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Table of Contents
1. Image Quality Setting
2. AF/MF Setting
3. Shooting Setting
4. Flash Setting
5. User Setting
6. Sound Setting
7. Screen Setting
8. Button/Dial Setting
9. Power Management
10. Save Data Settings
11. Connection Setting
12. The Quick Menu
13. These Fujifilm settings for travel photography are recommendations only
IMAGE SIZE
MEDIUM 3:2. This only matters if you’re recording JPEG or RAW+JPEG. Your RAW output is going to be
Large 3:2 no matter what. But the camera can crop and downsize your JPEG output if you’d like.
The Medium size, on a 24MP sensor, is resized to 12MP, with dimensions of 4000 x 3000 pixels. That’s
plenty big! It’s massive for display on blogs & social media, and enough to give you great prints up to
11″x14″ and up to 24″x30″ if you need to. If your photos are only destined to social media or the family
digital album, you could even go down to Small, which is 25% of the full sensor output (3000 x 2000 pixels
on a 24MP camera).
While a square or letterbox format can make your photos uniquely cool, I wouldn’t let the camera crop
them at capture. Do it later in a post-processing program, which you can even do on a smartphone in
Snapseed or Lightroom. Record the full 3:2 rectangular shape.
IMAGE QUALITY
FINE+RAW. I record both RAW and JPEG and I always want the best JPEG file quality possible, which
is Fine. Anything below that will have information “discarded” when the JPEG is saved. Memory cards can
hold so much information these days that there’s no reason to reduce the JPEG quality.
RAW RECORDING
Lossless Compressed. Yes, uncompressed is “better” than Lossless Compressed – if you’re zooming in to
100% on high-definition monitors and doing scientific analysis of each pixel. But that’s not how people
look at pictures. Lossless Compressed will still give you stunning RAW files that on the outside you’ll never
be able to tell from Compressed. And they’re much smaller, allowing you to fit more files on a card and
more quickly transfer files.
Just note that some programs, like Mac Finder and Photos, can’t “decode” the Fujifilm RAW compression.
Capture One, Light room, and other paid programs can.
LONG EXPOSURE NR
OFF. This feature attempts to reduce noise in long exposures by taking another “reference” exposure after
your original exposure to map out “hot” pixels and remove them. This will double your exposure time on
long exposures, and the benefit for travel photographers usually isn’t worth it. I’d rather be able to take
photos in more rapid succession.
COLOR SPACE
sRGB. There’s a lot of misinformation out there that says Adobe RGB is better than sRGB. I fell for it for a
long time. It’s true that Adobe RGB color space is bigger than sRGB, but that doesn’t make it better for
travel photographers. You should only choose Adobe RGB if you have specialty printing equipment in your
home studio and are familiar with color mapping.
Everyone else should be selecting sRGB. Phones, TVs, computer monitors, tablets, etc. are all in
the sRGB color space. If you want your colors displayed accurately, your photos should be speaking the
same language as your viewers’ devices, in sRGB.
JPEG SETTINGS
I’m not going to go over settings like Highlight Tone, Shadow Tone, Color, Film Simulation, etc. in this post.
These aren’t really Fujifilm settings for travel, but rather dependent on your own style. You can read more
information about specific posts I’ve written about:
Creating Fujifilm Custom JPEG Recipes
Highlight & Shadow Tone
How Dynamic Range Works
Dynamic Range vs Dynamic Range Priority
Film Simulation Comparisons
Reasons for Using Manual White Balance
The New Color Chrome Effect in the X-T3 & X-T30
AF/MF Setting
If some options are grayed out you need to switch between MF and AF.
AF-C CUSTOM SETTING
1. This is the best general Fujifilm setting for travel photographers, dictating how your continuous
autofocus tracking behaves.
STORE AF MODE BY ORIENTATION
Focus Area Only. This is one of my favorite focus/display settings that I never knew about. It’ll speed up
your shooting when using autofocus since you can store where your autofocus area is in both horizontal
and vertical orientation.
AF POINT DISPLAY
OFF. Having your active autofocus points displayed on the screen is an unnecessary distraction. You’ll still
have the “box” showing where your AF area is.
