Everyone makes mistakes, right? “To err is human,” coined Alexander Pope in 1711. I goofed up, and this one feels especially embarrassing, because it involves one of my film simulation recipes—one that’s been around for awhile now. It was just recently brought to my attention.
The recipe in question is Dramatic Classic Chrome. On this website it says that the White Balance Shift should be -1 Red & +1 Blue, but on the Fuji X Weekly app (now available for both iOS and Android!) it says that the shift should be +1 Red and -1 Blue. Which one is right? Which should you use?
Here are a few examples with both white balance shifts:
The difference isn’t huge, but there’s a noticeable difference between two versions. Which do you like better?
The correct white balance shift for Dramatic Classic Chrome is +1 Red & -1 Blue. The app has it right. There are likely hundreds of people who have used it with the wrong shift, which is completely my fault, but if they liked the results, is it actually wrong? Feel free to use whichever shift you prefer, either the slightly cooler “incorrect” one or the slightly warmer “correct” one, whichever one gives you the results that you like. There’s not really a right or wrong way.
If you’ve used this recipe, which shift did you use?
I apologize for this mistake, and I hope that it didn’t cause too much trouble.
Hey Ritchie!
I was wondering… which film recipes of yours are the most accurate? Of course, I know that they cannot be 100% accurate to the original film stock, none really can be. But, in your opinion, which ones out of your film recipes is most accurate? I am curious to see which ones you think are really accurate. I really love your Kodachrome 64 recipe.
Thanks
That’s a tough question for a few reasons. One is that Fujifilm provides limited tools (when compared to, say, Lightroom), so, like you said, it’s not really possible to get 100% accurate. Second is that film can often have many different aesthetics depending on how it’s shot, developed, scanned or printed, so a recipe might be close to one specific look of a particular film but not another. With that said, I think Kodak Portra v2 can be very close, Ektar 100 can look pretty darn close sometimes (and not as close other times), I think the X-Trans IV Superia recipes are close, Tri-X, X100V Kodachrome 64, Vision3 250D are not far off either. I’m sure I’m missing some. The more tools Fujifilm gives, the more accurate it’s possible to get, but there’s still plenty of limitations, so I’m happy if I can get a fairly close impression of the film, even if it’s not spot-on when compared side-by-side.
Thanks so much Ritchie!
Hi Ritchie, looking at both, I’d have to say at first glance the +1 Red -1 Blue looks better to my eyes. But looking several more times, I think there would certainly be a time and place for the -1 Red +1 Blue, and I like that one too.
I also agree with the above poster, the Kodachrome 64 is IMO your best and my favorite. It evokes happy memories of days gone by.
Thanks so much! Kodachrome 64 is one of my favorites, too.
I can see both options being useful, depending on the situation. My personal preference would lean towards the warmer shift.
Hi Ritchie
The cooler one ist the cooler one. More drama.
For me your recipes are basis for negotiation, not law.
Love your work
Volker Krüger
Absolutely! Season to taste. Glad that you found it useful. I appreciate the comment!
This recipe is saved on my machine and is as -1 red +1 blue. I have tried it both ways and this is definitely what I like. So -1 red +1 blue.
Awesome! I’m glad one of the two options is working for you. It seems that the “cooler” version is well liked. Thanks for the input!
I have been using the “incorrect” version of this recipe, -1 Red +1 Blue and I love it. It’s been my go to color. I guess I should try the correct one but I have a feeling I’ll be back with this. Thank you very much.
If you like it and it works for you, keep using it for sure! No need to change just because it’s so-called “incorrect”. I appreciate the input!
I have a fuji x-S10 and am having trouble seeing the color shifts on screen. Basically what I’m seeing is not what I’m getting in the actual photo. I have the lcd on all 0’s and evf on auto, factory settings. Do I need to adjust the lcd for the color shifts too or are my menu settings messed up somewhere?
Make sure Preview WB in Manual Mode is enabled. Make sure Natural Live View is disabled. Look under Screen Settings in the Wrench Menu.
YOU ARE AMAZING!
Hi, long shot but I’m trying to recreate the Dramatic Tone art filter from the Olympus range and this is the most similar recipe I have found but it’s still not quite there. I know that dramatic look is quite an acquired taste but if anyone has settings in the x100v that replicate it that would be great!
I’m not familiar with Olympus JPEG options, but have you tried Dramatic Tone in “Advanced Filters”?
Arh thanks will try that!
+1 / -1 looks like a lot healthier skin tone :-))
Yeah, I definitely prefer +1R -1B
comparing them side by side you poor little girl looked a bit frozen :'(