ChobialFujifilm recipes on iPhone: shoot Classic Chrome without the camera
You can shoot a Fujifilm recipe on an iPhone, but not by importing it. A recipe is just a list of in-camera settings. Rebuild it by hand in an app that has the same kinds of controls, and save it as a look you can shoot live. Below is what each Fujifilm setting does, the nearest iPhone control for it, and two original recipes to start from.
Most of what ranks for "Fuji recipes on iPhone" assumes you own the camera. Fuji X Weekly, Fuji Recipes and FujiStyle are good at what they do. They store recipes and help you set them on an X-series body. None of them changes a photo taken with the iPhone itself. That part is what this post covers.
What a Fujifilm recipe actually is
A Fujifilm camera renders its JPEGs through a film simulation (Provia, Classic Chrome, Classic Negative and the rest), and then applies a set of adjustments on top. A "recipe" is a particular combination of those adjustments, written down so someone else can dial it in. On a current body like the X100VI, the Image Quality Setting menu has these:
- Film Simulation: the base colour and tone.
- Grain Effect: Roughness Off, Weak or Strong, and Size Small or Large.
- Color Chrome Effect: Off, Weak or Strong. It deepens tone in highly saturated colours so they keep gradation instead of going flat.
- Color Chrome FX Blue: the same idea, applied only to blues (Fujifilm's explainer).
- White Balance: a preset or a Kelvin value, plus a red/blue shift.
- Dynamic Range: 100%, 200% or 400%. The camera underexposes and lifts the tones back, which protects highlights.
- Tone Curve: Highlights and Shadows, each −2 to +4. Higher values are harsher.
- Color: −4 to +4, in effect saturation.
- Sharpness and High ISO NR: −4 to +4 each.
- Clarity: −5 to +5, local midtone contrast.
- Exposure compensation: most recipes suggest a range, often +1/3 to +1.
The film simulation does most of the work. The other settings only nudge it, which is why two recipes on the same simulation can look like siblings.
Fujifilm settings and their iPhone equivalents
On an iPhone you need an app whose look has the same layers: a base film, then tone, colour, white balance and grain on top. The table maps each Fujifilm setting to the nearest control in Chobial's film editor. Some of these are close matches. Some are only approximations, and the table says which.
| Fujifilm setting | Nearest Chobial control | How close |
|---|---|---|
| Film Simulation | Start From a built-in film (for example Chobial Chrome for a Classic Chrome-type look) | Close. The built-ins were solved from a Fujifilm camera's own RAW developments |
| Grain Effect | Effects › Grain: Stock, Amount, Size | Different scale. Weak/Small is roughly the 35mm ISO 100 stock. Strong/Large is roughly 35mm ISO 400 or above |
| Color Chrome Effect | Color Mixer: lower Luminance (and a little Saturation) on the red, orange, yellow and green bands | Approximate. Fujifilm's effect adapts to how saturated each pixel is. A band slider doesn't |
| Color Chrome FX Blue | Color Mixer: blue band Luminance down, aqua a little | Approximate |
| White Balance + shift | WB in the camera; Develop › Temperature and Tint in the film | Close in effect. No unit-for-unit conversion from Fuji's shift steps to Kelvin |
| Dynamic Range 200/400 | Tone › Highlight Rolloff and Highlights, plus shooting at −1/3 to −2/3 EV | Approximate. RAW already holds the highlights. Rolloff decides how they're rendered |
| Highlight tone | Tone › Highlights | Close |
| Shadow tone | Tone › Shadows | Close, but the sign flips: Fuji's +1 deepens shadows, so use a negative value |
| Color | Color › Saturation (or Vibrance for a gentler push) | Close |
| Clarity | Tone › Contrast and Develop › Local Tone Mapping; per photo, a mask's Clarity | Approximate |
| Sharpness | Develop › Sharpness | Close |
| High ISO NR | Develop › Noise Reduction | Close |
| Exposure compensation | EXP on the camera (third stops), or Develop › Exposure in the film | Exact |
| Smooth Skin Effect | None | No equivalent |
Two of these translations need a closer look. Dynamic Range on a Fujifilm body is an exposure trick for JPEGs. With a RAW file the highlight data is already there, so the real question is how the film rolls into white. Clarity can't be copied exactly on any phone. Fujifilm's version is slow and local. The closest you get is a little Local Tone Mapping for the whole film, or a Clarity adjustment inside a mask for one photo.
Doing it in Chobial
Chobial is an iPhone camera that always shoots RAW and shows the film live in the viewfinder. A recipe you build becomes a film. You can shoot through it, or use it later to develop any photo in the library. Here's how to rebuild a recipe (full walkthrough in the guide):
- Open Films (hold the film on the camera), tap + › New Film, and under Start From pick the built-in closest to the recipe's simulation.
