It is a gimmick. I suggest you make a text shortlist of the film simulations you like and switch between them. What would really help would be the ability to mark favourite film simulations and have them appear in a separate virtual folder. Switching among my favourites in Camera Body, Film Positive, Film Negative and Digital Films is an exercise in frustration as there’s only about six or eight I like or use for my photos after much practice.
Here’s my short list for Nikon NEF those who are interested:
- Agfa Vista 200 (great contrasty film look but turns grass yellow/amber which is an issue for me as a sports photographer)
- Fuji Classic Neg (removes colour, increases contrast but adequately subtle)
- Fuji Pro 400H (successfully brightens highlights in dark images in high ISO)
- Fuji Superia 200 (also brightens dark images, reduces contrast and lowers vibrancy, strong grain for appealing retro look)
- Fuji Velvia 50 (adds contrast, deepens blacks and makes red more intense: colourful, intense but can be too strong for images which are already contrasty)
- Leica M9 (makes Nikon skin tones look like Canon skin tones with more pink and a bit more contrast, removes the slight yellow tonality which is the Nikon digital signature: I’m not complaining about Nikon as all the tones and proper balance among them is there, colour tonality is not strange and constantly changing between every model as with Sony bodies, although the D4/Z6/D850/Z9 have a very different signature than the D5).
What I’ve started to use quite often is the intensity slider for these looks. If Velvia 50 is too strong on a specific image at default 100, it can look great at 75. Of course, the intensity is not entirely linear. Below a certain level or above a certain level some of the looks radically change character rather than intensity.
I just wish I could add all of these looks to a favourite folders to speed up switching between them. Right now I have presets with all of them but if I’ve already started working on an image, using the preset is no longer a good option.