X-Trans V vs X-Trans IV

Reggie’s Portra in X-Trans V Cameras

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

A Girl and Her Horse – Litchfield Park, AZ – Fujifilm X-T4 – Reggie’s Portra

It’s been interesting to watch Reggie’s Portra Recipe grow in popularity over the years. It was created by Reggie Ballesteros (website, YouTube, Instagram), and I published it in the summer of 2022 with his permission. I’m not sure where it ranked in 2022, but it didn’t crack the Top 10. In 2023 it was the 9th most popular. It climbed to #3 in 2024. This year, Reggie’s Portra is the number one most popular Film Simulation Recipe on Fuji X Weekly, just edging out Kodachrome 64, which was the long-time reigning champion.

A few days ago, Reggie posted a video on YouTube explaining what changes, if any, he has made to the Recipe for use in 2025. When it was made, Reggie’s Portra was for X-Trans IV cameras, but now we’re well into the fifth-generation. So what adjustments did he make? I’ve included the video below, so that you can watch it for yourself.

Not trying to give away the answer, but the short of it is that Reggie doesn’t adjust anything. He uses the same exact Reggie’s Portra settings on fifth-generation models as he did on fourth-generation X-series cameras. He doesn’t make any adjustments whatsoever. The only change is the diffusion filter that he often uses.

On the Fuji X Weekly App, I’ve only included Reggie’s Portra as compatible with X-Trans IV models, specifically the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II (as well as the GFX100S). I didn’t include fifth-generation cameras (X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III, as well as GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF) because, on those cameras, there are some aesthetic differences—the largest being how deeply the color blue is rendered on certain film simulations, including Classic Chrome. It’s quite similar, but not identical; however, there is a simple fix to get them to be more similar: reduce Color Chrome FX Blue by one.

Jon Dressed Up – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T4 – Reggie’s Portra – by Amanda Roesch

The difference between Color Chrome FX Blue Weak and Off is pretty subtle. If you’re not comparing photos side-by-side, you probably won’t even notice (even when directly comparing, you still might not see the difference immediately). It’s honestly not a big deal, but, if you’re trying to get Reggie’s Portra to most closely match the X-Trans IV results on a fifth-generation camera, then adjusting Color Chrome FX Blue from Weak to Off will do that. This is an adjustment that I make personally, and one that I recommend; however, there’s nothing wrong with not making that small change. Feel free to set Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak (as called for in the Recipe and as Reggie himself does it) or Off (as I do) on the Fujifilm X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III cameras, as well as the GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF. Either way works.

People have asked me why I haven’t updated Reggie’s Portra in the App for X-Trans V cameras, and the answer is simple: it’s not my Recipe to make a change to. It belongs to Reggie Ballesteros, and I certainly didn’t want to step on his toes by modifying it. Now that he has clarified how he uses it on fifth-generation cameras, I have updated the App to reflect that. It now shows in the Fuji X Weekly App as compatible with the latest cameras. It won’t render exactly the same as on X-Trans IV, but pretty similar—not enough of a difference to be concerned about (only very subtly divergent). I want to close this out by giving a shoutout to Reggie. His Recipe is great—both my wife and I use it ourselves. It’s a real honor to have it available to you on Fuji X Weekly. If you’ve never tried it, well, it’s almost a right of passage at this point, so be sure to program it into your camera today.

Dodge – Boulder, CO – Fujifilm X100VI – Reggie’s Portra

Making the Fujifilm X-T5 Make a Lot of Noise — Testing High-ISO on X-Trans V

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Lights from a Frosted Window – Williams, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – “Kodachrome 64” – ISO 6400

A lot of people have asked me if the Fujifilm X-T5, with the new 40-megapixel X-Trans V sensor and processor, is better or worse than the 26-megapixel X-Trans IV cameras when it comes to high-ISO noise. Conventional wisdom would suggest that the lower-resolution sensor would be superior. Is it? Or did Fujifilm pull a rabbit out of a magic hat and somehow make X-Trans V better at high-ISO despite more megapixels?

I’ve spent some time pixel-peeping, comparing X-Trans V to X-Trans IV. Right off the bat I can tell you that both are pretty similar to each other. You’ll have a very hard time noticing the differences without pixel-peeping, and with pixel-peeping, they’re still quite similar. Below I’ve included a massive crop from an X-Trans V camera and an X-Trans IV camera. If these crops were sections of the whole pictures printed, I don’t know how large the prints would be, but they would be very large, so keep that in mind. The picture on the left (revealed by moving the bar to the right) is X-Trans IV, and the picture on the right (revealed by moving the bar to the left) is X-Trans V. Take a look at these two images.

You likely notice that the X-Trans V image is a little more detailed with noticeably finer digital noise, while the X-Trans IV picture is a tad fuzzier with chunkier digital noise. This is a result of the higher resolution sensor of the 40mp X-Trans V camera. What might be less obvious is that there seems to be just a bit more color blotchiness in the X-Trans V image. Perhaps even less obvious, I believe the X-Trans V camera is applying a slightly heavier-handed noise reduction to the picture than X-Trans IV, despite both set to -4 High ISO NR. However, please take all of this with a grain of salt, because we’re seriously pixel-peeping here. In real world photography, both cameras are pretty darn good at high-ISO, and neither are significantly better or worse than the other, and there’s no practical variance between the two. Unless you print posters or crop deeply, you’re not going to even notice a difference—even if you did print large or crop massively, the differences are pretty minor, but I guess you can feel confident that ultra-high ISO pictures will look slightly better (for the most part) on X-Trans V than X-Trans IV. That’s the takeaway, I think: high-ISO on X-Trans V cameras are just a hair better than X-Trans IV, but not enough to make a practical difference for most people. What I will add, though, is that it’s pretty amazing that they could do this while also increasing the resolution. I do wonder, though, if Fujifilm could make—say—a 20mp X-Trans camera with significantly increased dynamic range and high-ISO performance—that’s something I would be highly interested in.

Below are a few more high-ISO examples from my Fujifilm X-T5 camera.

Polar – Williams, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – “GAF 500” – ISO 12800
Train Wheels – Williams, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – “GAF 500” – ISO 12800
Tracks – Williams, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – “Kodachrome 64” – ISO 6400
Polar Express Passengers – Williams, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – “Kodak Tri-X 400” – ISO 12800
Tree Lights – Williams, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 – “Kodachrome 64” – ISO 6400

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 in black:  Amazon  B&H
Fujifilm X-T5 in silver:  Amazon  B&H