Crown Burger – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Kodak Gold 200”
I’ve been asked countless times to create a Kodak Gold film simulation recipe. I’ve tried several times to make one, but I couldn’t get it quite right. Last week I was scrolling through Instagram and I saw a picture that I thought at first glance was captured using my Portra 160 recipe. It’s not unusual to see pictures that were captured using my different recipes, as some of them have become quite popular. It was an interesting picture, so I took my time looking at it, and as I did I thought that there was just too much saturation, contrast and grain for it to be my Portra recipe, yet it was still very similar. When I read the description I realized that the picture was captured with actual Kodak Gold 200 film! At that moment I knew that I could create a Gold recipe simply by modifying the Portra recipe.
Kodak Gold, which was introduced in the late-1980’s and is still around today, is a general purpose color negative film. It was originally called Kodacolor VR-G, then Kodacolor Gold, and finally Gold. It replaced Kodacolor VR. While the film has been improved a few times over the years, it still looks pretty much the same today as it did in the 1980’s. The film is prone to color shifts, and results can vary significantly depending on how the picture was shot, developed and printed or scanned.
Flowing Farmington Creek – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 “Kodak Gold 200”
Even though this Kodak Gold film simulation recipe is very similar to my Portra recipe, it took many experiments to get it right. I tried different combinations of Highlight, Shadow and Color before settling on these settings. I adjusted the white balance shift several times before returning to the same shift as Portra 160. I feel that this recipe is a good facsimile to actual Gold film, although, like all recipes, it will never be exact, as it cannot account for all the variables. It’s pretty close, though, in my opinion. I want to give a special thank-you to Fuji X Weekly reader Piotr Skrzypek for creating the original Portra 160 recipe for X-Trans II, which allowed me to make one for X-Trans III & IV cameras, which in turn made this Kodak Gold 200 recipe possible. This recipe is compatible with X-Trans III & IV cameras.
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR-Auto
Highlight: -2
Shadow: +1
Color: +3
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: -2
Grain Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect: Off
White Balance: Daylight, +4 Red & -5 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to +1 1/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Kodak Gold 200 film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:
Space Communication – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Sky Traffic – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Little Grass Runner – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pear Tree Top – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Spring Tree – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tree Blossom – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Backlit Pear Blossoms – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pear Blossom Day – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Boy in Spring – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Branch & Sky – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Pear Blossom Reflection – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Phragmites – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Easy Feelin’ – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Girl in the Backyard – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Stages of Tulip Blooms – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Crescent Tulips – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Floral Decor – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Cheese – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Grill & Chill – Centerville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
No Door Dash in the Drive Thru – Centerville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Corner – Centerville, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
KFC – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Everette Brown – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Outside 7-Eleven – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Sunlight Through The Trees – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Tree Trunk Above the Pond – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Boulder Above the Pond – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Father & Son Fishing in Farmington Pond – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Fishing in Farmington Pond – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Staircase Down to the Water – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Flowing Creek – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Creek in the Woods – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Rocky Farmington Creek – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Winter is Nearly Over – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Red Car in Green Grass – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Bug in the Dirt – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
Sunset on Burger Customer Parking – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30
See also: Film Simulation Recipe
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Many thanks for bringing Kodak Gold to my Fujifilm camera, definitely one of my favourite all-purpose films! Have you ever tried to emulate Fujifilm X-tra 400?
Do you know if the same quality preset for Capture One exists?
I have no idea. I don’t use Capture 1. I rarely edit RAW photos, just rely on camera-made JPEGs anymore.
I am sure that somewhere in my film camera past, I must have used Kodak Gold.
You probably did, it was a very popular film.
LOVE this, so happy I stumbled upon this blog!
Thanks! I’m glad that you did, too!
Hi Ritchie!
I love this receipe! You probably got that question before, but for the grain, do you use strong small or strong large? Thank you!
Thank you! Strong Small.
I like this one – nice warm tones. However on my XE3 if I use Auto DR the evf/lcd shutter speed disappears (thought my camera was faulty!) Is this the same with other Fuji cameras? I’ve stopped using Auto DR use DR200. What would you suggest?
Hmm, that’s a weird issue. I’ve not experienced that. Maybe call Fujifilm support.
Hi Ritchie, should any level of Clarity and CCFxB be used with the X-T4 on this recipe?
I don’t think you need to. I suspect that maybe -1 or -2 Clarity might work well, but I’m not sure, I haven’t tried personally.
Hello a wonderful recipe thank you very much. How do you find the grainless effect of the recipe
I like Grain set to Strong, although on the newer X-Trans IV cameras I would consider using Grain Strong and Small.
Hello and thanks for this recipe. I will surely try it. I shot lots of rolls in the past with kodak gold and scanned with my epson v800. One important characteristic of this film are the “golden” highlights. basically highlights are warmer then mid tones and shadow, and they have a pronounced yellow cast. probably is not possibile to do it in camera with the “recipes”. BTW I didn’t want to criticize, just add my own experience with this particular film
It would be great if Fujifilm allowed toning the highlights and shadows. That would be a fantastic feature, and would really open up the possibility of creating accurate looks. I appreciate the input!
