There are certain Film Simulation Recipes that are great for regular use. Maybe they’re not completely versatile, and cannot be used effectively in all situations, but they’re good for a lot of photographs. There are other Recipes that are good only for certain instances, such as night photography. There are also some Film Simulation Recipes that I would categorize as fun. They’re not necessarily intended to be used often, they’re not necessarily versatile, and they’re not necessarily even meant for specific scenarios. They’re just for fun, when you want results that are a little different.
While I have included five of these fun Recipes below, I have published a lot more than just five of them. These are ones that I have personally used within the last couple of weeks. I thought if I used them and appreciated the results, perhaps you would like to try them, too. Overall, there are probably a couple dozen Recipes (maybe even more than that) that could be included in this category. Perhaps it’s unfair to say that these are the only fun ones, because in my opinion all of the Recipes are fun, but these are just for fun, if that makes sense.
The five fun Recipes below are not in any particular order. I invite you to try them today!
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Fujifilm’s top selling photographic line is not the X-series or GFX. By a large margin, Instax cameras and film are Fujifilm’s most popular photo products. Instax, of course, is instant film—their version of Polaroid. 2021 was an especially good year for Instax, thanks to the Instax Mini LiPlay and Instax Wide Printer, which have been hot sellers. This year, the new Instax Mini EVO is already a huge hit. I received a lot of positive feedback from my article explaining the history of the Fujifilm X-Pro1, so I thought it would be fun to explore the history of Instax. It turns out to be an immensely more interesting story than I imagined.
Let’s get started!
Edwin Land was a freshman physics student at Harvard University in 1926, and he had an idea: control scattered vibrations of light using a magnetic field and microscopic crystals. Less than two years later he dropped out of school and moved to New York City to pursue this idea. He spent extensive time in the public library, reading anything and everything that might help him succeed. Since he didn’t have access to a lab, he would sneak into Columbia University late at night to use theirs. In 1932, after four years of extensive experimenting and testing, Land had done it—he had invented an inexpensive and efficient polarizer. That same year he teamed up with George Wheelwright III, a Harvard physics professor, and started Land-Wheelwright Laboratories. In 1936, after years of work to commercialize the product, and 10 years after Land had his original idea, they began selling the Polaroid J Sheet Polarizer for use in sunglasses and photography. It was a quick hit, and a year later they renamed the company Polaroid after their product.
Many years later, in 1944, while on vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Edwin Land snapped a photograph of his three-year-old daughter, Jennifer. As the saying goes, kids say the darndest things. The little girl asked her dad why she couldn’t see the picture that had just been taken. Land thought, “Well, why can’t you?” Within an hour he had figured out the basic idea of how to accomplish this. In 1947 Land had invented a working instant film camera, and two years later Polaroid began selling the Model 95 instant film camera and Type 40 instant film to go with it.
Over the next decade Polaroid camera and film sales skyrocketed. Even Ansel Adams joined the instant film revolution, and, in 1963, published a book entitled Polaroid Land Photography. As demand increased, Polaroid struggled to keep up, so in the early 1960’s they contracted Kodak to manufactured their peel-apart packfilm. During that time Polaroid hired Fujifilm to assist with film improvements.
As instant film sales continued to rapidly grow throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, someone at Kodak got the bright idea that they should make their own cameras and film to compete against Polaroid. Using their experience producing film for Polaroid to design their own products, Kodak launched the EK4 and EK6 instant film cameras, as well as their PR10 instant film, in 1976. Polaroid immediately sued Kodak for patent violations, but it took a decade for the courts to make a ruling.
Fujifilm also wanted to get in on the instant film frenzy. They figured that Kodak would overtake Polaroid and become king of instant film, so Fujifilm closely modeled their instant film line after Kodak’s, and paid Kodak for the rights to do so. Fujifilm also approached Polaroid for permission, and Polaroid agreed just as long as Fujifilm shared some technology secrets with them and agreed not to sell their instant film cameras in North America. In 1981 Fujifilm launched the Fotorama instant film camera line, which was marketed only in Asia, and sold mostly in Japan. Instant film photography wasn’t nearly as popular in Asia as it was in America, but the Fotorama line sold well enough for Fujifilm to continue to sell it into the late-1990’s. Fujifilm also began selling instant film for Polaroid cameras during this time, although, again, largely for Asian markets.
Now back to that Kodak/Polaroid lawsuit. Polaroid won in 1986, and Kodak was ordered to stop selling their instant film cameras—they also had to financially compensate those who purchased them. The legal battle continued, and in 1990 Kodak was ordered to pay Polaroid almost a billion dollars in damages for copying seven patents. It was such a wild case that books have been written about it. One might think that Polaroid was the big winner and Kodak was the big loser, but Kodak made as much as 12 billion in profits off of their instant film line, so they still came out ahead, while the lengthly lawsuit apparently stifled Polaroid’s creativity and ability to innovate, right during a time when they desperately needed to innovate.
The 1990’s were not particularly good for Polaroid, and in 2001 they filed for bankruptcy. Polaroid was sold and then turned into a hollow shell, with the brand’s name and products licensed to other companies. Polaroid film was discontinued in 2008.
Fujifilm introduced the Instax line in 1998 with the Instax Mini 10 camera. Instax Wide came out a year later. While the size and shape was different, the film and technology was recycled from the Fotorama line. By this time Fujifilm was no longer obligated to remain outside of the U.S. market, but they continued to stay out, with the exception of the Mio camera in 2001, a Polaroid-brand model that shot Instax Mini film, which wasn’t especially successful. Fujifilm didn’t start selling Instax in America until after Polaroid announced it was discontinuing its instant film.
