Simulating Film

I realised that film simulation recipes are not much different from the software presets that I used several years ago before I put effort into really learning Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. I want to make a change.

Though the exact names might vary between manufacturers, modern digital cameras include a few basic presets at a minimum, including black-and-white, natural, neutral, and vivid. On the other hand, Fujifilm takes its in-camera presets further, digging deep into its heritage as a photographic film manufacturer. To cement the experience of its retro 35mm, film SLR inspired camera design, Fuji loads its X series and GFX camera with about a dozen unique in-camera presets, many inspired by its analogue emulsions. The main ones are ACROS, Provia, and Velvia. These are comparable to black and white, neutral, and vivid. Additionally, Fuji offers Classic Chrome, inspired by the look Kodachrome look of the images from the pages of the 1970s National Geographic magazine and Astia, inspired by the look of fashion photography magazines.

Fuji takes this further by allowing the photographer to adjust dynamic range, white balance, white balance shift, shadow tone, highlight tone, grain, and sharpness and save these settings in a camera profile. Many Fuji photographers call these "recipes". These changes don’t affect the RAW file but affect the in-camera JPEGS created.

Blooms at Belle Mead | Saturday 20 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | ISO 800 | Fujicolor Superia 800 Film Simulation

Long time readers will know that I favour the film simulation recipes created by tireless photographer Ritchie Roesch. Ritchie churns out new recipes almost as often as it snows in Utah. I had become so used to using recipes that I was starting to forget how to use Adobe Lightroom’s Develop module. I would import the SOOC JPEG and RAW images, and after a few quick crop adjustments, the images were uploaded to my blog. Ritchie’s app, which he released last year, helped push this workflow along.

However, I realised that film simulation recipes are not much different from the software presets that I used several years ago before I put effort into really learning Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. They are an easy dopamine hit, but eventually, I started to feel that this type of editing was too limiting. It is affecting my creativity and my ability to express myself.

The film simulation recipes are helpful and practical for quick photographs; the kind of photographs I might make while doing my best to look like a street photographer when walking around a large city like Philadelphia or New York City, or when drinking American craft ale at a local brewery, or attending a family event. But for intentional photography, the kind of project where I plan out the where, when, and the how ahead of time, I want to be more in control of the final result. I want to focus (no pun intended) on composition and lighting with the intent to change the image in a certain way.

I don’t want to give up on film simulation recipes. I want to be more intentional about how I use them. Ritchie’s website offers so many recipes I am frequently overwhelmed with choices. He has so many recipes he built a mobile app to help patrons filter and arrange them. With only seven slots available on my X-T3, I would stress which recipes to program into my XT-3. Then once I am on location, I would stress over whether the scene or subject would look better with Porta 160 or with Nostalgic Negative or the standard Provia. I would sometimes realise that a particular scene or subject could not be captured correctly in camera using a film simulation recipe; some focused editing in Adobe Lightroom or advanced editing technique in Photoshop would be needed. I did not want to limit my photography to what could be accomplished with film simulation recipes.

24 April, 2022 | FujiFilm X-T3 | XF27mmF2.8 R WR | ISO 80 | Kodachrome 64 Film Simulation

If I need to make snapshots for the spring and summer, I intend to use just two film simulation recipes; Portra 160 and Kodachrome 64. Ritchie provides a suggested ISO range for each recipe, but I intend to use the film simulation recipes at "box speed". If I’m going to pretend that I am shooting 35mm film, I may as well go all the way. The lowest ISO on my X-T3 is 80, so the Kodakchrome 64 recipe will be used at that ISO. The native ISO of the X-T3 is 160 and is a perfect match for Portra 160 recipe. If I need to use a higher ISO or attempt more intentional photography, I will probably switch to the Provia or Eterna film simulations. The SOOC JPEG from the film simulation recipes will still be cropped as needed but will otherwise remain untouched in Adobe Lightroom.

I have already set my camera to record RAW only.

Here’s a list of websites with excellent film simulation recipes.

