Best Photo Editing Software: Fujifilm X100VI (2026)

Published July 17, 2026 · Daniel Tello · RevelRaw

Ask this question in an X100VI owners' group and half the answers will be "don't edit — that's the point of the camera." Fair, until you shoot RAW into a sunset or want a crop from those 40 megapixels. Here's the version with this specific body actually in it: what the X100VI asks of your software, and how seven editors handle its files. We build one of the seven, and we'll be plain about where it fits and where it doesn't.

The short version

What the X100VI asks of your software

The X100VI writes a 40-megapixel .RAF file from an X-Trans CMOS 5 HR sensor, uncompressed or lossless compressed, and the sensor is the point: it's the same one as the X-T5's, behind a fixed 23mm f/2. Three things about this body matter when you pick an editor:

• X-Trans is not Bayer. Fujifilm's color filter layout needs its own demosaicing, and editors differ more on X-Trans files than on any other brand's RAW. Fine foliage and texture are where the differences show — this is the one camera where "which app renders it better" is a real question, not forum superstition.
• Film simulations live in the camera. Reala Ace, Classic Chrome, Acros — the simulation you shot is recorded in the RAF as a setting, not baked into the sensor data. Adobe and Capture One ship profiles that approximate most simulations; only Fujifilm's own X RAW Studio reproduces them exactly, because it runs the file back through the camera. If you shoot recipes, know that a recipe's full stack only exists in-camera.
• 40 MP on a fixed lens invites cropping. The classic X100VI move is shooting wide and cropping to 50mm or 70mm equivalents. That workflow leans hard on the editor's demosaic quality and sharpening — a mediocre render that looks fine full-frame falls apart in a 2× crop.

Lightroom and Lightroom Classic

The default for a reason: full X100VI support, camera-matching profiles for the film simulations so an edit can start from Classic Chrome rather than Adobe's neutral take, and an answer on YouTube for any problem you'll ever hit. Adobe's X-Trans rendering drew years of complaints about smeared foliage; current versions are far better, and the AI denoise/enhance path is genuinely strong on these files. The costs are the subscription and the gravity of the ecosystem — your edits and organization live in Adobe's world, and leaving later is a project. If you don't already pay for it, read our no-subscription alternatives comparison before you sign up.

Capture One

The premium pick, and unusually good for Fujifilm: the simulation profiles were developed in cooperation with Fujifilm, the X-Trans rendering has a strong reputation, and its color tools go deeper than anything else here. Sessions replace the catalog for job-based work, and the perpetual license means no subscription. You pay premium prices, and the interface expects commitment. If editing pays your bills, it earns its cost; for a fixed-lens compact you take to dinner, it's a lot of software.

DxO PhotoLab

The one honest caveat on this list: DxO's support for X-Trans sensors arrived late and its DeepPRIME pipeline earned its reputation on Bayer files, so verify the current version against your own RAFs in the trial before buying. When it fits, the appeal is the same as ever — buy it once, own it, and its denoising and lens modules rescue files other apps give up on. Library tools are thin; bring folder discipline.

ON1 Photo RAW

Browsing, RAW development, layers, masking and effects in one app, for a one-time price. On X100VI files it does everything adequately and nothing best-in-class; the appeal is scope per dollar, not refinement. Performance on big libraries varies by machine, so trial it on your own Mac before buying.

darktable and RawTherapee

Free, open source, and this is the brand where they get interesting: both implement X-Trans-specific demosaicing, and RawTherapee lets you choose the algorithm per photo — pixel-peepers have preferred its X-Trans render to Adobe's for years. The price is time: flat defaults, private vocabularies, and a first good edit that takes an evening. Worth it if the craft of the tool is part of the fun.

Fujifilm X RAW Studio

Fujifilm's free tool earns its place with a trick nobody else can copy: plug the X100VI in over USB and it reprocesses your RAF files through the camera's own processor — every film simulation, every grain and color-chrome setting, rendered exactly as the camera would. It is a reprocessor, not an editor: no local corrections, no cataloging, and it needs the camera connected. Install it alongside whatever you choose, as the reference for what the simulation really looks like.

RevelRaw

Our app, so judge accordingly. RevelRaw is a native macOS editor for every major camera brand — Fujifilm .RAF included, alongside its deepest specialty in Sony Alpha. Drop in an X100VI file and AI scene detection reads the photograph, then ranks 40+ curated presets so the looks that suit that image surface first — and the preset library leans film: Kodak Portra, Silver Gelatin, golden-hour looks that sit comfortably next to what this camera's owners shoot recipes for. It won't reproduce Fujifilm's simulations — nothing third-party does — but it gets a RAF to a finished, film-flavored photograph in minutes. What it doesn't do: catalogs, layers, local masking. Everything runs on your Mac with no account and no cloud, and the free download includes one full-quality export, so you can take a real X100VI file through the whole workflow before paying anything.

How to choose

• You already pay for Adobe: stay; the X100VI is fully served there, profiles included.
• You edit for clients every week: Capture One, and take the perpetual license.
• You shoot film simulations and want them exact: X RAW Studio, next to any editor here.
• You want one purchase that does everything: ON1 Photo RAW.
• You want to pay nothing and love the pipeline: RawTherapee — its X-Trans demosaic options reward the time.
• You edit on a Mac and want finished, film-flavored photographs in minutes: RevelRaw.

FAQ

Does Lightroom support the Fujifilm X100VI?

Yes — current versions read its RAF files in both compression settings and include camera-matching profiles for the film simulations, so you can start an edit from Classic Chrome or Reala Ace rather than Adobe's neutral rendering.

Can I apply Fujifilm film simulations to RAW files on my Mac?

Exactly, only with Fujifilm's free X RAW Studio, which runs the file through the connected camera's processor. Adobe and Capture One ship close approximations as profiles. Full recipes — simulation plus grain, chrome effects and white balance shifts — only exist in-camera or through X RAW Studio.

What's the best free editor for X100VI files?

X RAW Studio if you want the camera's own rendering; RawTherapee or darktable if you want a real editor with strong X-Trans demosaicing and don't mind the learning curve.

Can Preview and Photos on a Mac open X100VI files?

Yes, on current macOS versions — you get Apple's default rendering without the film simulation you shot. That's also why a RAF often looks flatter on your Mac than it did in the viewfinder.

Do I even need to edit if I shoot film simulation recipes?

If the JPEG comes out right, no — that's the camera's charm. Shoot RAW+JPEG anyway: the RAF is the negative that survives a blown sky, a bad white balance guess, or a crop the recipe can't rescue.

Related reading: What is a RAF file? · RevelRaw for Fujifilm shooters · Lightroom alternatives with no subscription · Best editing software for the Nikon Z6 III