Summit Merc – Coalville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
This is the film simulation recipe that you’ve been waiting for! Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but if you like my Kodachrome II or Portra 400 recipes, which are both very popular, you’ll likely also appreciate this one. It’s in the same neighborhood as those, producing a classic Kodak analog aesthetic. I think many of you will like this film simulation recipe.
Last week I was contacted by a Fuji X Weekly reader who wanted help creating an in-camera look that was similar to the pictures from this other photographer. It didn’t take me long to realize that the photographer in question was using a digital camera (Nikon D750) and applying a plugin preset (most likely VSCO) to achieve the desired look. If I had to take a guess, I would say that the preset is supposed to resemble Kodak Portra 400, although probably one of the alternative versions and not the straight Portra 400 preset. Anytime that I get one of these requests I always make an attempt to create it, although oftentimes my efforts are not successful and no recipe is made. This time, my first stab at it was pretty close, and a little refining made it even closer. I was able to quickly create a film simulation recipe that produces similar results in-camera to what that other photographer is getting with software.
The reason that I named this recipe Kodacolor and not Portra is that, to me, it looks more like Kodacolor VR than Portra, although the aesthetics of these two films are quite similar. Portra is the better film with improved grain, more tolerance to under and over exposure, and slightly more accurate skin tones, but overall the films produce very similar looks. Kodak originally developed Kodacolor VR film in the early 1980’s for their Disc cameras, which used a film cartridge resembling a computer floppy disc (or the “save icon”), allowing the camera to be small and easy to use. It made tiny exposures on the disc of film, and the film prior to Kodacolor VR, which was called Kodacolor II, was too grainy and not sharp enough for the small exposure to produce good results. Kodak’s solution was to create a sharper film with finer grain, which they originally named Kodacolor HR, and quickly renamed Kodacolor VR after making a small improvement. Kodacolor VR was available in ISO 100, 200, 400 and 1000 film speeds. This film simulation recipe most closely resembles Kodacolor VR 200, in my opinion. Kodacolor VR was replaced by Kodacolor VR-G in the mid 1980’s, which was later renamed Kodak Gold. Kodacolor VR was technically discontinued in 1986, but the ISO 200 version was renamed Kodacolor 200 and later ColorPlus 200, which is surprisingly still available today.
Kodak Flying Disc – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
One characteristic of Kodacolor VR is that it’s not particularly tolerant to underexposure (for color negative film), so a common technique was to overexpose the film (to prevent accidental underexposure). The side-effect of this, which is a common side-effect of most Kodak color negative films, but it’s especially pronounced on this particular film, is cyan sky. Blues tend to become an unnatural lighter color. That’s what this film simulation recipe looks like: Kodacolor VR 200 that’s been overexposed. It’s also a close proximity to Portra 400 that’s been overexposed, although it’s not quite as strong of a match for that as Kodacolor VR.
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: -1
Shadow: +2
Color: -2
Sharpening: +2
Noise Reduction: -4
Grain: Strong
Color Chrome Effect: Off
White Balance: 6300K, -1 Red & -4 Blue
ISO: Auto up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to + 1-1/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using my Kodacolor film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:
Echo Canyon Morning – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Morning Light In Echo Canyon – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Tree On The Rocky Ledge – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Western Cliff – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Rock Bowl – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Echo Mesa – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Summer Witches – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Trees Dotting The Rock – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Blue Sky Rocks – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Weber River Thistle Blooms – Coalville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Yucca Blossoms – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Sky Tree – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Sycamore Seeds – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Green Cottonwood Leaf – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Cottonwood Sun – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Vintage Sunset – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Blue Hole – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Summer Clouds Behind The Green Hill – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Summer Blue & Green – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Big Cloud Behind The Mountain – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Grey Sky Hill – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Car Wash – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Burger Umbrellas – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Renew or Replace – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Red Curve – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Red Corner – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Moore Motor – Coalville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Better Days Behind – Coalville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Building For Sale – Coalville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Brick Angles – Coalville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Suburban Garage – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Gas – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Gas Cafe – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Neighborhood Fence – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
The Joy of Driving Rain – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Man of Steel – Coalville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Bicycle Back Tire – South Weber, Utah – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Chaos Wheel – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Hat On A Bed – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Couch Pillows – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Wall Curtain – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Intelligence Game – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
The Trouble With Age – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Ketchup – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Orange – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Playing With Fire – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Mastrena – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Be The Light – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Adidas – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Balloon Maker – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Standing In The Water Balloon Pool – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Water Balloon Fight – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Recording Summer Fun – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Wearing Grandpa’s Hat – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Johanna – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Echo Canyon Morning Freight – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Freight Train At Echo – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
Eastbound Freight Through Echo Canyon – Echo, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 – Kodacolor
See also:
Kodacolor, Part 2
Kodacolor for X-Trans II
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Wonderful- thanks!
You are welcome!
Ooh love the results, going to have a go with this one on my XT2!
I’m glad you like it!
I do, already using!
Awesome!
This one is awesome! Got my fridge full of Kodacolor 200 and this recipe sure looks a lot like it
That’s great! Glad you like it.
Another great one Ritchie, looks stunning!
Thank you!
I like this recipe, Ritchie. I think this has the right “feeling” to it, especially in the street images.
I’ll try this with my X-T2 to see how well it works.
Awesome! Glad you like it.
