Inspiration for film simulation recipes can come from unusual places. This recipe, for example, was inspired by a promotional photograph of Ron Howard for the movie American Graffiti hanging on the wall of Mels Diner in Reno, Nevada. A little trivia: Ron Howard shoots Fujifilm cameras—or, at least, he’s been spotted sporting an X100F. Anyway, it seems unlikely, but it’s true, that an old image of Ron Howard from 1973 hanging on the wall of a restaurant in Reno inspired a new recipe that will be used by hundreds—maybe thousands—of Fujifilm photographers across the world.
This particular picture, which you can see in the image below towards the left-side, had a cross-process look to it, like reversal film developed in negative film chemistry. Of course, cross-processed film can have many different looks, depending on several factors, including (especially) the film used. I have no idea what film or process was used for that Ron Howard picture—I tried researching it, but came up empty; however, while I was waiting for my dinner to arrive at the table, I fiddled with the settings on my Fujifilm X100V and created a facsimile to that picture aesthetic.
The photographer who captured the picture is most likely Dennis Stock. I couldn’t find a whole lot about what films he used for his color photographs or his darkroom techniques. Dennis was a legendary Magnum photographer who was best known for his celebrity photographs. His picture might not actually be cross-processed film, but it has a cross-processed look nonetheless.
The reason why I named this recipe “Xpro ’62” is because Xpro is a common abbreviation for “cross-process” and 1962 is the year that American Graffiti takes place. Promotional posters for the movie often included the question, “Where were you in ’62?” I thought that “Xpro ’62” would be a logical fit. Because this film simulation recipe uses the Classic Negative film simulation and other new JPEG options available on the newer cameras, it is only compatible with (as of this writing) the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10 and X-E4. Also, for some of the pictures in this article I used a Tiffen 1/4 Black Pro Mist filter to diffuse the highlights (such as Empty Diner at the top).
Classic Negative
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: +3
Shadow: 0
Color: +4
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: -4
Clarity: -4
Grain Effect: Strong, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Strong
White Balance: Auto, -3 Red & -9 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 to +1/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this new “Xpro ’62” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X100V:
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Fujifilm X100V Black Amazon B&H
Fujifilm X100V Silver Amazon B&H
Find this film simulation recipe on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!
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Holy smokes Ritchie, that’s beautiful recipe. One of the most filmic looks you’ve ever made. Great job!
Thank you so much! I appreciate the feedback! Glad that you like it.
I love it! if i use promist 1/4 can i turn-off clarity? thanks for your work
Yeah, I would say yes. If you turn Clarity off (set to 0), consider maybe a 1/2 if you have that filter, although it might possibly be too strong.
in this post do u use clarity + pro mist 1/4? what are the photos you used it?
I used both on the photos that were captured with the filter (mostly the indoor ones, but also a couple outdoor ones with bright highlights).
thank you so much
You are welcome!
Hi Ritchie
I have the X-E4 and I don’t seem to have Classic Negative as a setting!
I only have Provia, Velvia, Astia, Classic Chrome, ProNeg Hi, ProNeg Std, Classic black, Eterna, Eterna Bleach, and bw and sepia.
Which one should I pick for this simulation? Or ist just for the 100V?
Cheers Nicolas
The X-E4 definitely has Classic Negative. It’s marked as “NC”. I don’t know what “Classic Black” is, that doesn’t exist, so that’s likely Classic Negative, that’s where I would look. Hope this helps!
Classic Black is just my translation of the German word “Klassisch schwarz”
I think I’m changing the menu language to English to see what it actually is…
Awkward!
Anyhow the German translation of the menu is sometimes beyond cumbersome 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks 😊
You know, that’s not the first time that a translation has caused confusion with regards to Fujifilm cameras. Someday I will get the app translated into many languages to help avoid this issue. Glad that you got it resolved.
Actually the German manual for the X-E4 was so terribly translated that some functions of the EVF were literally wrong and meant completely different things. I switched the menu to English to fully comprehend what the EVF actually CAN do and what not.
But I guess that’s not a Fuji problem, I have come across so many bad manuals it’s uncountable 😂
Honestly I don’t mind at all that your app is in English. It’s an international language one should be able to read and understand nowadays.
The problem with translations is that they actually have to be good. It’s got to be someone who not only understands the language, but understands what they’re translating, too.
Ok, checked that!
Classic Negative (short for Nc) is definitely there and in German it really say “Klassisch schwarz” for whatever reason 😂
Thanks again 😀
I’m glad it’s all figured out and you are good to go!
Your comment about manuals is absolutely true!
The magic of a good translation is not only to be technically correct, but also to be as explanatory and as brief as possible. And some expressions are sometimes better left alone and left as they are. Why changing a film name?
I don’t understand! 🤷🏻♂️
Lol! It definitely doesn’t make sense.
Oh I made a mistake: in my comment above I said the manual of the X-E4 and the EVF. I actually meant the manual of the X-E3 which was really bad, confusing and sometimes completely wrong…
Sorry
Xt30? o.o
Cheers!
Unfortunately, no, because you need Classic Negative. It’s sad that Fujifilm hasn’t given it to the X-T30, there’s not a good reason why they haven’t, in my opinion.
I love the way this looks. Well done.
Thanks so much!
I love this one Ritchie! I have to admit I’m not a really big fan of strong granulation, but it works very nice with weak granulation also. Thanks for such an amazing work!
Awesome! I’m so glad that you like it! It’s always ok to “season to taste” any recipe. I appreciate the comment.
How to go about decreasing the green hue?, should color be decreased or RB offset?
I would adjust the WB Shift, maybe try -1 Red or 0 Red, to reduce the green cast.
Is there anyway to make it work for XE3 without Classic negative ? I would love to use this 🙁
Not really. Sorry. 🙁
I fell in love with this recipe as soon as I saw the first picture in the post, “Empty Dinner”. I inmediately set it on my XPro3 but, overtime, it had to make room to other recipes cause I realized I hardly ever used it. The reason was I never found the right conditions that I thought fit with Xpro’62. Maybe I just need to use it and see what happen, but I think it don’t fit well in modern environments. What do you think?
I think it takes the “right” subject and “right” light to really look great, and it certainly isn’t for everyday photography. I usually get both good and bad results when I shoot with it. I think it definitely takes more patience than some other recipes. I appreciate the feedback!
This reminds me of early Technicolor, like used in Mystery of the Wax Museum. I can definitely see getting some use out of this recipe!
Awesome! I hope that you enjoy it!