Kodak 2383 Color Response Curves [Lightroom preset]

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 unique character and feel of this iconic film stock, giving you a balanced mix of vintage charm and modern flexibility.

In the video industry, there are already many techniques for bringing the characteristics of famous film stocks into digital workflows. But as photographers, we’re still catching up in that department. 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.

Color Response Curves are a graphical representation of how each of the red, green, and blue layers in a film emulsion respond to different wavelengths of light. Luckily a neutral gray pixel has exactly those three components so we can reverse engineer film emulation LUTs and get the same classic color response of film stocks.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TECHNIQUE HERE

Since I’ve already done the legwork, here is a pack that uses the Kodak 2383 Color Response Curve and will help you create cinematic images. 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.

Kodak 2383 film stock is loved for its beautiful color tones and rich contrast with deep shadows and soft warm highlights.

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

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For optimal results, I recommend applying the camera profiles as early as possible in your editing process, right after you set a proper white balance for your images you can do whatever you want with them.

They are not a 1 click preset!

Please note that these are custom response curves saved as camera profiles, not a one-click preset. 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 and Camera profiles 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 won't care and it will load everything in them

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 maks.

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