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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