I ran across a picture in an article about coffee, and that picture reminded me a lot of the Classic Negative film simulation. I don’t think the picture was captured with Classic Negative; perhaps a VSCO (or some other brand) preset was used that was intended to look something like Superia film. So, with one picture as my guide, I set out to recreate the look with my Fujifilm X100V. Ideally you want more than one sample picture to study, but that’s all I had. These settings look pretty darn close to that picture, but it’s difficult to know if it’s truly accurate because I only had one sample to work with, and I don’t know how it should look in various situations. Still, I’m happy with how it turned out.
Initially I was going to name this recipe “Fujicolor Negative” because it has a Fujicolor Superia-like look, but then I stumbled across some Kodak ColorPlus 400 photographs, and they looked quite similar to these pictures. Even though the resemblance to ColorPlus 400 is completely accidental, I thought that calling it “Color Negative 400” was more appropriate because it is in the general ballpark of a film that’s not Fujicolor. Or, more accurately, it is similar to both a Kodak stock and a Fujifilm stock, and not exactly like either. I do think, no matter how close it may or may not be to an actual film, it has a nice film-like aesthetic to it that many will appreciate.
This recipe is dark and contrasty, and can be used to create a certain moody look. I think it works best in low-contrast scenes, and does well both indoors and outdoors. This recipe is only compatible (as of this writing) with the Fujifilm X100V, X-Pro3, X-T4 and X-S10 cameras.
Classic Negative
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: 0
Shadow: +4
Color: +4
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: 0
Clarity: -5
Grain Effect: Weak, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Weak
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
White Balance: Auto, -2 Red & -4 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Color Negative 400 film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X100V:
See also: Film Simulation Recipes
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Nice!!
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Thanks!
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Nice work man! I will talk about your receipts on my YT channel! Cheers!
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Awesome! I look forward to it!
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This film simulation looks very nice 🤩 but I don’t feel I got the same look on my pics, which were mostly landscape when I tried.
As I previously shot film and am new to (Fuji) digital cameras, I was wondering what setting you usually shoot with. More specifically metering, sensitivity, focus, and (P,S,A,M) mode.
Thanks a lot in advance!
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Typically it’s multi for metering, sometimes spot. Usually aperture priority, although sometimes shutter or manual. Focus depends on the lens, some I prefer auto and others manual. ISO is most often auto. Each shot is usually different.
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Thank you Ritchie! I usually shoot with spot metering, f/2, manual focus, and auto ISO. It seems I should try multi for metering 😉
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Very nice and original recipe! I’m just trying it and loving it! I love in particular the recipes based on “Classic Negative” film simulation, and this seems really peculiar! And also seems very good (or even better) to use indoor than the others! Thanks a lot Ritchie!!
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Thanks! Definitely a good indoor option. You are very welcome!
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