{"id":32406,"date":"2022-05-30T21:00:52","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T20:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=32406"},"modified":"2023-06-20T11:34:35","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T10:34:35","slug":"analogue-adventures-part-7-cinestill-800t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/analogue-adventures-part-7-cinestill-800t\/","title":{"rendered":"Analogue Adventures – Part 7: Cinestill 800T"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n
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Cinestill 800T<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When looking for a higher ISO color film in 2022 – especially one for shooting under artifical light without the need for additional color correction filters – the Cinestill 800T is pretty much without competition. But there are a few things to be aware of, so let’s have a closer look.
\nProcessing and scanning was done at urbanfilmlab<\/a> in Germany.
\nThe pictures you see in this article are from 2 rolls.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Leica M6 | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/2.0 | Cinestill 800T<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/1.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | Voigtl\u00e4nder VM 28mm 2.0 | f\/2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"cinestill
Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/1.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Leica M6 | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/1.4 | Cinestill 800T<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/1.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Cinestill 800T<\/h2>\n

Like the Silbersalz35 500T<\/a> the Cinestill 800T is actually Kodak Vision 3 500T\/5219 cut and repacked for shooting with your 35mm still camera, but there is a major difference.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9Kodak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When getting films from the Silbersalz35<\/a> guys you are shooting unaltered<\/em> cinefilm that needs the more complicated ECN-2 process for development.
\nThe Cinestill guys on the other hand removed the remjet layer on the film to make it possible to develope these films with the ordinary C-41 process.<\/p>\n

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Leica M6 | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/1.4 | Cinestill 800T<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When comparing the Silbersalz35 FAQ<\/a> to the Cinestill 800T FAQ<\/a> I noticed a bit of tension: the Silbersalz35 guys say to get the best quality out of this 500T\/5219 film stock it needs to be unaltered and you need to develope it with the ECN-2 process and using the C-41 process will noticeably degrade the image quality.
\nThe Cinestill guys on the other hand say removing the remjet makes it “safe” to be developed with the more common C-41 process and that process leads to higher gamma and therefore “improves” the sensitivity up to ISO 800.<\/p>\n

But let’s put the marketing talk aside and have the pictures do the talking instead.<\/p>\n

Halos<\/h2>\n
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Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/1.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing the Cinestill 800T is famous for are red halos around point light sources. Some people love it – I even saw some guys selling photoshop brushes to mimic this – but me? Not so much.
\nWe do live in a time where “different” is often mistaken for “better” though and this is a rather distinct “feature” making the 800T pictures “stand out” which can therefore easily be used in marketing.<\/p>\n

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Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/1.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"cinestill
Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | Voigtl\u00e4nder VM 28mm 2.0 | f\/2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In very high contrast scenes you may even spot these halos in daylight scenarios:<\/p>\n

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Leica M6 | MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM | f\/2.0 | Cinestill 800T<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Light leaks<\/h2>\n
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Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | Voigtl\u00e4nder VM 28mm 2.0 | f\/2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the FAQ the Cinestill guys say the 800T is more prone to light leaks and static discharge than other films and indeed, on both rolls I shot the first three to four pictures have massive light leaks.
\nI do wonder if this is actually due to the repacking process though…<\/p>\n

\"cinestill
Leica M6 | Cinestill 800T | Voigtl\u00e4nder VM 28mm 2.0 | f\/2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These are the first four pictures from the second roll:<\/p>\n

\"cinestill<\/p>\n

I am really not a fan of these light leaks to say the least.<\/p>\n

I only shot two rolls so far and this number is very unlikely to increase, so maybe tell me in the comment section if this is something happening on the first few exposures to you, too.<\/em><\/p>\n

Compared to Silbersalz35 500T<\/h2>\n

Now doing side by side comparisons with different films is a bit complicated, especially as I don’t have two analogue cameras and two lenses which are exactly the same.
\nSo we are now comparing the last shot on the Silbersalz35 500T roll to the first (actually 3rd) shot on the Cinestill 800T roll.<\/p>\n