Getting Film Simulations for Free

I sometimes have that bit of nostalgia for that film look. I shot film from my school days until after I got married. We've influenced younger generations to think and feel that organic film colours is something to want. 

Movies are often heavily colour graded, like Christoper Nolan's Interstellar.  The quirky palettes of Wes Anderson continue that trend.  Every photo guru is keen to sell unique Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom presets. There are also, well established colour grading software like DxOLab's Filmpack. Photo editing software often throw in presets or LUTs or Actions (recorded steps).

It is very tempting to put money down and get some yummy film simulations. But. There's always a But. But what if you could have fun and fool around with that idea for free? It might not turn out to be your artistic centre to use such a tool or you might run hot and then cool off. One way to dip your toes in the water is to use Raw Therapee with the HALDCUT Film Simulation Pack. Here's how:

1. Download and install Raw Therapee. There are downloads for Linux, 64 bit Windows, 64 bit MacOS. If you don't want to contaminate your Windows computer by installing Raw Therapee, Portable Apps has a version of Raw Therapee that you can unpack without embedding itself into Windows Registry and Windows folders. 
2. Download and unpack the HALDCUT Film Simulation files into a folder of your choice.
3. Start up Raw Therapee and go into Preferences to nominate where that HALDCUT folder is.
4. Restart Raw Therapee
5. Load an image into Raw Therapee and then go to the Color > Film Simulation panel to start using the Film Simulations
6. Save the resulting image.

SOOC JPEG from Kodak P880

Image after applying HALDCUT Agfa film simulation

Playing with the Panasonic G9

Thanks to Panasonic Australia who arranged a Photowalk with Rob Mulally as part of Michael's Camera and Video Melbourne Photoshow, I got to play with the Panasonic G9 for a little while. I don't have the infrastructure to carry out an objective and detailed test, so just journaling some of my impressions in this article.

I am somewhat interested in an ultra-wide MFT lens - I'm quite satisfied in the images from my old Four Thirds Olympus Zuiko Digital 7-14mm but it is quite bulky and heavy, so just looking with #GAS. Of the ultra wide MFT lenses, the Leica DG Vario Elmarit 8-18mm is the most entrancing to me.

The photo below is quite interesting for me. It's the Lumix G9 with the 8-18mm.

Taken into Adobe Camera Raw October 2018 with Process Version 5. I first applied the Camera Matching Cinelike D Color Profile. This seemed to handle the deep shadows (where the people are standing) and the super bright sun further away without needing work from me.

Then I chose Auto in the ACR Exposure section of sliders which automatically removed the still deep shadows and delineated tones in their clothes.

This is a scene with very challenging dynamic range and the software / hardware combo did well.

Finally, after depositing the image in Adobe Photoshop, I invoked the DxO Filmpack 5 plugin. I have the free edition. I don't particularly like the magenta cast that sometimes plagues images coming from Panasonic cameras, and this time, chose the Kodakchrome 64 look from the Filmpack - the sky light blue and the reddish brick is what I like.

Lumix G9 + 8-18mm lens, processed ACR, DxO Filmpack

The photo below is also with the Lumix G9 with the 8-18mm.  The workflow is the same as the one above. However, before I transferred it from Adobe Camera Raw, the magenta cast was quite undesirable. Like a faux aged Agfacolor process. I manually adjusted the cyan-magenta slider in ACR and also the blue-yellow white balance slider. With the Kodakhrome 64 profile from DxO Filmpack, the result is actually quite pleasing with soft "organic" hues.

Lumix G9 + 8-18mm lens, processed ACR, DxO Filmpack

Bottom line: They're not the famous "Olympus Color" that Olympus JPEG enthusiasts like but they are quite satisfying for me. Will I be satisfied with the Panasonic colour (JPEG or raw) with less tweaking? Can't say, I would need to do more photos with the G9. (I do have the old G2 and the GF3)