Steel Wash
Metal, concrete and rain.
Colour
- White BalanceAuto, −1 Red, +2 Blue
- Color+2
- Color Chrome EffectStrong
- Color Chrome FX BlueStrong
Tone
- Dynamic RangeDR400
- Highlight−1
- Shadow−1
Texture
- Grain EffectWeak, Small
- Clarity+1
- Sharpness0
- High ISO NR−4
Exposure
- ISOAuto, max 6400
- Exposure Comp.0 to +2/3
Why this recipe
Eterna Bleach Bypass imitates the lab process where the silver stays in the print. Saturation drops to almost nothing while contrast climbs sharply.
It's the only simulation in the menu that does both at once, and the reason it can't be rebuilt from Eterna with the Color slider pulled down.
Steel Wash holds it back rather than pushing it further. The bright end stays intact, the dark end stays open, a cool shift keeps it clean, and just enough colour comes back that it doesn't read as black and white.
In one line: metal, concrete and rain, with the colour almost but not quite gone.
It's a city recipe. Concrete, rain, night under street light, anything metallic.
Every photo here is a JPEG straight out of my Fujifilm X-H2S. No editing, no Lightroom, no cropping. Shot in London, Scotland, Norway and Lofoten.
Save it to one of the custom slots (C1 to C7). It takes about a minute to type in, and from then on the camera hands you a finished JPEG.
Shoot it in
City, concrete, rain, night under artificial light and anything metallic.
Skip it in
Green and nature, where the desaturation turns sickly. For landscapes, pick a recipe with more colour.
Straight out of camera
No edits. Just the JPEG.
What each setting does
Built from the bottom up.
A recipe is easier to trust when you know why every value is there.
Film Simulation
Eterna Bleach Bypass imitates the lab process where the silver is left in the print: saturation drops to almost nothing while contrast climbs sharply.
It's the only simulation that does both at once. Pulling the Color slider down on Eterna won't get you there.
White Balance shift
Auto, −1 Red, +2 Blue. The only recipe in my cookbook shifting in this direction.
It keeps the greys cool and clean, the colour of steel and wet concrete.
Dynamic Range, Highlight, Shadow
The simulation crushes the dark end on its own, so Shadow −1 leaves it open. DR400 with Highlight −1 keeps the bright end from breaking.
DR400 needs four times the base ISO, which means ISO 640 or higher on the X-H2S.
Color
Color +2 gives back just enough colour that the frame doesn't read as black and white.
A red house or a yellow boat still shows, quietly.
Color Chrome Effect
Strong. Gives the few colours that survive some depth, so they hold their gradation instead of looking washed out.
Color Chrome FX Blue
Also Strong. It deepens what's left of the blue in sky and water, which fits the cold, metallic mood.
Clarity, Sharpness, Grain, Noise
The opposite of my softer recipes: Clarity +1 adds a little bite, Sharpness stays at 0, and Grain Weak, Small gives a fine texture. High ISO NR −4 keeps detail at night.
The trade off: Clarity above 0 adds a short processing pause after each frame.
Quick start
- Put it on a custom slot (C1 to C7) and set ISO to Auto with a max of 6400, so DR400 always works.
- Start at 0 exposure comp, go up to +2/3 at night or in dark streets.
- Use it in the city and in rain. Switch to a colour recipe when you head into nature.
Works on
- All X-Trans V bodies
- X-T4
- X-S10
- X-E4
- X-T30 II
Eterna Bleach Bypass arrived with the X-T4, so older bodies like the X-Pro3 and X100V may not have it.
Steel Wash
Thanks for reading.
@danieljschwarzSave it · Tag me · Share it with a Fuji friend
If you try Steel Wash, I'd love to see what it does with your city. Tag me on Instagram at @danieljschwarz, that's also where I post new recipes first.
Steel Wash is recipe 10 in My Fuji Cookbook. The full book with twelve recipes is in my shop.
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