Kodachrome 64 film simulation recipe on Sony
The Kodachrome 64 recipe. What a journey it was.
Kodachrome 64 - probably the most popular and beloved film stock to this day, and some might describe it as having the "color of memory". Unfortunately, it was discontinued a long time ago, so youngsters like me had no chance of experimenting with this fantastic film roll. Which makes it even harder to replicate.
The Kodachrome film look
Kodachrome 64 was created by two musicians with a background in chemistry and physics who weren’t really keen with the colors they saw in movies. It was launched in 1935, a time when shooting color involved lengthy and complicated procedures - and often the colors would be dull.
So Kodachrome became the film that captured many central moments in our history. Since it was one of the first color films to be released, and in 35 mm format, it allowed people to capture life as they lived it, in color. But it actually became affordable in the 50’s.. So many people shot black and white until then.
In 2009, this best sold film stock was discontinued, and now everyone wants to emulate it on digital cameras.
But what makes this film so special?
Kodachrome 65 film stock characteristics
Well, we know for sure it had deep, well-saturated colors, and an amazing dynamic range, and that people loved it!
I asked Kodachrome users on groups and forums how they would describe the look of Kodachrome . Surprisingly enough, they all seem to remember it differently. Also, their archive photos all looked quite different - raising contradictions and making the process of replicating this film even more complicated.
And it was almost impossible to find the same characteristics in 2 photos, they all looked like being shot on totally different film stocks. Due to its complex emulsion development, which requires 8 or more tanks of processing, a process which if not handled properly, it's known to give your Kodachrome slide a blue cast over the whole image. This color cast can also come with time, so accurate references are rare, which makes the job even more difficult.
In addition to that, Kodachrome has gone through multiple significant film alterations since the first version has been released. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are many diverse opinions and sample photos of Kodachrome. The complex film development methods, coupled with the different versions of the Kodachrome film, gave birth to many variations of the shots. For example, the Kodachrome 64 film that most people know was only released in the 60’s…
The only thing in common - to most, that Kodachrome was the best film ever made, and they all loved it!
After examining Fuji X Weekly’s approach to the Kodachrome simulation for Fujifilm cameras and comparing it to online references, I concluded that it didn’t quite capture the original Kodachrome look. So I decided to go on a different route.
I found a website which seems to have well-preserved images of Kodachrome in 35mm and medium format film.
You can clearly see the differences between photos throughout the years. Each Kodachrome version has a different choice of colors. This further proves the complexity of replicating this particular film stock.
Kodachrome film sample images
The picture below shows the deep velvety blues and rich orange skin tones that Kodachrome can produce. However, the color science of this film is very diverse and complex, depending on various factors.
Kodachrome from 1954 by Toni Frissell
Kodachrome from 1957
Above references showcase an image with soft contrast, high dynamic range and based on a complementary Blue-Amber color harmony. I recreated this look with the Kodachrome V2 Gold Version.
But there are other Kodachrome versions worth taking into consideration beforehand.
Kodachrome 25 - Credit Darren Livingston
35mm Kodachrome - 1957 Credit: Toni Frissell
35mm Kodachrome in 1960 Credit Toni Frissell
Despite all the variations, the Kodachrome film has some distinctive features that make it stand out from other films. It had a high dynamic range for its age, a punchy look with rich colors a strong blue cast, which gives it the iconic look that people love.
Kodachrome mostly focuses on a Blue-Orange complementary color science, and people loved it. Look closely at her skin tones and in the background.
The skin tones and the skies are simply popping. The green are really nice and subdued, but they are not the star of the show, it's mostly about the Blues and Warm tones being in focus.
Blue Casted Kodachromes
I found Shorpy references having the best kept scans, as other platforms have images with heavily blue cast over the entire image.
Source: Flickr This image probably had some blue cast damage taking into consideration the magenta predominance in the overall image.
Deep greens and velvety blues bring back memories of nostalgia.
35mm Kodachrome With Deep Blue cast and Amber Skin tones
35mm Kodachrome with a strong blue-magenta cast and pink skin tones. Most probably color damaged by the looks of it.
Even though it's hard to define exactly the exact way a standard Kodachrome should look like, the main characteristic I've noticed in all of them is a deep dominance in the blues, with slight velvet cast in the shadows, and vibrant amber-orange skin tones. It's based on a complementary Blue-Amber color harmony.
The Process of Creating the Kodachrome 64 film simulation
From all film simulations, I spent the most time on recreating the Kodachrome recipe, as I had to figure out its authentic look before I could replicate it. It took me two months to create the first version of the film simulation, and I have been updating it monthly ever since. Each update improves the colors and adds more versions to capture the diverse and complex looks of the film.
P.S - Sony colors off? Here's how to calibrate colors across your Sony cameras!
