Fed up with Fuji film simulations

For years, Classic Chrome has been my go-to Fuji film simulation. I liked it for its low saturation and high contrast, which usually were great starting points for my post-processing style. I had gotten so used to this film sim that I wouldn’t even consider any of the other ones. Velvia I would dismiss right away because its excessively saturated colors hurt my eyes. At some point, I couldn’t even bear Provia, which is supposed to be a neutral standard, neither its softer counterpart, Astia. Both were much too saturated for my taste. The Pro Negative sims (Standard and High), on the other hand, I found okay but a bit dull because of their low contrast. Then came the more “unique” sims, like Classic Negative, which I liked a lot, but only worked for some of my shots.

Recently, I returned to Provia as my standard film sim because I felt more and more that Classic Chrome misses the necessary vibrance. I realized that I had become so averse of saturated colors that my edits tended to become a bit too subdued, lacking expressive power. Recently, Reala Ace was launched, which is a bit less saturated and more contrasty in the highlights than Provia and could easily become a new favorite for many of my shots. I haven’t played much with any of the other sims (I like Acros B&W, which has been around for some time, and Nostalgic Negative looks interesting as well), so I’m sure there is much more to discover.

To be honest, however, I’ve become a bit fed up with Fuji’s film sims. First, because they are actually sophisticated marketing gimmicks that are embedded in a selection of Fuji cameras (usually the newest ones) to stimulate their sales. This marketing strategy definitely works, even if you are aware of it. I remember all too well how my obsession with Classic Negative made me want to replace my X-Pro2 with the X-Pro3. Not so long ago, I picked up an X-T5, which gives me access to all current film sims. Although that is great, it doesn’t guarantee access to any future sims. My X-Pro3, for example, doesn’t give me access to Classic or Nostalgic Negative, which is a shame really, especially because the X-Pro4 is not on the horizon yet.*

Second, film sims are a bit like styles or presets: They provide you with a starting point for post-processing, but won’t do all the work for you, at least not if you shoot RAW. If you shoot JPEG, film sims can be tweaked to some extent in camera (many Fuji users share so-called “recipes” for that, altering settings like contrast, saturation, and grain effects). If you don’t like post-processing, this can give you pretty nice results straight out of the camera. I do like post-processing, however, and it now seems to me that Provia is a better starting point for that than Classic Chrome. This is perhaps because Provia gives me a better idea of the color palette in the RAW file, so that I can make better decisions on which colors I would like to accentuate and which ones I would like to tone down.

Finally, the large choice of Fuji film sims — no less than twenty — brings an extra layer of complexity to my post-processing, which is already complex to begin with, especially if it comes to editing color. I’m not sure that this extra choice is helpful. It may rather be a distraction and make my post-processing less consistent.

Let me finish this blog post on a positive note. Below are some recent images from a trip to the Atlantic coast of Spain. They are all shot with my X-T5, using Provia, Reala Ace, or Nostalgic Negative film sims as a basis. Not sure which of these film sims I prefer, but I hope that I have made clear by now that this really doesn’t matter as long as you like the end result.

El Bolao (Reala Ace)

Bufones de Pría (Nostalgic Ng)

Ría de Tina Menor (Reala Ace)

Playa de Oyambre (Reala Ace)

Costa Quebrada (Nostalgic Neg)

Costa Quebrada (Reala Ace)

S. Vicente d/l Barquera (Prov)

Some recent shots from Cantabria and Asturias, Spain. All images were shot in RAW and edited in Capture One using different Fuji film simulations as a starting point (hints in the image labels). I used the X-T5 body mounted with either the XF14mm, XF18-55mm, or XF55-200mm lens.

*Just after writing this post, I found out that there are hacks out there that enable access to the newest film simulations in Capture One for RAW files shot with older Fuji cameras, like the X100V and X-Pro3. This is a matter of renaming film curve files (with the extension .fcrv) and copying them to the FilmCurves folder of the Capture One file package. Just google something like “newest film simulations for older Fuji cameras in Capture One” and you will get there (hint: rhymes with first hit).