FujiFilm vs Sony Film Simulations | Stop Sacrificing Color
Updated: 4 days ago
If you’re a fan of Fujifilm’s film simulations, you might be wondering if you can achieve the same look on your Sony camera. After all, Fujifilm is known for its amazing colors and classic film emulations, while Sony colors are often criticized. So, if you’ve ever wondered how Sony Film Simulation recipes compare to Fuji Film Simulations, this is the post for you. Welcome to the showdown: Fujifilm vs Sony. 🏁
The good news is that you can actually get very close to Fujifilm’s film simulations on your Sony camera using only the in-camera picture profile settings. No need for any external presets, LUTs, or post-processing.
In this article, I’ll show you how to match your Sony camera with your Fuji camera using the Sony RX100 VI and the Fujifilm X-S10 as examples. I’ll compare the film simulations of both cameras side by side.
This article is focused on Fujifilm vs Sony color film simulations. If you’re interested in the black and white film simulations, check out this article.
Let's get started!
Table of Contents
How to Use Custom Kelvin & Color Filter Settings to Get Close Fuji Colors
How to Color Match Your Images with in-camera Kelvin and Color Filter Settings
Fujifilm vs Sony Film Simulations - With Correct White Balance
Let's dive into the comparison of Sony and Fujifilm Film Simulations with correct white balance settings.
Okay. First off, I want to show you the results just using the Picture Profiles in combination with the temperature or color filter settings, you need both to make this happen. The results are pretty close to Fuji.
The Picture Profiles control things like contrast, shadows, color mode, hue, saturation, and detail. They get you most of the way there.
But to really match Fuji's colors perfectly, you need the temperature and color filter settings. They do the heavy lifting of shifting and balancing the final colors.
The Picture Profiles are a good start, but the temperature and filter settings from the Film Simulation plan take it to the next level. Please keep that in mind!
So make sure to check out those settings too! I'll explain more about why they're so useful further down. Here's a little snippet of what the color filter settings can do:
Sony Classic Chrome vs Fuji Classic Chrome
Sony custom Picture Profile + in-camera color filter settings to match Fuji
As you can see it comes very close, almost seamless, and that is without any post-color grading and matching.
Now, let's compare the Fujifilm vs Sony film simulations only by the picture profile and without the color filter settings. White balance set with a white card.
Fujifilm X-S10 vs Sony RX100 Mark VI
Custom White Balance Set with a White Card on Both Cameras
Velvia - Fuji vs Sony
Astia Film Simulation - Fuji vs Sony
Classic Chrome Film Simulation - Fujifilm vs Sony
Classic Neg Film Simulation - Fuji vs Sony
Unfortunately, the Classic Neg film simulation on Sony falls shorter in terms of accuracy, being only about 50% of the way to Fujifilm's version. This is mainly due to the deep blue-teal in the shadows and warmth in the highlights that Fujifilm introduces, which is challenging to replicate with Sony's in-camera adjustments alone.
If you aim to get closer to the Fuji look through post-processing, the steps are simple:
Shift Reds and Yellows towards Orange and give them a slight saturation boost.
Shift Greens towards Teal and desaturate them.
Desaturate the Blues, and consider shifting them towards Teal.
Shift Magentas towards Red and desaturate them.
Lastly, add some Teal in the shadows and Red in the highlights, but be subtle and avoid going overboard.
And these are the results 👇
That was just a quick 3-minute edit to show you the results. I didn't perfectly match the color accuracy, but you can see how close they get with almost no effort.
With 15 minutes or so of fine-tuning, you could get them looking virtually identical.
Regular Mirorrless cameras don't have precise color adjustment tools built in, like Hue vs Hue, Hue vs Saturation, unless you own a Cinema camera like the FX6 FX9 or the Venice. But if you want to match Fujifilm's Classic Negative Look, the Sony recipe is a great place to start with your color grading.
You can shoot with that picture profile, and then do a quick and easy edit later to match the Fujifilm colors exactly. The Sony recipe will already be close, you'll just need minor tweaks to get that authentic Fujifilm look.
Eterna Cinema Film Simulation - Fujifilm vs Sony
P.S. - Except for the Classic Negative film simulation, the Sony Film recipes are very accurate, achieving about 80-90% similarity to the Fujifilm Film Simulations. The main differences are in the reds and yellows. On Fujifilm, the reds are more orange, while on Sony they are more pink. On Fujifilm, the yellows are more orange, while on Sony they are closer to real life.
How to Use Custom Kelvin & Color Filter Adjustments to Match Fujifilm Colors
If you want to improve Sony colors and get closer FujiFilm's colors, you need to use custom Picture Profile settings and the Kelvin & Color Filter adjustments.
Check this out ⬇️
Sony Standard Look with Auto White Balance -> Sony Classic Chrome Film Simulation AWB -> Sony Classic Chrome with in camera Custom Color Adjustments
Some people ask me, can I use the Film simulation with AWB?
I've used these images to showcase the difference it makes by only using Sony's Picture profiles with AWB, compared to using both Picture Profiles with the dedicated Temperature & color filter settings.
