Nikon Film Simulation Recipes

Hello everyone!

In this week's blog, I’ll discuss some film simulation recipes I recently discovered for use on Nikon Z cameras, specifically the Nikon Zfc and how I'll be using them to help me spend less time editing and more time shooting.

Less Processing

After returning from a recent trip to Malta, I sat at my desk and imported the images I had taken into Lightroom. I was faced with about 1,000 images to edit and process before selecting my favourites to include in my Malta zine (available in my store if you’re interested in picking up a copy).

To some, 1,000 images from a 10-day trip might not sound like much, but for me, it represents many hours spent in front of a computer when I would much rather be out with my camera making pictures.

On a typical one-day shoot, I might come back with around 50 pictures to edit, which is manageable and doesn’t significantly impact my shooting time. However, for longer trips, I’ve been trying to find ways to reduce the amount of editing and processing I need to do when I return home.

JPEG’s

This led me to consider JPEGs, particularly those with a film simulation recipe that would allow me to bake in a look I was satisfied with at the time of shooting, providing consistency for the project and cutting down the processing time.

One afternoon, when I had some free time, I sat down with my Zfc and began experimenting with the picture control settings in the various profiles available on the Zfc, such as sharpening, contrast, clarity, brightness, d-lighting, and white balance.

Initially, I felt a bit lost. I knew the aesthetics I wanted, like a slide film Kodachrome look, a Kodak Vision 3 motion picture appearance, and possibly an aged or expired film effect, but I had no clear idea of how to achieve them. Thus, I turned to online resources for help and discovered an article by Ritchie Roesch on FUJI X WEEKLY.

After reading the article, I realised it was precisely what I needed. In total, there are 17 recipes, and I began to experiment with them, customising the picture control settings as instructed to see which looks I preferred.

Testing

Ultimately, I settled on nine different recipes with various aesthetics that I liked and saved them into the custom picture control menus on my Zfc. I then tested them using the same subject, lighting conditions, settings, and equipment for each profile to ensure accurate comparisons.

All the images were captured using my Nikon Zfc and the 7 Artisan 35mm f/1.4 lens shot wide open at a shutter speed of 1/125.

Vintage Colour

Cinefilm

Classic Slide

Fujichrome

Tungsten Dawn

Aged Analog

Analog Film

Nostalgic Print

Will I Still Shoot RAW

I’m pleased with some of the results, and I can envision using these JPEG recipes in several situations. While I still believe that for more serious projects—where I am more selective about what I shoot—I prefer the flexibility of RAW files that I can edit in post, these JPEGs will be great for family holidays. They allow me to bake in a look at the beginning of the trip, maintaining a consistent theme throughout the images. Similarly, for casual shoots on family occasions like Christmas and birthdays, these JPEGs will be fun to experiment with and should significantly reduce the time I spend processing RAW files.

Please follow the link to the FUJI X WEEKLY article to explore and try the recipes for yourself.

https://fujixweekly.com/tag/nikon-recipes/

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time!