![\"Image\"](\"https:\/\/fujifilm-x.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/xpro3-stories_2_02-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThere is, however, more to the story. The most notable aspect of \u201cCLASSIC Neg.\u201d is a design that features tones customized by brightness for each color. Although the term may seem unfamiliar to some ears, at Fujifilm they are calling this \u201ccolor (or color-by-color) contrast\u201d.<\/p>\n
Normally, one would think that that no matter what the color, the brighter the source\u2014or other words, the higher the input\u2014the higher the output. Put another way, one would expect that the brighter the scene, the more clearly each color will appear in the output. This is not, however, what we actually see expressed in photographs. What we see instead are photographs that don\u2019t make much of an impression at all.
\nWhen faced with such a situation, we adjust tone curves to tighten shadows and blow out highlights. Carefully choosing the details we want visible and those we don\u2019t brings our photographs to life. What would it be like, then, if Fujifilm were to do that work for us on a color-by-color basis? That just what the new \u201cCLASSIC Neg.\u201d film simulation does. With one color the relationship between input and output is linear, while with another output for inputs below a certain threshold brightness are reduced (which more or less means that the color will not appear as clearly in the output). Keeping output lower than the input brightness would suggest gives pictures a veiled feel that heightens the contrast between colors.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a detailed look at how this effect is achieved with each of the key colors. Our model is a photograph taken with SUPERIA film and its print. One could call this a digital simulation of the chemical changes that take place in silver-halide film. The many light-sensitive layers are each embedded with silver-halide crystals of different sizes and a different color coupler, and consequently even if the amount of light remains the same, each layer undergoes different chemical changes, producing layered hues.<\/p>\n
How is each color produced? What lends the picture depth? One could say that this is the key to the puzzle that skilled retouch artists have struggled with over the years. While knowledge built-up through R&D may be valuable, surely hands-on knowledge acquired through practical experience is also important. The key to \u201cSUPERIA-like\u201d color reproduction can be found by examining its greens, blues, and skin-tones. Speaking in terms of exposure, \u201cCLASSIC Neg.\u201d similarly achieves maximum expression when slightly over-exposed. These indeed are the colors of the negative film photographs we took in the days of our innocence, colors that are evocative without being old-fashioned.<\/p>\n
All photographs taken with \u201cCLASSIC Neg.\u201d. \u00a9 Stefan Finger<\/p>\n<\/p>\n