When creating the custom setting on my X100f and choosing white balance, how do I adjust the R and B values after choosing daylight? I cannot for the life of me figure this one out.
You have to arrow to the right to open the WB Shift menu. Hopefully this helps:
https://fujixweekly.com/2020/08/19/fujifilm-white-balance-shift-what-it-is-how-to-use-it/
I have the same problem on my x30, the right arrow does nothing. Is there some setting that might be preventing me from altering the color on the white balance?
https://fujifilm-dsc.com/en/manual/x30/menu_shooting/white_balance/index.html
See if that helps 👆
With most Fujifilm cameras x-trans III and earlier, there was no way to choose the red or blue point under any option except under the “custom” option for white balance. I realized this when I was punching in the settings for an X70 camera I had and couldn’t find out why.
It’s not possible for x-trans sensors III and below. It’s only available under “custom white balance”.
Hi Ritchie. Back in a November comment you said you hadn’t tried any Color Chrome Effects/etc for this recipe on newer IV-sensor cameras. Do you have any recommendations since then? I already set the grain size to small. Love this recipe – feel as though it is perfect for all-round general use.
I think Color Chrome FX Blue set to Off is good. I plugged this into my X-E4 a month or so ago, and that’s what I did. I also selected Grain to Small. I appreciate the kind words!
If you are a fan of Juergen Teller and his campaign he did for Saint Laurent (google that, you wont regret it), you will love this simulation because I’m pretty sure he used Gold 200 (or color simulations like it) as he was known for his use of Gold 200 in the past. This is BY FAR my favorite film simulation to shoot with besides a good monochrome look like the tri-x 400. Thank you for sharing this. I have been enjoying the heck out of it.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip! I’m so glad that you like it!
This recipe is great! I just used it at an apple orchard with my wife and daughter. Beautifully airy and warm! I’ve been apprehensive about not using the RAWs, but this recipe sold me. Thank you so much!
You are very welcome! Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Ritchie,
special Thanks for the Kodak Gold Recipe! Are there special tweaks for the X-Pro3? Please let me know 😉
Cheers Torsten
You’ll have to decide on Grain size (Large or Small, I suggest Small). Otherwise, Color Chrome FX Blue to Off and Clarity 0 (alternatively, Clarity -2).
Thank you very much, I will trie this out 😉🖤
Thank you very much, I will trie this out 😉🖤
I tried this recipe on my Fujifilm X-T4 and it seems to works pretty well, I like the look a lot, great job with this formula 👍. For the extra X-T4 settings I used grain: small, clarity: -2 and color chrome fx blue: off. Here are some sample photos … https://youtu.be/O9MnXprx6c0 .
That’s a very good modification for the newer cameras. Nice video! I appreciate your comment!
Hello! Just a check, S:+1 actually means making shadows darker?
Yes, darker shadows. 0 is “standard”, minus is less, and plus is more.
On my X-Pro2 using Shadow WB with a small R+1/B-1 adjustment seems to render the same result as Daylight with recipe adjustments. Does that sound right? If so, that provides some flexibility since earlier X-Trans cams don’t link WB adjustment with Custom Settings. Keep Daylight As Is for other simulations and dedicate Shadow for this one.
Daylight is around 5500K and Shade is about 7000K, you can get close with the right WB Shift adjustment… it would seem as though your +1R -1B setting is pretty darn close. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Ritchie!,
I realized too late that I shot many jpegs with a slightly different white balance shift: +3R -1B to be precise. Do you have any suggestions what could be tweaked in C1 to bring it back closer to your recipe? Thanks!
I don’t, sorry. Capture One’s WB is a little different than Fujifilm’s. If you have the RAW files, you can reprocess them in-camera or with X RAW Studio.
Hi Ritchie, I did look on comments before asking, the X-E3 doesn’t have a ‘colour chrome effect’ in it’s IQ menu. Will that make a difference, if so, any way to compensate? Thanks in advance.
For X-T3/X-T30 Recipes that call for Color Chrome Effect Off, the rendering is the same on X-Trans III, which does not have CCE. So Recipes for the X-T3/X-30 that have CCE Off, those are compatible with X-Trans III cameras. I hope that makes sense.
Thank you so much for this! Been shooting for 4 years on Sony and spent lots of time trying to emulate the look of Gold 200 in Lightroom for non-work photos. But feeling like I have to edit everything to bring it to life had me burnt out with shooting every day moments. I’ve played with the settings on Sony JPEGs and they can look decent but never quite what I want. Finally decided to get the X100v as an every day carry (which took 6 months to get on backorder haha) and the first thing I did when it arrived was add your Gold 200 recipe. I’ve tried several of the others (Vision 3 and Ektar 100 are favorites), but always go back to this one and use it as my default. When 2/3 or 1 stop over gives me the EXACT look I’ve been going for in my photos.
I really appreciate that you’ve taken the time to work on these recipes and share them with everyone. I’ve spent hours messing with picture profile settings for video production and know it takes a lot of trial and error. To be able to get the X100v, install this recipe, and be out shooting pictures I’m happy with straight from camera in a matter of minutes has made shooting fun again. Thank you so much and keep it up!
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks for sharing your experience. 😀