Eterna film Simulation On My X-T2? Yes And No

Here are the boxes that allow a user to change make and model of the camera, which modifies the EXIF
data in the newly created DNG file.  By changing this to X-H1, the Eterna film simulation in Lightroom
Classic CC was made available to me.

Although Fujifilm's Eterna film simulation is only available on the X-H1 (are there other Fujifilm cameras as well?  I'm not sure...), there are a couple of ways to get Adobe's replicated Eterna film simulation profile to appear in Lightroom Classic CC.  Normally only the simulations that are included in any specific camera are available in Lightroom.

First, you can download an EXIF editor and change the name of the camera to X-H1.  The other way, if you are an Iridient X-Transformer user, is to merely change the name of the camera in that program.  The illustration above shows the options on the second tab.  In both cases, the name change fools Lightroom into thinking the image file is from an X-H1 and triggers the appearance of Eterna as a film simulation.

Just for illustration sake for those of you who don't have access to Eterna, below is the same image file with both Provia and Eterna applied in Lightroom Classic CC.  No manipulation except for a bit of sharpening applied.  It is easy to see that the Eterna film simulation is much less saturated and has much lower contrast.  

I haven't experimented with the advantages of using Eterna yet, but I will in the future with high contrast or overly saturated images to see for myself if any data is retained that may be lost using one of the other Fujifilm film simulation profiles.  Cranking up the shadows all the way and lowering the highlights as far as I could in this image, it appears I can see a tiny bit more detail in both the shadows and highlights than I can doing the same thing in the Provia file.  Not much, but just a little.  But that is just one file so I can't draw any conclusions based upon that.

Provia film simulation applied on an X-T2 RAW file straight out of the camera.  A bit of sharpening was applied only
(click to enlarge)

Same file, same settings, converted in Iridient X-Transformer with the Eterna film simulation applied in Lightroom
Classic CC.  (click to enlarge)

If you want to experiment with Eterna or just see what it looks like, it is relatively easy to try as many EXIF editors are free to download and as is a trial copy of X-Transformer.

Just FYI.

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Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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