Fujicolor Superia recipe for the X100

My exploration into film recipe's with the Fujifilm X100 OG continues - this time with a punchy, vivid green and blue recipe that I'm calling Fujicolor Superia. Superia X-Tra 400 is (was) a fine grained film from Fuji - which boosted the greens and blues in an image. Something like all the images in this post...

Hill House V2. Fujifilm X100. f5.6 @ 1/680th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superior film recipe + grain

I like the results, but if I'm being honest, they are a little OTT (over-the-top) for my tastes. I like vibrant colours as much as the next guy, but maybe this is a little 'too much'? I actually prefer my Agfa Optima film recipe for it's more 'natural', slightly de-saturated colours, and I've been thinking that this is probably where I will settle for my three custom recipes. Kodak E100SW, Fuji Acros and Agfa Optima. Sounds like a good mix to me.

Harbor Master's Office.
f5.6 @ 1/160th, ISO 200 + grain added

But I digress (slightly), because this is about my Fujicolor Superia film recipe. I may not go for it, but your mileage may vary. So here's the recipe for use with the X100 original.

Fujicolor Superia X-Tra 400

ISO: Auto

Dynamic Range: 100

Film Simulation: S (Provia)

White balance: Auto

White balance shift: +3, -4

Color: High

Sharpness: M-Soft

Highlight Tone: M-Hard

Shadow Tone: M-Hard

Noise reduction: Low

The photo opposite, of the Harbor Master's Office, was taken on an overcast evening with fairly dull flat lighting. The greens still pop, as do the reds in the image, but nowhere near as much as in the first image - Hill House V2 - taken on a very sunny morning. This recipe likes a lot of light, and if I were to shoot it regularly I would only use it on sunny days.

Whether I like the recipe or not, I'm having a lot of fun getting out with the camera again after a good few years of being in a photographic slump. The Fujifilm cameras are certainly a lot of fun to use - especially the compact range-finder style cameras. Would it be great if the X100 original had more film modes? Maybe? I would like a dedicated Acros mode. But then again, sometimes limitation can foster creativity - as with the one camera, one lens limitation.

Framed. Fujifilm X100. f5.6 @ 1/45th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superia film recipe + grain

I'm also not feeling too constrained with the fixed 35mm lens. Using it as a 'walkabout' lens, I've been more than happy with the compositions I'm getting. I am a 'little' nervous about taking it away on an upcoming holiday - hence I've also decided to include my Lumix S5 with the 20-60mm lens. I started the New Year with a lot of bravado about the whole fixed lens, one camera idea, and currently that still holds true. But will it for the rest of the year? Apparently not, if I'm taking two cameras away on holiday with me. But if the exercise has got me shooting again - and excited about photography again - then maybe that's enough for the idea to have been of benefit?

Shawn the Sheep. X100. f8 @ 1/60th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superia film recipe + grain

All of the images in this post (and the last few) have been just me wandering around my neighborhood of an evening. They are photos that I have passed by literally hundreds of time and never taken. And they are photos that I really like. I 'could' have taken them with my S5, it's not a stupidly heavy camera (I've owned a Canon 1Ds so I know what heavy is like). But the X100 is just such a pleasure to walk around with that I want to take it with me when I go out. Its 12MP sensor is more than enough for this blog - or A4 sized prints, even with a little cropping. And I honestly can't remember the last time I printed any of my photos (unfortunately). I actually think I should do something about that - but that's another post for another day.

Heritage Park silhouette. X100. f5.6 @ 1/250th, ISO 200. Fujicolor Superia film recipe + grain

Will I use this Fujicolor Superia film recipe in the future? Probably not if I'm honest. Not because I don't like the photos it produces - as I said, I'm very happy with these. It just comes down to liking my Agfa Optima recipe better, and I've only really got one slot left.

I've also recently read somebody talking about the X100 film modes, saying that they love the Provia colors from the Bayer sensor (as opposed to the X-trans introduced in the 100S). So I may play around with that next - shooting the film modes as standard.

With only about three weeks until I go on holiday, that's probably enough time to test out the standard film modes. If I like some of the standard film modes, then that will give me four or five different 'looks' out of the camera. And there's also RAW... Just saying.