One of my favorite film simulations is Eterna. There’s a special quality to it that’s different than the other film simulations, with its low contrast and muted colors. Yes, you can get pretty close to Eterna using PRO Neg. Std, but you cannot completely match the lovely subtle tonality of it. I think the Eterna film simulation is a little underrated, as it’s a great base for crafting recipes, and I was eager to create a new look with it—so I did!
Real Eterna is a motion picture film. Actually, there have been a number of different film stocks that Fujifilm has given the name Eterna to. The film simulation of the same name doesn’t exactly match any specific Eterna film, yet it has a great general Eterna cinematic feel. In my opinion, the Eterna film simulation is good for achieving an analog color negative film aesthetic.
The first recipe that I created that uses the Eterna film simulation is simply called Eterna, and I really like how that one turned out. I wanted to make something similar, but not identical, using the additional JPEG options that Fujifilm has added to their newer X-Trans IV cameras. I wanted a warm vintage film look—something that could possibly be confused as being actual analog—without being based on any specific film. I think it looks pretty good, and I hope that you do, too.
Because this film simulation recipe requires the new Auto White Priority white balance, it is only compatible with the X-T4, X-S10 and X-E4; however, for outdoor natural light photography, using Auto white balance will produce identical results, which means that you can use this Eterna v2 recipe with the X100V and X-Pro3! For indoor artificial light photography, using Auto white balance will produce overly warm images, so Auto White Priority works better, but right now only the three newest Fujifilm X cameras have that option. For the X-T3 and X-T30, in addition to using Auto white balance, you’ll have to disregard Color Chrome Effect Blue and Clarity, and consider setting Highlight to +2 and Shadow to +1 plus Sharpness to -2 to compensate, as well as disregard Grain size (simply use Strong). It won’t be identical, but it will be very similar—I tested it out on my X-T30 and it works.
Eterna
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: +3
Shadow: +2
Color: +3
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpness: 0
Clarity: -3
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong
White Balance: Auto White Priority (X100V + X-Pro3: Auto), +4 Red & -7 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Eterna v2” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-E4:
Find this film simulation recipe on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!
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Dear Ritchie,
sorry to be pedantic, but these aren’t thistles. These are teasels, members of a different plant family altogether. Fun (or not so fun) fact, they are an invasive species from Europe.
By the way, I love your blog, which was pointed out to me by a friend in Germany. How fun it was to see that you are also based in Utah.
I haven’t gotten into the nitty gritty of your art yet, as I am still relatively new to the Fuji and digital altogether. I have been snapping steadily with the Yashica T5, but they have become so expensive now. But I am still after that look. (I shot mainly fuji superia & some of their pro lines).
Keep up the good work,
Florian
_______________________ Dr. Florian Maderspacher
156 M Street Salt Lake City UT 84103
On the homelands of the Goshute & Eastern Shoshone.
>
Teasels. I had no idea. Learn something new every day. Thanks!
I’m glad that you found the website. I hope it’s useful to you.
Salt Lake is a beautiful place. Been here five years now. Maybe I will run into you someday. Take care!
The El Capitan shot is fantastic!
Ritchie I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a question regarding jpeg files. How much sharpening do you apply while exporting and what values (I assume you use C1)? I am still looking for the best values but I keep seeing artifacts in my exports (I use 32-0,7-0,1 750px wide) . Tx!
Thanks!
I export from the camera to my phone using the (awful) Fujifilm Cam Remote app. I crop some images a little and make small Exposure adjustments to some images using the Photos app on my iPhone. Most photos are straight-out-of-camera, no editing (the El Cap picture had a small crop applied). Then I upload to the cloud. That’s typically the entirety of my post-production. That’s the long answer; the short answer is 0 sharpening in post.
The link to this one is broken on the x-trans iv page.
Thanks so much! It’s now fixed. I appreciate it!
Hi Ritchie, so for the X100V, would you consider +4 Red & -7 Blue in addtion to the auto white balance or just the auto white balance ?
Yes, use +4R & -7B with AWB.
Hi Ritchie,
Thank you for those awesome recipes. I bought X-S10 and I want to add some your recipes to my camera but I can’t find this exposure compensation range(+1/3 to +2/3) in settings. Can you help me?
Best regards,
Kaan
I appreciate your kindness! This might help:
https://fujifilm-dsc.com/en/manual/x-s10/taking_photo/exposure/
Can someone help me, I have been exploring for a long time, but I can not find recipes for video. I have X-T3 and I dont have good enough laptop or pc for video editing and color grading, so I want to use some recipe and have similar look as it was color graded. CAN THAT BE DONE?
You can absolutely use the film simulation recipes for video, with some caveats: Grain Effect, Clarity, Color Chrome Effect, or Color Chrome FX Blue. So the recipes that call for those things will look slightly different for video, but you might like them anyway. Also, Fujifilm has programmed the Eterna film sim to look a little different for stills vs video, so that’s another consideration. But, yeah, you can totally skip color grading by using a recipe when capturing your video footage.
While myself, I want to find a film simulation recipe for video
You can use them for video, but not all of the settings are available for video (such as Grain, Clarity, Color Chrome Effects), so it does look a little different. But try it anyway!