Olympus Pen-F and E-P7 Color Profiles

Last Update: 14th September 2021

What's NEW: - I added new info to the 1020 RGB Color Profile.

I support the photography forum at Rob Trek Photography. Will be great to meet you and discuss any questions or ideas you have. Meet me (Siegfried) at the forum - here.

Olympus EM5 II with 14-150mm II Lens - ISO200, f5.6, 1/640 - Raw edit in WS with 1020 Color Profile plus DxO Frame

General info and links to articles I wrote on Olympus cameras

Note:- 

• I did a short overview of the new Pen E-P7. I tested the different profiles on the E-P7 raw files and they seem 100% compatible with the new E-P7.
• Looks like OMDS used the latest V1.5 firmware to open the WS functions to all the Olympus M43 raw files. (That said, test first before buying a 2nd-hand camera)

1. See this link for my "How-To" page on WorkSpace. See technique #7 for more information on how to pull a profile from your image to WorkSpace. Also, see technique #4 on how to save a profile you developed in WorkSpace as a batch file. Also, see how to use the Live View mode in WorkSpace #19

2. See this article describing how to use color cards to create your own Pen F profiles. I prepared several color cards from DxO FilmPack 5. You can use these to create your own Pen-F profiles. This is a more advanced but very effective way to create your own profiles.

3. This article is the final one in a 6 part series I wrote about Olympus cameras. The different Olympus cameras all have different creative features. The Pen-F is the most creative camera from Olympus and can create unique Color and Monochrome Profiles.

4. This is an interesting article about the Olympus Pen F. It focuses on all the creative features available in the Pen F.

Tip:- If you like to enter a new profile to any of the Custom Settings C1 and C2, first set the camera in the exposure mode you prefer with the profile (like A-Mode). Save the complete camera configuration to C1 or C2. It is not possible to program and save profiles directly to C1 or C2.

Olympus EM1 II jpeg with my Kodak Kodachrome 64 profile applied in WorkSpace

Here is a list of my profiles:-

1. Kodak Kodachrome 25 - (Updated 27/7/2020)
2. Kodak Kodachrome 64 - (Updated 27/7/020)
3. Kodak Porta 160 VC - (Updated 27/7/2020)
4. Generic Fuji Velvia 100 - (Updated 1/5/2021)
5. The "Olympus E-Series look" or the 1020 RGB Profile - (Updated 14/9/2021)

Why would you use color profiles? The simple reason is consistency. Photographers want a consistent and unique look and feel for their work. Having this ability with WorkSpace, the Pen F, and the E-P7 is really awesome.

Kodak Kodachrome 25 and 64 profile information

The Kodak Kodachrome 25 film role has an interesting history that started with black and white photos. Much later Kodak made it possible to develop these black-and-white film negatives in color by applying a unique and complex development method to the negatives. Kodachrome 25 was popular and known for its unique color signature. It's worth researching the Kodachrome 25 film history to see why it became so popular. 

Even when getting close to the original image look in WorkSpace, it's not always possible to develop an "exact" copy of the Kodachrome 25 image for the Pen F. The reason is, that one cannot adjust hues or color brightness individually with the Pen-F.

I did not use the DXO FilmPack 5 master to develop this profile. As I studied different articles I came across Gavin Gough and his work on Kodachrome 25, 64, and 200. I decided to buy his profiles because they seemed more compatible with the Pen-F.

Olympus EM1 II jpeg with my Kodak Kodachrome 25 profile applied in WorkSpace

It was interesting to read how Leica developed the original M8 for Kodachrome 25 jpeg look. As I developed the profile I read the Kodachrome primary colors were yellow, cyan (blue), magenta (reddish), and green. I copied the GG Kodachrome 25 profile to one of my "master" color cards and focused on these primary CYM colors to create these new Pen F profiles. 

Another reason I preferred the GG look is to me personally the DXO FilmPack profile tinted the reds a little too much, whereas the GG profile pivoted more to magenta.

The Kodachrome 64 profile is also based on the basic work done by Gavin Gough. I obviously added my own touch to these profiles and you will see these two profiles each have a specific and unique color signature.

