Custom 7D Picture Styles

Because the 5D and the 7D have slightly differing tone and color reproduction even when using the same settings, I've decided to start a thread specifically for 7D-based Picture Styles. Of course, anything posted here will also work fine on a 5D, but there will be some shift in the results.

Attached are Picture Styles I've created, achieved by loading neutral RAW conversions into Alien Skin Exposure 2 with a film stock selected and loading the RAW image into Picture Style Editor. Compared side-by-side, settings translated over, and hand-tweaked until I ended up with this. My Picture Styles have more tone curve sample points than the original data to compensate for Picture Style Editor's truly bizarre curve formulas.

The Kodachrome style gives a warm vintagey-vibe that is great for more expressive and less analytical photos. Pair it with a fast soft uncoated prime lens and shoot at the lowest possible ISO. The result suits the video mode of the camera very well as you get bokeh with pleasing colors and overall soft-focus that doesn't strain the codec or expose straight lines that may become aliased.

Fuji Reala is colder and somewhat more contrasty than Kodachrome. Muted skintones that should work fine for most portraits.

Keep in mind that all real-life film stocks have different white balances, which is a strong factor in stocks being perceived as warmer or cooler, and is something not replicated in my Picture Styles because the camera has it's own independent white balance control. I recommend that anyone doing creative work use the white balance control creatively to achieve a specific desired effect, rather than always white balancing for white = white.

EDIT: attempting to add correct white-balance settings for each film stock. This is what you should set your WB to when shooting with that pf2 if you want an accurate simulation. If you really really want to take it to the next step, set the WB to the film specs, and then use color correction filters in front of the lens to match your light!

One thing that would be a huge help is if somebody could tell me what combination of base Picture Style settings (Standard/Faithful/Neutral/Landscape/Portrait, Contrast, Color Saturation, Color Tone) most closely matches the output from Adobe Camera Raw CS1 or CS2. I don't feel like explaining the specifics and details for why this is helpful, but it would be a huge help to me!

Wow! I love the Kodachrome! Thanks alot! Too bad we can only have three picture styles loaded at once...
I haven't used it on any faces yet but just messing around it really rocks!
..."Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah" (at least in southern cali )

Thanks, Sumita, these are super. The Fuji one is great for portraits - I look forward to trying it on interviews.

This is a work in progress...something I put together quickly as a test. Opinions? As the name says it was based on shot taken with a Nikon 35/1.4 white balanced with a WhiBal card.

This is a comparison...the reds may be over saturated and the blues not bright enough. The pictures are from a still I took this morning with the styles appled in Digial Photo Pro. A Nikon 50mm F1.8 Series E (cost $31) was on the camera when the picture was taken.

Style-Comparison.jpg (126.6 KiB) Viewed 40612 times

your custom Nikon setting seems to pick out the details better than the other styles

This is the style I created (still being refined) vs. the two that started the thread:

Style-Comparison-s.jpg (211.28 KiB) Viewed 40549 times

As of today I've updated the Fuji Reala file in my earlier post.

EDIT: Since it seems people are actually making use of these, I'm going to go ahead and convert as many film stocks as I feel I can confidently interpret. I've already added Fuji Pro 160C, a low-saturation portrait film that I'm not crazy about but that others may like.

One thing that would be a huge help is if somebody could tell me what combination of base Picture Style settings (Standard/Faithful/Neutral/Landscape/Portrait, Contrast, Color Saturation, Color Tone) most closely matches the output from Adobe Camera Raw CS1 or CS2. I don't feel like explaining the specifics and details for why this is helpful, but it would be a huge help to me!

I've been analyzing the different outputs. They differ in where they stretch and compress the signal and the amount of color saturation.

I'm using a Q60 for my development and pictures like the one above (I like the near and far detail and the reds and greens plus the blue on the sign) to subjectively evaluate the result.

Since the video file is heavily compressed, my goal is to get the processing as close as possible in the camera to minimize modification and the resulting artifacts in post.

I've been analyzing the different outputs. They differ in where they stretch and compress the signal and the amount of color saturation.

I'm using a Q60 for my development and pictures like the one above (I like the near and far detail and the reds and greens plus the blue on the sign) to subjectively evaluate the result.

Since the video file is heavily compressed, my goal is to get the processing as close as possible in the camera to minimize modification and the resulting artifacts in post.

Your sample image is pretty good, but we could use more blue (although the blue in that sign is somewhat telling). More importantly, I think it's crucial to have somebody's face, reasonably close-up, in the picture. A film stock like Fuji Velvia looks all sorts of magical until you try to take a portrait and it looks like Pixar pooped all over your subject, and that's something important to know when evaluating film stocks.

The Q60 has one face...and I guess I could print out the ISO test faces and include them in a photo.

ISO-Faces.jpg (45.16 KiB) Viewed 39847 times