Instamatic Morning – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Bleach Bypass”
The upcoming Fujifilm X-T4 will have a new film simulation: Bleach Bypass. This new film simulation might eventually come to other X-Trans IV cameras, such as the X-T30, X-T3, X-Pro3 and X100V, but it might not, as Fujifilm has yet to add Classic Negative to the X-T3 and X-T30. It would certainly be nice if Fujifilm gave those of us with “older” X-Trans IV cameras the new film simulations. Even if they never do, you are in luck, as I have created a film simulation recipe to mimic the look of bleach bypass!
Bleach bypass is a darkroom technique where you skip or limit the bleach during development of color film, which causes it to retain the silver. Results will vary greatly depending on the film used and exactly how you develop it, but generally speaking what you get with bleach bypass is a high-contrast, low-saturation, grainy picture that appears as if a black-and-white and color picture were combined together. This technique is more common for motion picture film than still photography, but some people do bleach bypass with C-41 film.
I experimented with the techniques that I used for this film simulation back in June of last year. Much came out of those experiments, including both the Faded Color and Faded Monochrome film simulation recipes, as well as in-camera texturing. I created something similar to this recipe, but gave up on it before completing it. Last week Fuji X Weekly reader James Clinich reached out to me to share some experiments he had been doing, which turned out to be very similar to what I had done back in June. This rekindled my interest, and with inspiration drawn from James, I made this “Bleach Bypass” film simulation recipe.
Car’s 3 & 4 – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Bleach Bypass”
This film simulation recipe requires the use of the double exposure feature of your camera. You will need a tripod, and there can’t be any movement in the scene. You have to make two identical exposures, one in color and one in black-and-white. After the first exposure is made, you must change the film simulation before making the second exposure. You can have both sets of settings programmed into the custom menu as separate presets, and toggle between them, or just change the film simulation, making sure that the tone is set correctly when making the Acros exposure. It’s a bit tricky and limited, but the results are nice. If you don’t want to do double exposures, but want something that will produce similar results to this recipe, try my Dramatic Classic Chrome recipe except set color to -4. That’s about as close as you can get. Otherwise, if you want to create a bleach bypass look in-camera, this recipe is your best option.
Exposure 1
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +3
Shadow: +4
Color: +2
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Grain: Strong
Sharpening: +1
Noise Reduction: -4
White Balance: Auto, -1 Red & +3 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Exposure 2
Acros
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +3
Shadow: +4
Tone: +2 (warm)
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Grain: Strong
Sharpening: +1
Noise Reduction: -4
White Balance: Auto, -1 Red & +3 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Bleach Bypass” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:
Pillows – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Window Robot – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Illuminated Faux Flowers – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pronto! – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Touch of Green – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Rooftops & Mountaintops – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tracks Under The Bridge – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Do Not Cross Tracks – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Locked Box & Escape Route – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Empty Walking Bridge – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
See also: Film Simulation Recipes
Help Fuji X Weekly
Nobody pays me to write the content found on fujixweekly.com. There's a real cost to operating and maintaining this site, not to mention all the time that I pour into it. If you appreciated this article, please consider making a one-time gift contribution. Thank you!
$5.00
I’m not a fan of beach bypass but I’m sure it will be popular.
It’s definitely not for everyone.
hello. I have a question.how can i shooting with 2 option at the same time
In double exposure mode, you can change the settings after the first exposure but before the second.
Hi Ritchie!
can you please elaborate the process of double exposure with different settings? Do you work with a tripod?
I might be too stupid, but I honestly do not understand… even though I’m familiar with double exposures!
Thanks 🙂
cheers
In double exposure mode, you can change the settings after the first exposure but before the second. A tripod is required for this recipe.
I wish i could have this oy my Xt100
You can do something similar, but it won’t be exact. Try DR100 and +2 Highlight & Shadow.
Can’t change the film simulation before taking the second shot on xt100, I think it is the limitation on this camera
That’s too bad. I didn’t know that camera has that limitation.
Well i refunded and Get and XT20 because of that , i can only afford X-train2, wait does this setting Also work on X-Train 2 ?
You can probably do something similar on X-Trans II, but it’s intended for X-Trans IV.
I have an X100V and I can confirm that after we take the first exposure, most of the settings are locked, including changing the camera profile. The workaround is to change the unlocked settings one by one each time, but this is really not practical.
That’s a really poor design change. I wonder why Fujifilm did this?
So the film modeling parameters are the same, not necessarily a tripod, you can put bracketing on the film and select chrome and acros.
It won’t blend it in-camera, you’d have to use software, if you use film simulation bracket instead of double exposure. But if that might work better for you, give it a try.
Hey Ritchie, I’m really digging the look of this recipe. How could I match this on a Bayer, specifically the X-T200?
That would be tough, but maybe not impossible, although don’t expect results to be identical. Try DR100, Highlight & Shadow set to +2, and use Monochrome instead of Acros.
Instead of having to use tripod for the double exposure could you just use the raw file with fujifilm x raw studio to create the second exposure and then merge in affinity photo ?
Thanks for creating these by the way they are awesome to use instead of editing loads of photos spend hours at a computer.
You could probably do that, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
You are welcome!