Thinking in Gray: A Complete Guide to Monochrome Photography with the X-T100

There's something almost meditative about committing to black and white. You strip away the distraction of color and suddenly everything else — light direction, texture, the way shadows fall across a face — becomes the whole conversation. The good news? The X-T100 is a genuinely capable tool for this kind of work, and it's more thoughtfully equipped for monochrome shooting than a lot of photographers realize.

Let's dig into how to actually use it.

Start with Acros (Seriously, Just Start There)

Fujifilm's film simulations are one of the reasons people fall in love with this brand, and the Acros simulation is the crown jewel for black and white work. It's modeled after Fujifilm's legendary Acros 100 film stock — a high-contrast, fine-grain emulsion that was beloved by street photographers and portrait shooters alike before it was discontinued and later revived.

On the X-T100, Acros delivers noticeably deeper blacks and a more pronounced tonal separation than the standard Monochrome simulation. Skin tones render beautifully, and midtones feel rich rather than flat. If you've been defaulting to the generic Monochrome option, swap it out and shoot a few frames with Acros. The difference is immediate.

One thing worth knowing: you can apply color filter effects on top of Acros — red, yellow, and green filters that mimic what darkroom photographers used to control tonal relationships. A red filter, for instance, dramatically darkens blue skies and makes white clouds pop. A green filter is flattering for foliage and outdoor portraits. These aren't gimmicks; they're genuinely useful creative controls built right into the camera.

Shooting RAW vs. JPEG for Monochrome Work

Here's where a lot of photographers get tripped up. If you shoot JPEG with Acros applied, you get a beautiful black and white image straight out of the camera — no post-processing required. That's legitimately great for street photography or any situation where you want to work fast.

But if you shoot RAW, the camera still records full color data regardless of what film simulation you have selected. The Acros preview you see on the LCD is just that — a preview. Your RAW file is in color, and you'll need to convert it in post.

The practical solution most X-T100 shooters land on: shoot RAW + JPEG. You get the instant gratification of a finished Acros JPEG in your back pocket, and you keep the RAW file if you want to push the edit further later. It does eat through SD card space faster, but cards are cheap enough these days that it's usually worth it.

RAW Processing for Black and White: Where the Real Control Lives

When you do bring a RAW file into Lightroom, Capture One, or Darkroom (a great option if you're working on an iPad), the black and white conversion is where you can really shape the image to your vision.

The HSL/Color Mix panel is your best friend here. By adjusting the luminance of individual colors before converting to black and white, you control how different parts of the scene translate to gray tones. Want to darken a blue sky the way a red filter would? Drag the blue luminance slider down. Want to brighten up a red barn against a field? Bring the red luminance up. This gives you far more surgical control than any in-camera filter can.

For X-T100 RAW files specifically, pay attention to your shadow recovery. The X-T100's APS-C sensor has decent dynamic range, but it's not a medium format beast — push the shadows too aggressively and you'll start seeing noise. In black and white, grain can be charming, but digital noise is a different animal. Keep your ISO conservative (400 or under in most situations) if smooth tonal gradations matter to you.

Lens Choices and How They Shape Your Monochrome Results

This is something that doesn't get talked about enough. The lens you choose has a real impact on how a black and white image feels, and it goes beyond just sharpness.

Fast primes — a 35mm f/2 or a 50mm equivalent — give you that subject separation and creamy background rendering that makes portraits and street shots sing in monochrome. The way a lens renders out-of-focus areas (bokeh) becomes more visible in black and white because your eye isn't processing color; it goes straight to shape and texture.

On the other hand, if you're shooting landscapes or architecture where you want everything sharp and contrasty, a stopped-down zoom can serve you well. The kit 15-45mm lens that ships with the X-T100 is actually more capable than its reputation suggests for this kind of work, especially in good light.

Older, vintage glass — manual focus lenses with adapters — can add a softness or a specific kind of contrast rendering that feels distinctly filmic in black and white. If you've experimented with adapted lenses, black and white work is a great context to revisit that.

Developing Your Own Monochrome Style

Here's the honest truth: gear and settings get you in the door, but style takes time. The photographers whose black and white work stops you mid-scroll on Instagram — they've usually shot thousands of frames and made a lot of intentional choices about what they respond to.

A few things worth experimenting with deliberately:

High contrast vs. low contrast. Acros leans toward high contrast by default. But pulling the highlights and shadows toward each other in post can create a moodier, more subdued look — think documentary or fine art photography rather than punchy street work.

Grain. Fujifilm's in-camera grain simulation (accessible even in Acros mode) is genuinely well-designed. A little grain adds life and texture to digital black and white in a way that just feels right. Try the weak setting first and see if it clicks for you.

What you choose to photograph. Black and white works best when light and texture are the actual subjects. Overcast days, which color shooters often dread, can be fantastic for monochrome because the diffused light wraps around subjects evenly and holds detail everywhere. Harsh midday sun creates dramatic shadows that translate beautifully in grayscale.

The X-T100 is a capable, intuitive camera to learn on, and monochrome work has a way of sharpening your eye faster than almost anything else. Set it to Acros, head outside, and start thinking in gray.