Kodak E100SW film recipe for X100

It's Christmas on the West Coast, and the weather has been very up and down. But I've finally had a chance to get out with the Fujifilm X100 to start getting used to using it.

My son and his girlfriend stayed with us over Christmas, and although the weather was a bit up and down, we did have a few opportunities to get outside and explore some of the coast. My go-to place for trying out new camera gear is Lake Brunner at Moana, and so that's where we headed.

Joanna, Josh, Millie and Sabine at Moana. X100

First observation - I find using the optical viewfinder with information overlay to be a better experience that using the evf. The electronic viewfinder is quite dark compared to the optical system - and with the information overlay (even the histogram) available with the optical finder, this is the best of both worlds. A 'real' view of the scene but with helpful shooting information. I am still training myself to use the frame lines for 35mm and not take into account the whole view in the optical finder, but I'm sure that will come with time.

Second observation has to do with the lack of image stabilisation. Yes, the camera only has a 35mm lens, so should be able to be hand-held down to about 1/30th sec, but in reality the camera is also so lightweight that any movement when taking the image induces some softness and/or image blur. I am so used to image stabilisation handling all that for me that I suspect my correct shooting form has suffered. This resulted in several images that were very blurry when viewed on my monitor, especially in low-light conditions. The image opposite, of my family on the swing-bridge, was also taken horizontally and was the shot I preferred. But on closer inspection it was very soft and unusable. Doh! Note to self - slow down with the X100. Take your time setting up the shot. Soft release on the shutter. Breath slowly and naturally. No jerky movements. All that good picture taking advice from back in the old days of film photography. The original X100 is, after all, a system that begs (and actually almost requires) to be used like a traditional film camera. So slow down!

R&R Sally. Fujifilm X100. f4 @ 1/2000th, ISO 200. Kodak E100SW film recipe

When you do take you time, the results are fantastic. I have programmed three film recipes into the X100 - in the three available custom slots, and have programmed the RAW button on the back of the camera to bring these options up so I can switch between them easily. All of the images in this post were taken in the C1 slot - using my Kodak Ektachrome E100SW film recipe.

The X100 has limited scope for tweaking film styles, but it can be done. The same was true with my X-E1 which was also fairly limiting, so the film recipes I have programmed into the X100 have been directly ported across from the X-E1.

SeaDoo. X100. f8 @ 1/450th, ISO 200. E100SW Recipe

Kodak Ektachrome E100SW Recipe

Film base: Velvia

Dynamic range: 100

Colour: M-Low

Sharpness: M-Hard

Highlight: M-Hard

Shadow: M-Hard

Noise reduction: Low

White Balance: Auto

ISO: Auto up to 3200  

As seen above, the recipe is based on the Velvia film simulation with some of the colour reduced and the contrast/sharpness increased. It gives a punchy result without being too in-your-face colour-wise, which is ideal for landscape and general photography. These images are SOOC, on a bright and sunny afternoon, so I needed to pay close attention to the histogram to make sure that the highlights weren't too blown-out - especially with the increased contrast. 

Deadliest Snatch. Fujifilm X100. f/8 @ 1/1400th sec, ISO 800. Kodak E100SW film recipe

For my first genuine outing with the Fujifuilm X100, I really enjoyed using the camera. It is certainly lightweight and easy to carry around, and I didn't find the fixed 35mm lens to be too limiting. Yes, there were times when I would have liked to have been able to compose a slightly different field of view, but this will always be a limitation (unless you carry a bag full of lenses with you everywhere). On the whole I was able to get the photos that I wanted without feeling constrained by 'only' having the 35mm fov. 

The Pub on the Lake. Fujifilm X100. f8 @ 1/750th, ISO 400. Kodak E100SW film recipe

My first outing with the X100 has been (mostly) a success. If I was on holiday and had been visiting Moana for the first time, then I would be very happy with the photos that I came away with. 

In the prime 'C1' setting, the Kodak Ektachrome E100SW film recipe is a perfect SOOC jpeg profile - nice and punchy colours without being oversaturated, with excellent detail and sharpness. It even works well for portraits, so will probably remain my go-to everyday colour recipe.

My next outing with the camera will concentrate on the C2 setting - my black and white recipe for my Fujifilm Acros look. I'll try to remember to slow down for my next shoot and make sure that I'm using proper technique to reduce the risk of taking blurry images - especially in low light. And I am also going to have to investigate a way of adding grain to my final images. The X100 can't do this in-camera, so I will need to investigate some post-processing solutions.

Lake Brunner, Moana. Fujifilm X100. Kodak Ektachrome E100SW film recipe

Over the Christmas period my son 'upgraded' my old computer to an Intel i5 10th gen chip that can now run Windows 11. Unfortunately to do this I lost some software that I had been using to add grain to images - namely the Nik Collection that I had downloaded when it was being offered for free by Google. I am also not subscribed to Adobe anymore, so no longer have access to Lightroom or Photoshop. I'm using RawTherapee instead. Since I'm trying to use jpeg images SOOC, I don't really need RAW editing software at the moment, but will do in the future. So I am in the investigation phase of looking at post-processing going forward. I'll let you know my solution once I've finalised it, but at the moment RawTherapee is filling the gap nicely.....