10 Fujifilm Recipes for a 1980’s Aesthetic
Last week I published 10 Fujifilm Recipes for a 1970’s Aesthetic, which I think a number of you appreciated. It seemed to be an especially well-liked article. Thomas H commented, “This theme of a collection using the look of films from a certain era or decade is very inspirational. Somehow for me this approach unlocks the mood of film looks in a more ‘accessible’ way by showing the style of a decade rather than as before showing lots of different looks that are possible with a particular sensor generation.” Well, let’s do it again!
This time we’re going to look at the 1980’s. It will require as to hop into our DeLorean, put Huey Lewis in the tape deck, and hit 88 miles per hour. I was born in 1980—great Scott!—so I have a lot of memories of the decade, especially the latter half, but I was not a photographer yet—not for awhile. I only have family photo albums, vintage magazines, and internet archives to guide the way.
You’ll notice that the majority of the Recipes below use Classic Chrome, and that’s because Classic Chrome is intended to replicate documentary photography found in photojournalism publications in the ’80’s and ’90’s. Fujifilm looked very closely at Kodachrome and Ektachrome photographs. Because of this, Classic Chrome has a distinct Kodak palette. Kodak dominated film sales during the 1980’s, so it makes sense that this film simulation would dominate Recipes intended to mimic the look of that era.
There’s a lot of Film Simulation Recipes that could potentially give an ’80’s look. The list below is not intended to be comprehensive, nor is it intended to be the “best 10” or a ranking of Recipes. It’s simply 10 that I believe will give you a 1980’s aesthetic, if that’s something you’re looking for.
Kodachrome 64 was the iconic film of the 1980’s. It’s the third (and final) era of Kodachrome, introduced in the mid-1970’s and discontinued in 2009. That means it’s just as much a 1970’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s look as it is a 1980’s; however, it would be wrong to exclude it from this era, in my opinion, so that’s why it’s here. I shot many rolls of Kodachrome 64 in the late-1990’s and early-2000’s. It was a very sad day when Kodak announced its discontinuation. The Recipe linked above is specifically for fifth-generation X-Trans and the latest GFX, there’s also a version for X-Trans IV, the X-T3/X-T30, and X-Trans II.
This one might initially seem odd because 1) the Recipe has a weird name and 2) it’s not specifically intended as a 1980’s look. So why is it here? Urban Dreams produces a look somewhat similar to Kodachrome 200, a high-ISO version of Kodachrome introduced in 1986 and discontinued in 2006. It was never as popular as Kodachrome 64 or even Kodachrome 25, but it was certainly a well-used film during the latter half of the 1980’s.
Probably the most obvious 1980’s Film Simulation Recipe is Kodacolor. Kodak used the Kodacolor name for many different emulsions beginning in 1942 and continuing to today. While not nearly as recognizable as Kodachrome or Tri-X, it’s just as historic, if not more so. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Kodacolor was the most popular line of color films in the world. Kodacolor II (early in the decade) and Kodacolor VR (beginning in 1982) were common in the 1980’s. This Recipe is reminiscent of Kodacolor VR. The Kodacolor Recipe is for X-Trans III cameras plus the X-T3 and X-T30, but there’s also a version for X-Trans II.
This is similar to the Kodacolor Recipe above, but more resembles Kodacolor VR that’s expired or has been improperly handled.
This Recipe, which was created by Thomas Schwab, resembles faded prints captured with Kodacolor VR 200 film. Kodak introduced Kodacolor VR 200 in 1982 and discontinued it in 1986, when it was replaced by Kodacolor VR Plus 200, which was only slightly different.
Kodak introduced Gold in 1986 as Kodacolor VR-G. They changed the name to Kodacolor Gold in 1988, and it wasn’t until the 1990’s that they dropped the “Kodacolor” name from the packaging. Kodak still makes Gold 200, but the emulsion has been updated many times since 1986. While this Recipe isn’t intended to replicate “Kodacolor VR-G” or “Kodacolor Gold” specifically, it nonetheless produces an aesthetic that can be convincing as a late-1980’s look.
The 1981 Kodak Recipe was modeled after some old family pictures found in a photo box. These prints were made in July of 1981—a date stamped on the back—and printed on Kodak paper. The other technical details are unknown, but most likely they were captured with a cheap point-and-shoot of some sort with Kodacolor II film. Due to age and improper storage, the prints are faded, with a pronounced warm cast, and colors overall less vibrant than they once were.
This Recipe produces a picture aesthetic that is reminiscent of photos of Expo ’86, a World’s Fair that was in Vancouver, Canada (interestingly, that was the last World’s Fair in North America). I actually went to it, but only remember a little because I was six-years-old. For some reason, the floating McDonald’s is what I remember the most.
Fujifilm introduced Fujicolor Super HG in 1986, and discontinued the film in the 1990’s. This Recipe was invented by Thomas Schwab, and it does an excellent job at replicating the look of Fujicolor film from that era.
I didn’t include any B&W films in the 1970’s article, which was a massive oversight on my part. Not wanting to make that same mistake, I made sure to include one in this list. Actually this is two Recipes, both made by Dan Allen: Kodak T-Max 100 Hard Tone and Kodak T-Max 100 Soft Tone. Kodak introduced T-Max in 1986, and it was immediately a huge hit. The film is still manufactured today, so it could just as easily be a 1990’s, 2000’s, 2010’s or 2020’s aesthetic.
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