3 Fujifilm Features That Cut My Editing Time – And Let Me Enjoy Photography More

The video above demonstrates an often overlooked Fujifilm feature (Sony for example does not have it) that helps reducing editing time on the computer 

Good By Editing (Almost)

One thing I appreciate of Fujifilm cameras, is that they offer a series of features that allow me to significantly reduce my editing time.

That’s a big deal for me. When I go on holiday with my family, I love the lightness of just shooting freely—taking tons of pictures without the burden of knowing I’ll have to spend hours editing once I’m back home. That peace of mind makes photography more enjoyable, because every click feels like a memory captured, not another task waiting for me on the computer.

And Fujifilm cameras have three features I find especially useful for the purpose of reducing editing on the computer—some well-known, others surprisingly overlooked and that Sony for example does not offer on their cameras.

So let’s start with the most “famous” one, even though the other two are no less important.

1) Film Simulations

I guess you saw that one coming, so I’ll keep this one short ;).

Fujifilm colors are a key reason I began relying more and more on JPEGs.

A dull day? Velvia brings the punch. Shooting people in a landscape? Astia gives both vivid colors and pleasing skin tones. For city exploration, I’d go Classic Chrome or Nostalgic Neg. And for indoor weddings under artificial light, Pro Neg Standard was pure magic.

So yes, getting colors right in-camera significantly reduced my editing time.

Add to that that you can create your own recipes to fine tune colors to taste, and color-editing is now a distant memory of the past.

Just look at the awesome stuff Fujifilm shooters are creating with 100% Fujifilm colors at the 140K members strong Film Simulation group, and you’ll understand what I mean.

2) DR Extension

We have dedicated an own article to the DR extension feature.

So I will keep this section short too.

Also, go to minute 10:28 of the video above to see the DR function in action with sample images.

3) Internal RAW Converter

The internal RAW converter is yet another very useful feature to shorten computer editing time as much as possible. And as far as I know, Sony cameras don’t have it, which alone would be a dealbreaker for me.

The video below shows the in-camera RAW converter in action on the field (and it also shows a beautiful hike in the Dolomites).

Over time, the internal RAW converter has become always more powerful. For example, my Fujifilm X-E3 has no “image size” option, whereas on more modern cameras you can use “image size” to adjust aspect ratio (aka crop the image). And since cropping an image is one of the things I’d do most in post on the computer, it is a very handy feature to have.

At this point I’d just ask Fujifilm to give us the 65:24 aspect ratio also on the Fujifilm’s 40 megapixel cameras… that should be enough megapixel to allow for the wide panoramic crop.

But you can adjust all sort of things right in camera: change film simulation, add Color Chrome FX Blue if you want to emphasize a blue sky, add clarity, adjust shadows and highlights, adjust grain and what not.

Yes, all of this is done after you take the image, so technically it is still “post-processing“. But it doesn’t feel like post-processing. When I’m out shooting, there are always little pauses—waiting for food, a train, or whatever—and I naturally end up reviewing my photos. In those moments, it only takes a few seconds to open Fujifilm’s internal RAW converter and make quick adjustments. Often those small tweaks are enough that, once I’m home, all I need to do is transfer the files to my computer. No extra editing required.

So, Shoot Only JPEG?

As I wrote in my previous article: I still—and always will—shoot JPEG+RAW. As much as I trust the in-camera results for most of my needs, there are always a few images I might want to print or edit in a way that is not possible with the internal RAW converter. And for those, I like having the RAW backup, in case I need the full flexibility of a RAW converter to handle a particularly challenging shot. Also, you need to shoot RAW if you want to be able to use the internal RAW converter.

So my advice is to always shoot JPEG and RAW. But at the same time, explore all the possibilities offered by Fujifilm cameras to try to get as much as possible right in camera (or edited in camera).

The less time I spend stuck at a computer, the more freedom I feel behind the camera, and that makes photography so much more enjoyable for me.

In the video below you can get a demo of the internal RAW converter… and to please your eyes, also a great view on the Dolomites.