The Fujifilm recipe I keep going back to.

Nov 24

I have created 2 custom Fujifilm film simulation recipes in the past, I’ll link both those here. But as well as those there is another recipe that I just keep going back too.

That’s the Kodak Portra 160 recipe. For the photography in this blog I’ve used 99% of the original Portra 160 film simulation settings, however I’ve tweaked just a couple of things slightly to my liking.

Kodak Portra 160 Recipe

This is the original recipe I found on Fujjixweekly.com

Film Simulation: Classic Chrome
Dynamic Range: DR400
Grain Effect: Weak, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong
White Balance: 4900K, +4 Red & -6 Blue
Highlight: -1
Shadow: -2
Color: 0
Sharpness: -2
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: -3
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 to +1 (typically)

Red Coffee Cup - Kodak Portra 160 Recipe | London

Finger Lickin’ Good - Kodak Portra 160 Recipe | London

Tweaking The Recipe

The original recipe suggested -1 highlights and -2 shadows in the tone curve. However, -2 shadows meant the image would lose a little more contrast than I wanted, so just by going to -1 the tone curved is still adjusted in favour of the intended look, but the shadows now aren’t lifted as much, meaning the image has a little more punch to it.

The original recipe was 0 in colour, but I added +2. I like colour, why not lean into it a little more.

I didn’t adjust the clarity, the recipe suggests -3 but the this slows down the processing speed every time you press the shutter. it’s silly, why cant Fujifilm fix this with a software update? To avoid this pointless issue I leave the clarity on 0.

The final small adjustment is to the WB. I’ve selected auto and +3 red -5 blue tints. These are just small tweaks to the WB and tint shift so the overall look isn’t as warm and in my opinion becomes more universal compared to the original recipe which might be slightly overpowering.