A film simulation is how a Fujifilm camera turns sensor data into a picture: saturation, contrast, how skin and skies come out. Shoot the same scene on Velvia and it's punchy. On Classic Chrome it's quiet and hard. Most are named after Fujifilm's own films, and they're built into the camera's processing rather than laid on top, so the result looks like a choice the camera made, not a filter.

They apply to JPEG and HEIF files. A RAW file records which one you picked but doesn't bake it in. More on that in JPEG vs RAW on a Fujifilm camera.

The colour simulations

• Provia / Standard. The default. Balanced colour and contrast, a safe start for anything.
• Velvia / Vivid. Strong saturation and contrast. Landscapes, flowers, sunsets. Hard on skin.
• Astia / Soft. Gentler contrast with colour still bright. Portraits and soft light.
• Classic Chrome. Muted colour and firm contrast. The documentary, printed-magazine look.
• Pro Neg. Hi and Pro Neg. Std. Portrait looks. Std is flat and gentle; Hi adds contrast.
• Classic Negative. Fujifilm modelled it on everyday colour negative film for snapshots. Hard contrast and shifted colours.
• Nostalgic Neg. Amber highlights and rich shadows. A warm, printed look.
• Eterna / Cinema. Low saturation, soft shadows. Made for video, lovely for stills on grey days.
• Eterna Bleach Bypass. Desaturated and contrasty, named after skipping the bleach step when developing film.
• Reala Ace. Faithful colour with harder highlights and softer shadows than Provia. One of the newest.

Black and white

• Acros. Rich black and white with deep blacks and fine detail. It comes with Ye, R and G versions that act like colour filters on black and white film: yellow and red darken blue skies, green lightens foliage.
• Monochrome. Plainer black and white, with the same filter options.
• Sepia. Brown-toned monochrome.

Not every body has every one. Newer cameras have more. Film simulations by camera has the list for each body.

From simulation to recipe

A simulation is the starting point. A recipe adjusts it with the camera's other image settings: white balance and its shift, highlight and shadow tone, colour, grain, color chrome effect and dynamic range. Two recipes built on Classic Chrome can look nothing alike. The settings that matter most are explained in white balance shift explained and grain and color chrome explained.

Where to start

Shoot a week on one simulation before you change it. Provia and Classic Chrome are forgiving. Velvia soon shows you what it suits and what it doesn't. Then try a recipe built on the one you like from the recipes page, and save it to a custom slot so you can flip between them. Here's how.

The picks

Recipe slot · coming soon

A first recipe to try

An easy all-round recipe for your first week with film simulations.

Browse recipes →