Kodak Gold II – Classic Kodak Film Recipe

An evolution of the Kodak Gold recipe — a fresh take on the classic film look with improved versatility.

Kodak Gold 200 is perhaps the most widely shot film stock in photographic history. Those bright yellow boxes passed through the hands of millions of pocket camera users across several decades, producing the particular warmth and character that many people associate with photography itself. The original Kodak Gold recipe on this site was one of the earliest attempts to capture that look in a Fujifilm film simulation recipe. Kodak Gold II is the evolution — a fresh look at the same aesthetic, refined through more experience with what makes the simulation behave at its best.

Classic Chrome remains the base simulation, as it was in the original. It has the right structural qualities for the job — a gentle desaturation, a slightly subdued contrast, and a colour rendering that sits closer to the warmth of print than the neutrality of digital. The key adjustments here are in the white balance: Daylight with a +4 red shift and a ‑5 blue shift, which creates the particular warm-but-not-orange quality that distinguishes a good Kodak Gold emulation from a generic warm recipe. Highlights are very slightly pulled back, shadows are lifted gently, and a third of a stop of positive exposure keeps the image bright and open.

The result is a recipe with genuine versatility. It suits sunny conditions and golden hour most naturally — the warm, film-like character feeds directly into the quality of that light — but it also handles overcast conditions with more grace than many warm recipes, because the warmth here comes from the colour balance rather than from contrast or saturation. It has a soft, low-contrast quality that reads as film-like rather than processed, and that suits beach photography, holidays, and any subject where a relaxed, nostalgic feel is the goal.

This recipe spent time as an app exclusive and featured in a Film Recipes App challenge, which is why the community photos section below is unusually well-stocked. If you want to explore more Kodak-inspired recipes, including the original Kodak Gold and many other interpretations, the Film Recipes App has the largest collection available.

Kodak Gold II Film Recipe Settings

Similar Recipes

More similar recipes, and hundreds more exclusive looks, are available in the Film Recipes App.

Kodak Gold II Film Recipe: Sample Photos

Community Photos

Photos taken with the Kodak Gold II film recipe by members of the Film Recipes community. Many of the photographers below entered the Film Recipes App challenge, shooting with Kodak Gold II and sharing their results with the community.

Photos by Roman Pastierik

Photos by Yanina Gotsulsky

Photos by David Forsdike

Photos by Denis Jaculli

Photos by Eric Belpalme

Photos by Christian Wandzala

Photos by Marcio F A Pereira

Photos by Nizam Sutimin

Photos by Gunther Geeraerts

Using the Kodak Gold II Film Recipe

Each film simulation recipe has its own character and style. These features mean recipes are more suited to certain situations, or when seeking a particular look. Here are the categories that Kodak Gold II has been tagged with.