News — 500Tungsten

What Makes 800T the Original and Only True 800-Speed Tungsten-Balanced Film for Still Photography

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Photo of a light table with some samples of imitation films processed together in the same tank with 800T as a control.

When searching for CineStill films have you come across any “brand new” color films “made by” random brands lately? Are their claims strikingly similar somehow? Have they cracked the CineStill code? No, they have not… Through thorough quality assurance, we have concluded that true 800T — utilizing our meticulous and unique production process — is the only color film that can stand behind the claim of being both 800-speed and Tungsten balanced. This article will further explain how we came to this conclusion and go into detail showing the results of our extensive testing. We are not here to be nit-picky or point fingers and name names — which might get a little confusing — but some names may sound familiar to you by now. Those “800T” imitations and “400D” generics (repurposed from existing 500-speed or 250-speed motion picture film, respectively) are not representative of the original motion picture film’s quality nor the performance of CineStill films’ sensitivity and color fidelity. Although they may replicate the signature CineStill red halation glow, they are only somewhat comparable to expired film, in that they appear age fogged with shifted color-balance and exhibit a slower effective film-speed (200-400 ISO at best) resulting in a film not suitable for proposed use, let alone low-light photography; that is unless you like underexposed/expired film. For those looking for fresh film, we are fortunate to still have several other excellent high-speed color films available today (even with the recent unavailability of 400H and C200) — from UltraMax and Portra 400 to Lomo 800 and Portra 800 — but 800T is still the only tungsten-balanced, true 800-speed film made for still photography. Anything else, isn’t…

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CineStill 800T In Your Toolbox

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With many film choices currently available, it is necessary to have some understanding of how a particular film excels, so you can get the most out of every roll. When choosing CineStill 800T, it helps to understand where this film originated and what it was designed to achieve, in addition to considering its increased speed and quality over other options. 

CineStill 800T was originally based on a motion picture emulsion designed for shooting in limited artificial, continuous, incandescent light. It can also be shot in daylight with the appropriate “85” filter, or with a warmer “85b” filter in blue cast shade. It is also popular to shoot 800T with no filter for a cool look, or to be color corrected warm for a Wes Anderson aesthetic. This film is optimized for a hybrid workflow, ideal for scanning, but comparable with standard still photography processing and darkroom printing, with literally futuristic features (from a still photography perspective)....

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A DP's Point of View - CineStill 50D & 800T by Rob Hauer

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CineStill 50Daylight

You may recognize the above image by Rob Hauer from our web site sample images of our 50Daylight emulsion. Rob was an early tester of our CineStill 50Daylight emulsion, but since then he has continued to capture beautiful images on CineStill 50D and 800T with an incredible eye for composition and light! It is really interesting to see what a director of photography does with...

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COMMITMENT, PASSION, RESOLVE! - The Future of CineStill 120

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Update: We have launched a new CineStill 120 campaign on IndieGoGo! Come support, share and get a chance to become a CineStill 120 Beta Tester by following the "CineStill 120" link in the navigation!

CineStill 800Tungsten 120 Beta by Laura E. Partain

To all those who have supported, promoted and pushed our KICKSTARTER campaign for medium format, thank you! The support we have seen throughout our...

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Elegant Portrait Photography in Mixed Light on 35mm CineStill 800T by Cinzia Bruschini

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"I shot these portraits with my Canon Eos-1v in my living room at 1pm. The ambient light from the windows was not sufficient so I turned on the Xmas lights behind the model and I used a video light to eliminate shadows. I shot at box speed and I am astonished with the results! The output of CineStill is awesome and and even if I am not a big fan of 35mm portraits, here it works well.

"I can't wait...

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The Film Show - Ryan Muirhead "The Final Beta Test"

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The Framed Network's Film Show dedicated an entire episode to shooting CineStillFilm 800Tungsten at night in Las Vegas! All five hosts had to shoot ambient light portraits under the extreme conditions of the Las Vegas strip, in the rainy winter. At the time of shooting, we were just wrapping up beta testing of the film and process, and had not finished assessing the results, or gone into mass...

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The Film Show - Jonas Peterson "The Final Beta Test"

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Jonas Peterson was one of the beta testers of CineStillFilm 800Tungsten and a host of The Framed Network's Film Showfor episode 5 of season 2 in Las Vegas. He has been primarily a digital shooter up until recently, when he began a love affair with film. Jonas has plenty of experience shooting high ISO digital in low light, but had yet to try a color film that could compete with the detail and...

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The Film Show - Tanja Lippert "The Final Beta Test"

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Photographs taken on the final beta run of CineStillFilm 800Tungsten by Tanja Lippert, host on The Framed Network's Film Show, in Las Vegas. All processed normal in C-41, and untouched scans straight from the Frontier scanner.

All five hosts had to shoot portraits under the extreme ambient conditions of the Las Vegas strip. These beta rolls were all hand spliced into used 135 canisters, and no one...

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