1. Pen-F Kodachrome 25 Profile

- The Color Profile settings:-

0=(-2), 1=(-1), 2=(-2), 3=(-1), 4=(0), 5=(-2), 6=(+2), 7=(+1), 8=(0), 9=(-1), 10=(0), 11=(-1)

- The Shadow/Highlights (Curves) setting:-

Highlights = (+1)

Midtones = (+1)

Shadows = (-2)

- The WB compensation:-

For the camera, go to the SCP and enter A=(0) and G=(0)

For WorkSpace, go to the White Balance setting and enter B-R=(+0.1) and M-G=(-0.2)

- Exposure Shift:-

This is not a must - I use +1/6 with this profile. (See the Pen F - menu K) It was known at the time that the Kodachrome 25 image colors were more pleasant when well exposed...

- Contrast

Contrast = (0)

- White Balance

Use your Pen F white balance as you normally do. The above WB compensation will do the right color shift based on the camera's selected white balance.

- How to adapt or tweak this profile without affecting the color signature? 

- My recommendation is - not to adjust the shadows, mid-tones, or highlights.

- For early morning or late afternoon, up the exposure shift setting from +1/6 to +2/6

- In bright daylight, cancel exposure shift and use negative exp compensation if needed

- My recommendation is to use this profile over a longer period before making a final...

- Save the profile as a WorkSpace "batch file" and use it on any of your Olympus jpegs

- You could also try this profile with one of your older OM lenses...

Tip:- When you have 3 profiles saved in C1 or C2, you need to manually set the WB compensation values for each profile before using the profile - this is one of the Pen F weaknesses, unfortunately...

2. Pen-F Kodachrome 64 Profile

- The Color Profile settings:-

0=(-2), 1=(0), 2=(0), 3=(+2), 4=(+1), 5=(+4), 6=(+1), 7=(+1), 8=(-1), 9=(+1), 10=(+2), 11=(-1)

- The Shadow/Highlights (Curves) setting:-

Highlights = (+2)

Midtones = (-1)

Shadows = (-1)

- The WB compensation:-

For the camera, go to the SCP and enter A=(0) and G=(0)

For WorkSpace, go to the White Balance setting and enter B-R=(+3) and M-G=(+6) 

- Exposure Shift:-

I have used no exp shift with the Kodachrome 64 - rely on the Pen F default exposure

- Contrast

Contrast = (-0.6) for WS and (-1) for the Pen F

- White Balance

Use your Pen F white balance as you normally do. The above WB compensation will do the right color shift based on the camera's selected white balance.

- How to adapt or tweak this profile without affecting the color signature? 

- My recommendation is - not to adjust the shadows, mid-tones, or highlights.

- In bright daylight, cancel exposure shift and use negative exp compensation if needed

- My recommendation is to use this profile over a longer period before making a final...

- Save the profile as a WorkSpace "batch file" and use it on any of your Olympus jpegs

- You could also try this profile with one of your older OM lenses...

Tip:- When you have 3 profiles saved in C1 or C2, you need to manually set the WB compensation values for each profile before using the profile - this is one of the Pen F weaknesses, unfortunately...

3. Pen-F Kodak Porta 160VC Profile

- The Color Profile settings:-

0=(0), 1=(+3), 2=(+1), 3=(0), 4=(-2), 5=(0), 6=(-5), 7=(+1), 8=(-2), 9=(-2), 10=(0), 11=(-1)

- The Shadow/Highlights (Curves) setting:-

Highlights = (+2)

Midtones = (0)

Shadows = (-2)

- The WB compensation:-

For the camera, go to the SCP and enter A=(0) and G=(0)

For WorkSpace, go to the White Balance setting and enter B/Y=(-0,5) and G/M=(+0,6) 

- Exposure Shift:-

I have used no exp shift with the Kodak Porta 160 - check the histogram and apply ETTR if needed

- Contrast

Contrast = (-1.4) for WS and (-2) for the Pen F

- White Balance

Use your Pen F white balance as you normally do. The above WB compensation will do the right color shift based on the camera's selected white balance.

