Simulations affected more than others. All of this is to say that Recipes intended for still photography will work for cinematography if you ignore the settings that aren’t available in movie mode, but the outcome will not be exactly the same. Aside from that, what works well for still photography does not always work well for video (and vice versa)—that’s why film manufacturers have some emulsions specifically for photographs and some specifically for motion pictures. With that in mind, I decided to create Fujifilm Recipes that are specifically designed for cinematography.

Even though there are significantly fewer settings available for video than for stills, I found that creating Recipes for video to be much more difficult. I began this project over a year ago, and only now am I publishing the results. It’s been a lot of fun, but also very challenging. The YouTube video that I’ve embedded below is a good sampling of what the Vivid Fujichrome Recipe looks like. I would describe it as vibrant and leaning warm; slightly contrasty with deep blacks. This is a bold Recipe for colorful subjects, and has a distinctive Velvia quality. It’s specifically intended for sunny daylight, but it can sometimes produce good results in other light situations. It’s especially great for sunset and blue hour.

Vivid Fujichrome is a video Recipe, and is not intended for still photography; however, you can use it for stills by choosing a Grain size (either Off or Weak/Small), setting Color Chrome Effect and Color Chrome FX Blue to Off, and set Clarity to 0. I did not include a “typical exposure compensation” because you’ll want to carefully consider the exposure for each individual scene, and whether it should be brighter or darker will depend on the exact light situation and desired mood. This Vivid Fujichrome Recipe is compatible with most fourth-generation Fujifilm cameras—X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II—as well as all fifth-generation cameras, which (as of this writing) are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III. You can also use this with many GFX cameras, too.

Film Simulation: Velvia
White Balance: 5000K, +2 Red & 0 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: -1
Shadow: -2
Color: +2
Sharpness: 0
High ISO NR: -4
Interframe NR: Auto
ISO: up to ISO 6400

The stills below are from the video above. The video footage was captured using a Fujifilm X-H2s and X-S20. No color grading, just straight-out-of-camera clips. Footage by AV, Dave Geffin, B.Monét, Kyler Steele, and Jeffrey Sun.

Click here to find more Video Recipes!

Find this Fujifilm Recipe and hundreds more in the Fuji X Weekly App. Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.

Travel Photography Q&A — Don’t Miss It!

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Ken Rockwell at the Coast – Morro Bay, CA – Fujifilm X-E4 – Kodacolor VR Recipe

Next week—on July 27th—Fujifilm X-Photographer Nathalie Boucry and I will be chatting about travel photography in our upcoming SOOC Live broadcast, including showing your pictures and answering your questions. I hope that you can join us!

The Q&A shows, which are the Part 2 of our monthly topics, are always a lot of fun. They’re more relaxed and interactive. Your participation makes them great—your role is vital! If you don’t have next week’s broadcast on your calendar, be sure to mark it now. I’ve included it below so that you can easily locate it.

Two weeks ago was the Part 1 episode, where Nathalie and I introduced the theme of travel photography. We discussed all sorts of considerations and gave many tips. If you haven’t yet seen that show, you’ll want to take some time to watch it. I’ve included the broadcast below, and you can also find it on the SOOC Live YouTube channel.

In that episode we challenged you to shoot with one or more of these four Film Simulation Recipes: 1970’s Summer, Elite Chrome 200, Fujichrome Provia 100F, and Kodacolor VR. Additionally, if you want an even greater challenge, you can try to get good results from one or more of these Recipes in unfavorable light. And if you want to go boss-level, the third challenge is to print and frame one of your pictures that were captured with these Recipes. To summarize: Level 1 is to use the Recipes listed above, Level 2 is to shoot those Recipes in less-than-ideal light, and Level 3 is to print and frame one of the pictures you captured during the first two levels. Got it?

