Fujifilm Recipes for Street Photography: 9 Film Simulation Recipes

Here is the Kodachrome 64 recipe as Ritchie Roesch published it for the Fujifilm X100V. Source: the original Kodachrome 64 recipe.

Why it suits street work: Classic Chrome keeps colors in check, and this Classic Chrome based recipe gives a vintage Kodachrome feel, so a busy street doesn't turn into a candy store. Kodachrome itself was the slide film behind a lot of classic color street and documentary work.

A Fujifilm recipe (or film simulation recipe) is a set of in-camera JPEG settings that recreates a look, often a classic film stock. You start from one of Fujifilm's film simulations, then adjust white balance, tone curve, color, grain and a few other settings. Save it to a custom slot and the camera produces that look straight out of the camera.

Fuji X Weekly, run by Ritchie Roesch, is the best-known source. It publishes free recipes sorted by sensor generation, and it has an app for finding them. Many recipes there come from other photographers such as Anders Lindborg and Reggie Ballesteros, and the site credits each one.

Recipes are free. That matters, and it's why so many people like the look without shooting analog. On Reddit, one street photographer summed up a common view: "Selling presets it the first red flag of a shitty photographer." You don't need to buy anything to try every look on this page.

Every recipe starts from a base Fujifilm film simulation. Think of the simulations as the custom film simulations Fujifilm built in, and the recipes as ways to push them toward different looks. Knowing the base tells you most of what the recipe will look like.

Velvia, Provia, Astia and Acros are named after real Fujifilm film stocks (Acros film was a fine-grain black and white film), and Classic Negative is modeled on Fujicolor Superia color negative film. Which simulations you have depends on your camera. Classic Negative first arrived on the X-Pro3. Reala Ace first appeared on the GFX100 II and is on X-Trans V cameras such as the X100VI.

These recipes for Fujifilm cameras cover color and black and white, by day and at night. All are written for X-Trans IV except Reala Ace, which is for X-Trans V. The settings are exactly as published. Where the creator names a camera or sensor, I note it. Check the source page for any updates before you program your camera.

Kodak Portra 400 v2

By Ritchie Roesch, a Classic Chrome based recipe built by studying examples of real Portra 400 film. Source: the original Kodak Portra 400 v2 recipe.

• Classic Chrome
• Dynamic Range: DR400
• Highlight: 0
• Shadow: -2
• Color: +2
• Noise Reduction: -4
• Sharpening: -2
• Clarity: -2
• Grain Effect: Strong, Small
• Color Chrome Effect: Strong
• Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
• White Balance: 5200K, +1 Red & -6 Blue
• ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
• Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +1 (typically)

Reggie’s Portra

By Reggie Ballesteros. Source: the original Reggie’s Portra recipe. Reggie asked that no typical exposure compensation be listed, since each exposure should be judged on its own. Fuji X Weekly links a separate article for X-Trans V use.

• Classic Chrome
• Dynamic Range: DR-Auto
• Highlight: -1
• Shadow: -1
• Color: +2
• Noise Reduction: -4
• Sharpening: -2
• Clarity: 0
• Grain Effect: Weak, Small
• Color Chrome Effect: Strong
• Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
• White Balance: Auto, +2 Red & -4 Blue
• ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400

Kodak Gold v2

By Anders Lindborg, and not the same as the older Kodak Gold 200 recipe. Source: the original Kodak Gold v2 recipe.

• Classic Chrome
• Dynamic Range: DR200
• Highlight: 0
• Shadow: -1
• Color: -1
• Noise Reduction: -4
• Sharpness: -1
• Clarity: -2
• Grain Effect: Strong, Large
• Color Chrome Effect: Weak
• Color Chrome Effect Blue: Off
• White Balance: 5800K, +2 Red & +4 Blue
• ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
• Exposure Compensation: 0 to +2/3 (typically)

Classic Negative

Built on the Classic Negative film simulation rather than based on Classic Chrome. Created by Luis Costa and republished with small changes by Ritchie Roesch (he added Color Chrome Effect and Clarity and set grain to Weak). Source: the original Classic Negative recipe. The page calls it especially good for sunny days.

• Classic Negative
• Dynamic Range: DR200
• Highlight: +1
• Shadow: 0
• Color: +3
• Noise Reduction: -4
• Sharpening: 0
• Clarity: +2
• Grain Effect: Weak, Large
• Color Chrome Effect: Weak
• Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
• White Balance: Auto, +4 Red & -4 Blue
• ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
• Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)

By Ritchie Roesch, an X-Trans IV update of his earlier X-Trans III recipe. CineStill 800T is a tungsten-balanced film, which is why this recipe uses a cool white balance. It suits street lights, shop windows, car headlights and neon. Source: the original CineStill 800T recipe.

• Eterna
• Dynamic Range: DR400
• Highlight: 0
• Shadow: +2
• Color: +4
• Noise Reduction: -4
• Sharpening: -3
• Clarity: -5
• Grain Effect: Strong, Large
• Color Chrome Effect: Strong
• Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong
• White Balance: Fluorescent 3 (Cool White Fluorescent), -6 Red & -4 Blue
• ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
• Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +2/3 (typically)

At night, watch your ISO. In black and white, noise passes for grain. In color, high ISO noise tends to turn into ugly color, so keep the ISO as low as your shutter speed allows. My night settings are in street photography settings.

