Two Fujifilm X-Trans IV Film Simulation Recipes: Kodachrome II

One of the more popular film simulation recipes that I’ve created is Kodachrome II, which was made for X-Trans III sensor cameras. While you can use that recipe on X-Trans IV cameras, the newer models have some JPEG options that the older ones don’t, so it can be fun to utilize those options to produce a different and hopefully better version of an old recipe. In this case, I have two new versions of Kodachrome II for X-Trans IV cameras.
Kodak introduced Kodachrome in 1935, and in 1961 they replaced the original film with a new and improved version called Kodachrome II and a higher-ISO sibling called Kodachrome-X. These films had more accurate color, finer grain and faster ISOs (ISO 25 and 64, respectively, compared to ISO 10) than the previous version. It was a big leap forward for color photography, and so it is no surprise that the innovators of color photography in the 1960’s and 1970’s relied heavily on it. It’s also the version that Paul Simon sang, “They give us the greens of summer, makes you think all the world’s a sunny day.”
Kodachrome II and Kodachrome-X produced a very similar look to each other. The main differences were in grain, contrast and saturation, but overall the variations were quite minor. Kodachrome-X was slightly more bold while Kodachrome II was slightly more clean. Even so, comparing slides, it’s tough to distinguish one from the other (conveniently, I have my grandparents old slides at my home). Even though I have named these two film simulation recipes “Kodachrome II” I think they more closely resembles Kodachrome-X film, but I find them to be a reasonable facsimile for both.

Because of the toxic chemicals used in the development of this era of Kodachrome, plus the complexity of the process, Kodak changed from K-12 development to K-14 development, which ushered in new Kodachrome in 1974, called Kodachrome 25 and Kodachrome 64. This version of the film is the one that I have personally used. Interestingly enough, even though this version wasn’t all that much aesthetically different than the previous, there was a big outcry among photographers, and a large group who used Kodachrome II and Kodachrome-X did not appreciate the change.
While I created the X-Trans III Kodachrome II recipe, it was Thomas Schwab who modified it for X-Trans IV. His version, entitled Kodachrome II, is compatible with the Fujifilm X-Pro3, X100V, X-T4, X-S10 and X-E4. In some of my example pictures below I used a Tiffen 1/4 Black Pro-Mist diffusion filter with my X100V. Why? Because I haven’t used this filter in awhile and wanted to. I don’t think it adds anything essential to the recipe. In fact, you might prefer the results without the filter. Thank you, Thomas, for creating and sharing this update to the original recipe!
I made a slightly modified version, entitled Kodachrome II v2, which is compatible with the X-T4, X-S10 and X-E4. I used this recipe on my X-E4 (without any diffusion filter). This isn’t intended to be a “better” recipe, just a slightly different version using the new JPEG options found in my X-E4. Both of these film simulation recipes can be found in the Fuji X Weekly app!
Kodachrome II
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +1
Shadow: +2
Color: +1
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: +1
Clarity: -2
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
White Balance: Auto, +3 Red & -4 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this new Kodachrome II film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X100V:










Kodachrome II v2
Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR200
Highlight: +1
Shadow: +1.5
Color: +1
Noise Reduction: -4
Sharpening: +1
Clarity: -2
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome Effect Blue: Weak
White Balance: Auto White Priority, +3 Red & -5 Blue
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: +1/3 to +2/3 (typically)
Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs using this new Kodachrome II v2 film simulation recipe on my Fujifilm X-E4:










See also: X-Trans IV Film Simulation Recipes

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