VSCO 06 quick take

[Paddy C]

This pack was just released. I've bought and used all the VSCO presets to date and wanted to post a quick review as VSCO always offers a good discount (50%) if you've purchased a pack before but only for a limited time.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much time over the weekend to give the presets a run-through.

The pack is a combo of cross process and push/pull presets. Most of these presets give a distinct look so, overall, I see it as a fashion/wedding sort of pack. Just my take.

Quick thoughts:
Some of the cross-process presets are nice and I could see making use of them from time-to-time.

To my surprise, the best part of the pack is the push/pull. Here you have presets for 400 H (+1), and Portra 160 (+1) and 400 (+1, 2, 3) and others including some good B&W presets. But it's the 400H and Portra presets I mention in particular because I think they are quite successful. To my eye they give a look that's more in keeping with how I think of these films. I never found the original VSCO takes on these that convincing/useful. I think these are of more value.

But I should add that I really like some of the B&W presets. There are some nice looks that can be had with these. A couple portraits turned out quite lovely with some of the Tri-X presets.

As always with VSCO, caveat emptor, YMMV, yes they may not exactly look like film, etc., etc. I get a lot of use out of VSCO 4 and I think 6 will end up being one of the better packs. If you shoot weddings, fashion, portraits I think this is especially worth looking into.

 

[taemo]

thanks for sharing your quick take.

I've thought about getting it but I decided to wait for now, would like to see some direct comparisons between the 01 Portras pushed +1 in LR versus the 06 Portras +1

I'm using 01 Portra 160/400 and 02 Portra 160/400NC for my portraits so it would be interesting to see how they fare against the pushed 06 Portra.
For B&W I've always been happy with HP5+ and Neopan 400

Still haven't seen any sample of the E100VS XP, where can I find some?

 

[Paddy C]

thanks for sharing your quick take.

I've thought about getting it but I decided to wait for now, would like to see some direct comparisons between the 01 Portras pushed +1 in LR versus the 06 Portras +1

I'm using 01 Portra 160/400 and 02 Portra 160/400NC for my portraits so it would be interesting to see how they fare against the pushed 06 Portra.
For B&W I've always been happy with HP5+ and Neopan 400

Still haven't seen any sample of the E100VS XP, where can I find some?

Cant' promise but if I have time this week I'll try to export a few and post them to this thread (just not sure I will have time).

With regard to the Portra presets, it's worth noting, I think, that VSCO is now doing all their processing and scanning in-house on Fuji Noritsu and Frontier machines. I believe 6 is the first pack they've done this with and they mention (in the video IIRC) that it has made a difference in their process.

 

[35photo]

I use the VSCO 4 and 5 packs mostly Velvia 100 preset, really like the color and I make my own tweaks to it..I'm not sure it looks like Velvia, but its pretty damn close. For me its not about it making it look like a certain film, its about about the tones and colors I like to get and find pleasing to my eye... I've used some of the B&W presets as well, Neopan and Agfa Scala are really nice..

 

[marameo]

To my surprise, the best part of the pack is the push/pull. Here you have presets for 400 H (+1), and Portra 160 (+1) and 400 (+1, 2, 3) and others including some good B&W presets.

So, do they look like when you overexpose or push Portra film?

I am searching for the pastel look one should obtain when way overexposing neg color film.

 

[taemo]

Cant' promise but if I have time this week I'll try to export a few and post them to this thread (just not sure I will have time).

With regard to the Portra presets, it's worth noting, I think, that VSCO is now doing all their processing and scanning in-house on Fuji Noritsu and Frontier machines. I believe 6 is the first pack they've done this with and they mention (in the video IIRC) that it has made a difference in their process.

that's great to hear, I wonder if they will just re-update the older version with their new processing.
then I would love to see a comparison between VSCO's Portra and Mastin Lab's Portra, I heard that the later was closer to the real Portra

I use the VSCO 4 and 5 packs mostly Velvia 100 preset, really like the color and I make my own tweaks to it..I'm not sure it looks like Velvia, but its pretty damn close. For me its not about it making it look like a certain film, its about about the tones and colors I like to get and find pleasing to my eye... I've used some of the B&W presets as well, Neopan and Agfa Scala are really nice..

