Film simulation on my Fujifilm X-T3 camera

Fuji X Weekly publishes film simulation settings for Fujifilm cameras. Here is a list of them for X-T3. Here is a second.

The X-T3 does not save White Balance Shift in a custom setting¹. The camera does remember a White Balance Shift setting per white balance. So if we choose a set of film simulation settings that each use a different white balance, overwriting will not occur. There is a workaround. If you encode the White Balance Shift setting in the name of a custom setting, you can manually set so after you load that custom setting. Exposure Compensation is not stored with a custom setting, either. So one can use the mentioned workaround, also.

Most X series cameras support seven custom settings. Instead of seven distinct film simulations, Fuji X Weekly has discussion on how to use multiple custom settings to achieve one aesthetics goal. Here is a variety set² based on light condition. Here is a variation set based on one color film simulation³. Here is a variation set based on one black and white film simulation⁴.

I have chosen a hybrid: a light condition set for color film simulations and a variation set for black-and-white film simulation. Here is my current set of film simulation settings:

• For Ernst Haas, Luigi Ghirri and William Eggleston look, Kodachrome II.
• For nice skin-tone and portraits, Reggie’s Portra.
• For black-and-white, Kodak Tri-X 400.
• For cloudy days, Ektachrome E100GX.
• For indoor, Cinematic Negative.
• For night, Jeff Davenport Night.

Below are settings on the camera.

Custom Setting 1 #

For Ernst Haas, Luigi Ghirri and William Eggleston look, Kodachrome II.

Set white balance shift:

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 1/3
3. WHITE BALANCE
4. AUTO
5. OK button
6. WB SHIFT R:3 B:-4
7. OK button

Custom setting 2 also use AUTO white balance, so each time after loading either, check that WB SHIFT is correct, otherwise set it.

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 3/3
3. EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING
4. C1

Screen 1/2

Screen 2/2

5. DISP / BACK button
6. To save settings, select OK.

Custom Setting 2 #

For nice skin-tone and portraits, Reggie’s Portra

Set white balance shift:

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 1/3
3. WHITE BALANCE
4. AUTO
5. OK button
6. WB SHIFT R:2 B:-4
7. OK button

Custom setting 1 also use AUTO white balance, so each time after loading either, check that WB SHIFT is correct, otherwise set it.

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 3/3
3. EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING
4. C2

Screen 1/2

Screen 2/2

5. DISP / BACK button
6. To save settings, select OK.

Custom Setting 3 #

Low-contrast of Kodak Tri-X 400.

Set white balance shift:

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 1/3
3. WHITE BALANCE
4. DAYLIGHT
5. OK button
6. WB SHIFT R:9 B:-9
7. OK button

No other custom setting uses DAYLIGHT for white balance, so once the above shift is set, we can “forget it”.

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 3/3
3. EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING
4. C3

Screen 1/2

Screen 2/2

5. DISP / BACK button
6. To save settings, select OK.

Custom Setting 4 #

High-contrast of Kodak Tri-X 400.

Custom setting 3 uses the same WB shift this custom setting, so we can skip it.

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 3/3
3. EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING
4. C4

Screen 1/2

Screen 2/2

5. DISP / BACK button
6. To save settings, select OK.

Custom Setting 5 #

For cloudy days, Ektachrome E100GX.

Set white balance shift:

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 1/3
3. WHITE BALANCE
4. FLUORESCENT LIGHT-2
5. OK button
6. WB SHIFT R:-1 B:-6
7. OK button

No other custom setting uses FLUORESCENT LIGHT-2 for white balance, so once the above shift is set, we can “forget it”.

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 3/3
3. EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING
4. C5

Screen 1/2

Screen 2/2

5. DISP / BACK button
6. To save settings, select OK.

Custom Setting 6 #

For indoor, Cinematic Negative.

Set white balance shift:

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 1/3
3. WHITE BALANCE
4. INCANDESCENT
5. OK button
6. WB SHIFT R:8 B:-9
7. OK button

No other custom setting uses INCANDESCENT for white balance, so once the above shift is set, we can “forget it”.

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 3/3
3. EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING
4. C6

Screen 1/2

Screen 2/2

5. DISP / BACK button
6. To save settings, select OK.

Custom Setting 7 #

For night, Jeff Davenport Night.

Set white balance shift:

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 1/3
3. WHITE BALANCE
4. COLOR TEMPERATURE
5. OK button
6. Scroll to 2650K
7. OK button
8. WB SHIFT R:-1 B:4
9. OK button

No other custom setting uses COLOR TEMPERATURE for white balance, so once the above shift is set, we can “forget it”.

1. MENU button
2. IMAGE QUALITY SETTING 3/3
3. EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING
4. C7

Screen 1/2

Screen 2/2

5. DISP / BACK button
6. To save settings, select OK.

Workflow #

To activate a custom setting:

1. Q menu button
2. Scroll to a CX profile.
3. Press the scroll button to load the profile.
4. Set the WB Shift using the profile name.
5. Set the exposure compensation dial using the profile name.

Now the camera is ready.

Changelog #

• 2025-05-24. Spelling, grammar, more details in the procedure.
• 2024-02-20. Replace “Tri-X Box” (custom setting 2) with Portra.
• 2024-01-31. Rewritten.
• 2022-11-08. Initial version.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash