Film simulation – open thread

[evikne]

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RNI Kodak E 200

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M10, 35mm Summilux v2

[grahamc]

Hello.

As a hybrid shooter I developed some quite quick Lightroom steps to give my digital images a more analogue look, for consistency across my images.  Since then I received some nice comments in the forum or "which film was this shot on" questions for digital images.  So I thought FWIW I'd place some instruction here as it's really not many steps.

Thanks @Steven, @evikne, @lifeandmylens for the feedback and suggestion . 

Not claiming this is brilliant of course or wishing to open a debate about whether some of this is good (!), just responding to nice feedback and it works for me with my kit.

So, I do all of these pretty much as standard on any digital image, in this order (or bulk via a preset) and don't deviate much fro it these days since it was a PITA experimenting to get to it :

1. Lens Choice.

First of all, Lens make a big difference, I've found I get the most analogue look as a starting point from the following lenses:

35mm (in order of preference if I'm trying to get a film look):

• 35:2 v1 
• 35:1.4 v1 or 2

50mm (in order of pref.)

• 50:v3 
• 50:1.4 v3

You will have your own I'm sure. 

1. Presets/Profiles.

I use Lightroom. I have tried many and most are a complete waste of time and money.  I use RNI, The Classic Presets & the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra profiles (of which the P800 is absolutely brilliant). It's not a one-size-fits all and I often hover over each preset in my collection until I find one that suits the particular image I'm working on.  That can be trial and error of hovering over 30+ profiles but this is important as it's very much an image-by-image thing not one profile fits all.  In saying that I do have ones I use far more most often than others and they are Kodak E 200(RNI), the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra 800, Kodak Gold 200 v3 (RNI - although has a green cast), Fuji 400H (RNI) and Agfa Optima 200 v4.  The RNI Porta ones are also OK but need tuning down in strength to 70.  The new Cobalt Porta is way better than RNI and is extremely impressive.  

Once selected a profile I generally turn down the strength slider for the profile to between 70-85 strength or it tends to look fake .   There are occasions when I'll run with 90-100 strength usually with Kodak E 200   

Once applied, set a white balance that you like for the look you are after - again no rule of thumb for what temp suits which profile, it's very much on an image by image basis. 

2. Tone Curve.

Once a suitable profile is applied, I saved some custom tone curves that I felt take the edge off the digital image, and saved them as 'Light' , 'Medium' and 'Strong' Strength.  All they really are is the 'Linear', 'Medium' and 'Strong' contrast curves from the Lightroom drop down, with some very minor tweaks.  They each also alter the black point a little, which I think works well and rarely change after adding the curve - eg the lighter one has the lightest black point.  You can get them here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/sxee28mknqjbqgtusmrbs/h?rlkey=woufz8i7d09kq1irvjvs494ja&dl=0

Grab them if you want them as I'm constantly changing my Dropbox locations they may disappear. 

3. Colour Tweak via. a saved pre-set.

I can't be bothered tweaking colour for every photo but I hit a 'Analogue Green and Blue' preset that I made, which shifts the Green and Blue colour channels to the following settings:

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I sometimes bring the green channel back to be closer to zero, or move the blue from -10 to -5 , depending on how things are looking. 

4. Add Grain 

I  got to some grain settings that I felt were a good match for Portra 400 , as viewed side by side with a Portra scan.  Again saved as preset so it's just one click. Here are the settings for that one, under the 'Effects' tab :

 

5. Sharpness.  I rarely add sharpness but if I do it's only slightly to 12 or 15. And I use the 'masking slider' to between 75-100 so that only a small part of the image (usually the focal point) is sharpened.
6. Add Vignette

Finally I add a very light vignette , again with a preset and the settings to create it are here :

7. Tweaks to taste .

Of course after that (or before) it's just the usual tweaks like highlight adjustment, shadows, but I'm pretty light on all of that because creating a HDR looking image is the fastest giveaway to a digital image. 

