ISO & Exposure — Auto-ISO, exposure compensation, and DR interaction

These aren't part of the colour "grade" per se, but they're specified in every recipe because they affect the rendered result and the film feel.

Auto-ISO ("Auto, up to ISO 6400")

Most recipes cap Auto-ISO at 6400. Reasons:

• Keeps noise within a filmic-but-clean range on the X-T5's 40MP sensor.
• The specified Grain Effect plus the natural high-ISO texture then reads as "film grain" rather than digital noise.
• You can raise the ceiling. The recipe value is a sensible default, not a hard rule.

There is a minimum ISO interaction with Dynamic Range (see below), which is why the floor of Auto-ISO effectively rises when DR200/DR400 is used.

Dynamic Range forces a ISO floor (manual p.130)

This is the most important ISO caveat:

So a DR400 recipe can never shoot below ISO 500 even in bright light, the camera raises ISO to buy the highlight headroom. This is intended: the slight extra noise is part of the film-negative latitude look, and it's why DR400 recipes pair naturally with grain.

Exposure Compensation ("typically…")

Recipes list a suggested exposure-compensation range, e.g. "+1/3 to +1 (typically)". On the X-T5 this is set with the top exposure-comp dial (or the front command dial when the dial is at C, giving ±5 EV).

Crucial framing (straight from the recipe authors):

• The suggested value is a starting point, not a rule. It reflects how a given grade tends to want to be exposed (e.g. Negative-film emulations are often exposed + to lift shadows and get clean, bright mid-tones the way you'd overexpose colour negative film).
• Judge every scene individually. Highlight-protecting recipes (DR400) tolerate positive exposure comp well. Contrasty scenes may want less.
• Some authors (e.g. Reggie's Portra) deliberately give no suggested exposure comp, insisting each frame be metered on its own.

Why "expose to taste" works here

Because the look is baked into the JPEG, exposure at capture is part of the grade: pushing exposure + brightens and further "fades" a low-contrast recipe. Pulling − deepens and saturates it. Treat exposure compensation as the final creative dial that positions the baked-in grade where you want it for the scene.

Last updated: 2026-07-21