During a recent trip to Abisko in Northern Sweden (with a day trip to Narvik in Norway thrown in for good measure), I decided to give a roll of 35mm CineStill 50D film a try.
Known for a cinematic look in the right conditions (this film is repurposed Kodak motion picture film), I was keen to see the results of using the film in a snowy landscape.
I must say it ended up being an interesting trip for me, as I found myself shooting almost as much film and I shot digital. I enjoyed the film shooting experience so much more, in fact, I sold my digital camera as soon as got home and I vowed to only shoot film from now on.
Anyway, I digress, the question really is how did the film perform or I should say how did the photos of my arctic circle adventure come out. I should say that even though the film is rated at ISO 50, I actually shot the film with an exposure compensation of +0.7, so overexposed a little. This was to account for the abundance of snow and also having read that the film performs well when exposed at ISO 25 (+1 Stop). This did lead to slightly slower shutter speeds, but considering the brightness of the landscapes and the stability of my Nikon F4, it was never an issue.
My impressions of the film are the following, firstly the film seems quite detailed and low on grain, which is not surprising for an ISO 50 film, but compared to the last film I shot; Kodak Ektar, the CineStill has a very distinctive look, if Ektar gives very modern looking images (as has been said, Film for the digital age), CineStill is like a time machine, the hue of the film makes all of the photos look like they were taken in the 70s and not 2018 (for example see the Narvik station photo below).
I have to say for landscapes I think it may not have been the best choice, probably Ektar or maybe even Porta would have been better choices.
All in all, not a bad film, but not really my cup of tea for landscapes, but maybe shooting colourful cityscapes would have been a better assignment for this film.
Anyhow here are some highlights of the roll I shot, all taken with my Nikon F4 with either a 28mm f/2.8 AI or 50mm f/2 AI lens. All photos were developed at my local Fuji centre and I scanned the negatives myself using my Epson V370, I did final tweaks such as sharpening and dust removal with Luminar.
Silvesterphoto 