The first Kodachrome 64 recipe
The whole process of creating this film simulation recipe was very frustrating. It took me about 2 months to create this version, and I was continuously going back and forth between adjusting settings and creating new versions for comparison. At one point, I think I had 5 or 6 different Kodachrome recipe variations on my notepad, and I was testing them all at the same time to see which one is coming the closest to the real reference.
It was a complete madness.
There was a point where I lost hope and almost gave up. But also, that was the moment I got lucky and found a forum post with 2 images taken in the same place, same lighting conditions, one on Kodachrome and the other on the Nikon 750D digital camera.
Left - Kodachrome
Wow! Now, not only can I finally see an accurate depiction of this Kodak film with almost the whole spectrum of colors, but I can also compare it to digital colors which are more accurate to real life. And see how the film interpreted colors, more exactly how the colors shifted.
Look at the strong magenta shifting over the whole image, slight greens in the brightest parts of the clouds, and the overall the color shifting is pretty crazy.
Now I have a good reference on how the colors are supposed to look like. And here's how it turned out ⬇️
Sample Images
This was not a bad start, but over time I found out many Kodachrome actually have
a magenta cast over the whole image, which is actually a chracteristic of damaged film.
Since releasing the first version, I've been on a journey researching Kodachrome and replicating its many looks, and over the past couple of years I've made numerous color updates to the recipe.
Sony Kodachrome Film Simulation Updated Version 1
Large Format Kodachrome
Since I wasn't quite satisfied with the first recipe - I wanted to update it. So I gathered more references, studied them and started developing this version.
The image above best represents the updated version - the Kodachrome V1. Maybe only with slightly increased saturation. No worries, if needed, you can easily turn down the saturation in the picture profile menu.
The first version of Kodachrome is a film simulation with rich, authentic colors and with a blue color cast. The Kodachrome V2, however, is a version with soft contrast, warmer tones, skin of golden color, and with a cast of deep velvety blues over the whole image. You have multiple options to choose from to satisfy your personal preference.
I’ve also created another version of this film emulation - this has soft contrast, warmer tones, skin of golden color, and with a cast of deep velvety blues over the whole image. You have multiple options to choose from to satisfy your personal preference.
Sony Kodachrome recipe V1 SOOC JPEG Samples
All shots were taken with the Sony RX100 VI - SOOC JPEGs
Deep tones of red and not only, creating beautiful color contrast & images that pop.
Sony RX100 VI with Kodachrome V1 Film Simulation
The Sony Kodachrome recipe offers images with a high dynamic range and punchy but faded contrast while also packing deep & well-saturated colors. You won’t find anything like it elsewhere. It always delivers images that will catch your eye.
Let's compare it to Sony's standard colors!
Sony Standard Colors with AWB vs Sony Kodachrome Film Simulation
Improved colors and a clear improvement in highlight retention, as you can notice in the clouds. Incredible how magenta Sony comes out sometimes.
Each Sony camera has a slightly different color science since Sony keeps improving it with each new camera model coming out. For example, my pocket Sony RX100 VI shifts the blues towards teal, while my Sony a7 III shifts blues to magenta, and so goes with all other Sony cameras. With each camera model, color rendition will vary ever so slightly.
Kodachrome had a slight magenta tint in the skies. So if you want to recreate the same old retro look with golden skin tones and velvety blue skies, tweak the Kelvin & Color Filter adjustments. Increase the temperature to 200-300K and shift the color filter very gently towards Blue-Magenta (B:M) until you hit the sweet spot.
White balance adjustments
The following shots are just quick snaps taken on my nature trip, nothing fancy.
Most of them were taken at noon with the sun being high up in the sky, so this is a great test to showcase the dynamic range even in the toughest conditions with a 1-inch sensor. Full frame sensors should be able to capture more.
I am extremely satisfied with the overall colors coming out of this picture profile. Especially with the greens, which due to this film simulation, are rich and shifted towards teal.
As mentioned before, you can easily adapt this picture profile to the vintage look by shifting the color filter toward Blue Magenta (B-M). That will introduce a velvet color cast over the whole image. Just don't push it too much, be gentle.
Skin tone test ⬇️
I have brought this Film Simulation as close as I could to the original Kodachrome, using only the picture profiles, but I wanted to push the image further. So I created the Film Simulation RAW Presets, to match it even closer to the Original Kodachrome 64 Film look.
The Kodachrome 64 Lightroom preset OR Capture One preset can be used to match the RAW files to the look of your Sony JPEGs (if you used the custom Sony Picture Profiles). You can use it with other camera as well, but the results might vary depending on the camera's color science.
Kodachrome recipe on a Cloudy Day
On a cloudy day, the Kodachrome simulation looses its punch, and becomes slightly softer in contrast and less saturated.
Night Shots
Even tho' it's not a low-light Film Simulation, you can use it at nighttime to produce magical imagery - with vibrant colors and high-contrast tonalities. Unfortunately, the Sony RX100 VI does not have good low-light capabilities, so I had no chance of testing it extensively at nighttime. Maybe next time with a full-frame camera.
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