Yesterday I published Film-Like Recipes for Americana Pictures that’s good for Landscapes & Street Photography, in which I used the new Filter By Categories feature in the Fuji X Weekly App. By selecting Americana, Film-like, Landscapes, and Street, along with Filter By X-Trans V Sensor, I was presented with six Recipes: Kodachrome 64, Kodak Ultramax 400, Kodak Gold 200, Kodak Portra 800 v3, Summer of ’59, and Ektachrome E100. The intention of the article was simply to demonstrate how Filter By Categories can be a useful tool for finding Film Simulation Recipes that match your specific desired aesthetic and shooting situation. A heck-of-a-lot of work went into it, and it can be quite handy. It’s far from perfect, though, but hopefully it will only get better with time.
Someone asked for a direct comparison of the six Recipes from the article. That wasn’t really the intention of the post, but I understand why that could be helpful. I’ve had requests for years to photograph the same scene with each Recipe so that direct comparisons can be made (maybe something like the DPReview Studio Shot Comparison Tool, except with Recipes). That would be a daunting task to say the least, but I get why people might want that. Personally, I prefer to see how things work “in real life” in a variety of situations, and I don’t find test charts or static studio scenes to be particularly useful (or at least they tend to miss the most important things). I wanted to fulfill the request for a direct comparison for these six Recipes, so I reprocessed in-camera two exposures using each of the six Recipes. You’ll find those images below.
Interestingly enough, for my personal tastes, the Recipe that I liked best in the first set was one of my least favorites in the second set, and the Recipe that I liked least best in the first set was one of my favorites in the second set. The lighting and subject can make all of the difference. I don’t think a single Recipe exists that’s perfect for every subject and situation (obviously, some are more versatile than others), and that’s why most Fujifilm cameras have seven Custom Settings presets. With seven Recipes available at any given time, you are much more likely to have an excellent option for whatever you encounter. In the right light and for the right subject, each of these six could be a good choice; however, there are likely scenarios where each of these Recipes would not be good, some more than others.
The two Recipes in this article that are the most similar to each other are Kodachrome 64 and Kodak Ultramax 400. In sunny daylight, they can produce a difficult-to-distinguish (but not 100% identical) aesthetic; however, they differ more in other light situations, and are easier to tell apart. The one that’s the most divergent is Ektachrome E100. Kodak Portra 800 v3 and Summer of ’59 are the most warm, with Kodak Gold 200 not terribly far behind. Which of these six is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!
In the first set I like more Summer 59 , just a little bit more than Portra and Gold. They are quite similar, but Summer renders the lines between bricks on the right a bit sharper, that’s what I like. In the second set Gold is my favourite. Portra and Summer are a bit too “greenish”, the first on the other hand has too much blue and magenta hues, while kotldachrome and ultramax seem to have a narrower dynamic range
Thanks for the input! 😀
But … You didn’t tell us which are *your* favourites
Summer of ’59 is my favorite in the first set, and Ektachrome E100 is my least favorite. I also like Kodak Gold 200 and Kodak Portra 800 v3. In the second set, Kodak Gold 200 is my favorite (and I’m also drawn to Ektachrome E100), and Summer of ’59 and Kodak Portra 800 v3 are my least favorites.
Hello Ritchie,
maybe it is my monitor, but to me, the first picture seems over-exposed. Therefore, my favorite would be the Kodak Portra, since this seems to be the most forgiving recipe.
The second is very harsh in contrast, therefore, I am not sure, which one to like. Maybe Kodachrome, maybe Ektachrome, but really, I am not sure, as I am not such a fan of this photograph.
Hello Ritchie,
my Favorit is the Ektachrome E 100. Specialy the Blue in the 2. Pictures with the Bridge ist great.
You make a great Job. Thanks for that.
Hans
I quite like Ektachrome E100 in the second set, but it’s my least favorite in the first set. I appreciate your input!
Hopefully I wasn’t influenced by your comments, which I read before looking at the pictures, but I agree that Kodachrome 64 and Ultramax 400 have a similar signature. I thought the urban shot looked good in those simulations, as it did in Ektachrome 100 which had a more modern feel to it — but the stone of the bridge didn’t quite work for me in E100. As for the rural shot, to be honest I didn’t especially like the way the barn turned out in any of the simulations (the stone looked too fish-toned for me! Perhaps it was in reality also) but again I thought the K64 and U400 simulations worked best, especially for the bushes. So a general vote for K64 and U400, especially in the urban shot.
The color of the stone in the first set is most accurately represented in the Kodak Ultramax 400 picture. Thanks for the input!
Speaking of the second set, after the fairly neutral e100, I look at the k64, and it seems too green for me. However, if I switch to s’59 (which is very green here), then the k64 no longer seems so green, and the e100 (which was initially hmm.. neutral) now seems too magenta. The perception seems to depend on the order.
I find it all this interesting. For example, you’re not the first to say some of the images look green. The only Recipe here that has a shift towards green is Kodak Portra 800 v3, with a -1 Red WB Shift; all of the others have a WB Shift away from green. Summer of ’59 has the same shift away from green as Kodak Gold 200 (both +4 Red); however, it has a little more yellow (-8 Blue compared to -5 Blue). For whatever reason, that extra yellow seems to translate as green, and I wonder if the inclusion of the Ektachrome E100, which is much more blue (+2 Blue, the only one with a positive shift), is what gives that perception. Thanks for the comment!
Just to be indecisive, today I almost prefer the Kodak Gold 200 shots in both sets.. . this is why I long ago gave up the idea of working with Raw files: I’d rather have a few choices given to me and try to choose one from what is offered (and that’s hard enough as Sasha just said) than try to arrive at a destination with no clues but infinite variables to wrestle with along the way!
Kodak Gold 200 is one of my top favorites in both sets, too. Thanks for the feedback!