We invite you to share your results with us and the SOOC Live community. Please upload your images (click here) captured with our four recommended Recipes to be potentially featured in the next episode and also included in the Viewers’ Images slideshow. Don’t forget to include the Film Simulation Recipe name in the file name, so that we know which Recipe you used. The deadline for submission is Tuesday the 25th, which means that you still have a little time, but not a lot, so don’t procrastinate. I look forward to seeing your pictures!

Last month’s Viewers Images slideshow was delayed a little due to a few unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances. If you haven’t yet watched it, I’ve included it below. Thank you to everyone who participated!

See also: The Ultimate Travel Compact Camera Kit

Acting Like a Wes Anderson film in Sedona — Fujifilm X-T5 + Vibrant Arizona Recipe

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Arizona Barn – Sedona, Arizona – Fujifilm X-T5 & TTArtisan 35mm f/0.95 – Vibrant Arizona

Ever since the first trailer for Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City debuted back in March, the movie’s generated a lot of buzz. There’s also been a ton of interest in recreating Wes Anderson’s aesthetic and style. Now that Asteroid City is about to hit theaters across America (and presumably the world), there’s been a renewed interest in the Wes Anderson look.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to faithfully mimic an Asteroid City aesthetic straight-out-of-camera on Fujifilm models; however, you can get somewhat close, if you ok with compromises. My Vibrant Arizona Film Simulation Recipe is the closest you’re likely to get to an Asteroid City look without editing (in the article, I give some tips for getting even closer with a couple of quick edits). While it’s just not possible to achieve an orange/teal/pastel palette in-camera on Fujifilm models, the Vibrant Arizona Recipe does produce an unmistakable Wes Anderson vibe, which is definitely in-style right now.

Last month I visited Sedona, Arizona—the perfect location to use Vibrant Arizona! If there’s any place that just cries for this Film Simulation Recipe, it’s Red Rock Country. I loaded the Recipe into my Fujifilm X-T5, attached a TTArtisan 35mm f/0.95 lens, and walked around the iconic tourist town. My wife, Amanda, came along with her Fujifilm X-T4 (with a Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens), and recorded some clips.

You can use Film Simulation Recipes for video in Fujifilm cameras to an extent, and avoid color grading. Some settings aren’t available, such as Grain, Color Chrome Effects, D-Range Priority, and Clarity, which means that Vibrant Arizona can’t really be used for video. Instead, in order to get the video clips to be similar to the photographs, we used these settings in Amanda’s X-T4:

Classic Chrome
White Balance: 4350K, +6 Red & -8 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR400
Color +4
Highlight: -2
Shadow: -2
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4

Of course, being influenced by Wes Anderson, Amanda shot and edited the video in a style inspired by his movies. I hope that you find it entertaining, and that it will inspire you to give the Vibrant Arizona Film Simulation Recipe a try on your Fujifilm camera. Also, be sure to follow my YouTube channel if you don’t already, and give the video a thumbs-up if you liked it.

You can find the Vibrant Arizona Recipe (and nearly 300 more!) in the Fuji X Weekly App. Download for free today (Android here, Apple here); consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support this website.

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

Fujifilm X-T5:  Amazon  B&H  Moment
TTArtisan 35mm f/0.95:  Amazon   B&H

Next SOOC Live is Postponed 1 Day — Now Friday April 28

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Underwood Typewriter – Vulture City, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – AgfaChrome RS 100 Recipe

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the next SOOC Live broadcast is being delayed one day, and will now be on Friday April 28, and not Thursday the 27th. I apologize for any issues that this might cause. I hope that you can still join us!

What will this episode be about? It’s Part 2 of our discussion on Storytelling Photography. If you missed Part 1 when it was live, be sure to watch it now (click here).

The Film Simulation Recipes that Nathalie Boucry and I are challenging you to shoot with this month are Reggie’s Portra, AgfaChrome RS 100, Classic Slide, and/or Ilford Delta Push Process. You have until this Tuesday to use these Recipes and upload the results to be included in the Viewer’s Images Slide Show and potentially this upcoming broadcast. Click here to upload your pictures—please include the Recipe name in the file name so that we know which one you used. I can’t wait to see your photos!

