Black & White Film Emulation for Lightroom
The 400 films are mostly based on Kodak T-Max and Ilford Delta 400, but also Ilford HP5 and Kodak Tri-X. One could argue I could have made one preset for each, but since the differences between film stocks are as large as the difference between shooting scenarios, I chose to pick the latter.
Also, although the preset is called Delta 3200, it could have just as well been called T-Max 3200, I used both as reference.
I have some other film emulation presets on my Gumroad , like Superia 400 and Kodak Vision3 film stock.
My go-to when shooting or emulating film, when you shoot and develop — in this case — a 400 ASA film as if it were a 100 ASA film. It retains an incredibly large dynamic range but with a lovely punchy contrast. Even more beautiful if slightly underexposed.
Beautiful flat highlights and contrast that really highlight that nostalgic film look so many people are after, without making it look like an Instagram filter.
If you’ve ever actually shot film, you know most of your shots — albeit unintentionally — look just like this. With lovely faded blacks and high contrast, this is probably the preset that would fool me the most.
One of the first types of black and white film ever made, Orthochromatic — in this case, Ilford Ortho 80 — is not sensitive to red light, which results in really dark skin tones. Today it’s mostly used for slide presentations due to the low grain and high sharpness and contrast.
Ilford Delta 3200 is great for a smooth, light skin tone and that tone curve we associate with old film photographs. Also great for studio shoots, giving some texture to flat backgrounds or bokeh.
