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My Fujifilm JPEG Settings


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Due to the popularity of my post on switching from shooting RAW to JPEG for my images, I thought I best create one where you can see my Fujifilm JPEG settings.  These are much like using presets in Lightroom but you are applying them to the image there and then.  The below settings are the ones I use everyday and were developed through my time in Singapore, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.  At first, in Singapore, I wasn’t so good.  I kept changing my mind on how a photo should look so I kept switching JPEG profiles.  However, by the time of my last stop in Bangkok, I was much more settled.  Now, I choose the setting and leave it.I cannot however take the full credit.  My Fujifilm JPEG settings were created through researching other Fujifilm shooters; most notably Kevin Mullins and Ritchie Roesch.   Whilst Kevin focuses on weddings and Ritchie on emulating classic film looks, I thought I would see how JPEGs fare for travel photography.

Before going any further, you might want to check out an up to date example of my JPEG settings in action.  I took my camera out for a spin around Edinburgh and was over the moon with how the photos turned out!

***UPDATE***

I’ve got a brand new post with my updated Fujifilm JPEG settings for 2021 which you can check out right here.

Setting Up The Camera

Before I get into each of my custom settings, it is worth mentioning how I set my Fujifilm X-T2 up so that it is easier to shoot JPEGs.  With RAW, you get a lot of flexibility when it comes to post-processing yet, with JPEG, nearly everything has to be perfect at the time you press the shutter.  I like the X-T2 for this as everything is easily accessible especially when it comes to exposure compensation.  I’d hate to try this with a different brand.I am a big believer in letting the camera do most of the work for me.  Many will probably disagree with me but I find it much easier to concentrate on capturing images than constantly fiddling with settings.  Whilst I’ve set up the whole camera for the way I shoot, these are the main ones that will help you get better JPEGs.

Aperture Priority

I shoot in aperture priority almost all of the time.  Unless there are exceptional circumstances, for example night cityscapes or panning, which require me to manually adjust the shutter speed, I just let the camera do the work for me.  You will want to control the depth of field yourself and this is exactly what aperture priority allows.  All I have to do is choose my desired aperture (often between wide open and f/8) and the camera chooses the shutter speed.  When the shutter speed gets too slow, my Auto ISO setting steps in to assist.

Auto ISO

I’m perfectly happy with stills produced at high ISO and, if the situation requires it, I have no issue with going up to 12,800.  Whilst I don’t shoot professionally, I’d rather put up with noise and have a useable image than one that comes out blurry.I therefore use the following Auto ISO settings:

  • ISO Dial set to A

  • Default Sensitivity 200 (although it often increases to 400 even in bright daylight)

  • Max. Sensitivity 12,800

  • Min. Shutter Speed 1/125

I find that a minimum shutter speed of 1/125 is enough to maintain sharp images and the camera will increase the ISO if the shutter speed drops below that figure.

Exposure Compensation

In order to get the image properly exposed in camera, I find that I often set the exposure compensation to +1 or sometimes even +2.  This is where the Electronic View Finder (EVF) comes in handy – you can see exactly how the JPEG is going to look no matter what setting you change.  Mirrorless is the way forward I’m telling you! I’ve also added the Histogram to the EVF which tells me whether an image is properly exposed or not.However, instead of just flicking turning the exposure dial manually, I have it set to C all of the time.  I then set the command dial on the front of my camera to adjust the exposure compensation; this way you get up to 5 stops instead of 3.  Not that I really need 5, but I actually find it so much quicker to use the command dial.

My Fujifilm JPEG Settings

To create your own JPEG settings, head to Edit/Save Custom Setting in the IQ section of the menu.  From here you can save seven different settings, all for different scenarios if you wish.  To make it even easier to switch between settings, I changed my FN5 button to ‘Select Custom Setting.’  With the camera to my eye, I can simply and very easily change presets.

Astia Travel

This is the one I use nearly all the time; for day to day images when exploring as well as my food shots.  Astia is such a versatile film simulation.  I love it so much I even used Astia when I had VSCO presets.  For more sample images, make sure you check out my post on Fujifilm’s Astia.

  • Dynamic Range (DR) Auto

  • Film Simulation (FS) Astia

  • Grain Off

  • White Balance (WB) Auto +1 Red

  • Highlight -1

  • Shadow +2

  • Color +2

  • Sharpness -1

  • Noise Reduction (NR) -3


my fujifilm jpeg settings

Chrome Urban

Ah Classic Chrome. The film simulation of Gods. I believe it’s Fujifilm’s version of a very popular Kodak film.  This is the one that I switch to for street photography or if it starts to rain.  The combination of Classic Chrome and reflections in rain is just beautiful; in a grungy kind of way.