Don’t forget: the next show will be LIVE on Friday the 28th! It’s an interactive program, so the more who can tune in, the better it will be. I look forward to seeing you then!

Telling Stories with Your Fujifilm Camera

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Free Spirit – Pismo Beach, CA – Fujifilm X-E4 – Pacific Blues Recipe

Photos tell stories.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words—a lot can be nonverbally communicated through an image. But what exactly is storytelling photography? How do we effectively become storytellers with our cameras? Those questions and so many others will be discussed at length in the next SOOC Live broadcast, which is THIS Thursday, April 6th, at 10 AM Pacific Time, 1 PM Eastern. Mark your calendars now! I hope you can join us live!

For those who don’t know, SOOC Live is a bimonthly broadcast where Nathalie Boucry and I discuss Film Simulation Recipes, give tips and tricks for achieving the results you want straight-out-of-camera, and answer your questions. Basically, we’re trying to help you master your camera, with a focus on simplifying your photographic workflow. On the first Thursday of each month we introduce and discuss a theme—the theme for March was Street Photography—and the fourth Thursday of each month we look at the photographs captured within the theme using the Recipes, talk about lessons learned, and answer any and all of your questions. It’s an interactive show, and your participation is what makes it great!

Last Thursday was the Q&A broadcast. If you missed it when it was live, you can watch it now (see below). We had some very good discussions about street photography, so be sure to play it if you haven’t seen it yet!

Also, check out the Viewer’s Images slideshow! It was so great to see your wonderful pictures—they were quite inspiring to me—and I appreciate everyone who shared—thank you! Take a look!

Be sure to follow SOOC Live on YouTube if you don’t already, so that you don’t miss any broadcasts. I look forward to seeing you in just a few days as we talk about Storytelling! This will be an especially insightful episode, I think, so you won’t want to miss it. See you on Thursday!

SOOC Live was Today!

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Season 3 of SOOC Live kicked off today! I want to give a big shoutout to everyone who tuned in, and a big “thank you” to everyone who participated. It’s an interactive program, so your involvement is essential to making it great. If you missed it when it was live, you can still watch it above. Don’t forget to subscribe to the new YouTube channel.

For those who don’t know, SOOC Live is a (now) bimonthly broadcast where Nathalie Boucry and I discuss Film Simulation Recipes, give tips and tricks for achieving the results you want straight-out-of-camera, and answer your questions. Basically, we’re trying to help you master your camera, with a focus on simplifying your photographic workflow.

In the show we announced several changes for Season 3. First, we are going to have shorter but more frequent broadcasts. Beginning in March, we’ll be live on the first and fourth Thursdays of each month. Another change is that instead of discussing a single Film Simulation Recipe each month, we’ll be discussing a theme (such as street photography, the theme for March) and how to use Recipes within that theme. There are a number of other changes, too, so if you want to know them all, be sure to watch the show.

We invite you to join us on March 2 for the Let’s Hit the Streets episode about street photography. It’a already scheduled on YouTube, so be sure to set a reminder. I hope to see you then!

Let’s Get Festive — The SOOC Holiday Special!

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Join me next week for a very special SOOC broadcast! On Thursday, December 8, at 8:30 AM Pacific Time, 11:30 AM Eastern, Fujifilm X-Photographer Nathalie Boucry and I, plus a number of guests, will get festive live on YouTube, as we finish our discussion of the Kodak Ektachrome 100SW Film Simulation Recipe (don’t forget to upload your pictures by December 6th—click here). We have several fun surprises planned, so this is an episode that you won’t want to miss! I hope to see you then!

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

If you missed the last broadcast… due to technical difficulties, it’s been divided into Part 1 and Part 2, which you can find below. Also, I’ve included the last Viewers’ Images slideshow (your pictures!) at the bottom, in case you missed that, too.

