Leica S3 workflow recommendations

[Chris Akin]

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I'm getting to know the Leica S3 files. They're quite nice, of course. I generally snap away in aperture priority mode without exposure compensation so that I don't have to brighten every image in Lightroom to see it. The dynamic range and metering are so good, I can get away with this approach. In my post workflow, I apply minimal adjustments to the files in Lightroom with the Adobe Color profile. Next I apply a custom Color Efex preset from the Nik Collection. Then I apply Analog Efex to add in a nice film grain look. After that I make adjustments in Photoshop using the Photo filter, Exposure, Curves, and Color Balance. Because the adjustments are incremental, it's impossible to see what the final result will be without trial and error. The workflow I'm using works pretty well, but I'm wondering if there are any tricks out there that will bring the best out of the files. I know the word "best" is quite open to interpretation. I'm simply going for a relatively straightforward photographic film look, similar to what film offers.

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[Pieter12]

It is quite true that the results are open to interpretation. Please share some examples, knowing the internet will make it quite difficult if not impossible to judge subtleties.

Edited April 19 by Pieter12
addition

[Milan_S]

The S files are still some of the best files today they offer so much for editing, I have a specific workflow for my portraits, it means mostly muting skin colors and a bit of color grading.

I am happy to help to judge the editing in a constructive way. 

 

 

[John McMaster]

Shoot manual exposure and do little other than change levels....

john

[Chris Akin]

Through trial and error I've been able to arrive at what I consider to be the "look" of film. It's a bit like cooking... are there cook books for digital file development? 

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[Pieter12]

Season to taste.

[Stef63]

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Hmm, it’s difficult for me to give really meaningful advice here, because personally, I’m not a big fan of using top-tier digital tools to try and mimic the imperfections of analog film. To me, it’s a bit like searching for the perfect digital sound filter for a 24-bit audio file just to make it sound like a scratchy vinyl record. Interesting, but also kind of contradictory.

The Leica S3 eco-system, as amazing as it is, was designed to deliver extremely high-resolution, uber sharpness, and color accuracy. It’s built to capture the highest level of detail with minimal distortion or character added by the lens or sensor. In a way, it’s too perfect as a starting point — and that perfection actually works against you when you’re trying to create a more organic, imperfect, film-like look. You’re starting from a file that is the opposite of what you want to achieve.

If you’re really after a vintage aesthetic, one suggestion — although not possible with the S3 — would be to use a Leica digital body like the M10, M11, SL2, or SL3, and mount a vintage lens like a Pentax Takumar 50mm 1.4 via an M42 adapter. These older lenses have natural softness, flaring, and color rendering that already bring you a step closer to that analog feel, even straight out of camera. It gives you a more honest and inspiring starting point than trying to “downgrade” the ultra-clean files from the S3.

Edited April 21 by Stef63

[Pieter12]

I find the Leica S lenses actually give a more filmic look on their own. I do occasionally add a layer of scanned Portra film texture (it's not grain, color film does not have grain it has dye clouds) to take away some of the digital "curse."

[HuntingSand]

Am 19.4.2025 um 10:45 schrieb Chris Akin:

I'm getting to know the Leica S3 files. They're quite nice, of course. I generally snap away in aperture priority mode without exposure compensation so that I don't have to brighten every image in Lightroom to see it. The dynamic range and metering are so good, I can get away with this approach. In my post workflow, I apply minimal adjustments to the files in Lightroom with the Adobe Color profile. Next I apply a custom Color Efex preset from the Nik Collection. Then I apply Analog Efex to add in a nice film grain look. After that I make adjustments in Photoshop using the Photo filter, Exposure, Curves, and Color Balance. Because the adjustments are incremental, it's impossible to see what the final result will be without trial and error. The workflow I'm using works pretty well, but I'm wondering if there are any tricks out there that will bring the best out of the files. I know the word "best" is quite open to interpretation. I'm simply going for a relatively straightforward photographic film look, similar to what film offers.

Do you want to bring out some kind of optimum from the 12/14/16 bit file, or the subject at hand, or the lenses deployed, or the ISO selected? This whole layered/tiered approach sounds really forced. Never mind that you don't qualify when you think this type of treatment is warranted - it sounds like an "across-the -board" recipe, which makes little sense to me. On a related note, I can recommend DXO Film Pack 6 Elite, which is free (I think) and has a very broad spectrum of presets, all of which can be modified to taste.

[Pieter12]

58 minutes ago, HuntingSand said:

DXO Film Pack 6 Elite, which is free (I think)

Not really. Maybe as part of a promotion or bundle. The trial may be free, but the Film Pack costs $140. https://shop.dxo.com/en/dxo-filmpack-7-elite.html

[Jon Warwick]

2 hours ago, Stef63 said:

If you’re really after a vintage aesthetic, one suggestion — although not possible with the S3 — would be to use a Leica digital body like the M10, M11, SL2, or SL3, and mount a vintage lens like a Pentax Takumar 50mm 1.4 via an M42 adapter. These older lenses have natural softness, flaring, and color rendering that already bring you a step closer to that analog feel, even straight out of camera. It gives you a more honest and inspiring starting point than trying to “downgrade” the ultra-clean files from the S3.

