Fujifilm X-Trans IV Film Simulation Recipe: Elite Chrome 200

Master Master – Clearfield, UT – Fujifilm X-E4 – “Elite Chrome 200”

Elite Chrome 200 was a “high-ISO” color transparency film made by Kodak during the 1990’s and into the mid-2000’s. It was one of those films you could find at most corner drug stores, and you typically would chose it if you ran out of film while out-and-about and needed something. Elite Chrome was a low-budget Ektachrome film. A rumor that I remember about Elite Chrome 200 is that it was actually Ektachrome E200 that didn’t pass the quality control inspection, but I have no idea if that was true or not. Interestingly, Kodak claimed that Elite Chrome 200 was the lowest-contrast ISO 200 reversal film on the market. Because of how it responded to C-41 chemistry, it was a popular option for cross-processing.

I shot several rolls of Elite Chrome 200 film back in the day. Unfortunately, Ektachrome had a tendency to fade over time—it’s not an especially great archival film. I actually made a recipe mimicking faded Elite Chrome 200. This recipe is more like if the film wasn’t faded. I wasn’t intentionally intending to recreate Elite Chrome—in fact, I stumbled into this recipe when I used Classic Chrome instead of Classic Negative with my Fujicolor Superia 800 recipe. I was pretty shocked by just how good it looked! Sometimes changing the film simulation can produce good results, and sometimes (like when Omar Gonzalez used Classic Chrome instead of Classic Negative with my Agfa Vista recipe) it doesn’t produce good results. Fortunately for you, this is an example of when it works, and it just so happens by chance to resemble Elite Chrome 200 film.

The Fallen – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4 – “Elite Chrome 200”

This film simulation recipe is compatible with all X-Trans IV cameras, except for the X-T3 and X-T30. If you have an X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, or X-T30 II, this recipe is completely compatible with your camera. If you do have an X-T3 or X-T30 and want to use this recipe, you’ll have to ignore Grain Size (set it to Strong), ignore Color Chrome FX Blue, and ignore Clarity. In lieu of Clarity, use a diffusion filter, such as a 10% CineBloom or 1/4 Black Pro Mist.

Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: -1
Shadow: +1
Color: -1
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: -1
Clarity: -4
Grain Effect: Strong, Large
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
White Balance: Daylight, -1 Red & -3 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Elite Chrome 200 film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-E4 & Fujifilm X100V:

Pumpkin Head – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Colorful Fall Trees – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Little Yellow Leaf – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
October Tree Trunks – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Sunlight In The Golden Forest – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Autumn Forest Light – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Autumn Woods – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Autumn Creek – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Late October Leaves – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Raindrops on a Branch – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V
Leaves on Old Fallen Tree – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Jo in the Forest – Fruit Heights, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Happy Johanna – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-E4
Evening Interstate – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100V

Find this film simulation recipe and many more on the Fuji X Weekly — Film Recipes App!

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5 comments

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  2. Michael Nielsen · November 2, 2021

    Put up the uncompressed pictures for download. Otherwise you can’t see the quality!

    • Ritchie Roesch · November 2, 2021

      There are three reasons why I don’t. First, big pictures take awhile to load and would make the website crawl. Second, I’d have to pay more for those pictures (data storage). Third, people will steal the pictures (yes, people steal my pictures anyway, but at least it’s low-res images–if it were high-res copies, people would really steal them… I know this from experience). I appreciate the suggestion, though, and I hope this makes sense.

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