I find a reduction in contrast can help at the stage also, depending on the lens. 

8. The End 

So quite simple and I think a lot of it is in the lens choice TBH - I've tried this on more modern lenses eg even the 35:2 KOB which is not exactly clinical, and on those occasions it hasn't been half has successful.  So I tend to use the KOB on film now and the lenses I've mentioned above on Digital. 

Hope it's useful 

Cheers

G 
 

Edited September 15, 2023 by grahamc

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[lifeandmylens]

3 hours ago, grahamc said:

Hello.

As a hybrid shooter I developed some quite quick Lightroom steps to give my digital images a more analogue look, for consistency across my images.  Since then I received some nice comments in the forum or "which film was this shot on" questions for digital images.  So I thought FWIW I'd place some instruction here as it's really not many steps.

Thanks @Steven, @evikne, @lifeandmylens for the feedback and suggestion . 

Not claiming this is brilliant of course or wishing to open a debate about whether some of this is good (!), just responding to nice feedback and it works for me with my kit.

So, I do all of these pretty much as standard on any digital image, in this order (or bulk via a preset) and don't deviate much fro it these days since it was a PITA experimenting to get to it :

1. Lens Choice.

First of all, Lens make a big difference, I've found I get the most analogue look as a starting point from the following lenses:

35mm (in order of preference if I'm trying to get a film look):

• 35:2 v1 
• 35:1.4 v1 or 2

50mm (in order of pref.)

• 50:v3 
• 50:1.4 v3

You will have your own I'm sure. 

1. Presets/Profiles.

I use Lightroom. I have tried many and most are a complete waste of time and money.  I use RNI, The Classic Presets & the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra profiles (of which the P800 is absolutely brilliant). It's not a one-size-fits all and I often hover over each preset in my collection until I find one that suits the particular image I'm working on.  That can be trial and error of hovering over 30+ profiles but this is important as it's very much an image-by-image thing not one profile fits all.  In saying that I do have ones I use far more most often than others and they are Kodak E 200(RNI), the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra 800, Kodak Gold 200 v3 (RNI - although has a green cast), Fuji 400H (RNI) and Agfa Optima 200 v4.  The RNI Porta ones are also OK but need tuning down in strength to 70.  The new Cobalt Porta is way better than RNI and is extremely impressive.  

Once selected a profile I generally turn down the strength slider for the profile to between 70-85 strength or it tends to look fake .   There are occasions when I'll run with 90-100 strength usually with Kodak E 200   

Once applied, set a white balance that you like for the look you are after - again no rule of thumb for what temp suits which profile, it's very much on an image by image basis. 

2. Tone Curve.

Once a suitable profile is applied, I saved some custom tone curves that I felt take the edge off the digital image, and saved them as 'Light' , 'Medium' and 'Strong' Strength.  All they really are is the 'Linear', 'Medium' and 'Strong' contrast curves from the Lightroom drop down, with some very minor tweaks.  They each also alter the black point a little, which I think works well and rarely change after adding the curve - eg the lighter one has the lightest black point.  You can get them here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/sxee28mknqjbqgtusmrbs/h?rlkey=woufz8i7d09kq1irvjvs494ja&dl=0

Grab them if you want them as I'm constantly changing my Dropbox locations they may disappear. 

3. Colour Tweak via. a saved pre-set.

I can't be bothered tweaking colour for every photo but I hit a 'Analogue Green and Blue' preset that I made, which shifts the Green and Blue colour channels to the following settings:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I sometimes bring the green channel back to be closer to zero, or move the blue from -10 to -5 , depending on how things are looking. 

