The Community Fujifilm Recipes I Love Using

If you've read why I shoot JPEG, you'll know I lean on film recipes to finish a photo in the camera rather than at a screen. Some of the recipes I use are my own, but plenty of the ones in my custom slots come from the wider Fujifilm community, which has spent years working out looks I'd never have arrived at on my own. These are the community recipes I keep coming back to, who made them, and what each one is good for.

Roman Fox's Nostalgic Negative

Roman Fox built this one on Nostalgic Negative, and it's about as easy to live with as a recipe gets. Warm, gently grainy and softened just enough to take the digital edge off, it's made for bright, sunny days and the kind of everyday shooting where you just want the frame to feel nice. It's the one I load when the light is doing the work and I'm not chasing anything in particular.

Kodachrome 64

Ritchie Roesch's Kodachrome 64 is my go-to for classic colour in daylight. Built on Classic Chrome, it chases the look of the old ISO 64 reversal film, saturated and warm with slightly cyan skies and measured contrast. Roesch runs Fuji X Weekly, the biggest recipe resource there is, and this is the one of his I've kept longest.

Classic Cuban Negative

Classic Cuban Negative by Osan Bilgi turned up in my JPEG post and it earns a place here too. It's built on Classic Negative with heavy grain and a strong colour chrome effect, so the result is warm, nostalgic and unmistakably film. It comes alive on the street, especially anywhere with a bit of colour to chew on.

FujiPop Trio 2

Ross McConaghy makes recipes that aren't shy about colour, and FujiPop Trio 2 is the boldest I use. Inspired by expired Fujicolor C200, it pushes blues, teals and reds hard for punchy street frames with real separation between colours. Greens take a back seat, but that's the trade for the drama, and it's usually one worth making.

Reggie's Superia

Reggie's Superia is Reggie Ballesteros' moodier, grainier take on Classic Negative, and the one I reach for when I want a frame with a bit of weight to it. He built it to hold depth and richness across a full range of skin tones, which makes it a lovely portrait recipe, and it works with directional light rather than against it.

Kodacolor VR 200

Thomas Schwab's Kodacolor VR 200 is the faded one. Another Classic Chrome recipe, it goes the opposite way to Kodachrome, low saturation and strong contrast for the washed-out look of old eighties colour prints. It isn't an everyday choice, but for the right scene it drops you straight into a decade some of us weren't around for.

Point and Shoot 200

Justin Gould built Point and Shoot 200 on Classic Negative, and it's as easygoing as the name suggests. Warm whites and bouncy, cheerful colour give it a mild, print-like look with low contrast and just a touch of grain, the kind of frame that feels nice without asking anything of you. It takes shade, mist, woodland or a bright street in its stride, so it's the one I load when I want to stop thinking and just shoot.

Kodak Portra 400 v2

Another from Ritchie Roesch, Kodak Portra 400 v2 is his read on the portrait film everyone reaches for. It's a Classic Chrome recipe with lifted saturation, softened sharpness and a warm colour cast that flatters skin, held together by a strong, fine grain. It's at its best in daylight and especially golden hour, and less sure under artificial light unless you want things really warm, so I keep it for portraits and the back end of the day.

CN24

CN24 is another of Justin Gould's, and it goes the cooler, cleaner way. Built on Classic Negative, it pulls the colour back and eases the blue out of the greens for a muted, creamy look that stays crisp rather than heavy. It likes bright light, red tones and a little overexposure, which makes it a natural fit for spring and summer streets. I reach for it as a general everyday option when Point and Shoot 200 feels a shade too warm.

Kodak Gold II

Kodak Gold II, also from Gould, chases the warmth of a cheap roll of holiday film without shouting about it. It's built on Classic Chrome and takes its glow from white balance rather than saturation, with a gentle desaturation, softened contrast and light grain for a relaxed, nostalgic finish. That colour-led warmth means it holds up under overcast skies as well as sun, though it's happiest on a bright day or down at the beach. It's my holiday recipe, the one that makes an ordinary afternoon look remembered.

Chrome Fog

Last one, and the most unusual. Chrome Fog, also from Ross McConaghy, drops clarity right down to mimic shooting through a steamy window, a soft and hazy look that saves clipping a Pro-Mist filter onto the front of the lens. It's a one-trick recipe, but it's a lovely trick, and some frames only really work with it.

Where to Start

None of these are mine, and that's the whole point. The best thing about shooting Fujifilm is that you're never staring at a blank menu. There's a generous community giving its looks away for free, and half the fun is loading someone else's recipe, living with it for a while, and slowly bending it into something of your own. When you reach that stage, X-Alchemy is where I keep and share the recipes I've built, and somewhere you can do the same. Try a few of these first, though. They're a brilliant place to begin.