Agreed the lens makes a large difference. fwiw, the closest I’ve got so far is my M11 in DNG-S mode (which, to my eyes, takes away some of the “acutance” of the 60mp DNG-L files, and acts as a closer starting point to analogue), paired with either my 50mm Summicron v5 or 90mm Elmarit (the one with the pull-out lens hood). Quite a different rendering to my APO Lanthars. I especially like those older M 50mm v5 or 90mm Elmarit lenses with my M11 Monochrom, even at 60mp DNG-L. Something about the Monochrom sensor which, to my eyes, is a  “less processed” and more filmic starting point than the Bayer filter cameras …..RGB being scrambled around vs purer Monochrom capture and all that. 

[BernardC]

18 hours ago, Stef63 said:

If you’re really after a vintage aesthetic, one suggestion — although not possible with the S3 — would be to use a Leica digital body like the M10, M11, SL2, or SL3, and mount a vintage lens like a Pentax Takumar 50mm 1.4 via an M42 adapter. These older lenses have natural softness, flaring, and color rendering that already bring you a step closer to that analog feel, even straight out of camera.

You will get the same vintage lens feel with film-era medium format lenses on the S. Adapters are available for Hasselblad (V or F), Mamiya 645, and Pentax 67. Some people here have used a third-party Pentax 645 adapter, but I don't know if it is still available. Electronic adapters for Hasselblad H and Contax 645 are also available, but those lenses aren't quite as vintage-looking.

[Chris Akin]

Since posting this question about recipes for processing S3 files, I've found that adding grain with Nik Collection's Analog Efex works quite well. I like to see the soft or out of focus areas sharpened up a bit with grain. The right amount of grain has very little effect on the image overall, but if one chooses to look more closely at the print, the grain hides the digital smoothness, giving it the look of film. I make very minor adjustments in PS using Exposure and Curves, and Photo Filter to customize the color, and that's about it. 

[Pieter12]

Or you could shoot film...

[Chris Akin]

I've shot film since the 1980s... film is the gold standard, but the time required to scan hundreds of images is daunting, esp. considering digital cameras provide a much more economical solution. If I can coax a digital image into looking like it was shot on film, then that's the best of both worlds. I think Leica does a very good job of providing a very film-like starting point. Punch in a little grain and contrast, and you've got a winner. 

[Pieter12]

1 hour ago, Chris Akin said:

I've shot film since the 1980s... film is the gold standard, but the time required to scan hundreds of images is daunting, esp. considering digital cameras provide a much more economical solution. If I can coax a digital image into looking like it was shot on film, then that's the best of both worlds. I think Leica does a very good job of providing a very film-like starting point. Punch in a little grain and contrast, and you've got a winner. 

Assuming you want a file to print from and you don't process your own film. Depending on your final intention, you could get a moderate-size scan made of your film when you have it processed. Treat that as a digital proof. From there, send the film selects to be scanned on a drum scanner by a reputable lab. No need to scan hundreds of images and you keep the film look without messing around with the files.

[Stef63]

21 hours ago, Chris Akin said:

I've shot film since the 1980s... film is the gold standard, …

To each their own, but I personally don’t see film as the gold standard in 2025.

I started taking photos in the mid-1970s, so of course I began with film. In the early days of digital (late 1990s and early 2000s), digital couldn’t match film — I’ll admit that. But those days are long, very long gone.

Honestly, apart from some nostalgic feelings, film no longer gives me the quality, flexibility, or possibilities that modern digital photography offers. I don’t see the point of converting excellent, flexible digital files and throwing away most of that quality just to recreate the look that was mainly due to the technical limits of a past era.

If I want a vintage look, I’ll use old lenses from that time. And I do that very often. But I don’t “downgrade” high-quality files into imperfection just for the sake of it.  But again, to each their own, no problem with that. 

[Pieter12]

35 minutes ago, Stef63 said:

To each their own, but I personally don’t see film as the gold standard in 2025.

I started taking photos in the mid-1970s, so of course I began with film. In the early days of digital (late 1990s and early 2000s), digital couldn’t match film — I’ll admit that. But those days are long, very long gone.

Honestly, apart from some nostalgic feelings, film no longer gives me the quality, flexibility, or possibilities that modern digital photography offers. I don’t see the point of converting excellent, flexible digital files and throwing away most of that quality just to recreate the look that was mainly due to the technical limits of a past era.

If I want a vintage look, I’ll use old lenses from that time. And I do that very often. But I don’t “downgrade” high-quality files into imperfection just for the sake of it.  But again, to each their own, no problem with that. 

For me, it is less about film having a certain look and more about the sterile or manipulated look that seems very common to digital images. I attribute that more to the user than the medium. As you say, to each his or her own.

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[Chris Akin]

I agree about film's limitations. I had a look at some old film 35mm negatives last night, and I was shocked out how much better the digital files from the S3 are in every way. You'd have to shoot medium format film to compete with what the S3 provides. 

On the subject of degrading or downgrading the image with grain, I'm not going that far. I'm simply adding some grain. It actually looks better with grain than not. Nik Collection has many film grain simulations that look fantastic. 

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[Pieter12]

16 minutes ago, Chris Akin said:

You'd have to shoot medium format film to compete with what the S3 provides

Well, Leica does tout the S cameras as medium format digital.