A huge point of discussion not just in the Fujifilm community, but across photography in general, is whether shooting JPEG is “good.” Some people argue that it takes no skill to throw a warm, contrasty recipe on and snap a photo that looks great straight out of camera. Others compare it to shooting film, where the look is baked into the shot.

At the end of the day, this topic is completely subjective. Ask ten photographers, and you’ll get ten different answers.

How I Shoot

I shoot in Fine + RAW mode, which means my camera saves two files for every shot—one JPEG with the settings I applied (film simulation, color chrome effects, grain, tone curve, etc.), and one RAW file (only affected by dynamic range and white balance).

I do this because I like having control both ways. Shooting with a recipe helps me create the photo I want in the moment, but if the settings don’t look how I envisioned, I can always edit the RAW file with no limits. 

About half of my photos I keep the in-camera settings, and edit the RAW the other half. Often my film recipes are perfect and they just don’t match the mood I’m after.

Why People Dislike Recipes

I've talked to and had discussions with many photographers, and this topic comes up fairly often, so I've heard plenty of opinions. The main complaint I hear is people saying that it's the same as just applying an Instagram filter over a photo and saying it looks great. And honestly, that’s not entirely wrong. A lot of people rely on film simulations as a crutch, and I’ll admit I’ve done this myself, especially when I first got my X-T3. Even now, I catch myself doing it from time to time. No matter how nice your colors look, they won’t fix weak composition.

Another reason people push back against recipes is that not everyone likes the “film look.” Many popular recipes lean warm, high-contrast, and dynamic, which often gives them a yellow or orange cast. I personally enjoy that look, but I also agree it can get repetitive and only works in the right situations.

Why People Like Recipes

A lot of Fujifilm photographers came from using actual film, and emulating that look and feel is tough when shooting digital, when it's all about megapixels, sensor size, battery power, electronic viewfinders and bright screens is all the hype. Fujifilm does their best to emulate the look of film stocks they offered when they were primarily a film roll company, and they do a great job at it. People are always recreating thier favorite film rolls through Fujifilms built-in settings and sharing them with other Fujifilm users.

One big upside to me is it centers me, I can edit photos live as I take them, or I can choose one recipe and only shoot with that to force myself to be creative with it. I find it hard to be creative when I have no limits.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, JPEG recipes aren’t a magic trick or a shortcut, but they’re also not something to dismiss. They’re just another tool, and like any tool in photography, it’s all about how you use them. For me, they make the shooting process more enjoyable and sometimes even more intentional, but I never let them replace the fundamentals of good photography—composition, light, and timing.

If you’re someone who loves the look straight out of camera, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you prefer to build everything in post with RAW files, that’s perfectly valid too. The important thing is to find the workflow that keeps you inspired and motivated to pick up your camera, because at the end of the day, that’s what really matters.