LR/ACR Preset: Fuji Neopan 1600

LR Preset: Fuji Neopan 1600, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

Finally I have a NEW preset available. Took me long enough. If you just discovered this blog, welcome. I hope you have enjoyed the presets release so far. Well on to tonight's ordeal.

A while back I asked for some suggestions for film preset releases. Stu requested some Fuji Neopan, so tonight I am releasing the first of that stock, Fuji Neopan 1600.

I am breaking my rules a bit here, but I am posting the 1600 and 400 speeds as separate preset collections. In the development process I found there to be a slight tonal difference between the two. So ISO 400 Neopan will be referred to as Fuji Neopan, and the 1600 variety is the one here, called Fuji Neopan 1600.

I like the actual film very much for its versatility and grain. This particular preset is good for high ISO images from DSLRs, as the noise in the image can be lightly cleaned up in Lightroom using the NR tools, and the remaining visible noise will show up as grain fairly true to the film.

Oh, get the preset HERE.

Now for bed,
Michael

PS: If you hadn't seen, I now have the domain www.lifeindigitalfilm.com. I think its sounds a lot better.

LR/ACR Presets: Kodak Panatomic X, Kodak Gold 100 and 200

LR Preset: Kodak Panatomic X, Kodak Gold 100 and 200, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

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Sorry for the extended drought of my film emulating presets. I am back after a fairly long stretch of "real" work, and I have presets!

Tonight I release my interpretation of Kodak Panatomic X B&W film. It has been discontinued for quite some time, and I was only able to get a hold of a few samples, and no real film for me to shoot. That is to be expected from a film that was discontinued almost 30 years ago. I feel the emulation is as close as I can get with Lightroom as it stands. There is some nuance with the smoothness of the tone that I noticed in the original film that is impossible to even correctly approximate. I tried for the past two weeks to get the tone nailed, but I could not do it. I feel the overall look is right, and a perfectly exposed image will convert wonderfully. If Lightroom has to work to correct exposure expect the tone to not be so smooth. I can't explain why it works like this, but it does.

While the Panatomic preset is not perfect, I am still proud of it and hope you all enjoy it. You can get it HERE.

Also, as a bonus for you patience, I am also releasing my interpretation of Kodak Gold 100 and 200. I am not a big fan of Gold film, but it is one of the most commonly shot films in existence. Surely someone likes the look. There is an individual release for both 100 ISO and 200 ISO, this is due to a slight difference in the tone curve that is evident in brightly lit photographs. Not much else to say on these, which is why they are "bonus" presets.

Kodak Gold 100 is HERE.
Kodak Gold 200 is HERE.

Thank you to all who visit my site, and my apologies for the extended delay in releases.

Until Next Time,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak HIE

LR Preset: Kodak HIE, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

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Sorry for the missed day all...I had to take it off, it was my first day in a very long time in which I developed my own film. Processed a roll of my favorite, Fuji Neopan 100 Acros. But anyways, that was the cause of the delay...photography.

But today I preset to you my humble interpretation of Kodak HIE infrared film. This particular film stock is no longer produced (production ceased in 2007) and the last rolls of stock are selling at quite high prices on eBay. I'm too cheap to pay $40 usd on a roll of film, no matter how spectacular, so this was as close as I could get with out real negatives in my hand to compare to.

Anyways, many people were up in arms of the cancellation of this film, so I guess it was special to many people out there. So have at it and hopefully it may get near-IR results.

Get it HERE.

I will recommend that you adjust the red and magenta channels give or take 20 clicks on the slider to find the best look for the image. I kept the reds conservative to get better overall appearance, but many photos need those channels kicked to the right a notch to get better IR effect.

Well until next time,

Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak T-Max

LR Preset: Kodak T-Max, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

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So, my internet connection is back up. It was down all day and I thought I wasn't going to get tonight's release done. Trying to release 5-6 per week, and I have plenty of emulsions to emulate, so they should keep coming for a while. But anyways...

Tonight I bring to the world my rendition of Kodak T-Max. In the interest of honesty, I am not a fan of T-Max. At least not with my experience with the film. I always found it to be lacking in tone and character. But there is a whole world full of people who know more about photography than I who love this film. So even though not a film I love I emulated it anyways, I have shot enough to know somewhat what I was looking for, and hopefully this preset is sufficient.

Get it HERE.

