I’m going to talk about film simulation a little further on in this story, but I’d like to begin on something totally unrelated.
I’m always on the lookout for New Zealand photoblogs so I can see what other amateur photographers like myself are doing. Unfortunately, most NZ photoblogs I have found are blogs attached to commercial photographers’ websites and they generally hold no great interest for me. I’m much keener to see what “grass-roots” photographers are up to.
But imagine my surprise, and delight, when today I googled new zealand photoblogs and Google’s AI Overview threw this up on my screen.
Maybe I should start trusting AI more than I currently do if it can come up with search results in my favour…
But this isn’t what this story is about.
I was in town a couple of days ago waiting for a prescription to be filled so I thought I’d try a short photowalk around some nearby streets. So off I went – walking-cane in one hand and camera in the other.
For quite some time I have been planning to do a story or two on film simulation, but the lack of photographic opportunities has eluded me due to my hip issue.
So with this handful of images I captured, I am setting the film simulation ball rolling.
Film simulation in post processing
The film simulations – or recipes – built into Fujifilm cameras are very popular, and Nikon and Panasonic have similar film simulation options built into their latest cameras. But my Nikon D7500 DSLR, like other older Nikon units, has what is called Picture Control – with 7 in-built options, and the option to import 9 more. Nikon doesn’t provide extra PCs, but there is a tool to create your own on this website nikonpc.com.
I intend to take a closer look at Nikon Picture Controls in a later story, but for now I’ll only be doing film simulation in post-processing.
I use DxO Photolab almost exclusively and with each of the photographs below I began with a neutral starting point before applying any film simulation in FilmPack 7.
These are my starting point actions to arrive at that “neutral” starting point:
- apply the No Correction preset i.e. a blank canvas;
- apply Lens Distortion correction in the Geometry module;
- turn on Lens Sharpness Optimization in the Detail module;
- in the Light module turn on DxO Smart Lighting and DxO Clearview Plus, and adjust each according to “taste”;
- maybe tweak Exposure in the Light module if necessary;
- also in the Light module I adjust the Microcontrast a little bit.
Now – a point to note: I am not, and never have been, an expert on films so I am in no position to say things like; yes – this simulation is spot on; or no – the contrast is wrong in this one; or the grain is too much; and so on.
But, according to experts, the film simulations in DxO FilmPack 7 are pretty good.
These simulation are based solely on the accuracy of the renditions provided by DxO FilmPack 7 so the photos are presented on a WYSIWYG basis.
I chose Fuji Velvia 50 for this photo of Invercargill First Church because it seemed to add a sense of warmth and depth to the colors of the brick frontage without drastically changing the overall look and feel of the image.
With the lines angles and textures of the First Church Roofline a black and white finish for this photograph seemed appropriate. The sky was absolutely washed out so a Clear View Plus mask and a little change in contrast were applied
Kodak Portra is one of the films I do recall using in days gone by. On this photo of a Truck Passing Kanki’s the Portra finish softened and pastelised (is that a word?) the bright colours and made the overall effect a little softer on the eye. On the other hand the Agfa Vista and Fuji Superia simulations really made the colors pop – but I prefer the softer look.
Here’s another using the Kodak Portra 160NC simulation.
Artwork On A Disused Building was also toned down using the Portra 160NC film simulation. The only detrimental effect was that the nice bright door became less bright.
I had to get down to street level for Danger Electric Cables. Getting down was fine – getting back up was a real challenge!
I’m not sure how I feel about Danger. The Kodachrome 64 simulation seems to have applied a dark, almost-noir finish and the colors no longer pop. Maybe it’s just a reflection of the dull day.
Compared with the original image, the road is much darker in Bargain Clothing Etc – especially in the bottom right; the end wall is a lot grungier than real life, and there is more contrast in the sky. However – I do like the overall look.
As well as scores of “real” film simulations, DxO FilmPack 7 also includes many digital renditions, the Cinematic Orange/Teal finish above being one.
I chose this finish for Rusty Stairs because it enhanced the look of the rust, whereas the film simulations dulled the rust too much for my liking.
No photowalk of the central area of Invercargill would be complete without a photograph of our world-famous-in-Invercargill (and further afield) Fat Bastard Pies. In fact this is not a film simulation because I couldn’t find one that I liked, or in fact worked. All simulations totally destroyed the blue of the sign – but I guess that can be part of the nature and the allure of old-style analog film.
Instead Fat Bastard Pies is finished with one of DxO Photolab’s Standard LUTs – Pastel Shift.
I hope that you have made it this far – and have enjoyed looking at my photographs.
If you have any comments about these film simulations, or film simulation in general, don’t hesitate to drop me a line.
Happy days
Rick.