Fujifilm Film Simulation Recipes That Will Make You Stop Shooting RAW

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

A couple days ago Serr (Instagram, YouTube) dropped an incredible video, called Fujifilm Film Simulation Recipes that will make you stop shooting RAW II. If you haven’t seen it, I included it above—I promise that it’s worth your time and you won’t be disappointed. I was blown away by it! Serr has some impressive video and photography skills, and they’re on full display in this feature. In other words, stop what you’re doing and watch it right now!

The Film Simulation Recipes mentioned in the video are:

Kodak Ektar 100
B&W Superia
Positive Film
Serr’s 500T

Also, if you missed the first installment of this video series, you can watch it below.

If you enjoyed these videos, be sure to show Serr some love by following him and giving his videos a thumbs up!

Fuji Features: One Year with the Fujifilm X100V

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Yesterday I published an article entitled One Year with the Fujifilm X100V. That wasn’t a review, per se, but some brief commentary about the camera after owning it for one year. If you haven’t already done so, you can also read my full review of the Fujifilm X100V. Anyway, I was thinking this morning, as I was trying to come up with a topic for this third installment of Fuji Features, which is a weekly roundup of Fujifilm related articles based on a topic (first one here, second one here), that maybe others have written similar articles about the camera. It turns out that there aren’t many—I couldn’t find any, actually—but I did find several YouTube videos. So this Fuji Features doesn’t include any articles, just videos, but I hope it helps get you through another hump day nonetheless.

Enjoy!

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

Fujifilm X100V Black    Amazon   B&H
Fujifilm X100V Silver   Amazon   B&H

A.M. Flight — Cinematic Short Film with a Fujifilm X-T4 and Pergear 50mm f/1.8

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

I just uploaded a new video, entitled A.M. Flight, to the Fuji X Weekly YouTube channel! I hope you enjoy it!

The reason why we—and by “we” I mean mostly Amanda—created this short film was to test the Pergear 50mm f/1.8 lens for video. I already published a review of the Pergear lens for still photography, but I thought this lens might be a good inexpensive option for cinema. I needed to put it to the test.

Amanda recorded A.M. Flight on her Fujifilm X-T4 with a Pergear 50mm f/1.8. All of it was handheld, no tripod or gimbal was used. The 50mm focal-length, which is 75mm full-frame equivalent, is telephoto, and camera shake is exaggerated because of this. The X-T4 has in-body-image-stabilization (IBIS)—the X-S10 and X-H1 are the only other two Fujifilm X cameras with IBIS—and even with the stabilization there’s still a fair amount of shakiness to the clips. We recommend the use of a tripod or gimbal to help reduce shake; if your camera doesn’t have IBIS, a tripod or gimbal is a must with this lens.

The Pergear 50mm f/1.8 is all manual, which means you’ll have to manually focus. A.M. Flight has a lot of fast movements in the film, and nailing focus manually proved to be very difficult; this lens might be better suited for projects that don’t have quickly moving objects. The focus ring is smooth, a positive for sure! The aperture ring is click-less, which is great for video because you can change the aperture while recording a clip, either increasing or decreasing the depth-of-field.

The f/1.8 aperture is fast, but the depth-of-field is shallow (making nailing focus even more difficult) and image quality isn’t the best when wide-open. It was nice to have f/1.8 as an option when filming in dark locations, but it’s definitely better to stop down a little (at least f/4 is you can) to maximize image quality whenever you can.

When light hits the lens just right, there’s something special about the results. There’s a particularly nice quality to some of the video clips, thanks to the Pergear lens. There’s a certain character that you just won’t find in most modern lenses; if that’s something you want in your video, this lens is for you.

The Pergear 50mm f/1.8 lens is challenging to use for video because it is all manual and because it doesn’t have any stabilization. Cameras with IBIS, like the Fujifilm X-T4, make it a little easier to use, and it’s possible to get away with not having a tripod or gimbal, but if you don’t have IBIS you’re going to want to do something to stabilize the clips. This lens is not the most ideal option for video, but if you are on a tight budget or want the special character that this lens can give you, it’s a good one to consider.

