34 free Black & White film presets for Lightroom

Michael is a photographer who is devoted to black and white film. You might have seen some of his work on his flickr page. He posted this collection of presets in the presetsheaven flickr group. Shortly after, he contacted me and said I could post his work here if I liked it. And I did so here it is;. The collection of MikeyGs Black and White Film presets.This is Michael’s first release of this set and he says it’s not complete. I don’t know what he is talking about because it includes 34 (!!) presets already, each one for a different film type look.

The presets are available in two versions, one with auto toning and the other one without.
I just show you a preview of the set without the Auto toning, but of course both versions are included in the zipfile you download.

The Zip file contains both Auto Toning and Regular presets from the following black and white films:

  • Agfa Scala 200X
  • Agfapan 100
  • Agfapan 25
  • Agfapan 400
  • Fuji Acros 100
  • Ilford Delta 100
  • Ilford Delta 3200
  • Ilford Delta 400 Pro
  • Ilford Delta 400
  • Ilford FP4 125
  • Ilford HP5 400
  • Ilford Pan F 50
  • Ilford SFX 200
  • Ilford XP2 Super 400
  • Kodak TMAX 100
  • Kodak TMAX 400
  • Kodak Tri-X 400

If you’re a big fan of black and white photography, you probably going to like this…

Presets in action

SOOC/ORIGINAL:

Agfa Scala 200X

Agfapan 100:

Agfapan 25:

Agfapan 400

Fuji Acros 100:

Ilford Delta 100:

Ilford Delta 3200:

Ilford Delta 400 Pro:

Ilford Delta 400:

Ilford FP4 125:

Ilford HP5 400:

Ilford Pan F 50:

Ilford SFX 200:

Ilford XP2 Super 400:

Kodak TMAX 100:

Kodak TMAX 400:

Kodak Tri-X 400:

Follow Michael on his Twitter page.

MikeyGs Black and White Film Presets (71875 downloads )
Pierre
Pierre

If you are a Lightroom lover like myself you probably going to adore this place. It's the paradise for all people who are looking for Lightroom presets. Make sure you subscribe to my posts to be first with the latest contributions. I wish you a very pleasant stay. Regards, Pierre

Articles: 552

21 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting the set. Hope everyone likes them. As for not complete…I’m collecting samples of other film emulsions to figure out more presets for the set. Also working on print and slide simulations.

  2. Been playing around with these and looking at the settings. On the colours sliders, what did you do measure the colour response the films have to different colours? Also noticed the different sharpening and clarity settings would interested to know your reasons for for choosing these settings? Finding that resetting colour balance helps afterwards to improve the results. When using the non auto tone versions what do you recommend, just altering black and exposure settings?

  3. The presets were originally based on this link http://tinyurl.com/6ndt5h , posted by bluebomberx. I have found this same rgb breakdown over the internet. That was my starting point for each one. From there I used prints I have on hand, multiple photos on flickr and exposure 2 to make further adjustments. Then it was just working photos in my catalog that were similar to photos I was comparing to, trying to get proper effects. Mostly trial and error outside of the original rgb codes. Then I made prints both on my printer and from walmart to make sure the finals looked close to the hard copy prints I had on hand. When it all matched up, and was close enough for my portraiture use, I considered it finished. Obviously its not 100%, but as I said, close enough for my use.

    The different sharpening and clarity setting were used to approximate the natural sharpness of the film, and to jury rig a grain effect.

    As far as tweaking for best appearance in the presets I get the best results by adjusting recovery, blacks, fill and exposure. I also will increase some secondary colors in the gray scale mixer. I try to avoid adjusting the secondaries too much, and try to avoid touching the primaries at all. Changing the gray scale mixer throws the tones of the film off. Resetting the color balance will actually make it a Lightroom approximated B&W, as opposed to simulating the original film. But if it gets results, go for it.

    As for the autotone, it lets Lightroom approximate the basic tone settings, but applies the preset colormix and clarity, contrast and sharpening.

    Hope this rambling helps explain how they were designed. But in the end, like all presets they are a starting point that will get you close to the film stock, and adjust what you need to get the right look, especially the sharpening.

    Michael

  4. Very interesting. I am an actors headshot photographer so everything I do is B&W for this. Been playing with the Agfa 100 and FP4 presets this evening on a shot a white actress and a black actress. Noticing the results have a bit more kick to them. Black skin tones seem more real and have better tones. With the white actress the eyes seem better and more realistic when compared to her eye colour. Also with both of them the whites of their eyes are whiter which is good. Will try playing with the fill and recovery levels tomorrow to see how that works. You have made a really good job with these Michael.

  5. Thank you soo much Pierre and Michael. These are great. the are going to help me a lot with work flow and improve my B&W conversions. lots of fun in store. Cheers guys.

  6. I have been playing with film a bit and loved the results, but mainly shoot digital. These presets are just what I was looking for! Big thanks for releasing these online for free – excellent plugin

  7. Downloaded these presents, but unsure or having hard time plug-in into LR? I’d love to try these…Have been using LR for 2 years but have only successfully used the smugmug plug in. Please help and instruct what to do! Thanks for your time.

  8. Were the free presets removed? I cannot find the link to download. It might be blocked my my school district…so sorry if it is obvious.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.