4. Add Grain 

I  got to some grain settings that I felt were a good match for Portra 400 , as viewed side by side with a Portra scan.  Again saved as preset so it's just one click. Here are the settings for that one, under the 'Effects' tab :

 

5. Sharpness.  I rarely add sharpness but if I do it's only slightly to 12 or 15. And I use the 'masking slider' to between 75-100 so that only a small part of the image (usually the focal point) is sharpened.
6. Add Vignette

Finally I add a very light vignette , again with a preset and the settings to create it are here :

7. Tweaks to taste .

Of course after that (or before) it's just the usual tweaks like highlight adjustment, shadows, but I'm pretty light on all of that because creating a HDR looking image is the fastest giveaway to a digital image. 

I find a reduction in contrast can help at the stage also, depending on the lens. 

8. The End 

So quite simple and I think a lot of it is in the lens choice TBH - I've tried this on more modern lenses eg even the 35:2 KOB which is not exactly clinical, and on those occasions it hasn't been half has successful.  So I tend to use the KOB on film now and the lenses I've mentioned above on Digital. 

Hope it's useful 

Cheers

G 
 

Graham this is amazing!!  Thank you.  I'm sitting down playing with this now!

[Steven]

4 hours ago, grahamc said:

Hello.

As a hybrid shooter I developed some quite quick Lightroom steps to give my digital images a more analogue look, for consistency across my images.  Since then I received some nice comments in the forum or "which film was this shot on" questions for digital images.  So I thought FWIW I'd place some instruction here as it's really not many steps.

Thanks @Steven, @evikne, @lifeandmylens for the feedback and suggestion . 

Not claiming this is brilliant of course or wishing to open a debate about whether some of this is good (!), just responding to nice feedback and it works for me with my kit.

So, I do all of these pretty much as standard on any digital image, in this order (or bulk via a preset) and don't deviate much fro it these days since it was a PITA experimenting to get to it :

1. Lens Choice.

First of all, Lens make a big difference, I've found I get the most analogue look as a starting point from the following lenses:

35mm (in order of preference if I'm trying to get a film look):

• 35:2 v1 
• 35:1.4 v1 or 2

50mm (in order of pref.)

• 50:v3 
• 50:1.4 v3

You will have your own I'm sure. 

1. Presets/Profiles.

I use Lightroom. I have tried many and most are a complete waste of time and money.  I use RNI, The Classic Presets & the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra profiles (of which the P800 is absolutely brilliant). It's not a one-size-fits all and I often hover over each preset in my collection until I find one that suits the particular image I'm working on.  That can be trial and error of hovering over 30+ profiles but this is important as it's very much an image-by-image thing not one profile fits all.  In saying that I do have ones I use far more most often than others and they are Kodak E 200(RNI), the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra 800, Kodak Gold 200 v3 (RNI - although has a green cast), Fuji 400H (RNI) and Agfa Optima 200 v4.  The RNI Porta ones are also OK but need tuning down in strength to 70.  The new Cobalt Porta is way better than RNI and is extremely impressive.  

Once selected a profile I generally turn down the strength slider for the profile to between 70-85 strength or it tends to look fake .   There are occasions when I'll run with 90-100 strength usually with Kodak E 200   

Once applied, set a white balance that you like for the look you are after - again no rule of thumb for what temp suits which profile, it's very much on an image by image basis. 

2. Tone Curve.

Once a suitable profile is applied, I saved some custom tone curves that I felt take the edge off the digital image, and saved them as 'Light' , 'Medium' and 'Strong' Strength.  All they really are is the 'Linear', 'Medium' and 'Strong' contrast curves from the Lightroom drop down, with some very minor tweaks.  They each also alter the black point a little, which I think works well and rarely change after adding the curve - eg the lighter one has the lightest black point.  You can get them here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/sxee28mknqjbqgtusmrbs/h?rlkey=woufz8i7d09kq1irvjvs494ja&dl=0

Grab them if you want them as I'm constantly changing my Dropbox locations they may disappear. 

3. Colour Tweak via. a saved pre-set.

I can't be bothered tweaking colour for every photo but I hit a 'Analogue Green and Blue' preset that I made, which shifts the Green and Blue colour channels to the following settings:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I sometimes bring the green channel back to be closer to zero, or move the blue from -10 to -5 , depending on how things are looking. 

