My wife, Amanda, recently ran across some old family pictures in her mom’s photo box. These prints were made in July of 1981—a date stamped on the back—and printed on Kodak paper. The other technical details are unknown, but most likely they were captured with a cheap point-and-shoot of some sort (possibly even a 110 camera) with Kodacolor II color negative film, which was the most popular amateur emulsion of that era. Due to age and improper storage, the prints are fading, with a pronounced orange (sometimes yellow, sometimes red) cast, and colors overall less vibrant than they once were. The set was mostly personal family pictures, and many of them were scratched and damaged, but I did scan two of the prints, which you’ll find below.
I thought that the aesthetic was interesting, so I began to develop a Film Simulation Recipe inspired by these photographs. It took a couple of days, and a few compromises, but I was able to create a look that mimics the general feel of those old pictures made in 1981 and printed on Kodak paper—the reason why I call this Recipe 1981 Kodak.
This 1981 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe is compatible with “newer” Fujifilm X-Trans IV cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II. For X-Trans V, because some film sims render blue more deeply, it will look slightly different. For the Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T30, ignore Grain size and Color Chrome FX Blue, and use a diffusion filter (such as a 10% or 20% CineBloom) in lieu of Clarity.
The Fuji X Weekly App is free, yet becoming a Fuji X Weekly Patron unlocks the best App experience! One benefit of being a Patron is you get early access to some new Film Simulation Recipes. These Early-Access Recipes will eventually become available free to everyone in time, including this new one. In fact, many Early-Access Recipes have already been publicly published on this Blog and the App, so now everyone can use them. Patrons help support Fuji X Weekly and, really, without them there would be no App. So I want to give a special “thank you” to all of the Patrons!
Find 1981 Kodak in the Fuji X Weekly App! If you are a Fuji X Weekly App Patron, it’s available to you right now.
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this 1981 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X100V:
I think it’s lovely.
Not a phone user so hopefully one day it’s available for those without phones, too.
Oh, it will be, give it time. The Early-Access Recipes cycle out as they are replaced by others.
Hi Ritchie!
I am not photographer and use X-T3, can you give some directions, for people like me, how those diffusion filters can replace missing clarity tool?
Regards!
Minus Clarity (not plus Clarity, only minus) has a similar affect as using a diffusion filter, such as a CineBloom or Black Pro Mist. It’s not exactly the same, but fairly similar. If a Recipe calls for -1 or -2 Clarity, a 5% CineBloom or 1/8 BPM could be used instead. For -3 or -4 Clarity, a 10% CineBloom or 1/4 BPM could be used instead. For -5 Clarity, a 20% CineBloom (or, more appropriately, a 5% and 10% together) or 1/2 BPM (or, more appropriately, a 1/8 and 1/4 used together) could be used. I hope this makes sense.