2020 Vision | The CC Battle of The X-Tran

June 17, 2020

The image above was created this morning using my XPro1.

I attempted to create a Classic Chrome look using the camera because Classic Chrome is my favourite Film Simulation.

I love the muted colours with deep shadows thrown in for dramatic impact. I can only achieve this look using my XT1 and XPro2.

Attempting this on the XPro1 is tricky because the 16MP X-Tran 1 Sensor was the first for this specific Rangefinder Camera and Classic Chrome was not featured on this Camera.

The XT1 has the 16MP X-Trans CMOS II Sensor and XPro 2 has a 24MP X-Trans CMOS III Sensor. These sensors I think has big impact on who Classic Chrome impacts the colours.

So, today was an experiment to see if I could get as close as possible to achieving this look using my XPro1.

For the sake of comparison here are some Classic Chrome images I created this evening using the X-Tran lll 24MP Sensor.

And now, images from the XPro1.

To my eye, this Classic Chrome concoction is a little warm. I dialled down the Kelvin in Camera to 2500K.

The Film Simulation you are looking at is Pro Neg Hi:

Dynamic Range 400

Colour -2

Sharpness -2

Highlights Tone +1

Shadow Tone +2

Noise Reduction -2

Now, the secret ingredient is The White Balance.

First thing I now do is look up and check the Clouds. I set my White Balance to my eyes now not the Camera preset.

I get as close as possible to the cool muted look I am after which is 2500K - if I want it warmer I just go up the Kelvin Scale

It is still warmer than the Xpro2 but I accept this is my CC for the XPro1 I am happy with hit.

I shoot Raw and JPEG, I created this look in Lightroom and it looks dam good on the Raw Files.

The Files on the X-Tran lll look digitally perfect. My friend Jin Lee said the XPro1 Files look less clean. This doesn’t mean dirty images now, it’s a reflection of the progress in Sensor design.

I have this set as a custom profile on my XPro1 so when I feel CC is the look for a particular image I am ready to go.