This almost draws my Kodak B&W collection to a close, only have HIE infrared to go (which obviously cannot be emulated without a real IR converted camera, which I don't have access to.) I hope you have found these presets useful.

Also, when you post pictures processed with my presets onto Flickr, if you remember, please tag the photo "lifeindigitalfilm" and with the preset name. I would love to see your work using my presets. By no means do you have to, but I would appreciate it. And to those of you who already have, thank you.

Once again, leave feedback on the presets after you use them. Tell me what you think, what I should improve or do differently. I truly want these presets to be a viable choice for photographer who want the film look without having to get Exposure 2 or DxO Film Pack. The more feedback I get, the more I have to work from when I am ready to revise the presets.

I plan on also re-releasing all my previous presets as ACR settings. So far I am getting good results with the emulations processed with ACR. It's pretty straight-forward, just copy all the LR setting over to ACR, but it is alot of work. So, I will only release ACR presets after I complete each LR pack, not after each preset.

Until Next Time,
Michael W. Gray

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Tri-X

LR Preset: Kodak Tri-X, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

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So I have already released this film emulation once in MikeyG!s B&W Film Presets Vol 1. However after getting out my old negs and prints I decided that I had to have been a bit off. After studying the actual film, simulation programs and the tech papers I feel that this is a more accurate representation of the film. This version alters all colors on the grayscale mixer, not just primaries. To me it seems that by working the entire spectrum I am getting much smoother tones, more reminiscent of real Tri-X.

Grab it HERE.

This is a tricky preset to release, especially since this is the de facto king of B&W to many photographers out there. I pray that the world can accept this preset in all its flaws. I may get close, maybe even closer in the future, but I can never emulate any film 100%. The only way to nail the Tri-X look or any other film look is to shoot the film.

Which, although soapboxing here, brings me to a thought I need to bring up. Since I have started my film emulation presets I have gotten alot of good feedback, but I need to address 2 questions/comments that I have gotten in some volume:

1) Why bother? (film is dead)

I bother because film is the heart and soul of photography. There can be a certain sterility to digital images that was rarely seen on good old analog film. That warmth that film provided in tone, contrast and density made photography. If we can put some of that feeling back into our digital work, especially when its needed, it can only improve an image.

2) Why bother? (if you want it to look like film, shoot film)

I do shoot film. Quite a bit. But I find myself with a digital in hand more often than not. I grew up on film, and will shoot film as long as I can (just got some Ilford 400 hp5+ for the weekend). But for clients photos I almost always use digital, unless they request film. Film is my look, and I want it in my work. It may not be 100% accurate, but 90% approximation of the film I want is better than 100% of what I don't want. Quite frankly film is expensive, and I couldn't afford to shoot a wedding on film and make money. I can't get 10 pictures each of 30 poses in an hour with film, and turn a profit on it. Digital + Simulation gives me what I need with little extra overhead, aside from the work developing my presets or money spent on Exposure 2.

From the response in general I have received, from the download numbers I have seen, people like the film presets. I will keep on making and revising these to get ever closer to the impossible 100%. People are using my presets and enjoying my presets. Most importantly I am using my presets, they are making my workflow easier, and others can benefit from my efforts.

Sorry for the rant,
Michael

LR/ACR Preset: Kodak Copy Film

Kodak Copy Film Sample, originally uploaded by GrayImaging.

[Adobe Camera RAW presets added 01132009]

So after a bit of a battle with a cold, I'm back with my newest release. Today I bring an emulation of Kodak Copy Film. This was a film design primarily to reproduce continuous tone images, however was often used to make original images themselves.

I never got to personally play with this film, however the samples I studied in the emulation process impressed me. So I preset it to you HERE.

In the sample above, look closely in the image for the changes, they are very subtle. Maybe not the best image for a sample, but its already made, so I will leave it as it is. It is much more clear if you click on it and jump over to Flickr.

I hope you enjoy the preset. As always a readme text file is in the archive with more information on the film and my hints on how to tweak the preset for best results.

Also, unlike most of my other presets, this one does not adjust clarity. I felt being as it was a reproduction film that it would not be appropriate to induce clarity, so if the image looks soft, crank clarity up.

Until next time,
Michael W. Gray

PS: If you are on twitter and into photography please register yourself at the Twitterectory, a good resource for finding other in the same hobby/profession. If you already have, thanks...and follow me @mwgray!