Fujifilm Recipe & Colour Grading Resource

The aim of this article is to give a resource to Fujifilm users who like to use film simulation recipes in their photography. It includes tips and links to give you a complete resource to get the best out of your camera. Please support the creators of these recipes by visiting their websites whenever possible.

Getting started

Before we get started, make sure you know how to install recipes onto your Fujifilm camera. The definitive resource for this is on One Camera One Lens and can be found here.

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Fujifilm film simulation recipes are a set of parameters that you input into your camera. These parameters allow the camera to try and replicate looks of other film types or looks. The above guide talks you through installing these, however a lot of people still get confused about the limited storing of white balance offsets. Basically, on every camera from the X-T20, right through to the X-T3, you have a limited assignment capability of white balance shifts (on the latest cameras, this restriction has been lifted).

A way to circumvent this is to use your seven custom slots with care. Use C1 as your base colour profile, with Auto white balance and R:0 B:0 as white balance settings. Use C2 as your base monochrome setting. Use C2, C4 and C5 as your custom white balance offsets (set your custom white balance before your shoot), while C6 and C7 are then free for Daylight, Cloudy or whatever you need.

Another way is of course to shoot in the custom setting you want, plus raw, and convert all your images in Fujifilm X Raw Studio after the shoot takes place.

Resources: Fujifilm Film Simulations Recipes (Updated June 2022)

One Camera One Lens: For a wide selection of unique and popular simulations such as Leica M10, Portra 400H, Kodachrome Classic and more, check out One Camera One Lens here. The collection is split into X-Trans III and X-Trans IV recipe pages.

Craig Bergonzoni: For Fujifilm cameras with earlier X-Trans sensors, check out Craig Bergonzoni’s fantastic resource here where you’ll find some great simulations such as City Teal, Metro Elements, Street Spirit and more.

Piotr Skrzypek: Piotr shares his recipes via his Instagram page which can be found here. You’ll find some great recipes and examples on his page. He also has a new website with many film simulations, all laid out wonderfully in sensor order which can be found here!

Ivan Yolo: A fantastic set of recipes in a well laid out website. These can be found here and are well worth looking at!

E.Fung Photolab: This website can be found at my.fujifilmrecipes.com and you’ll find some very good recipes at this website.

Fuji X Weekly: There’s no introduction needed for this website, which can be found here. A very large selection of film simulation recipes for numerous X-Trans sensors.

Resources: Fujifilm LUTs and Presets

Open Source Photography By Marc Roovers: Marc hosts a great and accurate collection of LUTs for use with all leading editing software. You’ll find accurate simulations of Fujifilm Simulations, Infrared simulations and a growing collection of many more LUTs. Visit Marc’s page here.

Stuart Sowerby: This is another great resource for Fujifilm based LUTs, and a recommended LUT download resource. Visit site here.

Colour Grading Central: A great resource for LUTs for colour grading. Visit site here.

Cinicolor: More free LUTs. Visit site here.

SmallHD: LUTs to give you the look of movies. Visit site here.

Frank Glencairn: A very impressive Kodachrome LUT. Visit site here.

Social Media

Although there are many Fujifilm simulation groups popping up on Facebook, the one we recommend is Fujifilm Film Simulation. All images are straight out of camera only, and all contain where the recipe is taken from, including the settings.

We also highly recommend everyone joining the fastest growing, and friendliest Fujifilm Facebook group called Fujifilm Lovers Worldwide Group. With weekly themes, polls and great images and conversation, it’s the place to be if you love your Fujifilm camera… regardless if its digital, film or an Instax!

Conclusion

Fujifilm users love to recreate old film, or have unique styles to their photographs, usually straight out of camera. There is a lot of skill getting the exact look you want out of camera, and thankfully, modern cameras, along with a modern attitude, means you can use your camera’s abilities to achieve that look, or come some close to the look that you want, that you only need the slightest of tweaks. The list of resources for Fujifilm recipes covers some of the best resources on the internet. However, don’t be afraid to tweak any parameters that you need to. Unlike film, digital images are very different to analogue film, so don’t be afraid of changing your in camera settings to suit the look you want to achieve depending on the current conditions.

Some simple guidelines, if you want to open up your shadows, set your shadows setting to -1 or -2. If you want deeper shadows, set them to between 2 and 4. For your highlights, set them to -1 or -2 to protect your highlights, or between 2 and 4 to end up blowing your highlights. Think of the difference between highlights and shadows as an s-curve. Don’t be afraid to set any of the settings, all of which are self explanatory.

When you see recipes with Dynamic Range settings (DR), again, don’t be afraid to change these and experiment. Experimenting is key, and if you don’t want to do it in camera, you can always do it in Fuji’s X Raw Studio software (which you can find here).

If you are a Photoshop or Lightroom user, why not take things a step further in recreating film, and check out our Dehancer review. A plugin that takes emulating film to a whole new level!