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Film simulations - DXO FilmPack, RNI or MastinLabs, or ???

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sirhawkeye64

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So I was thinking of getting into some of the film simulations, since I liked ones such as Fuji's Velvia for landscape and travel/urbex, among other.

What do people recommend?

I see that Mastin Labs seems to be geared towards wedding photographers so I might rule that one out, but what about DXO FilmPack and RNI? I mainly will be doing portraits and landscape and travel. I don't really need ones like the "cinematic" look, although I do like some of the vintage photo looks for portraits, and obviously some good black and whites (I grew up mostly with digital although am going back and experimenting with film shooting). I'm also looking at some of the others from Kodak, like Ektar 100 and some of the Portra line.

I am using Adobe ACR (not so much LR anymore) so they would need to be compatible with ACR or Photoshop. I also have DXO Photolab 5 as part of my workflow (not my main workflow, but for some things) so if I did decide to use FilmPack, I think it would integrate with PhotoLab, but I'm not going to use that as a determining factor necessarily.

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Over the years, I have used versions of DXO Filmpack, and liked it. More recently, I used a few LR plugins for film, mostly for B&W, which is where I want film simulations. Now that I have the latest version of Filmpack, integrated with PL5, I'm back to using that as my main film simulation. It's certainly very powerful, and flexible. I haven't tried MastinLabs, so can't compare, I'm afraid.
 
I have the DxO filmpack, but I think it's just OK. I prefer the RNI ones, although I don't own many. I think you could get demos of all of them; some seem to work better with different kinds of photographs then others so best to try them on your own shots.
 
sirhawkeye64 said:
So I was thinking of getting into some of the film simulations, since I liked ones such as Fuji's Velvia for landscape and travel/urbex, among other.

What do people recommend?
Click to expand...
I have Filmpack and use it as a standalone. I like it. Its interface is fine (although it could still be improved) and it has many possibilities apart from the film simulations, e.g. light leaks. Some of the simulations seem akward of first but their impact can be modified by a slider and you see the result changing while you move it.

And no performance issues on my aging computer.
 
I should add that I'm also interested in things like accuracy to the actual films? I know that this may be harder to gauge but I have heard that some film packs and simulations are better than others.
 
Alastair Norcross said:
Over the years, I have used versions of DXO Filmpack, and liked it. More recently, I used a few LR plugins for film, mostly for B&W, which is where I want film simulations. Now that I have the latest version of Filmpack, integrated with PL5, I'm back to using that as my main film simulation. It's certainly very powerful, and flexible. I haven't tried MastinLabs, so can't compare, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
One thing about FilmPack that non-users may not appreciate: it's not only fully integrated with PhotoLab (ie, it's just part of PhotoLab, with no transferring of files or any UI changes), but adds other features to it beyond film simulation. So, even if you never do any vintage film simulations, FilmPack can still be useful for any PhotoLab user.
 
Digital Nigel said:
Alastair Norcross said:
Over the years, I have used versions of DXO Filmpack, and liked it. More recently, I used a few LR plugins for film, mostly for B&W, which is where I want film simulations. Now that I have the latest version of Filmpack, integrated with PL5, I'm back to using that as my main film simulation. It's certainly very powerful, and flexible. I haven't tried MastinLabs, so can't compare, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
One thing about FilmPack that non-users may not appreciate: it's not only fully integrated with PhotoLab (ie, it's just part of PhotoLab, with no transferring of files or any UI changes), but adds other features to it beyond film simulation. So, even if you never do any vintage film simulations, FilmPack can still be useful for any PhotoLab user.
Click to expand...
Even without Film Pack, you get Astia, Provia, Velvia, Ektachrome, and Kodachrome. Four out of five work well, close to the old slide films. Ektachrome seems useless to me, but I'd be willing to entertain counter-arguments.
 
CAcreeks said:
Digital Nigel said:
Alastair Norcross said:
Over the years, I have used versions of DXO Filmpack, and liked it. More recently, I used a few LR plugins for film, mostly for B&W, which is where I want film simulations. Now that I have the latest version of Filmpack, integrated with PL5, I'm back to using that as my main film simulation. It's certainly very powerful, and flexible. I haven't tried MastinLabs, so can't compare, I'm afraid.
Click to expand...
One thing about FilmPack that non-users may not appreciate: it's not only fully integrated with PhotoLab (ie, it's just part of PhotoLab, with no transferring of files or any UI changes), but adds other features to it beyond film simulation. So, even if you never do any vintage film simulations, FilmPack can still be useful for any PhotoLab user.
Click to expand...
Even without Film Pack, you get Astia, Provia, Velvia, Ektachrome, and Kodachrome. Four out of five work well, close to the old slide films. Ektachrome seems useless to me, but I'd be willing to entertain counter-arguments.
Click to expand...
OK cool, didn't know that. I'll check them out first. (I'm still figuring out PL5).
 
