Should you use Fujifilm's GRAIN settings?

Iso noise? Grain? Which Fuji grain setting is the best? All these questions matter not.

But we discuss.

First time here? Hi, I'm Omar Gonzalez, a professional portrait and event photographer in the NYC/NJ area. On this channel, we talk cameras, lenses, and techniques to improve our photography.
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Some other tutorials:
The Fujifilm BW

Why you should BW

Making your own preset videos:

Gear (affilate link)
*The Best Tiny Fujifilm Camera:
*The Best Fujifilm Camera:

*Favorite Fuji Portrait Lens:

*Favorite all around Prime Fuji Lens: 

*Favorite tiny Street Photography lens: 

*My two favorite wide angle lenses of choice:

*My main fuji camera bag:

*Lav mic I use in many videos: 

*Small recorder I record sound on: 
*Large XLR recorder:
*Microphone for VoiceOvers
*Tripod Head for Photo & Video:

[prasanpani]

“Btw if someone notices that your detail is not so great that means your photograph stinks”. This is the biggest takeaway for me from this video! Thanks for putting up another amazing video Omar.

[bleepbleepohio]

I wish they had a whole grain setting that is also gluten free.

[cameraman]

I vividly recall back in the 80s when "grain" was a dirty word in photography, especially amongst Advertising, Commercial and in particular, Stock shooters. The dream back then was a grainless film, so everyone flocked to K64 or even K25 (Kodachrome for the youngsters out there), but the fact that these were "slow" films made them useless with poorly lit venues (without a tripod or other support), especially for action work. So, now we have our dream of "grainless" images (well practically grainless) and now we want the grain back, strange how sentiments change.

[anthonytriana]

The way I sharpen a RAF image in Lightroom is to use the sharpening figures as follows: amount 30-35 (40 max), radius no higher than 1.2, and detail 75-85. I also have used with great success Iridient Digital’s X-Transformer in conjunction with Lightroom. I only use X-Transformer with images I wish to export for printing.I do my whole workflow: RAFS imported into Lightroom, culling of images, and images are color corrected. The RAFs that I want to actually want to print are then converted to DNGs in X-Transformer. I then import the DNGs with the same file names as the desired files and then I sync settings. I then export export from the DNGs. For those not willing to leave the Lightroom camp, that is the best option with regards to working with RAFs. Capture One is far better when it comes to color and sharpening than anything else I have ever used in term of RAF file conversions to Tiffs or JPEGs. I love your channel and your content. Please keep up the great work!

[JeremyGalloway]

Light grain = classy grain vibe
Strong grain = looks like high ISO

[-grey]

I use grain weak at high iso to get more micro contrast back along the lines in my photos. Usually it works better in BW, because you skip the old colour noise also. I always keep NR -4. I prefer detail to the mushy wax. You can get more perceptual detail with grain at high iso.
That's my "I shoot JPEG." perspective anyway.

[henrymaddocks]

Watching this on my phone...I don’t know what you are talking about.

[sudeepify]

Great video as usual! BTW, I have a question, is it best to have NR -4 for all ISO settings or only the ISO above 1600? TIA!

[davep]

Great explanation, Omar, and thanks for taking the time to create all those examples!

[thenightcamera]

Black and white photography clearly looks better than color under the "influence" of grain. In my opinion, our opinion (at least mine) is heavily influenced by the great photos of the past. An historical bias.

[chrisfigley]

Best damn (excuse the language) video ever! You are hitting your sweet spot my friend. You don't even know me but I consider you a friend. Godspeed sir!

[GianniTamai]

Thanx for the comparison, I always wondered how ISO grain vs grain setting worked.
One thing still not clear: what if I set noise reduction to -4 and set grain to strong, then shoot at high ISO? Does the 2 grain add up? Thanx

[cdreyes]

I love grain. When I do a wedding and convert to black and whites, I always add grain. That was with sony. I'm getting an xt3 this week

[cdreyes]

Yes.i just finally used some film sims with strong grain and all the right settings, love these sums. Use grain...its great

[avenson]

"... Your photograph stinks! Eh eh eh eh!"

That laugh. Hahaha

[stanpowers]

Always get a kick out of your vids, Omar. The takeaway: Silver Efex Pro. Nothing compares!

[leanne]

Laughed hard at the 'nobody will notice on instagram' part 😂

[chadsexinton]

Did you light the photo at 8:16? The exposure is nice and even.

[russellfernandes]

Great tips Omar - thanks for the detailed study and suggestions 👍

[halfalligator]

I agree not to use in-camera grain removal. If you must do anything do it in post I reckon. Personally I think a little grain can be stylish.
Here is a wee trick I started doing if you have to do some intense cropping which reduces the resolution significantly. After you scale back up the resolution, add a bit of post-grain. You'll get an effect of it being slightly higher resolution than it should be... I guess the higher resolution dots give it that detailed texture effect? Just do it very gently. Not that we should be doing such mad level of cropping but sometimes you just have to for the right framing.