The Fujifilm X100VI is still my favourite holiday camera and 4 nights in Barcelona reminded me exactly why. In this post I share the images I made there and the settings for my favourite Fujifilm recipe, the one I use for every photo and video.
A few months ago I wrote about five reasons I love the X100VI as a travel camera. That post covered the specs, the features and the downsides. This one is different.
This isn't a review. It's a collection of photographs from Barcelona and an honest look at why this little camera still has such a hold on me. Not because of what it can do on paper, but because of how it makes me feel when I'm out shooting.
Barcelona with one camera
I took one camera to Barcelona and didn't miss anything else.
Barcelona is a city made for the X100VI. The narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter, the late afternoon light bouncing off old stone, the beach at Barceloneta, people sitting outside cafés until well after dark. Everything happens at street level and close up, which suits a fixed 35mm-equivalent lens perfectly.
I didn't plan shots or chase landmarks. I walked, I noticed things and I took the camera out when something caught my eye. That's the way I like to travel. The X100VI is small enough that it never felt like work to carry and quiet enough that I could shoot without drawing attention to myself.
By the end of the trip I had a set of images that felt like the city, not just a record of where I'd been.
Why it still has a hold on me
I still haven't found a camera that inspires me as much as this one, creatively or emotionally.
I've used a lot of cameras over the years. Most of them are tools. They do a job well and I'm grateful for them, but I don't think about them when they're sitting in the bag.
The X100VI is different. It makes me want to go out and shoot. It slows me down just enough to look properly, but it never gets in the way. The dials, the viewfinder, the way the files look straight out of camera. It all adds up to something that feels more like an instrument than a piece of tech.
As an artist, that matters more to me than any spec sheet. The camera you feel connected to is the one that ends up making your best work.
My favourite Fujifilm recipe
Every image in this post was shot as a JPEG using my own Fujifilm recipe. It doesn't have an official name yet. Some of you have suggested The Golden Ducker or Jay's Ways, and if you have an idea of your own, I'd love to hear it. I'll pick a few favourites and put them to a vote soon.
I built it on Classic Chrome because I love its muted, slightly nostalgic feel. The warm white balance shift gives skin tones and stone that golden glow, while the softened highlights and shadows keep everything gentle and filmic. It's perfect for a city like Barcelona, where the light does half the work for you.
Here are the settings so you can try it yourself:
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Off
Colour Chrome Effect: Off
Colour Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Auto, R: +2, B: -5
Dynamic Range: DR200
D Range Priority: Off
Tone Curve: H: -2, S: -2
Colour: +2
Sharpness: -1
Noise Reduction: -3
Clarity: -1
Save it to one of your custom settings and you can switch to it in seconds.
Video with the look baked in
The recipe works for video too, which is a big part of why this camera means so much to me.
When I switch to video, the same look carries straight across. My clips and my photographs feel like they belong together, with no grading needed. For holiday films that's a gift. I can come home with a finished feel rather than a hard drive full of flat footage.
In Barcelona I'd shoot a photo, flick across and grab a few seconds of movement: a street performer, waves at Barceloneta, light shifting through a doorway. It all sits in the same world. That consistency is hugely important to me and it's something I haven't found anywhere else in a camera this small.
Until there's an X100VII
Until Fujifilm releases something better, the Fujifilm X100VI is the camera I'd tell anyone to take on holiday.
Not just the best Fujifilm for travel. The best holiday camera, full stop. It's small, it's beautiful to use and it gives you photographs and video you'll actually want to look back on.
Maybe an X100VII will change my mind one day. But right now, nothing else comes close to how this camera makes me feel. And when a camera makes you want to pick it up every single day, that's really all that matters.
If you try this recipe on your next trip, I'd love to see what you make with it. And if you've got a name for it, let me know.
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