- How to adapt or tweak this profile without affecting the color signature? 

- My recommendation is - not to adjust the shadows, mid-tones, or highlights.

- Cancel exposure shift and apply ETTR when needed - this profile has good bright DR

- My recommendation is to use this profile over a longer period before making a final...

- Save the profile as a WorkSpace "batch file" and use it on any of your Olympus jpegs

- You could also try this profile with one of your older OM lenses...

- This profile is great for close-up images of products, items, flowers, and portraits...

Tip:- When you have 3 profiles saved in C1 or C2, you need to manually set the WB compensation values for each profile before using the profile - this is one of the Pen F weaknesses, unfortunately...

4. Generic Fuji Velvia 100

The original Velvia 100 film role had a few unique differences from the Velvia 50. The saturation on the Velvia 100 is tweaked with fewer green and a little more yellow. If I tested my first version of the Velvia 100 profile I thought the greens were too much. I reduced the greens even more on the final version. The result is a more balanced "edited" look straight from the camera...

- The Color Profile settings:-

0=(-1), 1=(0), 2=(2), 3=(1), 4=(1), 5=(0), 6=(1), 7=(-1), 8=(2), 9=(1), 10=(1), 11=(1)

- The Shadow/Highlights (Curves) setting:-

Highlights = (+2)

Midtones = (-1)

Shadows = (0)

- The (Preset WB) settings:-

For the camera, go to the SCP and enter A=(0) and G=(+1)

- Exposure Shift:-

I always have (3/6) exp shift on my Pen F - check the histogram so you do not clip!! If you do not have experience with the exposure shift feature, don't use it. You could up your exposure compensation with a 1/3 stop if your histogram allows it.

- Saturation

Saturation = (+6) for WS and (1) for the Pen F

- Contrast

Contrast = (+8) for WS and (1) for the Pen F

- White Balance

Use your Pen F white balance as you normally do. The above WB compensation will do the right color shift based on the camera's selected white balance.

- How to adapt or tweak this profile without affecting the color signature? 

- This is a user-friendly profile and great for having "edited" jpegs from the camera... 

- My recommendation is - not to tweak the shadows, mid-tones, or highlights (Curves).

- Cancel exposure shift and apply ETTR if needed - this profile has good bright DR

- For portraits or images with people - use a 1/3rd to 1/2 EV exposure compensation...

- My recommendation is to use this profile over a longer period before any adjustments...

- Save the profile as a WorkSpace "batch file" and use it on any of your Olympus jpegs

Tip:- When you have 3 profiles saved in C1 or C2, you need to manually set the WB compensation values for each profile before using the profile - this is one of the Pen F weaknesses, unfortunately...

5. The older E-Series 1020 RGB Color Profile - NEW

I "stumbled" on this profile. I was working on my "Olympus look" and while experimenting with different profile settings, I saw an interesting PhotoShop technique. This helped me to make the link to the Color Profile function in Workspace. I always wanted to have a final edited look for the camera or Workspace but never managed to get the right color. If you looking for that little extra color punch in your images and not just a profile or color cast effect, then try this profile. This profile seems to get it right plus it's flexible enough so that photographers can tweak it...

Additional notes:-

• Use Auto WB or use the gray card option
• Use the Highlights/Shadows (Curves) to fine-tune the profile look
• Do not use the saturation or contrast sliders

Olympus Pen F with Composer and Twist 60mm and 1020 Profile

Why call this an Olympus E-Series look profile? Older SLR and Olympus compact cameras were known for their increased reds and greens. As you can see this profile also favors the 3 RGB colors and to a lesser degree the CYM Colors.

Why the "1020" name? It's simple when you enter the profile into your Pen-F or E-P7 you will see it follows the 102010201020... sequence. You do not have to memorize the profile...

Taken with my Pen F (w this profile @ +3 saturation on color profile)) and Lensbaby Composer and sized as my screensaver 

The profile is simple but an effective multi-purpose designed to create an "edited" look from Out-Of-Camera. The profile can be programmed into the Pen F and E-P7, or used as a profile when editing the Enhanced RAW file with WorkSpace. It works well with M43 raw files in WS. The profile editing style or changes are subtle but distinct. It gives photographers the chance to add additional editing steps to further personalize their images.

