Fujifilm's 5 Best Film Simulations (In our opinion)

Fujifilm is known for cameras that deliver great color, thanks to its film simulation color profiles. We share our 5 favorite Fujifilm film simulations – some of them may surprise you! Disagree with us? Tell us your favorites in the comments!

0:00 - Intro
1:34 - Nostalgic Neg
2:21 - Velvia
3:16 - Classic Neg
4:13 - Provia
4:51 - Jordan's choice
5:46 - Monochrome
7:02 - The wrap

Rental equipment provided by The Camera Store
-----------------------

[edwardhubbard]

I was explaining Fuji’s film sims to my wife - Velvia, Astia, Provia, and she said they all sounded like women on Game of Thrones.

[amirulizzad]

"no classic chrome"

*You have angered the swarm

[haroldcarlson]

The nice thing about Fuji is on many models you can bracket film sims and shoot a single image but have 3 different film sims applied and saved as 3 different images.

[root]

"We teach you about presets, we don't try to sell them to you" - you get a like just for that ;) oh and I'm already subbed lol

[grandpascuba]

I was a photographer at the time that ASTIA was introduced. At that time I was shooting fine art nudes in nature situations . Before ASTIA, I used Provia and was very happy with it. When ASTIA was introduced, The literature said that the AST in ASTIA stood for “accurate skin tones“. I thought I would give it a try and found it to be perfect for the subjects I was shooting. I would still shoot ASTIA for portraits if I was shooting film. I tried the ASTIA mode in my X-Pfo3 and found that it did have some of the traits of the original film stock. But I haven’t been using it because due to COVID-19 I haven’t been photographing very many people.

For color, I always used transparency film. Once I figured out my way of doing things, I started using strictly Fujifilm films. When I switch to digital, a switch to Nikon DSLR’s because I had been a Nikon shooter and had a large inventory of Nikon glass. I still love my old Nikons, but I was overjoyed 10 years ago when Fujifilm came out with their X mount series cameras. I could get that Fujifilm Color look.

[JacobNates]

"No classic chrome"
*clicks off video*

Just kidding - but I actually really enjoy the look of CC with the color boosted and the shadows brought down a hair! (Definitely doesn't look the best with default settings)

[TrungLe-tldw]

classic chrome is my fav. and classic negative, too

[jyuwangk]

ASTIA must be the best simu for summer, and I really like the feel of eterna bleach bypass

[MrNoipe]

Would've been cool to film this with a Fuji camera with the the simulations on when talking about them.

[BrownieX]

Love how the intros keep getting better. You guys have been on a roll recently.

[KennethRivera]

LOL that's why I love the film simulations, room for different taste and styles. Mine are completely different than yours:

1. Astia: travel/indoors. I love the blue tones on this with some chrome blue colors enabled.
2. Classic Chrome: Documentary, people, focus more on action than colors. I use this when I'm invited at an event or for street photog.
3. Velvia: para nature / sunny, punchy. I live in Costa Rica and this is my favorite for sun rise and sunset colors.
4. Acros: B/W love it!! I shoot in B/W for personal projects.
5. Classic Negative: grunge, with hard on shadows, vintage

[aucourant]

I love Classic Chrome, such an understated look. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Nunez]

I'm happy we share the same view on simulations. I shoot monochrome(RAW) because I like the look and I can judge light a lot better. Then if I need colour on them I render them as Provia after. Those are my two absolute fav modes on my Xpro3.

[Leptospirosi]

Well done you Dynamic Duo!
Thats why I'm still carrying around my PenF despite having more modern camera: there is nothing like seeing the final results before even taking the shot.

[maze]

Chris, you nailed it! Monochrome is my fave.... I have started bracketing the sims too and never felt the need to shoot RAW.

[SCEmissary]

Thank you, this was very helpful.
As someone who will start a career with photos of eggs under soft window light it gave me the perfect tip.

[levirphillips]

Just used Eterna shooting a few video courses for work and I don't even need to touch the colours. 😀 With a few adjustments and correct exposure you can get a great look all in camera!

[jockmoron]

I really enjoyed this little video. Your enthusiasm for just going out and taking some pictures for the hell of it. That's exactly right. I have a Fuji X30. It's not the sensor, or the camera, but it's the attitude of mind. There's a place for serious and a place for enjoyment. Happy snapping, folks...

[bartjeej]

One thing I wish you guys had mentioned more explicitly: none of the named "film simulations" actually look like the film they're named after, they just work for a similar user case, Fuji themselves admitted that in recent years.

As for favourites: Pro Neg Hi and Pro Neg Std are probably the most overlooked color profiles alongside Monochrome, but I love how balanced they are; they don't boost red and blue saturation unnaturally like Provia and Astia do, and are great for skin tones and believable landscapes alike. With increased shadow contrast and decreased highlights and a minor color boost, they both give a similarly filmic texture and tone curve as Classic Chrome and Classic Negative, for a bit more focus on shape and texture than on color, without the ugly twisted colors of those Classic sims. Kinda like properly developed and scanned professional negative film - as the Pro Neg name suggests. Switching between Pro Neg Std for people shots and saturated scenes, and Pro Neg Hi for flat light and scenes that need a slight boost, I get a balanced and consistent palette that seems to avoid the pitfalls of both digital and film, while still providing enough visual bite to be interesting.

Regarding color shifts: CC's skies are indeed gross and the skin tones often look rubbery, or with any of the +R -/-B "recipes", lifeless like boiled chicken. And Classic Neg makes highlights pink and shadows green, which is kinda accurate for Superia but gets tiresome quickly.

On the OG X100, I was an Astia user through and through (with a minor +R -/-B wb shift), but using it on a more recent Fujifilm camera, the saturation for all other colors than skintones looks a bit excessive to me.

[Everyonehasanopinion]

Personally I absolutely love Eterna. I remember watching a Camera Conspiracies video and when I saw the first sequence in Eterna I bought the XT4 based on how amazing it looked to me. Wasn’t particularly looking for another camera at the time and was content using my old 70D, but seeing that Eterna made me really want one.