ARE "FILM SIMULATION" PRESETS FOR YOU?

MONOCHROME+YeFilter* (black and white with yellow filter)

Fujifilm recently announced that they are bringing film simulation to their official Raw conversion software, Raw File Converter EX, allowing you to take advantage of the features after, rather than having to make the selection while shooting.

This is good news since I think Fuji does an especially good job with their film simulation modes.

Currently when you select one of the film simulation modes, Provia, Velvia, Astia, PRO Neg Hi or Std, and several Black and White modes, on the camera, they are baked into the JPEG file.

As I've mentioned previously on this blog, the mode I prefer when shooting the X100S is MONOCHROME+YeFilter. But that is only half the story because I also shoot JPEG and Raw at the same time giving me the option during post processing to switch to color or do my own black and white conversion to the Raw file. But normally I really like the job Fuji does with its conversion right out of the camera and then spend extra time converting the Raw image to match.

Does this then mean you no longer need these settings available to you on the camera? I can't make that call, but I do like the option to take advantage of them later.

During a recent visit to Great Falls Park in Virginia, I decided to try out the various film simulation modes on my X100S and see for myself how useful they are. **

Provia/STANDARD: I suppose you need an all-around setting and PROVIA/STANDARD offers standard color reproduction suited for a wide range of subjects.

Velvia/VIVID: A high-contrast palette of saturated colors, suited for outdoor photos. And as it turns out, pretty much the hands-down choice for Fall foliage.

ASTIA/SOFT: Enhances the range of hues available for skin tones in portraits while preserving the bright blues of daylight skies. Outdoor portraits.

PRO Neg. Hi: Slightly more contrast than PRO Neg. Std and recommended for outdoor portrait photography.

PRO Neg. Std: Soft-toned palette. The range of hues available for skin tone is enhanced, making this a good choice for studio portraits.

The Fuji X100S also offers the option to bracket, which to most photographers means some sort of multiple exposures. However, the X100S also allows you to bracket Film Simulations, so you don't even have to stop shooting to change settings.

Starting February 26th, you will be able to download the program for free from the Fujifilm website.

But you will have to wait for this feature to be added to the X100S since initially it will only be available for the X-T1, X-A2, X100T, X30, and XQ2.

* All the photos associated with the blog post are resized JPEGs right out of the camera.
** You can also assign a film simulation mode during playback.