This profile was also intended as a "Color Grading" profile for videos. You can set your Pen F to the Color Profile Mode, select the profile, and then press the video record button. The video is then color graded and ready to be cut into the final video. See my "How to edit your video in the camera or WS" article or follow my current journey in making videos on this blog...

The new profile works well with landscapes, cityscapes, products, and residential photography. With portraits, you will get a more rugged look. This is good for holiday, street, or outdoor sports events. This profile was not designed for soft and elegant wedding photography portraits.

This profile also blends well with the 2 Step Exposure Technique or when used with the Zone System to control your image color/brightness. See this article.

Finally, this profile also works well with the new V1.5 firmware upgrade for WorkSpace. It enables the photographer to do more accurate color adjustments on raw files. This is also the perfect profile to learn more about image editing.

I am very excited about this profile and I am looking forward to your feedback. As you will see one can also call it the "1020" color profile when you study the Color Profile settings below. This makes it easy to memorize and enter the basic profile into your camera...

Once you entered the profile into WS and you created your own tweaks to the profile, you can save it as a Batch Processing File in WorkSpace. From there on you can always use this batch file to process your raw files. See my Tips Page on WS for how to save Batch Files.

- The Color Profile settings:-

0=(1), 1=(0), 2=(2), 3=(0), 4=(1), 5=(0), 6=(2), 7=(0), 8=(1), 9=(0), 10=(2), 11=(0)

- Pen F Shadow/Highlights (Curves) setting:-

Highlights = (+1)

Midtones = (0)

Shadows = (-1)

- The (Preset WB) settings:-

It is best to use Auto WB or to select an accurate WB for this profile.

You can also use the WB to create color casts if really necessary...

- Exposure Shift:-

I recommend no exp shift for this profile.

- Saturation  - do not use this setting for saturation (Use the Color Profile function)

Saturation = (0) for WS and (0) for the Pen F

- Contrast

Contrast = (0) for WS and (0) for the Pen F

- White Balance

Use your Pen F = Auto White Balance or use a measured WB

- What default settings should you have on your camera and WS?

Set the camera and WS Graduation Setting to "Normal"

Use the "Normal" setting for the Noise Filter

Tweak the Exposure Comp for a preferred creative image look (this isn't a max IQ profile)

I never sharpen images in my camera or WS. I transfer the edited raw file to PS and sharpen

If you like to sharpen in WS, the Unsharp Mask option and NOT this Sharpen slider...

- How to adapt or tweak this profile? 

Basic or simple tweaks:-

  

  Saturation - select the "All Colors" option on your Color Profile and adjust

  Contrast - Add more contrast with the contrast slider or preferably the Curves function

  Mid Tones - Up or down the mid-tones with the Curves (highlights/shadows) function 

Advanced tweaks (these are for unique cases and will be done in WS editing the raw file)

  

  With bright highlights - Use the highlights slider to reduce the highlights, then use the 

                                         Tone Curve in WS to get some contrast back into the image

  When using high ISO - The short answer is to use the "Natural" picture mode and edit

                                         the raw file in WS or PhotoLab 4 (For ISO above 3200)

General comments:-

  This turned out to be a really powerful profile while also delivering awesome colors

  The bright greens (color 11 on Color Profile) are sensitive - Use WS + raw to correct

  To see my latest how-to tips on WS go to this page (How to find color 11 on the CP)

  Have fun with this profile and let creativity be the winner and not the perfect image...

Random Images

Olympus EM1 II with Natural Picture Mode

Olympus EM1 II with Kodak Porta 160VC applied in WorkSpace

Olympus EM1 II with Natural Picture Mode

Olympus EM1 II with Kodachrome 25 in WorkSpace

Olympus Pen F Kodak Kodachrome 25 Profile

Olympus Pen F Kodak Kodachrome 64 Profile

Olympus Pen F Kodak Kodachrome 25 Profile

Olympus Pen F Kodak Kodachrome 64 Profile