How to Apply Unsupported Simulations on Older Fujifilm Cameras

A couple of months ago, I decided to enter the Fujifilm world by buying an old Fuji X20 made in 2013. As much as I liked what I saw on the Internet, I’m not entirely convinced that paying a ton of premium for a second-hand camera justifies the purchase of an X100, or any of the more professional models.

As far as the X20 goes, it’s a decent shooter, despite its age, and the relatively small sensor (2/3"). There are a couple of ergonomics issues I have with it, like the fact that you need to constantly twist the lens to turn the camera on and off, but I learned to live with them. However, I wish I had known that this camera does not come with the Classic Chrome film simulation, which is the basis for most of the cool Fujifilm recipes you see online. Classic Chrome is available on X-Trans II cameras, but not on this model, for some reason.

I take photos with both RAW and JPEG. Despite the lack of Classic Chrome, my own slightly tweaked version of Astia produces decent shots much of the time. The RAW file is for when that isn’t the case. Of course, I could take the RAW (.RAF) file and go the standard Lightroom/Capture One way. However, subscriptions to those can be quite expensive, and there is a significant learning curve. Luckily, there is a simpler way to get all the simulations available for Fujifilm cameras. It is totally free, but involves having a .RAF file, and applying a little trickery.

Stay away from X RAW Studio #

When it comes to Fujifilm RAW editing, most people have likely heard of Fijifilm’s X RAW Studio. It’s a decent editing software, but has one serious caveat - it uses your camera as the rendering engine of your photos, and you need to have it connected throughout the entire editing process. The advantage is that you literally get a bigger and more advanced display attached to your camera. The disadvantage: if your camera is old or less capable, there is only so much that X RAW Studio can do.

SILKYPIX RAW File Converter to the rescue #

A little less-known application, SILKYPIX’s RAW File Converter is another one of Fujifilm’s authorized editing tools, and whether intentional or not, it actually works with the .RAF files directly, without needing your camera to be plugged in all the time. In that respect, it works more like standard photo editing software, but unlike Lightroom or its lookalikes, it’s free to download and use.

I have to admit that the RAW File Converter has one of the worst photo editing UI’s I have ever seen in the more than 25 years of my using any sort of computer software. Why that is the case is not for me to judge. The fact is the fact, but so is the one that, among the many editing features it offers, is a Fujifilm film simulation selector (when editing a .RAF file).

Before you get too excited, you will notice that if you use a RAW file from an old Fujifilm camera, you still get only a handful of film sims, and Classic Chrome clearly isn’t there. Thankfully, this part is easy to fix.

Most image files, RAW files included, contain some information about the camera make and model stored in their metadata. This is exactly what the SILKYPIX RAW File Converter uses to decide which film sims to show you. And just so, it happens to be relatively easy to change the camera model to that of a modern one.

There are various ways to edit the metadata of an image file, and, depending on your operating system, you should be able to find plenty of command-line or GUI applications that do this. For the purposes of this exercise, I will show you my way of doing it, but just googling for “Photo EXIF Metadata Editor for OPERATING_SYSTEM_OF_CHOICE” should give you a good set of options.

I use a command-line utility called exiftool, which should be OS-independent. With it, “upgrading” the camera model of a certain .RAF file is as easy as this:

$ exiftool -Model="X100V" DSCF7746.RAF

Depending on your tool, you should be able to rewrite metadata in bulk, but I still prefer to do it selectively, to avoid issues during the writing process.

If I now open the same file in SILKYPIX RAW File Converter, I now get a full set of film simulations to choose from. How cool is that!

Side note: Why Fujifilm is not providing all these sims to older camera’s RAW file makes absolutely no sense to me. I can understand the argument that adding newer film sims to older camera hardware requires issuing firmware updates, and may be too computationally extensive for their processors. Also, it’s a hell of a way of selling newer hardware all the time. I get that. But restricting freaking software in that way, after one has paid hundreds or thousands to obtain your camera? It’s just not fair, in my opinion.

Anyway, after this short rant, let me close up this guide by saying that after the initial getting used to, SILKYPIX RAW File Converter becomes a rather understandable piece of software to deal with, and in many cases, it can serve your photo editing needs alone. There are various options to correct exposure, contrast, white balance, add fine touches with curves, and more. They have even added the option to save your settings and quickly dial them back again, on a different photo. This way, you can recreate various film recipes and save them as presets for your later needs — it’s rather clunky, but it works.

Once you have done enough tweaks to your RAW file, you can “develop” it - either saving it to a JPEG of various levels of quality, or to an uncompressed, 16-bit TIFF, which you can then bring over to a different photo editing software to finish your edits. Yeah, a TIFF file is not quite as flexible as a RAW one, but it should give you plenty of room to turn your photo into a masterpiece.

Oh, and don’t forget to change the camera model back to its original value. This part is completely optional, but will help you if you store your photos in a place that distinguishes by camera make and model.

$ exiftool -Model="X20" DSCF7746.TIF

I hope you found this guide useful. See you soon!