Straight from 2012 (has it really been that long!?) the Fujifilm X-E1 is one of my all time favorites. Only let down by modern standards in it’s speed, Fuji nailed it the first time with the XTrans 1 sensor cameras. If Fuji re-released this camera with modern autofocus tech and processing speed I would be the first in line. This sensor produces plenty of detail from it’s 16.3 megapixels and the original Film Simulations lean towards soft contrast in the skin tone areas and incredibly beautiful pastel colors. This is packed into a Made In Japan body that will last decades being thrown in camera bags and carried around the world.

I really only have one issue with this camera, I can’t use it in every situation, lack of weather sealing and it writing images to the card slower than my parents modem from the 90s lead me to dive deep into a rabbit hole of figuring out how to color match any camera to one another, all in hopes that I could have this look on images from whatever I might be shooting at the moment.

Four years of trial and error lead me to the realization that it is possible. While of course not every sensor captures light identically, there will be differences in dynamic range, highlight retention and some slight color differences depending on sensor tech… HOWEVER the goal was achieved of getting the XTrans 1 look on RAW images from other cameras. I didn’t stop there and went straight to my favorite film stocks, because I knew prices would keep increasing and at some point they might be discontinued altogether, this has already happened to one of my favorite films : (

Feel free to check out the video to see how I edit using these profiles, it’s a super fast process for me because I can now get the looks I want in one or two clicks. The Astia XTrans 1 profile is what I use for most of my work when I just want a clean look and it is available totally free here.