4. Add Grain 

I  got to some grain settings that I felt were a good match for Portra 400 , as viewed side by side with a Portra scan.  Again saved as preset so it's just one click. Here are the settings for that one, under the 'Effects' tab :

 

5. Sharpness.  I rarely add sharpness but if I do it's only slightly to 12 or 15. And I use the 'masking slider' to between 75-100 so that only a small part of the image (usually the focal point) is sharpened.
6. Add Vignette

Finally I add a very light vignette , again with a preset and the settings to create it are here :

7. Tweaks to taste .

Of course after that (or before) it's just the usual tweaks like highlight adjustment, shadows, but I'm pretty light on all of that because creating a HDR looking image is the fastest giveaway to a digital image. 

I find a reduction in contrast can help at the stage also, depending on the lens. 

8. The End 

So quite simple and I think a lot of it is in the lens choice TBH - I've tried this on more modern lenses eg even the 35:2 KOB which is not exactly clinical, and on those occasions it hasn't been half has successful.  So I tend to use the KOB on film now and the lenses I've mentioned above on Digital. 

Hope it's useful 

Cheers

G 
 

You're a star Graham. Thanks for taking the time. 

Now I need a digital camera ! 

[costa43]

9 hours ago, grahamc said:

Hello.

As a hybrid shooter I developed some quite quick Lightroom steps to give my digital images a more analogue look, for consistency across my images.  Since then I received some nice comments in the forum or "which film was this shot on" questions for digital images.  So I thought FWIW I'd place some instruction here as it's really not many steps.

Thanks @Steven, @evikne, @lifeandmylens for the feedback and suggestion . 

Not claiming this is brilliant of course or wishing to open a debate about whether some of this is good (!), just responding to nice feedback and it works for me with my kit.

So, I do all of these pretty much as standard on any digital image, in this order (or bulk via a preset) and don't deviate much fro it these days since it was a PITA experimenting to get to it :

1. Lens Choice.

First of all, Lens make a big difference, I've found I get the most analogue look as a starting point from the following lenses:

35mm (in order of preference if I'm trying to get a film look):

• 35:2 v1 
• 35:1.4 v1 or 2

50mm (in order of pref.)

• 50:v3 
• 50:1.4 v3

You will have your own I'm sure. 

1. Presets/Profiles.

I use Lightroom. I have tried many and most are a complete waste of time and money.  I use RNI, The Classic Presets & the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra profiles (of which the P800 is absolutely brilliant). It's not a one-size-fits all and I often hover over each preset in my collection until I find one that suits the particular image I'm working on.  That can be trial and error of hovering over 30+ profiles but this is important as it's very much an image-by-image thing not one profile fits all.  In saying that I do have ones I use far more most often than others and they are Kodak E 200(RNI), the new Cobalt 'Elite' Portra 800, Kodak Gold 200 v3 (RNI - although has a green cast), Fuji 400H (RNI) and Agfa Optima 200 v4.  The RNI Porta ones are also OK but need tuning down in strength to 70.  The new Cobalt Porta is way better than RNI and is extremely impressive.  

Once selected a profile I generally turn down the strength slider for the profile to between 70-85 strength or it tends to look fake .   There are occasions when I'll run with 90-100 strength usually with Kodak E 200   

Once applied, set a white balance that you like for the look you are after - again no rule of thumb for what temp suits which profile, it's very much on an image by image basis. 

2. Tone Curve.

Once a suitable profile is applied, I saved some custom tone curves that I felt take the edge off the digital image, and saved them as 'Light' , 'Medium' and 'Strong' Strength.  All they really are is the 'Linear', 'Medium' and 'Strong' contrast curves from the Lightroom drop down, with some very minor tweaks.  They each also alter the black point a little, which I think works well and rarely change after adding the curve - eg the lighter one has the lightest black point.  You can get them here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/sxee28mknqjbqgtusmrbs/h?rlkey=woufz8i7d09kq1irvjvs494ja&dl=0

Grab them if you want them as I'm constantly changing my Dropbox locations they may disappear. 