Kodak Tri-X 400

By Anders Lindborg, and the B&W recipe I'd look at first. Tri-X is the film behind a huge share of classic black and white street photography. The recipe works with any Acros filter setting. Source: the original Kodak Tri-X 400 recipe.

• Acros (+Y, +R, +G)
• Dynamic Range: DR200
• Highlight: 0
• Shadow: +3
• Noise Reduction: -4
• Sharpening: +1
• Clarity: +4
• Grain Effect: Strong, Large
• Color Chrome Effect: Strong
• Color Chrome Effect Blue: Off
• White Balance: Daylight, +9 Red & -9 Blue
• ISO: ISO 1600 to 12800
• Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +1 (typically)

Ilford HP5 Plus 400

By Anders Lindborg, modeled on the Ilford Photo film of the same name and softer than Tri-X. Source: the original Ilford HP5 Plus 400 recipe.

• Monochrome
• Dynamic Range: DR400
• Highlight: -1
• Shadow: +1
• Noise Reduction: -4
• Sharpness: -2
• Clarity: 0
• Grain Effect: Strong, Large
• Color Chrome Effect: Off
• Color Chrome Effect Blue: Off
• White Balance: Daylight, +1 Red & -8 Blue
• ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
• Exposure Compensation: -2/3 to +2/3 (typically)

White balance shifts matter even in monochrome. On recent Fujifilm cameras, the black and white simulations react to white balance a bit like a color filter on film, which is why these recipes set it. Each B&W recipe also leans on the grain setting to get close to a different film.

Newer cameras such as the Fujifilm X100VI, X-T5, X-H2, X-S20 and Fujifilm X-E5 use the fifth-generation X-Trans sensor. Older X-Trans III bodies like the X100F and X-H1 have fewer options, so use recipes written for them. Ritchie’s notes say the newer sensor renders blues a little deeper on some film simulations, so several older recipes need a small tweak. Check the recipe page for a note before you use one.

Reala Ace

By Ritchie Roesch for X-Trans V. Published before Fujifilm added the real Reala Ace simulation to X-series cameras, it approximates the look using Classic Negative. Source: the original Reala Ace recipe.

• Film Simulation: Classic Negative
• Grain Effect: Weak, Small
• Color Chrome Effect: Strong
• Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong
• White Balance: Auto, -1 Red & +1 Blue
• Dynamic Range: DR400
• Highlight: -1.5
• Shadow: -2
• Color: +2
• Sharpness: 0
• High ISO NR: -4
• Clarity: -2
• ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
• Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +1 (typically)

The X100VI has the built-in Reala Ace simulation, and separate recipes built on it exist, such as Easy Reala Ace. The fifth-generation recipe index on fujixweekly.com is the fastest way to find X100VI recipes.

1. Open the menu and find Edit/Save Custom Setting in the image quality settings.
2. Pick an empty custom slot (C1, C2 and so on).
3. Enter each setting from the recipe: film simulation, grain, color chrome effects, white balance and shift, dynamic range, highlight, shadow, color, sharpness, noise reduction, clarity.
4. Name the slot after the recipe so you remember it.
5. Set ISO and exposure compensation on the camera as the recipe suggests.
6. Assign the custom settings to a function button or the Q menu for quick switching.

Many photographers keep an auto white balance recipe for mixed light and a fixed Kelvin one for sun. Menu names vary a little between models. There's a step-by-step guide: how to add film simulation recipes to your Fujifilm camera.

Recipes are for photographers who want SOOC (straight out of camera) JPGs and less time at the computer. That's a good fit for street photography, where you might shoot hundreds of frames on a walk. The X100 line has been built for this kind of shooting since the original FinePix X100 in 2011.

If you already edit RAWs in Lightroom or Capture One, a recipe can still help. It shows you a finished look on the rear screen while you shoot, and the JPEG becomes a reference for your edit. You can also reprocess a RAW file in camera with a different recipe later, so one frame can try several looks.

Fujifilm film simulation recipes approximate film, from a top film like Portra to a cheap consumer stock like Fuji Superia 800. At higher ISOs the grain and noise change the look again. They get close to the look, not a perfect match, because real film also depends on how it was developed and scanned.

A recipe gives your set a consistent look. That's real value. When I edited the Inspired Eye magazine, the photographers who stood out were the consistent ones, and a single recipe across a series helps with that.

But a recipe is color and tone. It isn't composition. A snapshot in Kodachrome colors is still a snapshot. If your photos feel flat, the fix is in what you point the camera at, not in the white balance shift. Start with why are my street photos boring and the elements of photography, where color is one element among several.

Two habits I recommend:

• Shoot RAW plus JPEG. The JPEG gives you the recipe look. The RAW file keeps every option open. For black and white, a color RAW converted later gives you more control, because you can darken or lighten each color separately.
• Don't fear non-local color. Painters never used "real" colors. A recipe is one way to move away from plain reality, and plain reality is often boring.

Our street photography course covers editing, including formulas for pleasing colors and the simple tools you'll use most of the time. It's camera-agnostic, so it doesn't teach Fujifilm recipes or tell you which camera to buy. If you're still choosing, see best camera for street photography or Ricoh GR IV vs Fujifilm X100VI.