AWb it's easier with AWB but it will make a huuuge difference if you use the Temperature settings provided in the PDF.
By using the same color grading techniques used in editing software like Lightroom, Capture one, Final Cut Premiere Pro or Davinci resolve, custom color settings are a way of cutting down the editing process, by doing it straight in the camera.
It takes a little bit more time on the spot, but cuts down hours spent in front of the monitor correcting and color grading.
It's a new way of understanding color.
You can see how different Sony’s standard colors are from Fujifilm’s Classic Chrome film simulation in these images.
Here, Sony’s standard colors are set to auto-white balance with white priority.
Sony’s standard colors have a strong magenta tint, while Fujifilm’s classic chrome has a more green orange tone. Compared to Fuji, it's a completely different look.
By using the Kelvin and color filter settings, you can adjust the colors on your Sony camera to match your Fuji camera. The colors will not be exactly the same, but they come very close. I think they are about 90% similar, but I posted the images so you can judge for yourself.
Sony Classic Chrome vs Fuji Classic Chrome
Film Simulation
To match Fuji Classic Chrome the Sony Film's Simulation has been shot at 3800 Kelvin and A7-G0.25 for the Color Filter. This balances out colors and bring sony very close to Fuji's look without any color grading skills needed, or hours spent post processing in your dark cave.
How to Color Match Your Images with in-camera Kelvin and Color Filter Settings
You might think it’s silly to lower the temperature and then raise it again in the color filter, but trust me, it makes sense. Let me show you how it works.
Here are Sony’s standard colors with auto white balance and white priority.
These are Sony's Standard Colors set at Auto White Balance: White Priority
They are not terrible, but they have a lot of magenta in them. The greens are too yellow, the reds are too pink and bright, the blues are a bit magenta too, and the magentas are too red. It’s not a very pleasing color combination. So how do we fix this without any hue or saturation tools in the camera?
Sony Classic Chrome vs Fuji Classic Chrome Vectorscope Comparison
By lowering the Kelvin, we are making the colors cooler. This means that the blues and magentas look more realistic, and the greens turn more teal. And this is exactly what we want.
Sony Classic Chrome Picture profile with AWB vs 3800K (no color filter)
However, lowering the Kelvin also makes the reds and yellows cooler, which means they become more pink. We don’t want that, so we have to adjust the color filter setting.
The color filter setting lets us add a color cast to our image. We can choose from amber, green, magenta, or blue. We want to use amber, which is a color between yellow and orange. By adding amber, we can balance out the reds, shifting them towards orange and making them look natural.
Sony Classic Chrome with 3800Kelvin - Color Filter A7
Amber is a warm color that is between yellow and orange. When we add amber to the image, we make the image warmer and the reds more orange. This gives us more natural and earthy skin tones. The reds are still too pink, but the other colors are more balanced.
Now let's see how Standard Sony Colors compare to the Sony Classic Chrome film simulation!
Sony Standard Color AWB vs Sony Classic Chrome at 3900K A7
With the Sony Classic Chrome recipe colors are more accurate to real life.
Greens and blues are shifted towards cyan, reds are shifted back into place, instead of being pink-ish, magentas are straight where they should be and the yellows are suffering a bit, it would help to shift them more towards Orange by pushing the color filter at A7-M0.5 or A7-M1.
You can also fine-tune the color filter by adding a little bit of green or magenta, depending on your preference and your camera model. Sony cameras have different color science, so they might look slightly different from each other.
For example, my Sony a7III has more magenta cast than my RX100 VI, so I use different settings to match them. On my a7III, I use 3800K A7-G0.5, and on my RX100 VI, I use 3800K A7-M0.5.
With these Sony film simulation settings, you only need to adjust the tint a bit and you can match your different Sony cameras with your Fuji cameras. This will make your workflow easier and smoother.
Let's check again the results against the Fuji!
We went from this:
Sony Standard Color AWB vs Fuji Classic Chrome AWB
To this:
Sony Classic Chrome 3900K A7 vs Fuji Classic Chrome
It's crazy how similar they are!
The reds are still slightly pink, and the yellows are more realistic, while Fuji shifts them towards amber. But they are very close, and that’s without any editing or post-processing.
Stop Compromising When Choosing Your Digital Camera
And there you have it. The Fujifilm vs Sony rundown. What are your thoughts on this? Do the Sony Film Simulations match Fuji's?
I put a lot of work and passion into making these recipes, and it was not a piece of cake. for the past 2 years I had to experiment with each film simulation and tweak them carefully to get the closest look and colors to the film. I wish Sony would give us hue and saturation control for each color channel, like they did with color depth in the picture profile menu. That would make Sony cameras truly unlimited.
It’s pretty nice that you can match two different camera brands so well and get these kinds of looks straight out of camera by using the picture profile menu. And it’s even more amazing that we are talking about Sony here. Many people criticize Sony’s colors, but maybe we just need to learn how to use our cameras better.
Now we need Sony to add some film grain options and some simple HSL adjustments for each color channel so we can tweak these recipes even more and get the right looks straight out of camera.
Try out these Sony film simulations and stop compromising on autofocus, quality, specs, or color when choosing your digital camera.