- In Info, name it and give it a three-letter cassette code.
- Work down the table above: Develop, then Tone, then Color, then Effects. The preview is one of your own photos. Hold it to compare with the starting film.
- Set the recipe's exposure compensation with EXP when you shoot, or bake it into Develop › Exposure.
- Save. The film appears in the camera's strip and in the editor's Film tool. Because every photo stays a RAW negative, you can also develop older shots with it.
The two recipes below are original. Neither is a copy of a published Fujifilm recipe. Like any recipe, they're starting points. The built-in films already carry the character, so the adjustments are small.
Recipe: Harbour Light
A cool, quiet documentary look for overcast streets and water. Start from Chobial Chrome. Films › + › New Film › Start From.
| Control | Setting |
|---|---|
| Develop › Temperature | +300K |
| Develop › Tint | +4 |
| Develop › Sharpness | 30% |
| Tone › Highlights | −0.15 |
| Tone › Shadows | −0.10 |
| Tone › Highlight Rolloff | 30% |
| Color › Saturation | −0.10 |
| Color Mixer › Blue › Luminance | −0.15 |
| Color Mixer › Red › Luminance | −0.10 |
| Effects › Grain | 35mm ISO 100 stock (22% / 0.75) |
| Effects › Vignette | +0.10 |
Shoot at 0 to +1/3 EV. The negative shadow value and the darker blues stand in for a firm Shadow tone and Color Chrome FX Blue.
Recipe: Kitchen Table
Warm, soft indoor colour for window light and people. Start from Chobial Nostalgia.
| Control | Setting |
|---|---|
| Develop › Temperature | +200K |
| Develop › Noise Reduction | 20% |
| Tone › Contrast | −0.10 |
| Tone › Shadows | +0.10 |
| Tone › Highlight Rolloff | 40% |
| Tone › Fade | 8% |
| Color Mixer › Orange › Saturation | −0.10 |
| Color Mixer › Green › Saturation | −0.15 |
| Effects › Grain | 35mm ISO 400 stock, Amount lowered to 35% |
| Effects › Lens › Bloom | 10% |
Shoot at +1/3 to +2/3 EV. Pulling orange saturation keeps skin from going too red under warm light.
Sharing a recipe as a QR code
Fujifilm recipes spread as lists of settings that each person types in. A Chobial film travels as the film itself. In Films, tap ••• on your film and choose Film Code. You get a QR code with the film's cassette in the middle. Anyone with Chobial can scan it from your screen, or from a screenshot with Scan from a Picture. Share Code turns it into an image card for posting. Share Film sends a .chobial file through Messages, Mail or AirDrop. Details are in the sharing tutorial. (A film built on an imported LUT is too big for a QR code. Send those as a file.)
Other ways to get a Fuji look on iPhone
- Pearla is a subscription camera app with film looks, including profiles inspired by Classic Chrome and Classic Negative (PetaPixel).
- RitchieCam, from Ritchie Roesch of Fuji X Weekly, is a simple camera with fixed no-edit filters (PetaPixel).
- Dehancer and Lightroom work after the shot, with film profiles and presets.
- No app: Apple's Photographic Styles and the Photos editor can warm, cool and mute a photo. They can't build a film simulation, and Styles work on HEIF, not RAW (see RAW vs HEIF).
Chobial's difference is that you build the look yourself, see it live, and can re-develop any photo with it later. If you also shoot a Fujifilm body, you can import its RAF files and develop them with the same films. For one simulation in depth, see Classic Negative on iPhone.
Fujifilm, Classic Chrome, Classic Negative, Provia and X100VI are trademarks of FUJIFILM Corporation. Chobial is not affiliated with Fujifilm.
Questions
Can you use Fujifilm recipes on an iPhone?
Not directly. A recipe is a list of in-camera settings, and no iPhone app can load one. You can re-create it by hand in an app with matching controls: start from a similar colour look, then set tone, colour, white balance and grain to match.
Is there a Fujifilm filter for iPhone?
Fujifilm doesn't make one. Several third-party apps offer looks inspired by Fujifilm simulations, among them Pearla, RitchieCam and Chobial. Apple's Photographic Styles can warm or cool an image but don't model a film simulation.
Do Fuji recipe apps work without a Fujifilm camera?
Mostly not. Apps like Fuji X Weekly, Fuji Recipes and FujiStyle store recipes, or send them to a Fujifilm camera. They don't change how your iPhone's own photos look.
Can I import a Fuji recipe into Chobial?
No. Chobial imports its own film files and .cube LUTs, not Fujifilm recipes. You re-create a recipe with the film editor's controls, which takes a few minutes, and then it's a film you can share as a QR code.