  • DR Auto

  • FS Classic Chrome

  • Grain Off

  • WB Auto +1 Red

  • Highlight 0

  • Shadow +2

  • Color +3

  • Sharpness +3

  • NR -3


my fujifilm jpeg settings

You can check out more examples of my Classic Chrome setting here.

Velvia LS

For landscapes, I often use Velvia which really brings out the colour in every scene.  I also used this in Little India in Singapore where the bright colours couldn’t have been captured any other way.  I don’t however find myself using this too much.

  • DR Auto

  • FS Velvia

  • Grain Off

  • WB Auto +1 Red

  • Highlight -1

  • Shadow +3

  • Color +4

  • Sharpness +2

  • NR -1

Pro Port

I owe this one to Kevin Mullins; it’s a really soft and subtle setting used for portraits.  I don’t shoot that many portraits at all but I found that it worked well in capturing details in a Bangkok hotel.  However, when I have used it for a portrait, it works wonders.  I love the look this gives and hopefully will use it more once I buy the 56mm f/1.2.



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  • DR Auto

  • FS Pro Neg. Hi (You could use the standard version for something even subtler)

  • Grain Weak

  • WB Auto +1 Red

  • Highlight -2

  • Shadow +2

  • Color -3

  • Sharpness +1

  • NR -2

Acros 1R

I’ve always had a funny relationship with black and white images.  I mean, I love them, but I never found my pictures were good enough.  Enter Fujifilm’s Acros film simulation.  It isn’t a film that I’ve ever used before but as soon as I applied the Acros setting on my camera, I fell in love.  Especially when you add in the Red filter.  It just adds a kind of contrast that does wonders for photos.  On my 29th birthday in Bangkok, I set out to record all of it solely in black and white and the pictures came out beautiful! You can now see more of this beautiful film simulation here.  Do not miss this one!

  • DR Auto

  • FS Acros Red

  • Grain Off

  • WB Auto +1 Red

  • Highlight -1

  • Shadow +3

  • Sharpness +1

  • NR -1


my fujifilm jpeg settings

Acros 2

Another black and white setting with Acros but this time it’s a lot more subtle with the added Green filter.  I use this one very occasionally.

  • DR 200

  • FS Acros

  • Grain Off

  • WB Auto +1 Red

  • Highlight +2

  • Shadow +2

  • Sharpness +2

  • NR -2

Superia 800

I love Ritchie Roesch’s recreations of classic films and here’s a great one of Fujicolor Superia 800.  On his website, he explains a lot more about the film look so here I’ll just put down the settings I use for it.  Sometimes I switch the white balance to Auto and manually input the colour shift but often I’ll forget so I’ve set it up on the Daylight setting.  It doesn’t work all the time but, when it does, I love it!  I leave this setting, number 7, for my ‘creative’ looks and will change it regularly.  I tried Ritchie’s version of Kodak Portra 400 but I couldn’t get away with the white balance.  However, he does show that it can be beautiful!

  • DR 200

  • FS Pro Neg Standard

  • Grain Weak

  • WB Daylight -2 Red -3 Blue

  • Highlight +1

  • Shadow +2

  • Color +4

  • Sharpness +1

  • NR -1


my fujifilm jpeg settings

Post-Processing

To add a bit of an extra punch, I have set up an Import Preset for my JPEGs which is applied to all of my photos.  I add +10 contrast, +35 clarity and -5 vignette and a small S-Curve.  I’m not sure whether you’ll find all of this pointless as I could do everything in RAW and just apply Presets along the way.  However, shooting this way rapidly speeds up my editing process.  I can concentrate on shooting more and worrying less about having to spend hours and hours editing.Hopefully, you’ll use these settings as inspiration for your own photos.  Over time, I may adjust these more to my liking.  Of course, they might not work for you but I really encourage you to try and shoot JPEG only from now on.  I do have to admit that, thanks to the X-T2’s dual card slots, I shoot RAW & JPEG.  The RAWs are only as a backup and just stay on my 64GB card in my camera.  Once I’m happy with the JPEGs and I’m confident I haven’t messed anything up, the RAW files are just deleted.If you fancy sticking round a bit longer, why not check out what’s in my camera bag?

Leave a comment below or send me a message if you want to know more and just discuss photography in general.

Read More + Sample Images Below

Sample Images


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Cardinal's Hat Lincoln

 


My Fujifilm JPEG Settings

 


My Fujifilm JPEG Settings

 


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my fujifilm jpeg settings

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45 thoughts on “My Fujifilm JPEG Settings”

  1. car.zoistoik@gmail.com

    Nice! Speeding up the post processing is always great when traveling, allows more time to work on the gram haha!

