There’s a feature on most Fujifilm cameras that few use—you might not even be aware that they exist—called Advanced Filters. Fujifilm introduced it in 2013 with the X100S and X20 models. With the exception of a few early models, your Fujifilm camera has Advanced Filters—find it on the Drive Dial or Drive Menu (depending on the specifics of your model). For older models, Advanced Filters are JPEG only; however, on newer models, you can save a RAW file in addition to the JPEG.

So why are the Advanced Filters so obscure and not widely used? Worse, why is it actually detested by some who have tried it? Well, the short answer is that Advanced Filters aren’t “advanced” at all, and are probably the most gimmicky and sometimes cringy thing Fujifilm has included in what are otherwise sophisticated cameras. My personal opinion is that some of the Advanced Filters aren’t half bad, and some are indeed bad and definitely out-of-date; none are especially good (although a couple have potential). Below I’ll briefly explain what each one of the Advanced Filters do. Also, this will serve as an open letter to Fujifilm, with suggestions on how to improve this feature for future cameras.

Here we go!

Toy Camera

Fujifilm describes this Advanced Filter as “a retro toy camera effect”, which is to say that it is roughly modeled after a Holga or Diana film camera aesthetic. The Toy Camera Advanced Filter is ok, but the big issue—and this is a problem with all the filters—is that it cannot be customized. You get what you get, and what you get is mediocre. I have used Toy Camera several times over the years because I like the idea, but I’m always a bit disappointed in the execution.

Fujifilm could make the Toy Camera filter much better by allowing it to be customizable. First, you should be able to choose any film simulation to use with it. Second, the vignetting should be adjustable, such as Weak or Strong, with the current amount being the Strong option. You should be able to add Grain (Weak or Strong, and Small or Large). Soft Focus—which we’ll talk more about in a moment—should be merged into Toy Camera, with the options of Off, Weak or Strong (Strong being the current Soft Focus, and Off being default). You should be able to adjust the contrast: Low, Standard, and High. Finally, Fujifilm should allow you to use any White Balance that you’d like, so that you can control the tint.

Miniature

This filter adds blur to the top and bottom of the frame, similar to using a tilt-shift lens. When you are photographing from an elevated vantage point, this Advanced Filter can give the illusion that the subject is a miniature model. It’s better to use an actual tilt-shift lens to get this effect, but if you don’t own one, this is an easy way to approximate it.

The Miniature filter, along with many of the others, are modeled after photography trends that were popular 15 years ago. By the time Fujifilm introduced Advanced Filters in 2013, these trends were already on their way out. Now, eleven years later, they’re very dated. While I don’t have any issues with Miniature being included, I also don’t think anyone would mind of Fujifilm axed it, or replaced it with something different entirely. How about a filter that gives an Aerochorme-like infrared aesthetic?

Pop Color

Pop Color is my favorite Advanced Filter; however, it suffers from the same problem that they all do—it cannot be customized. The solution for Fujifilm is quite simple, actually: make Pop Color the next film simulation. Obviously it wouldn’t be called Pop Color; instead, Fujifilm should call it Fortia, as it resembles Fujichrome Fortia 50 film. Perhaps they’ll need to fine-tune some aspects of it in some way in order to make it a film simulation—whatever it is that they need to do, I believe that Pop Color absolutely should graduate from Advanced Filters into the film simulation list as Fortia.

High Key / Low Key

There’s nothing especially special about the High Key and Low Key Advanced Filters—both can be easily replicated using the Provia film simulation. You might occasionally use these two in lieu of having a Film Simulation Recipe programmed into C1-C7 with a similar look, but I don’t believe many people are doing that. Instead, you could use Recipes like Bright Kodak or Low Key for better results.

Fujifilm should replace these two Advanced Filters with something else entirely. How about a split-tone effect? Select any of the film simulations, have three-to-five different split-tone options (highlight and shadow with a different tints), plus have grain and contrast options for further customization.

Dynamic Tone

“Dynamic tone expression is used for a fantasy effect,” is how Fujifilm describes it. What it reminds me of is HDR photography with aggressive tonemapping, which was all the rage 15 years ago despite being hideous. This is one that Fujifilm should definitely axe, in my opinion. They could replace it with something like a high-contrast effect, where you can choose any film sim, but where the contrast is stronger than Highlight and Shadow set to +4 (Dynamic Range, White Balance and Grain should be customizable).

Soft Focus

This is kind of like setting Clarity to -20 and Sharpness to -10 on your Fujifilm camera. Obviously that’s not possible, but it it were, Soft Focus is what it would look like. Aside from being much too strong generally speaking, Soft Focus should be integrated into the Toy Camera filter instead of being standalone. A better Advanced Filter might be a faded effect similar to my Film Simulation Recipes that utilize double exposures like Faded Color, Vintage Color Fade, Bleach Bypass, and Faded Monochrome.

Partial Color (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple)

The six Partial Color filters are the Monochrome film simulation (with everything set to factory defaults), but with one color recorded (either red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple—the singular color is the Provia film simulation). This is another effect that was popular 15 years ago, and I’m sure very few utilize it in 2024. If Fujifilm wants to keep Partial Color, they should allow it to be customized similar to how I described for the other effects; however, I doubt that many would miss it if Fujifilm got rid of it entirely. I think a cross-process filter would be much more interesting—perhaps like cross-processed Velvia, with deep contrast, vibrant colors, pronounced grain, and shifted hues. Something along the lines of the picture below, which is actual cross-processed Velvia 50 film.

To conclude, your Fujifilm camera has something called Advanced Filters that are rather mediocre at best and cringeworthy at worst. Pop Color is my personal favorite—it’s the closest your camera can get to straight-out-of-camera Fujichrome Fortia 50—and it should be made into a film simulation so that it can be customized with Grain, Color Chrome Effects, Highlight, Shadow, etc., etc.. Most of the Advanced Filters should be replaced with something else entirely, and I think I offered a number of good suggestions for that (for those keeping score, that’s Aerochrome, Split-Tone, High Contrast, Faded, and Cross Process, plus an improved Toy Camera). If you find yourself bored one day, perhaps try out some of the Advanced Filters for yourself—Pop Color is my recommendation if you’re only going to try one; otherwise, just know that you’re not missing out on much. If you are Fujifilm reading this, I would suggest working right away on new-and-improved Advanced Filters for the next generation of Fujifilm cameras.

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