This review contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated a small amount if you make a purchase using my links.
Amazon $79

Video: Street Photography with a Fujifilm X-T30 & Eterna

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Take a look at Street Photography with a Fujifilm X-T30 & Eterna, which is the latest video from Fuji X Weekly! Last Sunday I shared with you the first video that Amanda and I worked on together, which featured footage and photographs captured using my Kodacolor film simulation recipe. This new video features footage and photographs captured using my Eterna film simulation recipe. The point of this video series is to demonstrate different film simulation recipes for video and still photography, but in a way that’s hopefully entertaining and perhaps even inspirational.

Unlike the last video, which had Amanda behind the video camera, I captured all of the footage for this one. While I was doing it, I did my best to think, “How would Amanda record this shot?” I didn’t do a particularly good job, though, but I did record a lot of content in hopes that there would be something usable. I employed my Fujifilm X-T30 with a Rokinon 12mm lens for both the video and stills. Amanda took all of it into editing software and somehow made this great video. Honestly, I don’t know how she did it. She really did an incredible job!

If you haven’t done so already, please visit the Fuji X Weekly YouTube channel. I invite you to subscribe. Feel free to like, comment and share. Over the coming weeks and months you can expect more video content to be added, thanks to the talents of my wonderful wife, Amanda.

If you are interested in purchasing the gear used for this video, you’ll find my affiliate links below. If you make a purchase using my links I will be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujifilm X-T30 (Body Only)   B&H   Amazon
Fujifilm X-T30 w/15-45mm lens   B&H   Amazon
Fujifilm X-T30 w/18-55mm lens   B&H   Amazon
Rokinon 12mm f/2   B&H   Amazon

Vintage Market Days with Kodacolor

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

My wife, Amanda, and I created a new video! Well, Amanda created the video. She was the cinematographer and the editor. I submitted the photographers. Amanda loves to create videos, and she’s a great storyteller. She’s encouraged me for some time now to include more video content on the Fuji X Weekly blog. I’m not especially good at making videos, so I was thrilled when she offered to help. This will be the first of many videos that we will collaborate on together, but they’re mostly Amanda’s creations, which is wonderful. If you like this video, please let her know in the comments!

The idea behind the Vintage Market Days video, and the many others that will be forthcoming, is that we will use one film simulation recipe for the footage and photographs. For this particular video we chose the Kodacolor recipe. In retrospect that might not have been the best recipe for this situation, as it produces a yellow cast under artificial light, but when we decided to do this we didn’t know that it mostly an indoor event. It’s still pretty interesting to see what happens when you use Kodacolor.

Did you know that you can use most of the different film simulation recipes for video? I know many of you aren’t videographers, but some of you are. Using the recipes for video saves time in editing because you already have your “look” and don’t need to adjust it with software. This will be a game-changer for some of you! Some of you might be already doing this.

I used a Fujifilm X-T30 with a Fujinon 90mm lens for the photographs. Amanda used a Fujifilm X-T20 with a Rokinon 12mm lens for the video footage.

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Fuji X Weekly Vlog: Episodes 4 – 8

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

I recently created a Fuji X Weekly YouTube channel with the idea that I’d be able to put my content in a different format and perhaps reach new people. I’m not a video guy, but my wife, who always gives me amazing advice, suggested that I should be making videos. What I’m trying to do, and it’s all a big learning process for me, is make short vlogs with quality content that are entertaining and optimized for mobile device viewing. I think that a lot of photography-related videos on YouTube are long, which can be good, but I feel that there is a need for concise content that can be consumed quickly. That’s what I’m aiming for, and hopefully I’ll get better at this the more I do it.

Check out my latest Fuji X Weekly Vlog episodes!