  2. I always love to hear how others take their shots. I use Canon camera and am quite happy with it. I do find that a shot done well before eliminates the processing after. I’m not fully decided on set settings so I adjust a lot of them as I take the shots.

  3. Thanks man, that is something I was looking for after purchasing the camera. Great stuff !I just wonder if there is a way to somehow transfer those settings to the raw file, so that if you decide to process it, you start from your jpg version of raw

  4. Hey sorry for the late reply! I had replied but somehow it’s been deleted! I’m not sure exactly how to do that although I think I saw someone mention Capture One software can read the original JPEG information! I’m still surprised at what editing I can manage with a JPG file especially in Lightroom which doesn’t actually affect the original file, just a copy of it!

  5. hey thank you for the really good instruction and ideas… can you explain where do you save your presets on the camera? Do you use the Q Menu? Thank you

  6. Great post, I like your JPEG settings very much, it works very good to me. May you could present some presets for night shots?

  7. I’m an older guy that has loved cameras since I’ve been a kid. Came across your site and was quite impressed. Just bought a Fuji XT3 because I have used Fuji film in the past and really liked the results. I’m a little intimidated with all the settings this camera has. I think your settings would be a great starting point. There is a phrase that I have been quite familiar with “KISS”, because of my work experience in computers. I’m sure you have heard of it and know what that means. Thanks again for your site. Look forward to checking it often.Best Regards,Dick J

  8. guyfromtor@gmail.com

    I tried you recipe Astia Travel and it is simply amazing. Thank you so much for it and your other jpeg settings.

  9. guyfromtor@gmail.com

    I have been playing with you settings some more. I noticed you are using an XT-2. I have an XT-3 and I am using Fuji Raw windows app to store the recipe. The one thing I noticed is the your recipes use Shadow +2 and my photos appear too dark. Shadow 0 on the other hand seems to give it a more natural look.By the way this is no criticism. I am just wondering if there is a possibility that the XT-3 sensor and color engine might be different than on the XT-2 and perhaps giving me a different look than your XT-2. I am newbie with Fujifilm and I admit my theory might be ridiculous.Keep up the good work.Best Regards.

  10. guyfromtor@gmail.com

    I am going to run a test this week with the following. I going to shoot with “Astia Travel” in camera with Raw and Fine Jpeg. I am then going to use Fuji X Raw, take the raw image, and apply the recipe. The compare the Fuji X Raw generated jpeg with the one coming from the camera. They should look identical. If they are different then it might an issue with how Fuji X Raw is applying to the recipes to generate the jpeg. If you like, I can post my results here 🙂

  11. jorghahn@telefonica.net

    Hi Jamie, just to understand, what is the DR setting (,Auto, 200) doing for the look? I know how it works technically but I was wondering if it also contributes to the specific look of each recipe. Thx.

    1. jorghahn@telefonica.net

      Thank you, Jamie!Btw, when you say that your ISO sometimes increases to 400 even in bright daylight I guess this happens because your camera is set to.DR Auto and the dynamic range of the scene is too high.

  12. I use the same film sims but with some modified settings.My favorites are also Astia (with low contrast and a slight color boost) and Kodachrome II (more contrast, less color, wb shift towards orange).For portraits however pro negative is lovely.

  13. I first noticed Fuji JPG’s with the original X-100. After a few months with the X-Pro2 I began to take them seriously. Now JPG constitutes well over 90% of my work. Attempting discussions with other photographers generates at best a very cool response so it’s wonderful to have others’ recipes being shared. Thank you

  14. Hello Jamie,First thank you for your help and congrats for your work! I have a question: Is it possible to assign a different WB for each custom setting or do you have to memorize and change the WB every time you choose another jpeg setting?Thank you in advance. Best regards from France.

  15. Hello Jamie.. Your post is amazing and I can’t tell you how much I am happy that I bought fujifilm. Your pics are awesome and adorable and I keep them watching on and on.. I am very new to this camera.. And I couldn’t understand how you import pics with few more settings.. Because I import them to my phone but can’t find such import.. Why dont you make video on you tube and demonstrate.. Hope some day I do take at least few pics like you which shall make me super achiever.. Appreciate your guidance and help best wishes from India

  16. Hi there – Can you share the settings that you used on the image of the tuktuk below? I’ve been trying to match the look of what I used to shoot in India and Thailand with (M7+Ektachrome 100VS) and that is almost EXACTLY the colors I’ve been searching for. Is it your Urban Chrome? Any tweaks?

  17. jspaddock@hotmail.co.uk

    Hi Bryan, thanks for the comment! I bet those photos you have are unreal! Yes as far as I remember this is the classic chrome recipe I use every day, with just the slight tweaks in lightroom but nothing to the colours!

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