The Filmpack is mostly a repackaged set of free LUTs available elsewhere (part of RawTherapee, or G'mic, for example). I did not see a huge benefit of using the expensive Filmpack compared to just applying those LUTs in a program that support generic LUTs. The Filmpack is nicely integrated in DxO, though.

RNI is more appealing, to me. But as with all of these presets/LUTs, it really comes down to finding a few styles that suit your photos. Best to try their demo versions and see for yourself.
 
sirhawkeye64 said:
So I was thinking of getting into some of the film simulations, since I liked ones such as Fuji's Velvia for landscape and travel/urbex, among other.
Click to expand...
Here is a DxO edit from DPreview's sample gallery for the Fuji 50S ii. Very difficult lighting, so it seemed a challenge. With Velvia simulation, do you think it's too blue? I'd like to blacken the fringe on the overhanging rock, but I'm not sure how in PhotoLab.

View attachment 50055393b3d846238c553da7ba600bfa.jpg

Link to JPEG and RAF:

 
CAcreeks said:
sirhawkeye64 said:
So I was thinking of getting into some of the film simulations, since I liked ones such as Fuji's Velvia for landscape and travel/urbex, among other.
Click to expand...
Here is a DxO edit from DPreview's sample gallery for the Fuji 50S ii. Very difficult lighting, so it seemed a challenge. With Velvia simulation, do you think it's too blue? I'd like to blacken the fringe on the overhanging rock, but I'm not sure how in PhotoLab.

View attachment 50055393b3d846238c553da7ba600bfa.jpg

Link to JPEG and RAF:

https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/1563449385/fujifilm-gfx-50s-ii-sample-gallery/5321538952
Click to expand...
My take, using the Fuji Velvia 50 simulation from DxO FilmPack 6. I didn't get that blue cast:

View attachment 87340588eb1d4efb9366b7a484efc17a.jpg
Using DxO PhotoLab and FilmPack 6

I lifted the shadows generally, but made them inky black under the overhanging rock.

In contrast, this is the Kodachrome 64 version:



View attachment 6ee12ac19b564108a12c14450891deff.jpg
Kodachrome 64

And this is the OOC JPEG:



View attachment c2a974c17f6643fab504d9fcd9e76f4e.jpg
OOC JPEG
 
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Digital Nigel said:
My take, using the Fuji Velvia 50 simulation from DxO FilmPack 6. I didn't get that blue cast:
Click to expand...
Yes, I added blue to make the sky look less smoggy.

Thanks for posting the Kodachrome version! I like it very much, better than your Velvia take. It looks like warm afternoon light, instead of smog in the distance.
Digital Nigel said:
I lifted the shadows generally, but made them inky black under the overhanging rock.

In contrast, this is the Kodachrome 64 version:

View attachment 6ee12ac19b564108a12c14450891deff.jpg
Kodachrome 64
Click to expand...
 
CAcreeks said:
Digital Nigel said:
My take, using the Fuji Velvia 50 simulation from DxO FilmPack 6. I didn't get that blue cast:
Click to expand...
Yes, I added blue to make the sky look less smoggy.

Thanks for posting the Kodachrome version! I like it very much, better than your Velvia take. It looks like warm afternoon light, instead of smog in the distance.
CAcreeks said:
I lifted the shadows generally, but made them inky black under the overhanging rock.

In contrast, this is the Kodachrome 64 version:

View attachment 6ee12ac19b564108a12c14450891deff.jpg
Kodachrome 64
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
You can get a richer, bluer sky without making the landscape blue as well. For example, this is Velvia, with a bluer sky:



View attachment 850c58651c8f4f05979efe1a9b90877a.jpg
Velvia, with accentuated blue in the sky, but without making the landscape blue

compared to your original version:



View attachment abd6827ee10b4da1a1b10d9f31e60139.jpg
original blue cast





View attachment a90c3b50be874d419a546188f103f66f.jpg
OOC
 
CAcreeks said:
Digital Nigel said:
You can get a richer, bluer sky without making the landscape blue as well. For example, this is Velvia, with a bluer sky:

View attachment 850c58651c8f4f05979efe1a9b90877a.jpg
Velvia, with accentuated blue in the sky, but without making the landscape blue
Click to expand...
Did you do this using a mask? Thanks.

Selection was very imprecise in PhotoLab 4, but is supposed to be improved.
Click to expand...
I used a Control Line, not a mask. Masks are unchanged in PL5.
 
You may check Eastman Kodak Black and White Films profiles LR/ACR, also Fujifilm, Ilford and AGFA. As I know, Photoshop script to apply film grain is also included.
 
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