NUMBER OF FOCUS POINTS
The smaller number. That’ll help you move your autofocus area quicker, and there’s still plenty of AF
points with that smaller number. The higher number might work if you’re clamped down on a tripod and
don’t want to move the camera, but that’s not what travel photographers do.
(right) on the X-T2. I’d rather be able to move my focus point quicker than have this kind of focus
resolution when I can just move the camera.
PRE-AF
OFF. Turning this on is a colossal waste of battery. Your camera will try to focus all the time, not just when
you tell it to.
AF ILLUMINATOR
OFF. This helps your autofocus in low light. However, it only has an effective range of a few feet, and it
can be incredibly annoying to strangers when you’re taking environmental portraits. The camera will
instead temporarily boost the ISO to focus, and this works just fine.
MF ASSIST
As desired. These are some really cool manual focus tools and you can read more about them here.
FOCUS CHECK
OFF. Turning this on will magnify your focus area automatically when you touch the manual focus ring.
While the magnification is super-helpful, the automatic nature of it can be distracting. I’ve instead
programmed my rear command dial to Focus Check.
INTERLOCK SPOT AE & FOCUS AREA
OFF. This is another cool feature, but as far as Fujifilm settings for travel, it’s best to leave this off so that
you have more consistent exposures (if using Spot metering).
DEPTH OF FIELD SCALE
Pixel Basis. Most of you will have photos destined for digital display, and this will give you the most
accurate distance scale for manual focus. If you’re just going to be printing, you can select Film Format.
RELEASE/FOCUS PRIORITY
Release. Sometimes you’ll need to be able to press the shutter all the way for the photo when a focus
lock isn’t achieved. You’ll need Release selected to be able to do this.
Shooting Setting
FLICKER REDUCTION
OFF. Only turn this on if you’re shooting under fluorescent lighting.
IS MODE
2 (Shooting Only). This will help you save your battery. It only activates your lens’ image stabilization when
actively shooting.
AUTO ISO
My Fujifilm travel settings for AUTO ISO are best explained in this post all about AUTO ISO. Watch the
video, see what AUTO ISO does, and how to use it.
Flash Setting
RED EYE REMOVAL
OFF. There are ways to fix this in post-processing, even on smartphones. I’d rather have more control over
it than leaving it to the camera.
TTL LOCK MODE
Lock with Metering Flash. That’ll give you better results in situations where lighting is changing, as often
happens in travel photography.
User Setting
FORMAT
Be sure to format your memory card every time you use a new one, and periodically after that! It’ll “clean
out the digital cobwebs” in your memory card and prepare it for shooting, decreasing the chances of
corruption. Just make sure you’ve downloaded all of the existing photos first since it will erase the card!
DATE/TIME
Set your home date and time.
TIME DIFFERENCE
Highlight Local and set the local time whenever you’re traveling. This’ll preserve your home time zone but
let you adjust your traveling time zone.
MY MENU
Create your own menu of your most commonly-used items in this menu. Considering Fujifilm settings
for travel photography, I’d include Face/Eye Detection, AF Mode, Focus Area, Interlock Spot AE & Focus
Area, Interval Timer Shooting, Flash Function Setting, and Drive Setting. You get 16 items.
SENSOR CLEANING
When Switched On. I prefer to do this when switched ON so it’ll get rid of any dust right before I’m
shooting, especially after changing a lens. But it does slow down the startup time slightly. If you’d rather
have a faster startup (see what the difference is on your own), switch it to When Switched Off.
Sound Setting
Turn off all sounds. They draw attention to you and, in my opinion, can be pretty annoying. You can be a
travel photographer without them.
Screen Setting
EVF BRIGHTNESS
AUTO. The camera does a great job of adjusting the brightness automatically, dimming it when able to
save the battery.
LCD BRIGHTNESS
0. As a default, leave it here. Only turn it up when absolutely necessary, which will help save the battery.
IMAGE DISP.
OFF. This is what turns on the automatic image review after you take each photo. Turning this ON will
drain your battery faster. But more importantly, it’s a distraction, and if you’re tempted to review every
photo, you’re going to miss the moment happening right in front of you. Review them only when you
need to using the Playback button.
