I was flipping through the pages of a photo album that my grandma had put together a long time ago, when I saw something interesting. Most of the pictures in this book were captured before I was born, and some when I was very young. I came across a group of color prints that all looked similar. They were warm—very yellowish—with fairly subdued colors, kind of flat-looking, yet with a decent amount of contrast. Blown-out highlights was a commonality among many (but not all) of the prints. A month and year were printed on the border, along with a red fox. Kodak is faintly visible on the back of the paper.
I was very intrigued by the aesthetic of these photographs. There was an obvious resemblance to my 1970’s Summer Film Simulation Recipe, although not quite identical. So I set out to recreate it with my Fujifilm X-T5.
From the clues, I determined that the film was most likely Kodacolor-X, which was a popular color negative film from that era. It required the C-22 development process, which was a predecessor to C-41. The prints likely are a bit discolored and faded due to age, and probably looked slightly different when they were newly made. Many of them were square, and those were likely shot on a Kodak Instamatic camera and on 126 format film; the rectangular pictures are from 35mm film. Most of the prints were developed in 1971, although some had dates in 1972 printed on the border. The red fox indicates that it was developed at Fox Photo, which at the time was a popular one-hour photo lab. Interestingly, in the iconic mall scene in Back to the Future, it’s a Fox Photo that get’s destroyed by the VW van.
I made a scan of one of the prints, and it really messed up the look. I did my best to correct it to closely match the print, and I did get pretty close; however, it’s not 100% identical. I didn’t use this scan, but the prints themselves, to create the 1971 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe. I think you can still get a pretty good idea of what the prints look like from the scan.
The kid on the right with the trombone is my dad when he was 15.
The aesthetic that the 1971 Kodak Recipe produces is very similar to Kodacolor-X film printed on Kodak paper in the early-1970’s, and viewed today after aging. The most similar Recipe to this is 1970’s Summer, and I’ve included a comparison at the bottom so that you can see the difference. This Recipe is compatible with fifth-generation X-Trans cameras from Fujifilm, which (as of this writing) are the X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, and X-S20 (yes, the X-S20), as well as the upcoming X100VI. I’m sure that you can use it on the latest GFX models, too; however, I don’t have any personal experience with that, and it’s likely to render slightly different (try it anyway). This Recipe pairs very well with vintage glass (or inexpensive third-party lenses with character), and is best for sunny daylight scenarios.
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. 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! If you are an App Patron, be sure to look for this new Recipe in the App!
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this 1971 Kodak Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-T5:
Comparison:
Find this Film Simulation Recipe and over 300 more in the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.
If you have a problem and no one else can help maybe you can hire The A Team 🙂
I assume you don’t have the original negatives which is a pity. Scans from them would be very different from the prints which will have faded and discoloured over the years.
I pity the fool who can’t find the A-Team! 🤣
I don’t have the negatives, I have no idea what happened to them. Most likely the trash can was their fate, unfortunately.
Great work! But isn’t compatible with X-trans 4 right? 🙁 plus don’t forget x-trans 4 users.
This one is not because it requires Nostalgic Neg., which X-Trans IV doesn’t have.
By far, there are more Film Simulation Recipes for X-Trans IV than any other sensor generation. It’s not even close. But, you can rest assured, there will be more! 😀
Thank you! You are the master of recipes! I hope there are also for 4 some recipes with warm tones like these last ones for 5. In the past I wanted to ask you if you were able to replicate the Lomography Sunset Strip film developed in E6. Not very well known but spectacular!
I will definitely look more deeply into this. There seems to be some similarities to the Expired Kodak Vision2 250D Recipe, but it’s not identical, and not necessarily a good match across all the pictures Google just showed me. I appreciate the tip!
https://fujixweekly.com/2023/09/27/expired-kodak-vision2-250d-fxw-app-patron-early-access-film-simulation-recipe-for-x-trans-iv-x-trans-v/
It looks like it, but it needs a lot more “yellow.” Apparently almost everyone developed it in C41 lol this photo is a good example of that film in E6:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dressingthebestspendingless/8720708575/
That’s very yellow indeed! Thanks for sharing this link, it is helpful.
This photo brings me back to my childhood (https://i0.wp.com/fujixweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53497008900_c3480c7857_h.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&ssl=1)… When Autumn was there, streets were deserted because the older boys started going to school and no one to play with… Sad but fleeting moments.. A child can be secretly affected by moments like these. Amazing recipe, for special moments.
Such a kind comment! Thanks so much! 😀
I’d love to see a 1970’s Summer receipe for the X100V because i fear the X100VI will be too expensive for me 🙁
any chance richie ??
I’ve tried a couple of times using Eterna, but I feel I cannot get it quite right. But I shall try again! 😀
What an intriguing recipe, Ritchie. The work which you’ve done with it looks extremely intriguing. To date, I think two of my favorite X-T5 recipes have been your ‘1976 Kodak’ – and a recipe Luis Costa developed awhile back, which is basically his tweak of ‘Classic Negative’. But what you’ve done here is fascinating. I’m going to try it out, and will try to report back to you on the initial results.
Thanks again, for continuing to do such innovative experimentation!
Thanks so much! I appreciate your kind feedback!