X-Trans V · X-Trans IV
Hard Mono Street
Deep blacks, blown highlights, no apology.
Short answer
This recipe pushes ACROS+R into high contrast with Highlight +1, Shadow +2 and Clarity +3, then adds strong grain. It is built for hard sunlight, deep shadows and graphic street photography.
Camera settings
| Film simulation | ACROS+R |
|---|---|
| Dynamic Range | DR200 |
| Highlight | +1 |
| Shadow | +2 |
| Sharpness | +1 |
| High ISO NR | -4 |
| Clarity | +3 |
| Grain Effect | Strong, Small |
| Toning | WB Shift R -2 / B +1 |
| White Balance | Auto |
| ISO | Auto up to 12800 |
| Exposure Compensation | -1/3 |
Bright sun is the hardest light for colour and the best light for black and white. This recipe stops fighting the contrast and uses it: shadows go black, highlights hold, and the picture becomes about shape.
The contrast
Shadow +2 is aggressive and intentional. In sunlight the shadow side of a street has nothing you need, and dropping it makes the lit side read as the subject.
Clarity +3 is the most extreme setting here. It hardens midtone edges and gives the picture the etched quality of a printed photograph. On faces it would be brutal; on stone, glass and pavement it is exactly right.
Why the red filter
ACROS+R drives blue skies near black, which separates buildings from the sky along a hard line. That single effect does more for a street photograph than any tone curve adjustment.
The R −2 / B +1 white balance shift adds a cool tone to the monochrome. Black and white is not neutral on Fujifilm cameras: shifting toward blue makes the whole image feel colder and slightly harder.
Works on
Common questions
Will this work on a grey day?
No. The red filter needs blue sky to act on, and the contrast settings need light to work with. Use plain ACROS with Shadow +1 instead.
Is Clarity +3 too much?
For architecture and street, no. For anything with a face in it, drop to +1 or the skin turns to texture.
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Last updated August 8, 2026