A few months back, Fujifilm invited me to Fujikina Copenhagen. They wanted me to lead a couple of photowalks, give a brief presentation on Film Simulations and Fujifilm Recipes, and to display six of my photos on a wall at the event. They also asked if I could create a brand-new Recipe made for Copenhagen, which would be revealed at Fujikina. Of course I said yes! It was an incredible honor to be at Fujikina. It was a great experience, and I loved meeting a number of you in-person. I just got back home, and I wanted to get this Recipe published right away.
After some research and experiments, I narrowed it down to three options: one that was especially vibrant, one that matched some film scans someone made in Denmark, and one that was a variant of the middle option. I tested and refined each of them, and tested and refined some more. Then I put all three to a larger test. After reviewing the results, I knew right away the winner, which is this Recipe (the third option). I named it Copenhagen Negative in honor of the city that it is intended for. This Recipe has become one of my favorites, and I know that many of you will love it, too.
The two Fujifilm Recipes that Copenhagen Negative beat out have already been published. The vibrant one is called Vivid Chrome, and the middle option is called Avalon Ace. I really like those Recipes, too, and used both of them in Copenhagen. They would have been good choices for this project, but Copenhagen Negative edged them out, so it has the honor of being the only Recipe to ever be unveiled at a Fujikina event. Those who attended Fujikina Copenhagen have already had access to this Recipe for over a week.
Copenhagen Negative is great for sunny daylight, cloudy days, fog, natural light indoors, and golden hour. It’s not a good option for artificial light, though, so I would avoid it for nighttime photography. It works well for landscapes, urban scenes, street photography, still-life, portraits, and I’m sure many other genres. I have enjoyed using this Recipe over the last couple of months—in fact, even though I included a ton of sample pictures in this article, I left a whole bunch out that I would have liked to include, just because there were way too many pictures.
This Copenhagen Negative Recipe is compatible with all fifth-generation X-series cameras, which are the Fujifilm X-H2s, X-H2, X-T5, X-S20, X100VI, X-T50, X-M5, X-E5, and X-T30 III. It works well on the latest GFX cameras, like the GFX100 II, GFX100S II, and GFX100RF. You can use it on “newer” fourth-generation cameras like the X-T4, X-S10, X-E4, and X-T30 II; however, it will render slightly different (don’t be afraid to try it, though). This Recipe works great with a little underexposure. Keep an eye out on the highlights, being careful not to blow them out.
Film Simulation: Classic Negative
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Weak
Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong
White Balance: 5700K, +1 Red & +1 Blue
Dynamic Range: DR400
Highlight: +2.5
Shadow: -2
Color: +4
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 to -2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this Copenhagen Negative Film Simulation Recipe on a Fujifilm X-E5, GFX100RF, and GFX100S II:
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Got up early this morning to sift through the Nc recipes I already have and hey presto here is another one just released! At first sight this is an exciting bolder variation on the simulation and I am definitely going to try it, especially as I hope to go to Scandinavia later this summer! Thanks as always for the great work, Ritchie!
Definitely give it a try in Scandinavia when you go 😀
And a question to ask: do you find any difference in the way the X-E5 / X-Trans V X-series renders the colors compared with the GFX100RF? Many thanks.
If you are strictly speaking colors, they are 99% the same. There are some very subtle variances due to the sensor and probably lens, but nothing major. But there some other differences. The biggest is Grain, which Fujifilm doesn’t scale. You can think of a camera like the X Half to have Grain more similar to 110 film, X-series models to have Grain more similar to 35mm film, and GFX cameras to have Grain more similar to medium-format film. Also, digital noise is a little different; I like the rendering on the X-series better, but it’s more hidden on the GFX. Another difference is dynamic range, with the GFX slightly less prone to blown-out highlights and blocked-up shadows than X-series, but it’s not a huge difference that might not be immediately obvious.
Great; this is really interesting as I am currently lucky enough to have the GFX100RF as well as some X-series 5th gen. kit. I have a lot of fun with all of it. Anyway, knowing the colors (apart from the grain) are to all intents and purposes the same makes it easier to get familiar with the new Copenhagen Neg simulation regardless of the camera chosen. I hope when an X-Pro4/5/6/whatever comes along there isn’t too much shift in the color rendering to learn all over again!
I hope that the sixth-gen doesn’t have too much variance, but I do expect some.
Haha… the trolls/haters are going to get their knickers in a twist. They hate it when you succeed and others have fun with jpeg 😀
Must have been nice. Would have attended but I went to one in Germany last September so it’s a bit too soon.
Sadly and unfortunately, there are no shortages of trolls and haters.
Fujikina Copenhagen was great! Had so much fun, and it was awesome to meet so many in-person.
Greets, You have really captured the Northern European City colour balance. From Northern France up to Denmark. Warsaw down to Lódz, absolutely. Maybe not the insufferable Summer heat and rendering of dust of the twin cities of BudaPest and down to Varna.. Maybe not the Soviet Era architecture hangover.
I will definitely use this, sort of. Being me, grain stripped out, Sharpness 0 and Clarity 0.
Our old friend “Clarity” is just too slow, nor is “Grain Small” particularly small. At A3 or larger I would always start with everything the lens / sensor can give you.
Thinking now, how you would best adapt this for the Britain.
Trivia :=
The city of Manchester was created for the various textile activities.
It does rain, not just apochraphal. It really rains.
The pervading damp was a boon for spinners and weavers. Damp threads are much more resistant to breaking. Think of the Movie where prison bars are bent with a bar and a pair of wet jeans.
Best Rgds.
Thanks! Very interesting trivia, I had no idea.
There’s never ever a problem with “seasoning to taste” any Recipe to make it work better for you. Glad to hear it!