PREVIEW PIC EFFECT
ON. Some Fujifilm cameras have this setting, allowing you to see how all of your image and exposure
settings will affect your final JPEG photo. It’s why mirrorless cameras are great. Leaving it ON will let you
see what your picture will look like before pressing the shutter. If you only care about what your RAW file
will look like you can turn it OFF.
NATURAL LIVE VIEW
OFF. Cameras that don’t have Preview Pic Effect have this setting, which does the same thing, but when
OFF. If you only care about what your RAW file will look like you can turn it ON.
FRAMING GUIDELINE
Grid 9. There are so many reasons why a simple grid can help your compositions, other than just following
that old “rule of thirds.” Grid 9 is the least distracting and most helpful. Be sure to enable Framing
Guideline in Disp Custom Settings.
DISP. CUSTOM SETTING
I like to enable (check) Framing Guideline, Electronic Level, Histogram, and Live View Highlight Alert.
They’re all off by default.
The Framing Guideline, as mentioned above, is a very useful compositional tool.
The Electronic Level is very helpful for landscapes and cityscapes, though it can be distracting and
unnecessary when you’ve switched to street photography and environmental portraits.
The Histogram is an essential exposure tool.
The Live View Highlight Alert isn’t available in all Fujifilm cameras. Some people don’t like it, but
I prefer having the warning when my exposure settings will make highlight areas appear pure
white. Those overexposed areas will flash black & white.
The display with the Framing Guideline,
Electronic Level (green line), and Histogram. If you need to quickly get these out of the way for
composition, you can press the DISP button for a clean display.
Button/Dial Setting
FOCUS LEVER SETTING
ON. Enable that focus joystick for cameras that have it.
FUNCTION (FN)/AE-L/AF-L SETTING
I’m not going to assume to know how you want all of your buttons programmed. But I do have some
recommendations for Fujifilm travel settings you should have quick access to. These are listed in order of
what I’d give priority to. Program them how you wish.
White Balance: Being able to quickly adjust your White Balance is important in travel
photography, when you’re in and out of different lighting, especially when recording JPEG. Not so
critical if you’re only recording RAW.
AF Mode: Quickly switch between Point/Wide/Zone/Tracking.
Focus Area: Set the focus area and size.
Shutter Type: Quickly enable Electronic Shutter when you want to be silent & discreet. Otherwise,
you should be using Mechanical Shutter since there are some disadvantages to Silent Shutter.
Focus Check: Magnify your focus area to check your manual focus.
Self Timer: Set 2 seconds to stabilize the camera before shutter release, or 10 seconds to get in
the photo.
Wireless Communication: Transfer photos to your smartphone for quick sharing.
How I have my Fujifilm X-T2 button settings for travel. Additionally, I have the Rear Dial set to Focus Check.
SELECTOR BUTTON SETTING
Fn Button. For cameras that have the selector button pad, this gives you more options to program custom
buttons.
ISO DIAL SETTING (A)
COMMAND. Allows quick control for changing AUTO ISO programs by pressing & turning the Command
Dial.
SHUTTER AF
As desired. Turning any of these ON will enable autofocus when you press the shutter halfway. If you’d
rather use the AF-L/AF-ON button on the back of the camera to command autofocus instead of the shutter
(back-button focus), turn these OFF. This gives you better control over focus.
SHUTTER AE
ON. For travel photography, it’s best to lock the exposure when the shutter is pressed halfway. Other
types of photographers are better off not locking the exposure, but this is good for travel photography.
SHOOT WITHOUT CARD
OFF. A good, “hey dummy, you don’t have a memory card installed” reminder.
AF-LOCK MODE
AE/AF Lock. To lock both the focus and exposure.
APERTURE SETTING
AUTO+MANUAL. To give you full control of lenses without aperture rings on the lens barrel.
Power Management
AUTO POWER OFF
1, 2, or 5 Min. I prefer the camera shuts off after 2 minutes of inactivity. I can always wake it back up with
the shutter button. But turning this OFF is a good way to waste your battery!
PERFORMANCE
Standard/Normal. The High/Boost settings are great for sports & action photographers, but for travel
photography, Standard/Normal is perfectly fine. And it’ll make your battery last longer.