Website
Fuji X Weekly
Life Unintended
Ivan Cheam
Jamie Chance Travels

Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 11: Kodak Ektar 100

For the eleventh instalment of the Film Simulation Challenge, I chose Ritchie's Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation Recipe. The goal of the challenge is to use the same settings for 24 or 36 exposures, similar to shooting a roll of film. This particular film simulation recipe is intended to imitate the look of Kodak Ektachrome 100SW film. I “loaded” this “film” into my Fujifilm X-T2.

Another hot, humid day of al fresco dining at the Brick Farm Tavern provided the opportunity to try this film simulation.

Ektar is a color negative film made by Kodak. It’s known for vibrant colors, high contrast and fine grain, and, even though it is a negative film, it is more like reversal (slide) film. I would say that, while the results aren’t 100% identical, there are a lot of similarities between Ektar 100 and Ektachrome 100VS. In fact, when Kodak discontinued Ektachrome 100VS, they recommended Ektar 100 as the closest film.

Ektar is ideal for vibrant landscapes or any situation where you want lots of contrast and saturated colors. It’s not usually one’s first choice for portrait photography because skin tones can be off. Some people use it extensively for portraits, but the general advice is to use Ektar for everything other than people pictures. I’ve shot a few rolls of it in the past, but it’s been probably seven or eight years.

I am not a fan of this film simulation. I'm not too fond of the noticeable red cast in the images, especially in the skin tones. Perhaps I prefer my images on the cooler side.

Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation
Tuesday 23 June, 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Ektar 100 Film Simulation

Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.

Fujifilm Film Simulation Challenge Roll 10 : Kodak Ektachrome 100SW

I took Ritchie’s Ektachrome 100SW recipe out for al fresco dining at the Brick Farm Tavern.

For the tenth instalment of the Film Simulation Challenge, I chose Ritchie's Kodak Ektachrome 100SW Film Simulation Recipe. The goal of the challenge is to use the same settings for 24 or 36 exposures, similar to shooting a roll of film. This particular film simulation recipe is intended to imitate the look of Kodak Ektachrome 100SW film. I “loaded” this “film” into my Fujifilm X-T2.

The bright and warm weather on this early evening dinner at the Brick Farm Tavern provided me with the opportunity to test out this film simulation recipe. The weather was just right for Brick Farm Tavern to open their outdoor seating for reservations. They had announced it last week, and I booked us for a table right away. They offered twenty-four socially distanced outdoor tables, of which sixteen of them can be reserved via OpenTable starting today! The rest of the tables are available for walk-ins on a first-come-first-served basis.

Kodak Ektachrome 100SW is another film which I have never used and since the film is discontinued, I will never get to use. Kodak discontinued Ektachrome 100 in 2002, ceased all production of Ektachrome films in 2012, but then brought it back in 2018 with a newer formulation. I have a 36 exposure roll of Ektachrome E100 that I will soon get to try in my Pentax ESII. Here's Ritchie's overview of Kodak Ektachrome 100SW Film:

Ektachrome was a line of color transparency (slide) films made by Kodak that used the E-6 development process. Some people preferred it to Kodachrome because of the faster ISO (100 vs 64 or 25), more saturated colors and easier development (although Kodachrome had finer grain, a larger dynamic range and didn’t fade as easily). A lot of National Geographic photographs were shot on Ektachrome back in the day.

There were a number of varieties of Ektachrome produced over the years, and I’ve used five of them myself. My favorite was Ektachrome 100VS (VS = “very saturated”), which was Kodak’s attempt at Fujifilm Velvia. Occasionally I used Ektachrome 100SW (SW = “saturated warm”), which was introduced in 1996 and produced vivid photographs with a warm color balance. Kodak stopped production of Ektachrome 100SW in 2002 and all Ektachrome film in 2012.

The images have a slightly green cast to them but I think that added to the feeling of "summer" al fresco dining.

Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR
Tuesday 16 June, 2020 | Day 86 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR

Submitted as part of the 100DaysToOffload project.