03 was completely useless for me, I tried liking 04 Velvia but everytime I run some digital files through it, I would rather use Portra colors or shoot real Velvia.
but yes, it is very close to the real Velvia
a quick comparison test I did between VSCO and real film
http://earldieta.com/2014/10/03/vsco-versus-respective-film/

So, do they look like when you overexpose or push Portra film?

I am searching for the pastel look one should obtain when way overexposing neg color film.

quick look at some of the 06 pushed presets, they do have a very pastel look now a days called Jose Villa look especially with blue and skin tone.

hmm now i'm very tempted on giving this a try

 

[35photo]

that's great to hear, I wonder if they will just re-update the older version with their new processing.
then I would love to see a comparison between VSCO's Portra and Mastin Lab's Portra, I heard that the later was closer to the real Portra


03 was completely useless for me, I tried liking 04 Velvia but everytime I run some digital files through it, I would rather use Portra colors or shoot real Velvia.
but yes, it is very close to the real Velvia
a quick comparison test I did between VSCO and real film
http://earldieta.com/2014/10/03/vsco-versus-respective-film/


quick look at some of the 06 pushed presets, they do have a very pastel look now a days called Jose Villa look especially with blue and skin tone.

hmm now i'm very tempted on giving this a try

I usually tweak the Velvia preset, taking down the blue and contrast a bit. Also tweaking color balance and tint.. I view the presets as starting points and then I go from there...

 

[35photo]

that's great to hear, I wonder if they will just re-update the older version with their new processing.
then I would love to see a comparison between VSCO's Portra and Mastin Lab's Portra, I heard that the later was closer to the real Portra


03 was completely useless for me, I tried liking 04 Velvia but everytime I run some digital files through it, I would rather use Portra colors or shoot real Velvia.
but yes, it is very close to the real Velvia
a quick comparison test I did between VSCO and real film
http://earldieta.com/2014/10/03/vsco-versus-respective-film/


quick look at some of the 06 pushed presets, they do have a very pastel look now a days called Jose Villa look especially with blue and skin tone.

hmm now i'm very tempted on giving this a try

Looking at your comparisons on your blog. Take the first image there are things personally I like about both from a color and tone presepective, so if you could combine the 2 so two, and that to me is what is so great about the VSCO presets about be able customize to your taste..

 

[taemo]

for sure, after all it comes down to photographers taste.

decided to get Film 06 and gave it a try, will be posting on my blog the next couple of days comparing some presets from VSCO 01, 02 and 06 but here's some from the new 06
E100VS XP

DSC06281-E100VSXP by earl.dieta, on Flickr

400H Push +1

DSCF8044-400H-Push by earl.dieta, on Flickr

Portra 400 Push +1

DSC06691-Portra400-Push by earl.dieta, on Flickr

E100VS XP - Shadow recovery applied

DSCF7524-E100VSXP-ShadowRec by earl.dieta, on Flickr

Portra 400 Push +1

DSC07019-Portra400-Push by earl.dieta, on Flickr

 

[jarski]

been fan of VSCO mobile app, and tried some LR/PS plugins earlier too. like the idea of using camera raw profile as basis before applying the changes. as far as i'm aware, no other film emulation software has the same.

but what people here think, is there considerable maturity happening between VSCO 01 to 06? no point of trying/paying for the earlier ones?

 

[Tati]

Cant' promise but if I have time this week I'll try to export a few and post them to this thread (just not sure I will have time).

With regard to the Portra presets, it's worth noting, I think, that VSCO is now doing all their processing and scanning in-house on Fuji Noritsu and Frontier machines. I believe 6 is the first pack they've done this with and they mention (in the video IIRC) that it has made a difference in their process.