Connection Setting
BLUETOOTH SETTINGS
Bluetooth ON. This is a very low-power draw connection. You won’t use it all the time, but it’s fine to
leave it on.
AUTO IMAGE TRANSFER
OFF. You don’t want every picture you take to be automatically transferred to your phone. Not only will
it waste your battery, but it will quickly fill up your phone!
SMARTPHONE SYNC SETTING
TIME. It’s useful to have an accurate time stamp. I disagree that all photos should also have location
automatically tagged for many reasons (protecting vulnerable populations & places). Location tagging can
be done manually later on with these methods.
INSTAX PRINTER CONNECTION SETTING
If you have a portable Instax printer like the SP-2, enter its pin number here. Are you not traveling with
an Instax? You should! It’s a great way to make friends and build international relations!
RESIZE FOR SMARTPHONE
ON. Photos will be downsized to 3MP for transferring to your smartphone. This won’t affect the original
file. But it will speed up transfers, saving the battery, and the photos are perfectly sized for social media
posting.
GEOTAGGING
OFF. See my above reasons for keeping geotagging off. I think travel photographers have a responsibility
to respect the places they travel to and the people they meet, and geotagging has made things out of
control. You can do it manually later on.
You can put all of your focus options on the top line to be able to quickly change things like your
Continuous Focus tracking mode and MF Assist mode, and toggle Face/Eye Detection.
Quickly go into Electronic Shutter and adjust White Balance for a more accurate rendering of your RAW
preview. Keep things like Highlight & Shadow Tone and Dynamic Range in the menu to see what you can
get out of your RAW file, or remind you in a RAW preview how much contrast you wanted the image to
have. By keeping the Film Simulation in this menu, you can quickly switch to Black & White if you plan on
processing it in monochrome, or for situations when removing all color can aid in your composition &
exposure choices.
And of course, you always have the option of choosing “None” for any of these slots, which will help you
remove distractions if you could care less about Dynamic Range, for example.
Assigning some of these functions to the Q menu will free up custom buttons for more frequently used
items.
PROGRAMMING THE Q BUTTON FOR WORKING YOUR JPEGS
If you love your Fujifilm for those awesome JPEGs, you’re going to want a different setup in your Q menu.
I have mine set up in a manner and order that aligns with my workflow when I’m photographing a scene
(which I’ll go through in the next section). But basically I first identify one of my Custom Settings (if
applicable), and then refine that setting based on the character of what’s in front of me. Using the order
of things in my Q menu, this only takes a couple of seconds.
You can see how it’s set up here on my X-T2. Pretty much in the order I do things, with a few miscellaneous
things at the end. If I ever felt the need to upgrade I’d probably add Color Chrome Effect in place of Image
Size.
3. Adjust my saturation. The colors in front of me were really vivid. My Travel custom setting has a Color
value of 0, so I went back to the Q menu and quickly set a Color of +2. Now those warm colors stood out
without being too strong.
4. Check the contrast in the shadows and highlights. This photo was still too flat. I really wanted to make
the layering of the hills stand out. My Travel custom setting has a Highlight Tone of -1 and a Shadow Tone
of +1. I wanted to increase contrast in both of these zones, so I went to the Q menu and set both to +2.
Now I had the contrast that really gave depth to the photo.
What I now saw in the EVF made me happy, what I wanted my photo to look like. Going through the above
steps really only took me a couple of seconds.
Could I just have taken the photo as-is and messed around with it later? Absolutely (and in full disclosure,
I used the Q playback menu to be able to illustrate this post, despite going through the above steps in the
moment).
But taking a few seconds to get it right before making several photos meant that I didn’t have to do it
afterward when I might forget about it or just have too many photos to go through and adjust.
Investing a few seconds before will save you minutes & hours later – all thanks to the Q button!
In short, Fujifilm’s Dynamic Range optimization processes a photo in-camera to decrease the amount of
contrast in the photo.
It reduces the exposure in the bright areas and spits out a JPG with preserved highlights – to a point.
The process can be equated to decreasing the Exposure slider and increasing the Shadow slider in
Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One, and many other photo processing programs.
