Lightroom and Fujifilm film simulations
Lightroom opens Fujifilm RAFs well, and its Camera Matching profiles carry the film simulation names. But a profile is only the base film: it doesn't apply the rest of the recipe you set in the camera, and it only offers the films your camera has. RAF Film Lab develops the whole recipe from the RAF.
RAF Film Lab or Lightroom: which should you use?
Use Lightroom if you edit photos from several camera brands, work on Windows or Android, or rely on its catalog and its ecosystem. Use RAF Film Lab if you shoot Fujifilm and want your RAWs to look like the camera's JPEGs, recipe and all, with every film available on every camera.
| Lightroom | RAF Film Lab | |
|---|---|---|
| Film simulations | Camera Matching profiles, only for the films your camera has | All 20, on any camera's RAF |
| Matches the camera's JPEG | Approximately | About 2 ΔE from the camera, measured |
| Reads your in-camera recipe | No: the profile only, not Grain, Color Chrome, DR or tone settings | Yes: film, grain, DR, tone, Color Chrome, FX Blue, WB and shift |
| Camera render over USB | No | Yes, on supported cameras |
| Masks, curves, local edits | Yes | Yes |
| Camera brands | All major brands | Fujifilm only |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, iPad, iPhone, Android, web | Mac, iPad and iPhone |
| Price | Subscription | Free TestFlight beta |
Facts about Lightroom as we understand them in October 2026.
Why Lightroom doesn't look like your JPEG
A Fujifilm JPEG is the film simulation plus everything else in the recipe: Grain Effect, Color Chrome Effect and FX Blue, Dynamic Range, Highlight and Shadow Tone, Clarity, and a white balance shift. Lightroom's Camera Matching profiles stand in for the first of those. The rest is recorded in the RAF, but a profile doesn't apply it, so a recipe has to be rebuilt by hand with Lightroom's own sliders, which work differently.
The profiles also follow the camera: Lightroom offers the Camera Matching profiles for the films a camera has, so an X-T3 RAF gets no Classic Neg and an X-T4 RAF no Reala Ace.
What RAF Film Lab does differently
RAF Film Lab reads the film and the recipe from each RAF and opens the photo developed with them, so it looks like the JPEG the camera made. Every film was solved against the camera's own renders and measured: a median of about 2 ΔE from the camera, 2.0 to 2.8 across the colour films. Every score.
Every film is available on every camera's RAFs, and recipes can be saved, shared as a link or QR code, read from a screenshot of a recipe post, and written to the camera's C1–C7 slots.
It is also narrower than Lightroom: it only opens Fujifilm RAFs, only runs on Apple devices, and has no plug-ins or publishing services.
Choose Lightroom if
- You shoot more than one camera brand.
- You work on Windows or Android.
- You depend on Lightroom's catalog, plug-ins or presets marketplace.
Choose RAF Film Lab if
- You shoot Fujifilm and want RAWs that look like the camera's JPEGs.
- You use film recipes and don't want to rebuild them as presets.
- You want films your camera never got, on Mac, iPad and iPhone.
In RAF Film Lab: Develop in Film Lab · Develop in camera · Editor · Recipe Management
Questions
Why do my Fujifilm RAWs look different in Lightroom?
Lightroom applies its own rendering, or a Camera Matching profile that approximates the film simulation. It doesn't apply the rest of your in-camera recipe, such as Grain Effect, Color Chrome, Dynamic Range and tone settings.
Can I get Classic Neg in Lightroom on an X-T3 RAF?
Not from Fujifilm's profiles: Lightroom offers the films the camera has, and the X-T3 never got Classic Neg. RAF Film Lab renders Classic Neg on X-T3 RAFs.
Can I use RAF Film Lab and Lightroom together?
Yes. Develop a RAF in RAF Film Lab and export a 16-bit TIFF to keep working in Lightroom.
Also compared: RAF Film Lab and X RAW STUDIO · RAF Film Lab and Capture One.
Try RAF Film Lab on your own RAFs.
RAF Film Lab is in beta on TestFlight for Mac, iPad and iPhone. Leave your email and Apple will send you an invite.