I'd be interested to see what these look like Paddy, if you have time.

I did go to the vsco site a few days ago, when I first came upon this thread. Price for the new 06 presets was 89.25. Now it's back up to their normal 119. Seems a lot of money for these film presets.

But I've been wanting to try some 'new' things via lightroom so I researched a bit more and found Really Nice Images film presets.

I'm not sure I understand, but it seems that not all the vsco presets are prepared with profile changes. Only cameras they list. The rest are just slider changes in the various panels. Is that right? So for example my Ricoh GR would work with its dng files but wouldn't get the additional 'profile' work that my Nikon D700 would get. Hope I understand that.

Anyway. I decided to try the All Films pack from Really Nice Images. 70 dollars. So far I like some of the presets and I checked and the few I've used do also change input for the profiles. But honest, I've no idea how these stack up to the vsco presets. I'm not comparing my images to film. I'm just working with new color, new gamut for black and white for what 'I' like.

Maybe if the vsco price comes down ever again I'd give them a shot too. See if I like 'em any better. Paddy, do you happen to know if they ever discount their prices? Even the 70 bucks for the 'rni' presets seems a lot. Still, it does save me some time.

I do only use these presets as starting points. And i've got no idea if say the portra or kodachrome presets actually look like the film versions. Like I said, I'm just playing until I find something I like.

thanks...

 

[nongfuspring]

Thanks for the write up Taemo. Some of the images look surprisingly good. I've always been curious about VSCO but I usually just end up telling myself to save money and just not be so lazy in PS and get the results I want from scratch. The earlier packs also didn't impress me all that much, but these latest ones look pretty nice, I can imagine they'd cut down my PP time a fair bit.

The EV100VS XP looks especially good.

 

[Paddy C]

I'd be interested to see what these look like Paddy, if you have time.

I'm going to try to find some time this weekend and see if I can post a couple before/after examples Monday or Tuesday.

 

[taemo]

here's a post on my website comparing the look you'll get from certain presets on Film 01, 02 and 06.
http://earldieta.com/2014/11/05/vsco-film-06/
I think 06 is my go to preset now, love the colors and vibrancy from Portra 400 +1 Push and 800 +1 Push, better than Portra 400VC and 400UC IMO.
Makes 01 and 02 completely useless for me now, except HP5+ on 01 and Portra 160NC on 02 but I can get by without those either.

Tati, VSCO has camera profiles for most Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Sony and Olympus camera, unfortunately for the rest it will use a standard profile and I use it on my GR all the time.
On this post I compared 4x5 Velvia 50 vs Ricoh GR w/ Velvia 50 standard preset.
http://earldieta.com/2014/10/03/vsco-versus-respective-film/

Ultimately what I love about VSCO is how easy it is to get the colors and look, makes post-processing quick and simple

 

[Tati]

here's a post on my website comparing the look you'll get from certain presets on Film 01, 02 and 06.
http://earldieta.com/2014/11/05/vsco-film-06/
I think 06 is my go to preset now, love the colors and vibrancy from Portra 400 +1 Push and 800 +1 Push, better than Portra 400VC and 400UC IMO.
Makes 01 and 02 completely useless for me now, except HP5+ on 01 and Portra 160NC on 02 but I can get by without those either.

Tati, VSCO has camera profiles for most Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Sony and Olympus camera, unfortunately for the rest it will use a standard profile and I use it on my GR all the time.
On this post I compared 4x5 Velvia 50 vs Ricoh GR w/ Velvia 50 standard preset.
http://earldieta.com/2014/10/03/vsco-versus-respective-film/

Ultimately what I love about VSCO is how easy it is to get the colors and look, makes post-processing quick and simple

thanks for that gr/film comparison. excellent. also all the images in the first link. nice to see those all together like that. makes a choice easier. for the meantime I'm gonna experiment with these new presets I bought. wait and see if vsco ever puts their packages on sale again. I still feel like it's a lot, $119, for presets. but i guess a lot of work does go into making them.