It’s not, however, as powerful as those sliders. It’s an immediate solution to dealing with a high-contrast
scene, and it does work well in many situations.
Every camera manufacturer has one – it’s known as DRO in Sony cameras, ALO (Auto Lighting Optimizer)
in Canon cameras, Active D-Lighting in Nikon, and simply Dynamic Range (D-Rng) in Fujifilm cameras.
The Dynamic Range setting is not the same as Dynamic Range Priority found in the X-H1 and X-T3/30. Read
this post for the differences between Dynamic Range and Dynamic Range Priority.
This exposure favors the shadows; the highlights are stacked on the far right while the shadows are slightly
expanded on the left.
1. The RAW file is underexposed by either one (DR200%) or two (DR400%) stops. Highlights are darkened,
shadows are darkened even more.
This is what the photo would have looked like if I favored the highlights and underexposed. The shadows
are stacked on the left and the highlights are spread out.
3. The camera processor recovers the exposure by pushing most of it up one (DR200%) or two (DR400%)
stops, while mostly preserving the highlights.
The exposure is pushed back up, with the bulk of the push happening in the shadows and minimal pushing
in the highlights.
DR400 can look a little flat for me at times, so experiment with it to see if it matches your taste.
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I’m perfectly happy using DR AUTO, letting the camera decide between Off and DR200.
In an extremely high-contrast scene like this, I would prefer to process it in a RAW converter.
But if you don’t mess around with RAW files, or if you need a photo straight out of camera now, D-Rng is
great for high-contrast scenes.
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You can use the Highlight and Shadow tones options for further curve adjustments.
Subscribe to learn even more about your Fujifilm via email.
DYNAMIC RANGE BRACKET
You can also bracket the D-Rng settings. If you go into the main menu and select “BKT/Adv. SETTING”,
then “BKT SELECT”, choose “DYNAMIC RANGE BKT”. Switch the drive mode into BKT and hold down the
shutter.
As long as you have an ISO of 800 or higher set, the camera will make three exposures at all D-Rng levels.
Now adjust your exposure until the highlights come off of the right wall. Count the clicks – no matter
which method you’re using to adjust exposure (shutter, ISO, aperture, or EV dial), each click is 1/3 stop
with standard Fujifilm settings. So, three clicks is one stop.
One stop (three clicks) – use DR200%. Two stops (six clicks) – use DR400%.
Finally, go back to your original exposure (do the clicky thing in the opposite direction), and then set
DR200% or DR400%.
If you’re counting nine clicks – which is three stops – the scene has too much contrast to properly expose
both highlights and shadows. Just choose which one is more important to you (shadows or highlights)
and expose for that.
DR200 maintains a very natural appearance. Astia film simulation with -2 color, no changes to the shadow
and highlight tones.
PROCESSING RAW PHOTOS WITH THE Q BUTTON
You can kind of change the D-Rng setting using the Q button in playback mode.
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If DR200 appeared too flat for you (unlikely), you can pull it down to DR100 in the Q menu. Unfortunately,
you cannot bump the dynamic range up, only down.
D-Rng isn’t intended to fix all contrast scenes, but you should be familiar with this great tool when
shooting Fujifilm X cameras!
What’s the difference between Fuji’s Dynamic Range Priority and Dynamic
Range?
There’s been some confusion about the differences between Dynamic Range Priority vs Dynamic Range
in Fujifilm X cameras. They have similar names – which is where the confusion is coming from – but they’re
not the same thing.
They’re settings that alter how a Fujifilm JPEG is processed in-camera. And they also show RAW-only
photographers how they might be able to recover dynamic range in post-processing.
After increasing white balance to 6000K, which I commonly do at sunrise instead of the “correct” 3500ish.
SETTING KELVIN WHITE BALANCE IN YOUR CAMERA
Customize a white balance button
Most cameras have programmable buttons. White balance – even if you don’t want to mess with Kelvin
temperatures – is still something that’s important enough it should be accessible without going into
menus.
The first Sony A7 had a dedicated White Balance button. Subsequent models replaced this with a button
labeled ISO, but I reprogrammed it to WB because that’s what I was used to. After switching to Fujifilm, I
programmed this same right pad button to access white balance.
