This film simulation recipe is a slight variation of my Kodak Portra 400 recipe. It came about after I made a Portra 400 v2 recipe for the newer X-Trans IV cameras, which was created after studying actual examples of the film provided to me by a reader. I wanted to create a similar modification for the X-T3 and X-T30, which became this recipe. One film can have many different looks, depending on how it’s shot, developed, and scanned and/or printed, so this isn’t necessarily a “better” recipe, just a slightly different take on recreating the film’s aesthetic. I really like this one, and I think you will, too!
Portra 400, which is a color negative film, was introduced by Kodak in 1998. It was redesign in 2006 and again in 2010. As the name implies, it’s intended for portrait photography, but can be used for many other types of photography. It’s similar to Portra 160, but with more contrast, saturation and grain. Believe it or not, ISO 400 was considered “high ISO” by many photographers back in the film days, and Portra 400 was one of the absolute best “high ISO” color films ever made. Interestingly, Kodak briefly made a black-and-white version of Portra 400!
This isn’t exactly a brand-new recipe. It was published as a Patron early-access recipe on the Fuji X Weekly App back on December 1st, so Patrons have had access to it for quite some time. Now another early-access recipe has replaced it, so this one is available to everyone! If you are a Fuji X Weekly Patron, be sure to check out the new early-access recipe in the app.
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR-Auto
Highlight: -1
Shadow: -1
Color: +2
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: -2
Grain Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
White Balance: Daylight, +2 Red & -6 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this “Kodak Portra 400 v2” film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-T30:
Find these film simulation recipes and many more on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!
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From your samples, this recipe really shines with front and side lit scenes and becomes very washed out when shooting into the light. This is exactly how I remember Portra behaving when I used to shoot it.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback!
Sorry, what do you mean by White Balance, Daylight, +2 Red & -6 Blue? Does that mean I have to set it to Daylight WB, or that I have to make a custom WB with a +2 Red & -6 Blue shift? Thanks in advance!
This should help:
https://fujixweekly.com/2020/08/19/fujifilm-white-balance-shift-what-it-is-how-to-use-it/
It’s both Daylight WB and WB Shift +2R & -6B.
So Daylight +2R -6B is totally different from Fluorescent +2R -6B? I can’t just have a custom +2R -6B? Sorry just trying to be clear on this, because custom shift and daylight shift look kinda similar.
You set the White Balance (Daylight, Auto, Fluorescent 1, Kelvin, etc.) first, then “arrow to the right” to set the WB Shift. They are two separate things, but you set WB first and WB Shift second. WB Shift is a subset of WB. It’s a “fine tuning” of the WB. So, no, you cannot just set the WB Shift without first selecting a WB to shift. WB Shift is meaningless (and impossible) without a White Balance, as it is dependent on it.
I see, thanks so much for the help!
You are welcome!
Hey Ritchie, i appreciate all your hard work in creating these recipes. I currently have an X-T20 and dont have Color Chrome Effect, is there anything I can do to accommodate? Thanks a ton!
The difference between CCE Off and Weak is really minor. The difference between Off and Strong is more significant. There’s not a great way to replicate it. Maybe try the recipe ignoring CCE and see if you like the results.
Hi! Great images! I was wondering what lens or lenses you used to make these photos. Thanks!
Fujinon 35mm f/2 and 27mm f/2.8. I appreciate your kind words!
Anything but DR400 in sunlight is not especially film like, and all fujifilm cameras never choose anything above DR200 in DR-Auto mode. So, when the sun is shining /harsch contrast situations – set the camera to DR400. DR-Auto will work fine in most other lower contrast situations.
It depends a lot on the film (and how that film was shot, developed, scanned, etc), plus the film sim and the Highlight and Shadow settings. Negative film (slide film is a different story) tends to have a lot of dynamic range, but mostly in the highlights, and much less so in the shadows. Digital cameras are kind of the opposite, with the dynamic range mostly in the shadows and less so in the highlights. There’s not a good way to replicate that with Fujifilm cameras (or any other brand) because it’s just the way that film and digital work that’s divergent from each other. But, a combination of DR, Highlight, Shadow, film sim, and even CCE, can get “close-enough” a lot of times.
This particular Recipe uses DR-Auto, which chooses either DR100 or DR200. But it also has Highlight set to -1, which helps with the bright light. If that’s not working for you, it is always ok to “season to taste” and set Highlight to -2, and/or Shadow to 0, and/or DR to DR400 if that will help you achieve your desired results. Thanks for sharing!