Hi Ritchie, how would you recommend I tweak this recipe to get the modern ColorPlus 200 “look”?
You know, I’m not sure, but I’ll look into it. This is a recipe that I plan to revisit very soon.
Hi Ritchie! Thanks for yet again coming up with such a great recipe.
You are welcome!
Hi Ritchie, was looking at this in your instagram (as you noticed) and was just comparing it to your “Vintage Kodachrome” recipe … as you may notice this Kodacolor has “almost” same WB but just softer contrast and softer colors which (for now) fits my taste even more. So will use this and come back with more comments
I’m glad that you like it! Hope it works well for you.
You are a genius
Well, I don’t know about that, but thank you!
Hey there,
Just wondering, what’s your process for creating these presets? Are you doing it via trial and error in-camera? I’d like to try my hand at creating a preset to mimic a warmer tint of Kodak Ultramax 400 (I’ve been using a VSCO preset) but the reference image will be on my desktop, so it’s a bit of a pain to adjust some settings, take a photo, transfer photo to computer, compare photo to reference, repeat ad nauseum.
Anyways, thanks for making these, they’re great.
It’s definitely trial and error. I used to do it JPEG only, but at some point last year I figured RAW+JPEG, and reprocessing in-camera the RAW file, was a much easier approach. For Ultramax, I was actually playing around with this, try the Kodacolor recipe, except DR200, Color 0 or +1, and WB 5900K +1 R & -5 B. I’m still refining things, but this might be in the neighborhood.
Hey man, just wanna say two things
– First I wanna recommend you Fuji X RAW Studio, you can connect your camera via USB and use it’s cpu to process the RAWs on your computer, the greatest plus that this method has for me is that you can store as much simulations profiles as you like, it’s also a lot faster to work with than doing so directly on camera
– I’ve been loving this recipe! I played a bit with the settings Im not sure if staying in 6300K or dropping to 5900K, but it’s definetly reallyreally close! Underexposing the shot to from -1/3 to -1EV also gets you that Kodacolor 200 tones, I’ve even been able to fool some friends who shoot mainly analog using photos with this recipe, it’s that great
Thanks for the input! I’m glad that you like these settings. I will have to try underexposing using this recipe.
I have used X RAW Studio, but I very rarely use a computer for photography. I download from the camera to my phone and send them from my phone to storage. So using X RAW Studio goes outside of my typical workflow, but I am familiar with it and have some experience using it. I appreciate the tip, though.
Take care!
This is an absolutely brilliant recipe! Can’t even imagine how much time and work it took to reproduce the Kodacolor (and other films). Great work, thank you very much!
Thanks! I’m glad that you like it.
love the faded look… going to try it…. ! so retro!
Thanks! Let me know what you think after you’ve had a chance to use it.
Awesome Film Simulation. I love it!
Thank you!
Ritchie,you’re a genius!!!! Thank you.
Do you know the Chromatic C7 or C9 Style from VISCO? I love both of them. VISCO created something really great. Afaik it’s their own creating. I’ve tried a bit, but couldn’t get the blues punchy and at the same time the yellow and orange vibrant, too. Do you have any idea how to get a similar look like the chromatic line especially C9? Thank you so much!! ☺️
This is probably closest to VSCO C7, but certainly not an exact match:
https://fujixweekly.com/2020/03/24/my-fujifilm-x-t30-cross-process-film-simulation-recipe/
That would probably be tough to recreate, but I can try.
First of all, thank you for those film simulation recipes! They have opened up my eyes for all that is possible with the X100F (I had never considered using the WB shifts to simulate specific films).
One question; why do you suggest DR200 or DR400 specifically for some film simulations? Does that change the tone curve? What would change when setting DR-Auto, so that the camera can use DR100 as well?
Thanks!
The Dynamic Range settings protect highlights (and, indirectly, potentially increases shadow detail, depending on how you shoot). That’s what I use it for. Then I use the Highlight and Shadow settings to set the contrast curve. But there are different philosophies on this, and one isn’t necessarily “right” or “wrong” just different. There’s no correct way to do it, so feel free to try DR100 or DR-Auto and see if you like it.
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, I know that it protects highlights (by underexposing). But what is the reason you use DR200 for some film simulations, and DR400 for others? Is that because you’re also pushing the highlights, or does a higher DR setting also flatten overall contrast?
It’s both. DR400 allows you to increase the exposure without blowing the highlights, and it also creates a flatter starting point. It can be for either reason, or both, that I use DR400.
Hi Ritchie,
Great recipe thanks for sharing it.
Is that supposed to look the same on xtransIII?
I have the X100F and tried it. I liked the effect but also found that it made my pictures more yellow than the ones you posted above…i used the same settings.
You are not the first person to say this. I’ve used it on my wife’s X-T20 with no issues, but apparently there’s some issues for some cameras for some reason. I’m not sure why.
I absolutely love your work and I will definitely buy your yearly subscription for mobile app. Is this film simulation compatible with Fujifilm X-E3? Thank you!
I appreciate your kind words and support! Yes, you can use this recipe with the X-E3.
Hi there. Is there an updated recipe for XE4?
You can use this recipe, but you’ll have to decide if you want Grain size to be Large or Small. I would also consider Clarity set to -2.
Does this work on the V?
Yes! You just have to decide what the Grain Size should be (Small or Large).