A favorite Film Simulation for the Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T30, plus X-Trans III cameras, is Kodak Gold 200. I published this Recipe about two-and-a-half years ago, and have had many requests to adapt it for newer models, something that I just recently got around to doing. I took the opportunity to see if I could improve it, utilizing the options that have come out since. While it is still quite similar to the original, I really like how this Kodak Gold 200 Film Simulation Recipe came out.
Kodak introduced Gold color negative film in 1986, and it is still around today. It was originally called Kodacolor VR-G, then Kodacolor Gold, and finally Gold. It replaced Kodacolor VR, which actually (and interestingly) still exists today as ColorPlus. While the film has been improved a few times over the years, it still looks pretty much the same today as it did in the 1980’s. The film is prone to color shifts, and results can vary significantly depending on how i was shot, developed and printed or scanned. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to emulate all of the possible aesthetics of Gold in one Recipe, so this is only a facsimile of one particular Kodak Gold 200 look.
This Kodak Gold 200 Film Simulation Recipe, which will work best in sunny daylight situations, is intended for and is fully compatible with all fifth-generation X-Trans cameras, which (as of this writing) are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, and X-S20 (yes, X-S20). Because X-Trans V renders blue more deeply on some film simulations, setting Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak (instead of Off) will make this Recipe compatible with newer fourth-generation X-Trans cameras—specifically, the X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II. This Recipe is not compatible with the X100V and X-Pro3; however, you can either try this one with Highlight set to -2 and Shadow set to +1 (and maybe increase exposure by 1/3 stop), or adapt the old Recipe by selecting Grain size Small, Color Chrome FX Blue Off, and Clarity set to 0. Those with newer GFX cameras can use this Recipe, too, but it will render slightly different (give it a try).
Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Weak
Color Chrome FX Blue: Off
White Balance: Daylight, +4 Red & -5 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: -1.5
Shadow: +0.5
Color: +3
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -2
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 to +1 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Kodak Gold 200 Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-T5:
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujifilm X-T5 in black: Amazon B&H Moment
Fujifilm X-T5 in silver: Amazon B&H Moment
Find this Film Simulation Recipe and over 300 more on the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
Help Support Fuji X Weekly!
Nobody pays me to write the content found on the Fuji X Weekly blog. There’s a real cost to running this website. I also put a lot of my own time into writing the posts. If you’ve found something on Fuji X Weekly helpful to you and you’d like to give back, this is a good place to do it. You can donate to this blog using PayPal by clicking below. I appreciate it! Thank you for your support! Please do not feel obligated to give, but do so only if you want to.
$5.00
I love Good! What lens gave you that rainbow flare? 🌈
I can’t talk about the lens just yet, but hopefully really soon I can 😀
Beautiful. Thanks, Ritchie.
I appreciate it! 😀
Ritchie, nice recipe! Can I ask you some question? Have you ever thought about repeating the colors of Leica, q/m-series? I understand that for this you need to have the equipment, but maybe in collaboration with other photographers. I think this would be the most popular recipe. Deep tones and shadows, the brightest colors, incredible picture depth, rich blacks. A couple of recipes available online, in my humble opinion, do not quite reflect Leica’s vision.
I think with Leica, most people don’t shoot SOOC JPEGs, so I imagine that Lightroom (or some other RAW software) plays a notable part of the “look”. I’m not exactly sure what that is, exactly, though. It’s probably a combination of sharp and micro-contrasty lenses, Leica’s color profile as interpreted by Lightroom, and an editing process/workflow that’s commonly used by Leica shooters. I’ve never used a Leica to know. Funny thing, I encountered recently a professional photographer who shoots Leica, and his photos looked a lot like my Kodak Portra 400 recipe! 🤣 😀
Got my camera all set up with this one. Looks like a perfect day for it here in Pennsylvania. Would love to see you more over on Threads!😊✌🏻
Fantastic,I will try it
Awesome!
Hi!
I find this almost identical with Nostalgia Negative. I have both Nistalgia Negative and Kodak Gold 200 saved in my xt5, but need to let go of one to give way to kodak portra 400 v2.
May i ask for your opinion on the difference of Nostalgia Negative and Kodak Gold 200, especially for portraits?
There are some similarities between the two Recipes. Kodak Gold 200 has more contrast, with brighter highlights and deeper shadows. Between the two, I’d lean more towards Nostalgia Negative for portraits.
Do you have any tips on how I could translate this or otherwise achieve the Kodak Gold 200 aesthetics on an old Trans-II sensor? I recently got an old XT-1 and am now exploring how close I could get to that Kodak Gold look I’ve fallen in love with while shooting on film.
It’s definitely challenging because the older sensors have fewer JPEG options. Maybe -2 Highlight, +1 Shadow, +2 Color, and something around +2R & -3B on the WB Shift. It’s not going to look the same, but that might be a decent starting point.
I found that Clarity is disabled also when you have Heif format set. In Jpeg it is enabled.
Yes, the HEIF format does not support Clarity for whatever reason. I use JPEG, personally, for this reason (and others).
Hello, I really like the look of this sim. Could work well for my up coming trip to Thailand.
You mentioned earlier that you couldn’t mention the lens yet – are you able to let us know now that it’s been a while since?
Thank you
This is the lens:
https://fujixweekly.com/2023/11/20/ttartisan-35mm-f-1-8-autofocus-for-fujifilm-x-mount/
I couldn’t mention it at that time because it hadn’t been announced yet.
Looks amazing! Would it be compatible with the xe-4 as well?
You can use it on the X-E4, but I recommend setting Color Chrome FX Blue to Weak instead of Off.
I used gold 100 and 200 often back in film days, but it never looked that yellowish.
One film can have many different looks depending on how it was shot, developed, printed and/or scanned, etc.. Perhaps it is more so with Kodak Gold than other films; RNI has like six presets that each mimic a different possible look from Kodak Gold 200. Below are a couple of reviews of Kodak Gold 200 that came up on the first page of a Google search that show a warm/yellow-ish tint. I’m not suggesting that these examples are an exact match to the Recipe (although I think there’s an obvious resemblance to some of the pictures), but I think it demonstrates what I’m talking about.
https://www.tonywodarck.com/education/2022/3/24/kodak-gold-200-in-120-review
https://www.theanalogueexperience.com/2020/01/15/ode-to-gold-kodak-gold-200-review/