My "kodachrome/classic chrome" Pen-F settings (update)

[GarethB]

Hey guys,

I've personally been quite taken with the Fuji Classic Chrome look after looking at their X100 series cameras, and I know the Kodachrome style is quite sort after by plenty of people.
Due to the fact I can't just buy an X100F right now to get that look and already have a Pen-F with some tweakable options I've been trying to experiment with colour matching a base Pen-F RAW file to a Koda/Classic Chrome look within Photoshop (along with some eyeballing). After my adjustments I transposed that as best I can to the limited options we have available for adjustments in-body on a Pen-F camera.
I thought people might be interested in giving it a try and seeing what they thought. Bear in mind I'm not any kind of kodachrome or colour matching expert, just a hobbyist photographer experimenting.

Here is what I have come to so far:

(Curves)
Shadows = -5
Mid-tone = -2 (possibly -1 is better)
Highlights= -1

(Colour Profile)
Yellow: -1
Orange: -1
Red: -1
Redish/Pinkish: -2
Magenta: -1
Purple: -1
Blue: -3 (-2 maybe)
Blue/Aqua: -2
Cyan: - 2
Mint Green: -1
Green: -1
Lime: -1

(White Balance Offset)
A = 0
G = +1

There is a good chance these are way off, but if anybody wants to try it please let me know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions for tweaks.

Cheers,

Gareth

 

[GarethB]

After a review of my own settings above I didn't feel they were right, so have been working towards trying to create a closer reproduction.
My current settings are as follows, for which I was going for a Kodachrome 25 style (heavily desaturated greens seem to have been a characteristic of the 25 version):

Contrast = +2

(Curves)
Shadows = -5
Mid-tone = +3 or +2
Highlights= -2

(Colour Profile)
Yellow: -2
Orange: +1
Red: +1
Redish/Pinkish: -1
Magenta: -1
Purple: +2
Blue: -3
Blue/Aqua: -2
Cyan: - 4
Mint Green: -4
Green: -4
Lime: -5

(White Balance Offset)
A = -2
G = +2

I'm going to try make a Kodachrome 64 type of set-up during the week (probably the more recognisable of the two).

Something to note if anybody tries these or to create their own, is that there are certain shifts to colour hues that aren't reproducible in camera.

 

[barry]

Hi, will you be posting some sample images?
Thanks!

 

[GarethB]

This was a quick shot to test the colours during my tweaking, so ignoring the composition this gives an idea of the reddish/pinky/orangey flower, the greens and a bit of blue in the background.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[ijm5012]

Very nice. The greens/pinks/yellows are all nicely desaturated, but the blue tarp (?) still really stands out. In addition to being quite saturated, its hue is also very "blue", whereas the hue should be skewed towards green so that it is more aqua/turquois.

Very nice so far though!

 

[GarethB]

Yep, it's an old garden tarp - good eye!
It is a very blue blue in real life, but I agree I think it could do with a bit of a hue shift. Unfortunately I think the limitations on the Pen-F colour profile mode mean it'll never be an completely accurate copy (you can only adjust saturations, not hues). Do you feel adding more green in the white balance offset would help get it closer?

 

[2112]

Wonder if this will work with my E-P5?

 

[JamesD172]

You can't adjust hues on the Pen-F? You can on the em5-ii to a limited degree (with the color picker)

 

[GarethB]

When it comes to shifting hues of colours you can only adjust the overall white balance, white balance offset (where you can further adjust WB with blue/amber and green/magenta) or seperate from the Colour Profile mode there is CRT/Colour Creator Mode where you can basically apply a colour cast to the image as a whole
You can't adjust only the blues in the picture to look a bit more green, or just yellows to look more orange for example.
If Olympus added this to the colour saturation controls already there (and individual colour luminance so you basically have all the HSL control you have in Lightroom) then the Pen-F would be pretty amazing with it's versatility.

 

[ijm5012]

Yep, it's an old garden tarp - good eye!
It is a very blue blue in real life, but I agree I think it could do with a bit of a hue shift. Unfortunately I think the limitations on the Pen-F colour profile mode mean it'll never be an completely accurate copy (you can only adjust saturations, not hues). Do you feel adding more green in the white balance offset would help get it closer?

I wouldn't. You'd be sacrificing the color accuracy of the entire photo simply to shift the blue hue. If anything, maybe desaturate the blues a bit more (if that's possible)

The green/pink/yellow tones looked great, as did the crushed shadows. It really helps the flower "pop".

 

[Pecos]

After a review of my own settings above I didn't feel they were right, so have been working towards trying to create a closer reproduction.
My current settings are as follows, for which I was going for a Kodachrome 25 style (heavily desaturated greens seem to have been a characteristic of the 25 version):

Contrast = +2

(Curves)
Shadows = -5
Mid-tone = +3 or +2
Highlights= -2

(Colour Profile)
Yellow: -2
Orange: +1
Red: +1
Redish/Pinkish: -1
Magenta: -1
Purple: +2
Blue: -3
Blue/Aqua: -2
Cyan: - 4
Mint Green: -4
Green: -4
Lime: -5

(White Balance Offset)
A = -2
G = +2

I'm going to try make a Kodachrome 64 type of set-up during the week (probably the more recognisable of the two).

