Light on the Wall – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Monochrome Kodachrome”
Kodachrome was a black-and-white film. No, really, it was! The color dyes were actually added during development. The process to develop Kodachrome color transparencies was complex and toxic. As demand for the film decreased and Kodak experienced financial troubles, both the film and the chemicals to develop it were discontinued. If you still have some undeveloped Kodachrome film sitting around, there’s absolutely no place in the world that can process it; that is, except as black-and-white negatives. It’s true: Kodachrome can be developed to this day as a black-and-white film!
While I think that this recipe does more-or-less mimic the look of Kodachrome developed as black-and-white, that’s not necessarily the intent of it. This recipe began as an experiment by Fuji X Weekly reader Thomas Schwab, who created the Urban Vintage Chrome recipe. He took my Vintage Kodachrome recipe and replaced the Classic Chrome film simulation with Acros, Monochrome and Sepia, and the results were quite interesting! I made a couple of minor adjustments to create this recipe. This is definitely a joint effort, and it wouldn’t exist without Thomas Schwab’s experiments and willingness to share the results. Thank you!
Window & Blinds – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Monochrome Kodachrome”
What I like about this Monochrome Kodachrome film simulation recipe is that it has a great film-like quality to it. This recipe pairs especially well with vintage lenses (I used an Asahi Super-Takumar 28mm for about half of these pictures). Even though it says “Fujifilm X-T30” in the title, it can be used on any X-Trans III & IV camera. You can also use this same recipe with the Monocrome+R film simulation, for a slightly different result.
Acros+R
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +4
Shadow: -2
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: +1
Grain Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect: Off
Toning: 0
White Balance: AWB, 0 Red & +9 Blue
ISO: Auto, ISO 3200 to ISO 12800
Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Monochrome Kodachrome film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:
Roman – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Cleaning Cart – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fake Potted Plant – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tree Shadow on a Brick Wall – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Small Bridge – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Rural Road – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Monochrome Mountain Landscape – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
B&W Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tennis Swing – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Engaged In Television – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Little Jo – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Hand Washing – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Faceless – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Muffins – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pronto! – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Daylight Balanced – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
See also: Film Simulation Recipes
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Amazing photos and B&W tones! Love it!
Thank you!
Hi, it will work for bayer sensor? And could you create acros recipe with fujifilm monochrome? please.
This won’t exactly work on Bayer sensor cameras. You can try to get as close as you can, but it’s just not compatible. Acros would be hard to emulate because it’s programmed to change with the ISO, and it has a different sharpness. It’s a different beast altogether from Monochrome. But I have discovered that I really like the Monochrome film simulation, and I’m using it more and more lately.
I’ve only just found your site today, i’m kicking myself for that, but I have a quick question regarding WB settings.
With multiple recipes saved, there are a few different Auto and Daylight settings required. How do you set those so they will be applied to each correctly?
For instance with Auto, this recipe requires 0 Red & +9 Blue, whereas another may have +2 Red & -5 Blue. How would you set this up? Apologies if this is super obvious.
No, unfortunately it’s not obvious, because you can’t do it, except for on the X-Pro3, X100V and X-T4. There’s no real good solution. This might be helpful: https://fujixweekly.com/2019/11/06/my-white-balance-shift-solution/
I’m sorry that I can’t be more helpful.
No need to apologise, that was an interesting read and a big help
Glad to be a help!
B&W shoot, then how the shift in AWB work? I wonder the difference between R 0 B +9 and R 0 B 0?
It won’t be a huge difference, but it will render grey tones just a bit differently.
Thanks foor the post
You are welcome!