The 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe began as an attempt to recreate the aesthetic of legendary photographer Joel Meyerowitz, an American New Color photographer first known for serendipitous street photos of New York City. Meyerowitz has had one of the most prolific careers of any photographer, and he’s still active today at 85 years old! His look has been one of the most requested to replicate on Fujifilm cameras, so I eagerly delved into what exactly that is and how to mimic it.
One of the first roadblocks I encountered is that Joel Meyerowitz doesn’t have one unique style. His aesthetics vary significantly through the years. That shouldn’t be surprising because he’s on his seventh decade of photography. It’s well known that Meyerowitz used a lot of Kodachrome—in fact, he shot with all three eras of the film. In his early days it was the original ISO 10 Kodachrome, but very quickly that was replaced by Kodachome II and X; a significant chunk of his iconic street photography was captured during this time. Then Kodachrome 25 and 64 came along. All of those emulsions, while very similar, had their unique characteristics. I have a number of Film Simulation Recipes that can produce a Meyerowitz look because they replicate a film that he frequently used, including Vintage Kodachrome, Kodachrome 1, Kodachrome II (here, too), Kodachrome 25 (here, too), and Kodachrome 64 (here and here, too).
While Meyerowitz was known for Kodachrome, many of his most famous photographs were not captured on that film. He used Ektachrome sometimes for his 35mm work, and he used it extensively for his 8×10 large format photography. There have been over 40 different emulsions that carried the Ektachrome brand name, so it’s hard to know which specific ones he used. Some Ektachrome Film Simulation Recipes are Old Ektachrome, Kodak Ektachrome 100SW, Kodak Ektachrome E100VS, Ektachrome E100GX, Ektachrome, Ektachrome 320T, and Thommy’s Ektachrome. Some of these can probably be used to replicate a Meyerowitz look, too.
He didn’t just shoot with Kodachrome and Ektachrome, but also Anscochrome sometimes. He might have used other emulsions, too, it’s not real clear. One thing is for sure: whichever film he used, the emulsion wasn’t the finished picture, the print was (or the replication of the print in a book). Today, film is often scanned, and that’s how we see the photos captured with it, but for much of Meyerowitz’s career, the print (and not the scan) was what we saw. The printing process—the chemicals, the paper, and a host of other factors—could significantly affect the end result. That process changed and evolved over the decades. All of this is to say that no one Film Simulation Recipe will ever be able to replicate all of Joel’s various aesthetics. Probably not even ten Recipes. Aside from the ones already mentioned, 1970’s Summer and especially Summer of 1960 are a couple that could potentially produce a Meyerowitz look.
I studied about fifty of Joel’s photographs, mostly from the 1970’s. Some of them were urban street pictures, some were suburban or small-town images, and others were coastal photos. I looked for commonalities between the various pictures. I paid close attention to the lighting. I focused in on about two dozen that seemed similar enough, and tried to replicate the look with my Fujifilm X-T5. This 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe was my sixth iteration. It’s not perfect, because, even within those 20+ similar Meyerowitz photographs, there are still some subtle differences. Aside from that, Fujifilm’s options, which are much more robust than they used to be, are still limited, and you can only do so much. Still, sometimes the resemblance between some of Joel’s pictures and the images captured with this Recipe are remarkable!
This Film Simulation Recipe got its name because the majority of the pictures that it is based on were captured in 1976. Some were 35mm and likely Kodachrome 25 and Kodachrome 64, but could also be Ektachrome-X and/or Ektachrome Pro 64, or even Anscochrome 64. Some were large format and likely Ektachrome Pro 64, Ektachrome 6118 Tungsten, and/or Ektachrome 160 Daylight, or even possibly Aschochrome 32. 1976 was a pivotal and transitional year for Joel Meyerowitz, as he began to explore landscapes and small-town life, particularly along the Massachusetts coast. He also began shooting with a large format Deardorff view camera. Since this was such an important year in Meyerowitz’s photographic journey, since many of the pictures that this Recipe was modeled after were captured in 1976, and because the vast majority of his photos were shot on Kodak film, I call this Recipe 1976 Kodak.