Something to note if anybody tries these or to create their own, is that there are certain shifts to colour hues that aren't reproducible in camera.

That is fantastic @GarethB - nice look, if not exactly like K25 still really nice (who can remember?).
I wonder if you had any luck in finding settings that approximate K64, which would be nice; or Provia, which would be really nice.
I've set up the K25 emulation you outlined above as Custom Setting C1 in my Pen F. Now, just a turn of the top dial does it.
Thanks!

 

[Drdul]

Is there a way to achieve the Kodachrome 25 look that @GarethB posted above without adjusting the contrast and white balance? I would think that I could add more contrast in the tone curve by increasing the highlights and decreasing the shadows, avoiding the need to set the contrast at +2. Can I also adjust the 12 colours on the dial to achieve the same effect as the WB shift?

I have used up the four custom settings on the mode dial so I can't save the contrast and WB settings as a separate custom setting, and I don't want to have those settings apply to all my photos regardless of the colour profile setting.

 

[GarethB]

Thanks @Pecos !
I didn't do much on the Kodachrome 64-style set-up, but this is a rough attempt I did:

(Curves)
Shadows = -6
Mid-tone = +2
Highlights= -2

(Colour Profile)
Yellow: -3
Orange: 0
Red: 0
Redish/Pinkish: +1
Magenta: -2
Purple: -1
Blue: -2
Blue/Aqua: -1
Cyan: - 3
Mint Green: -2
Green: -4
Lime: -4

No contrast change, but you might want to add a touch of Amber/Red in the white balance.

@Drdul The problem with trying to emulate a film is that we can only adjust saturation on the Pen-F, but to really get a more accurate set-up we would need to be able to adjust Hue and Lightness for each colour as well. That is partly why I tried changing the White Balance adjustments, to add a bit of hue adjustment.

I'm still dreaming of the day Olympus add the whole Hue, Saturation, Lightness options to the colour profiles (and RGB curves whilst they're at it!)

 

[Drdul]

@GarethB: That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation, and for posting your Kodachrome recipes.

 

[fredhilger]

After a review of my own settings above I didn't feel they were right, so have been working towards trying to create a closer reproduction.
My current settings are as follows, for which I was going for a Kodachrome 25 style (heavily desaturated greens seem to have been a characteristic of the 25 version):

Contrast = +2

(Curves)
Shadows = -5
Mid-tone = +3 or +2
Highlights= -2

(Colour Profile)
Yellow: -2
Orange: +1
Red: +1
Redish/Pinkish: -1
Magenta: -1
Purple: +2
Blue: -3
Blue/Aqua: -2
Cyan: - 4
Mint Green: -4
Green: -4
Lime: -5

(White Balance Offset)
A = -2
G = +2

I'm going to try make a Kodachrome 64 type of set-up during the week (probably the more recognisable of the two).

Something to note if anybody tries these or to create their own, is that there are certain shifts to colour hues that aren't reproducible in camera.

Hellp,

Thanks @Pecos !
I didn't do much on the Kodachrome 64-style set-up, but this is a rough attempt I did:

(Curves)
Shadows = -6
Mid-tone = +2
Highlights= -2

(Colour Profile)
Yellow: -3
Orange: 0
Red: 0
Redish/Pinkish: +1
Magenta: -2
Purple: -1
Blue: -2
Blue/Aqua: -1
Cyan: - 3
Mint Green: -2
Green: -4
Lime: -4

No contrast change, but you might want to add a touch of Amber/Red in the white balance.

@Drdul The problem with trying to emulate a film is that we can only adjust saturation on the Pen-F, but to really get a more accurate set-up we would need to be able to adjust Hue and Lightness for each colour as well. That is partly why I tried changing the White Balance adjustments, to add a bit of hue adjustment.

I'm still dreaming of the day Olympus add the whole Hue, Saturation, Lightness options to the colour profiles (and RGB curves whilst they're at it!)

 

[fredhilger]

Hello,
as a new owner of a Pen-F I found your Chrome simulation settings amazing. I am trying desperately to save these settings, made with the front button on COLOR mode 1, to one of the C1-C4 positions. It will not save anything. What am I doing wrong or is it simply impossible to save settings from the creator button?
Thanks for a quick answer
Greetings from Luxembourg
Fred

 

[MFTmaster]

I love this look
thank you for sharing...
I will be trying these settings and storing them on C1 ;-)

regards, Rick

 

[fredhilger]

Hello Rick,
Just saw your reply. Seems you know how to save the settings to the C’s.
Thanks for sharing
Fred

 

[MFTmaster]

Hello Rick,
Just saw your reply. Seems you know how to save the settings to the C’s.
Thanks for sharing
Fred

This guy know everything about the Pen-F
I've learned so much from him
if you dont want to watch the entire video then go to 5:00 min into the video

but I would hope you would support his channel by subscribing

hope this helps

 

[fredhilger]

This guy know everything about the Pen-F
I've learned so much from him
if you dont want to watch the entire video then go to 5:00 min into the video

but I would hope you would support his channel by subscribing

hope this helps