The original Sony A7 had a dedicated WB button. I became so used to it that I programmed every camera
I’ve owned since then to emulate this.
Using Kelvin white balance is easy!
All I have to do is hit the right button and I’m taken to my last white balance setting (usually Kelvin). I scroll
through to the estimated temperature based on the light source, look through the viewfinder, and fine-
tune it. You can usually adjust the magenta/green tint here as well, which may be necessary with some
lighting sources like fluorescent tubes.
This is one of the many advantages of mirrorless cameras – you can see the changes in the viewfinder.
DSLRs can still preview these changes using Live View mode.
It doesn’t take long at all – two or three seconds – and you’re set for the rest of the time as long as your
lighting doesn’t change.
Think analog. Have a starting point for lighting situations you’re commonly in. Add a “warming filter” by
bumping it up 2000K if you need to.
“One of the key advantages of mirrorless cameras over DSLRs is their small size and quiet operation.
They’re already much quieter than traditional DSLRs, and when you use their silent shutter they’re 100%
inaudible. But there are some electronic shutter disadvantages that every photographer should be aware
of before making it their default setting.
I will be using the term “electronic shutter” to refer to the pure electronic shutter for the purposes of silent
shooting, not electronic front curtain or any combinations thereof.
Mechanical shutters vs Electronic shutters
First we need to understand how mechanical and electronic shutters work.
MECHANICAL SHUTTERS
Mechanical shutters protect film in traditional film cameras – a curtain, if you will. One curtain opens to
reveal the film and another curtain quickly follows to cover it. Shutter speed is the time the film is exposed
to light.
Standard shutters in digital cameras operate the same way but have a digital sensor behind them in place
of the film.
And like film, the natural state of the sensor is always “on”.
The faster the shutter speed the smaller the slit between first and second curtains in a mechanical shutter.
Due to mechanical limitations, mechanical shutter speeds can only go so fast. On the Fujifilm X-T3, for
example, the maximum mechanical shutter speed is 1/8000 sec. Still pretty damn fast!
ELECTRONIC SHUTTERS
But technology allows us to manipulate the sensor digitally, something we couldn’t do with film in-camera.
This allows us to get shutter speeds of 1/32000 sec. on that same camera!
Here’s how an electronic shutter works:
1. The mechanical curtain is out of the way and the sensor is on, but not recording.
2. You press the shutter button.
3. Each individual pixel sensor is turned “off,” one row at a time.
4. Those pixels are then turned back “on” for the preset time (shutter speed).
5. The pixel is then turned back “off,” and the light read during that brief “on” time is recorded.
6. Those pixels are then turned back “on” to their natural state, but not recording, when the
exposure is complete.
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That’s the most simplified way of describing the digital circus happening at the time. Again, this process
happens row-by-row in a cascading manner.
Electronic shutters turn each pixel row off – on – off – on, one row at a time, exposing each row for the
shutter speed time.
But hold on…
HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT REALLY TAKE?
With a mechanical shutter, the sensor stays on and is only exposed to light for the time the curtains are
open (your shutter speed). When your shutter speed is 1/500 sec., this entire process happens pretty
close to 1/500 sec., only adding the time it takes for those curtains to fly over the shutter.
When an electronic shutter is used, each pixel row is exposed to light for that same 1/500 sec. But
because each pixel row is turned off & on one row at a time, the entire process can take as much as 1/10
sec. from the beginning of the exposure to the end, dependent on the camera’s processing power.
Now imagine that you’re in a fast-moving train. You’re using the electronic shutter so you don’t advertise
all the photos you’re taking. A train passes on parallel tracks going the opposite direction and you take a
photo at 1/500 sec.
A mechanical shutter would show some slight motion blur, kinda like what your eyes register, because
the entire image is made in 1/500 sec.
But there’s some serious electronic shutter distortion because the entire process is taking 1/10 sec., not
1/500 sec., when that electronic shutter is used.
This is exactly what happened to me, as you can see in this photo. It’s a perfect illustration of how the
light is recorded one row at a time as this train is moving past at a combined speed of 150+ mph. Lines
that should be near vertical are actually very diagonal.