The 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe is quite versatile, and works well in many lighting situations and for many genres of photography. You might find it to be slightly overly warm in artificial light, but otherwise use it anytime. It’s compatible with Fujifilm X-Trans V cameras, which (as of this writing) are the X-T5, X-H2, X-H2s, and X-S20. Those with newer GFX cameras can use it, too, although it will likely render slightly different (use it anyway!). Try this Recipe with a vintage lens to further replicate a retro aesthetic.
Film Simulation: Nostalgic Neg.
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Auto, -2 Red & -4 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +1.5
Shadow: +3
Color: +4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this 1976 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-T5:
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Fujifilm X-T5 in black: Amazon B&H Moment
Fujifilm X-T5 in silver: Amazon B&H Moment
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Wow, this particular film recipe gives a fantastic look! It does help that all the photos you’ve taken are excellent though. Your photography shouldn’t be overlooked because of the film recipe… these shots would look good no matter which recipe you used. Saying that though, will you be creating this recipe for the X-trans IV cameras as well?
Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be really difficult to replicate on X-Trans IV. Eterna is somewhat similar to Nostalgic Neg., but the +3 Shadow and +4 Color on NN can’t be replicated with Eterna. I appreciate your kindness!
Finally, a new recipe and it’s a brilliant one. I appreciate photos in various lighting situations. Thanks, Ritchie.
Btw, I seem to have trouble loading your site and posting comments ever since I got a new Windows 11 laptop. Most comments never got through.
Hah! Replying works this time.
Beautiful recipe. Can’t wait to try it out on my next holiday.
I don’t know why, but WordPress was flagging it as SPAM. I get a hundred actual SPAM comments each day, so unfortunately it’s hard to dig through. I’m really sorry. I appreciate your comment!
Although I’m not able to use it as intended (Xpro-3) this is one beautiful recipe Ritchie!
Thank you!
Hi Ritchie,
Really been enjoying the results this recipe produces.
A couple quick questions though; if one were to set clarity at 0 to speed up camera operation, are there any other settings you would change in order to compensate? To my eye, the shadows get a bit hard when using the default clarity setting, so would it make sense to lower the shadow tone a bit?
Also, as a more general-use question, do you have a preferred metering mode that you use as your starting point when determining the +/- exposure compensation? I’ve been going back and forth between multi-metering and center-weighted metering, and I’ve noticed that in high contrast scenes, multi will favor the shadows (and possibly blow the highlights) while center will favor the highlights. I know there’s no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to metering, but if you have any advice, I’m sure that myself and others would find it “illuminating”!
Thanks again for all your contributions in bringing the Fuji community together!
Hi! There’s not a good way to replicate Clarity with other settings, but a diffusion filter—like a 10% CineBloom—would somewhat replicate the -3 Clarity setting of this Recipe. Otherwise, going -4 Sharpness, +1 Highlight, and +2.5 Shadow would be the next most similar, but that’s a global adjustment and not a micro-contrast adjustment, so it might not be preferable. You can give it a try, though, and see what you think.
I typically use Multi metering, or sometimes Spot. I never use Average (which is kind of like Multi but less “smart” so more prone to being wrong) or Center (which is kind of like Spot but less precise). I’d say 85% of the time it’s Multi, and in some hard-light-with-a-lot-of-shadow situations it’s Spot. I like to use Spot for portraits, too. I will say that each exposure should be judged individually, and it’s important to know that the meter isn’t always right, and the suggested “typical” exposure compensation won’t always be best.
I hope this helps!
I tried out the tone curve adjustments you suggested and while it does come close it just doesn’t have the same mojo without the clarity adjustment. I do have a diffusion filter but it’s the wrong size so I’ll need to find a cheap step-up ring to try it out with.
Regarding my question about metering, after posting the comment I found your article from earlier (last year?) about how you use metering and exposure compensation, but I appreciate you taking the time to answer here as well.
Thanks again!
You are welcome!
I’ve been trying this recipe out in my X-T5, Ritchie, and… (drumroll) … it’s become one of my favorite recipes EVER. I wanted to thank you for the time, thought, and obsessive creativity which I know you must have put in to create it – but, truly, you’ve outdone yourself.
Here is a link to a handful of shots I just took using this recipe on my X-T5 (and using my UWA Rokinon 12mm lens):
https://cameraderie.org/threads/fun-with-film-simulation-recipes.54185/post-570881
Muchas gracias, dude!
Miguel
Awesome! Looks so great! Thanks for sharing 😀 😀