Color Response Curves - Kodak 2383 [Lightroom presets]

There’s no single way to get cinematic photos with one click, but using the Color Response Curves of the classic Kodak 2383 film stock is a fantastic place to start. These curves will help you recreate the iconic look of Kodak 2383 film, its unique character and feel, giving you a balanced mix of vintage charm and modern flexibility.

What are Color Response Curves?

Color Response Curves are graphical representations of how each of the red, green, and blue layers of film responds to different wavelengths of light. Luckily, a neutral gray pixel has those three components as well, so we can reverse engineer film emulation LUTs and translate them from Davinci Resolve to Adobe Lightroom.

I'm doing this because of the disparity between the movie industry and our photographic world. For video, there are already many techniques for bringing the characteristics of film stocks into digital workflows, but as photographers, we’re still catching up. And I want to bridge this gap, I’ve adapted the color response curves found in DaVinci Resolve’s film emulation LUTs to Lightroom. Using Color Response Curves, you can bring those same classic tones and color nuances into your photography editing environment while maintaining the possibility to edit your images however you see fit.

I've been using these for all of my photos from the past year or more, and they have become an integral part of my color grading, offering one of the best starting blocks for strong photos that look like they belong in a movie.

How to get the best results

For optimal results, I recommend applying the Color Response Curves as early as possible in your editing process, right after you set a proper white balance for your images. And afterwards edit them as you wish.

Keep in mind that the Kodak 2383 film stock is super contrasty, so my recommendation is to pair it with the Adobe Neutral Camera Profile and around -50 Contrast before applying the Color Response curve for the best results.

When it comes to variants like D55, D60, and D65, these relate to different daylight white points that subtly shift the color balance. D55 is a warmer, midday sunlight tone, giving images a gentle warmth without feeling too yellowish. D60 is closer to neutral daylight and is a common choice for a balanced, true-to-life look. D65, on the cooler end, mimics overcast daylight, enhancing blues and adding a subtle coolness to images, often ideal for creating a more moody or dramatic feel. Each white point variant lets photographers fine-tune the look to match the scene or the desired atmosphere. Or in simpler terms, D means daylight, and 55, 60, 65 are equivalent to 5500, 6000, and 6500 kelvin on the WB scale

Curves VS Masks

Because of the hard contrast nature of Kodak 2383, instead of the Camera profile in this pack, you will find a set of Curves presets and a set of Mask Presets. They both apply the same set of Color Response Curves, but if you decide to use them in a mask, you can have full access to the curves panes for later tweaks.

READ ME

Color Response Curves are not the kind of presets that will lock you into a look. They are a color grading tool that will help you get the look you are going for, but you still have to do the base editing. They are great building blocks that will help you create nostalgic film emulations with amazing colors, but you will still have to make basic adjustments to your RAW files to bring the best out of your photos.

Purchase of these Lightroom presets grants the buyer a personal, non-transferable, and non-exclusive license to use the presets. This license strictly prohibits resale, redistribution, or sharing of the presets in their original or any modified form, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

INSTALLATION:

Copy the .xmp files to the specific folder:

Windows: C:Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\Settings

macOS: User Library>Application Support>Adobe>CameraRaw> Settings

You can make as many subfolders and organize the files however you see fit, as Lightroom does not care, and it will load all the presets present in those folders.

WARNING: Your Lightroom Version has to be somewhat recent. This won't work with versions of Lightroom that do not have a curve panel inside their masks.

To learn how to add any presets to Lightroom you can follow these steps:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/kb/faq-install-presets-profiles.html