VideoPic Blog: Pen F Profiles with DXO FilmPack 5

Last Update: 7th Aug 2021

Introduction

Have you wondered what it's like to have Fuji film simulations for your Olympus camera? Would you like more flexibility or options for your Olympus camera, or are you happy with ART filters and adjustments like sharpness, saturation, and White Balance? Did you know it's possible to create advanced Color and Monochrome Profiles with your Olympus Pen F, Pen E-P7, and Workspace?

For example, I tried a Fuji XT-10 to learn more about film simulations. Fuji simulations are interesting and fun to use. The downside is, that we cannot tweak or adjust them, except for tweaking settings like color, clarity, WB, and chrome effect. Fuji photographers literally use the same film simulations. The only benefit is, they are well-designed, complex, and ready to use.

See this article for more on Enhanced Raw files...

This article shows a basic way of creating your own film simulations. I used DxO FilmPack to create 21 color cards. Each of these color cards is a unique film simulation. I also included a neutral gray color card. The neutral card is used to create film simulations (profiles) from the 21-color cards.

If you are new to Olympus' Creative Color concepts, allow yourself enough time to practice designing Workspace profiles. It took me weeks of studying and practicing to create profiles with Workspace. The same is true for the Pen F and E-P7. Workspace is a remarkable piece of software once you get to know it. I can only encourage readers to read my articles and practice with Workspace.

Why create Fuji or Kodak film simulations for the Pen F?

DxO claims that..... "DxO FilmPack 5, faithfully applies legendary color-negatives, black and white film presets or slide film presets for digital images."

FilmPack 5 has different Kodak, Agfa, and Fuji film simulations or presets. The user can further modify these presets and save them as personal profiles. If you asked me, I prefer something like FilmPack for older film profiles. The only reason I develop my own "scaled-down" Pen F profiles is the fun aspect and to have my own profiles when I am out photographing.

How to Create your own Profiles?

The secret with the Pen F is to know that you cannot simulate a film look as accurately as you would with DxO FimPack 5 or WorkSpace. Always use the raw + jpeg option on your camera so that you can edit your "Enhanced Raw" files in WorkSpace.

Further down in this article, I created 5 image groups. Each group has a set of images with a master (neutral) on the left and a film simulation on the right. The process of creating your own profiles is simple. As you study the film simulation, adjust the master until they look the same.

The final group of images is the same film simulations but now they are applied to a Spider Color Checker. You can download the master (neutral) color checker and the different film simulations here. I matched the colors on the Color Checker with the colors on the Color Creator in WS. See my WS how-to page for more info on the V1.5 update and the new color additions.

Olympus WorkSpace

DxO film simulation and master color card opened in WorkSpace.

To create your own profiles, open both the film simulation and the master copy in WorkSpace. The film simulation is your master and your aim is to apply the colors in the film simulation to the master copy with the WS color creator. This really is an advanced method of creating profiles and requires lots of practice. See the steps below and see if they work for you:-

Before adjusting the master, study the 2 templates. Summarize all the differences,
Identify the dominant colors or any specific look like pastel and write it all down,
The numbers on the color card correspond with the numbers on the color creator,
It works well to start with RGB colors, followed by CMY colors, followed by the rest,
List the steps and color sequence you think you need to follow when creating the profile,
These first few steps are important because it is a process you develop and improve on,
Start with RGB colors adjusting saturation, hue & luminance, then CMY and others,
Adjust small steps at a time, finish one color before moving to the next,
Some colors have more than one number - it takes a little more time to master,
Make regular breaks - after 15 minutes they all look the same,
The final step is to test your profiles and to compare them with the profile images,
I strongly recommend you get DXO Filmpack 5. These are still the best profiles.

The best way to develop your own profiles is to practice. As I listed above starting with RGB colors is one way of progressing when building your profiles. Another method that works well is, to follow the above steps in analyzing and prepping your new profile. Instead of starting with RGB colors, follow these steps:-

Select "All Colors" on the creator and test if a "global" saturation change is required,
Deselect the "All Colors" and target individual colors following the next 3 steps below,
Next target all the single-digit colors and adjust them (For example, the colors marked "1"),
Next adjust colors with double numbers, where one of the numbers was one of the above,
You will see very few numbers are left to adjust after following the above sequence,
Testing and fine-tuning your new profile is critical - this takes time and patience.

Keep in mind the Color Creator in WorkSpace is more powerful than the Color Creator in your Pen F. You will typically build separate profiles, one for WorkSpace using the 3 color profile options Hue, Saturation, and Brightness, and a separately simplified profile for the Pen F using only saturation.

Color Profile in WorkSpace

As said, it is a little more challenging to create profiles for the Pen-F because the Pen-F color profile will mainly have saturation changes. Think of combining the color creator with curves and contrast adjustments, or in special cases fine-tune the camera WB sliders to get a final look. I mostly develop my Pen F profiles with WorkSpace. When done, I enter the profile manually into my Pen F.

I keep a list of all my profile information on my mobile phone. For more information on how to save your Pen F profiles to your PC, see my WorkSpace, how-to page (Technique #7).

The image below was from the previous Olympus website.

Image pulled from the web with Exif data of the profile used.

See my Creative Color series Part 6, discussing how to work with color in WorkSpace. You could also consider downloading a test version of DxO FilmPack 5.

Use the master color checker to copy Fuji profiles or any other profiles you like to use as inspiration. Always have a separate master copy ready and use a "working" master to photograph or apply software profiles as inspiration when creating new profiles.