When Polaroid pulled out of instant film photography, Fujifilm seriously considered doing the same. Sales were sluggish, and largely declining. Instant film was nearly dead, and its demise was all but certain. The writing was on the wall.
In 2007 a South Korean television series called Coffee Prince was a huge success. It was especially popular with younger audiences, particularly teenagers. Prominently featured in the show was an Instax camera, and the demand for Instax in South Korea immediately skyrocketed. Then, in 2009, the South Korean series You’re Beautiful aired, which also prominently featured an Instax camera. While this show was only moderately successful on initial airing, it gained a large cult-like following in the years following, and it, too, boosted Instax sales. The popularity of Instax spread out from South Korea across Asia, then to the rest of the world, including America. Suddenly, more than a decade after it was released, Instax was an instant hit, with sales trending sharply up.
2004 was the slowest year for Instax, with about 100,000 cameras sold worldwide. In 2015, Fujifilm sold 5 million Instax cameras, and in 2019 they sold 10 million. Unsurprisingly, 2020 was a slow year, but in 2021 things picked up again, although I couldn’t find specific data on how many cameras were sold. Instax is Fujifilm’s top selling camera line, and it’s very profitable. Fujifilm has stated that some of those profits help fund developments within the X-series and GFX—even if you don’t own any Instax products, you can still be grateful that it’s so popular because it does indirectly affect you.
If Edwin Land hadn’t dropped out of college to pursue his polarizer idea, if his young daughter hadn’t asked why she couldn’t see the picture right away, if Kodak hadn’t ripped off Polaroid, if Fujifilm (like Kodak) hadn’t asked Polaroid for permission, if Polaroid hadn’t gone bankrupt, and if two South Korean television shows hadn’t used Instax as props—if any of these things hadn’t happened, Instax wouldn’t likely be around today. Through a series of twists and turns, Fujifilm created a product line that tens of millions of people worldwide use today. While Polaroid invented instant film photography, Fujifilm is currently king.
That’s the immensely interesting story of Instax!
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Pear Blossom – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Polaroid II”
I was recently viewing vintage Polaroid pictures online while conducting research for my “original” Polaroid film simulation recipe, and I stumbled across one picture in particular that caught my attention. It was dark, contrasty, with low saturation and a blue-purple color cast. I really liked the way that this picture looked. After digging a little deeper I discovered that this wasn’t a real Polaroid, but a digital image given a Polaroid aesthetic using a VSCO preset (I’m not sure which one). I set out to recreate that look in-camera, and that’s how this “Polaroid II” recipe came to be.
This isn’t a recipe that I would use all of the time, but it’s interesting sometimes. It’s actually somewhat similar to my Expired Eterna recipe. It’s not terribly far off from my Bleach Bypass recipe, either. If you like those two, you might also appreciate this one. In the right situations, this recipe will give you a vintage analogue look with just the right range of expression. This recipe is compatible with all X-Trans IV cameras.
Eterna
Dynamic Range: DR100
Highlight: +4
Shadow: +4
Color: -3
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpness: -4
Grain Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
White Balance: Shade, +4 Red & +6 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 to -1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Polaroid II” recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:
Buildings in Park City – Park City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Directv – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Roofs in a Row – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Slope – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pine Tree & Cloud – Park City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
White Tree – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pear Bloom – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Veiled Peak – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
You – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
You II – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Kitchen Succulent – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Map & Leaves – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Young Barista – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
The Joy of Writing – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Girl with Blue Bow – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
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Red Benches & Post Office – Park City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Polaroid”
I get asked frequently to create film simulation recipes for all sorts of different looks. Sometimes I’m successful, oftentimes I’m not. I received one such request recently that was a little unusual: the stills from the television series True Detective. The set photographer for this show is Michele K. Short. The show itself was shot using Kodak Vision3 50D and 500T film. Michele likely photographed the stills with her Leica M10-P, and edited them to look like analog pictures. Honestly, I have no idea what specific film they’re supposed to resemble, but I was able to pretty quickly create something that is in the ballpark of those stills.
I looked and looked at different films to figure out what this aesthetic might be close to. I didn’t find anything that I was satisfied with. There were a couple of films that I thought, “Well, you can make an argument, but it’s a stretch.” I decided that it most reminds me of Polaroid peal-apart film, perhaps 669. It’s not intended to resemble Polaroid, and perhaps it doesn’t do so very well, but I needed a name, and I wasn’t going to call this recipe “True Detective” so I went with “Polaroid” instead. Whether this does or doesn’t resemble Polaroid, I think you’ll find it produces interesting results. Some of you are going to really appreciate this film simulation recipe!
Abstract Architecture – Park City, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Polaroid”
You can get good results with this recipe when you over, under or correctly expose, but some of my favorite pictures were overexposed. There’s a lot of latitude with this recipe. It’s fun to play around with. It seems especially well suited for high contrast scenes, although it can still be used in mid and low contrast scenes. It’s compatible with all X-Trans IV cameras and the Fujifilm X-H1.
Eterna
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: +4
Shadow: -2
Color: -2
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpness: -1
Grain Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect: Off
White Balance: Auto, +5 Red & -5 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: -2/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Polaroid” recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:
Red, White & View – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Storm Behind Rural Neighborhood – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Thistle Evening – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Girl Unsure on Path – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
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!