Getting the Classic Negative look
Update: well, that went wild haha. To the guys at the headquarters: No, I haven’t cracked or hacked anything that has your intellectual property on it. It’s a figure of speech. Here, a letter for you Fujifilm Corporation.
The ONE trick Fuji doesn’t want you to know.
How to get the Fuji Classic Negative Look to your X-Pro2/X-T2
And save yourself to buy a new camera.
From what I’ve seen, the new Fuji Classic Negative film simulation is generous on the blue and green level, while remaining somewhat warm and keeping a low contrast.
Here is how to achieve this look.
1) Go in Image Quality (I.Q.) menu.
2) Select 400% dynamic range.
3) Select Classic Chrome film simulation;
4) Grain Effect at strong, just for the heck of it (to keep the “pure photography experience";
5) White balance: Auto, R: -2 B: +4
6) Highlight tone to 0;
7) Shadows tone to +0 (or -1 for the EXACT look, but I find it boring, so spice it up with +2)
8) Color to -1
9) Sharpness to -4
10) Noise Reduction to -4
11) Lens modulation optimizer OFF
Make sure to save all of that into a preset!
If you are shooting RAW, feel free to get your preset here. That’s what Fujifilm calls the “Classic Negative” look for your RAW files :).
Boom – before and after.
Not quite there yet… Too much blue, too warm.
NAILED IT.
Provia.
Classic Neg for X-Pro2… almost feels right…
Classic neg INSIDE the X-Pro2! Voila! Isn’t good? Shooting raw? No problem. Follow this link.
Can you guess which one is my recipe and Fuji?
A
B
A or B
Well, I shot the first with my X-Pro2 using my recipe. So, hum, good enough.
Something I like to point out: It has a lot of character. Over-exposure offer beautiful sky and tones, while under-exposing gives character to your picture.
You don’t need to spend a $2400 CAD on a X-Pro2. Get a X-Pro2 –that is already spectacular–, cover the screen with some tape, and create a new preset in your camera. You save yourself over $1500, and that’s not a small change.
Is it too generous on the red? Maybe.
You’re welcome ;)
JP
ps: Don’t buy more gear. What you have is good enough. Give your money to a charity like this one, made by a local girl from Whitehorse, Canada (never met her, but people say that what she’s doing in Haiti is super legit. Or go full boots-on-the-ground and give your time in an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City. That is what matters at the end of the day. But if you a new camera, make sure to get something awesome, like a Nikon F5, a Fuji X-H1, or something along those things.