3. Colour Tweak via. a saved pre-set.

I can't be bothered tweaking colour for every photo but I hit a 'Analogue Green and Blue' preset that I made, which shifts the Green and Blue colour channels to the following settings:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I sometimes bring the green channel back to be closer to zero, or move the blue from -10 to -5 , depending on how things are looking. 

4. Add Grain 

I  got to some grain settings that I felt were a good match for Portra 400 , as viewed side by side with a Portra scan.  Again saved as preset so it's just one click. Here are the settings for that one, under the 'Effects' tab :

 

5. Sharpness.  I rarely add sharpness but if I do it's only slightly to 12 or 15. And I use the 'masking slider' to between 75-100 so that only a small part of the image (usually the focal point) is sharpened.
6. Add Vignette

Finally I add a very light vignette , again with a preset and the settings to create it are here :

7. Tweaks to taste .

Of course after that (or before) it's just the usual tweaks like highlight adjustment, shadows, but I'm pretty light on all of that because creating a HDR looking image is the fastest giveaway to a digital image. 

I find a reduction in contrast can help at the stage also, depending on the lens. 

8. The End 

So quite simple and I think a lot of it is in the lens choice TBH - I've tried this on more modern lenses eg even the 35:2 KOB which is not exactly clinical, and on those occasions it hasn't been half has successful.  So I tend to use the KOB on film now and the lenses I've mentioned above on Digital. 

Hope it's useful 

Cheers

G 
 

Thank you! I took a look at the 50 pre asph pics you posted and the colours look fantastic. Will try this  

[grahamc]

6 hours ago, Steven said:

You're a star Graham. Thanks for taking the time. 

Now I need a M10-D ! 

😂 corrected for you :) 

[Steven]

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2 hours ago, grahamc said:

😂 corrected for you 

I miss my M10Ds! 

[grahamc]

Pleasure !  The tweaked tone curves are here in Zip also, rather than Dropbox (thanks for the tip Ernst @evikne) .   Note these tone curves have the ISO 400 grain included, so if you don't want grain then re-set grain after applying the curve.

There was also a typo about the lenses - the first 50mm listed is of course the 50:2 v3 

Tone Curve tweaked.zip

[evikne]

RNI Kodak Portra 160 v3

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M10, 35mm Summilux v2

[Olaf_ZG]

Coming from C1, I am still learning LR (which takes me a while, as I am not fond spending time behind a computer during nice weather).

I bought a set of presets from Visual Flow, not cheap, but consistent results independent on lighting situation. I then combined them with profiles from the free presetpro pack. Below, the voque profile.

Really can’t identify the film, but I do like its color and tones.

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[evikne]

RNI Polaroid 600 v2

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M10, 50mm Summilux v3

[milescrist]

@StevenSteven, could you please message me? the forum will not allow me to do so.

[costa43]

Not sure if this counts so please delete if not appropriate. I thought I’d see if I could edit like film in LR. 2 of the photos are taken with the m10r (50mm APO and 40mm Nokton) and the other with the M9p (Canon 35mm ltm) i think i went a bit too heavy on the grain/edit 

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Edited October 10, 2023 by costa43

[costa43]

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[costa43]

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[evikne]

1 hour ago, costa43 said:

Not sure if this counts so please delete if not appropriate. I thought I’d see if I could edit like film in LR. 2 of the photos are taken with the m10r (50mm APO and 40mm Nokton) and the other with the M9p (Canon 35mm ltm) i think i went a bit too heavy on the grain/edit 

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I think they are very film-like, and they certainly fit in here. What did you do with them?

[costa43]

A few more. Not sure how best to share the settings for each of them. Nothing special pic wise but a portrait, landscape and street shot for contrast

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Edited October 10, 2023 by costa43

[costa43]

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[costa43]

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[costa43]

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