2 min read

cinestill 400d

cinestill 400d
nikon f2, cinestill 400d, oct 2022 in nyc

yeah im just gonna buy kodak 250d.

Cinestill film gets a lot of hype. And rightfully so. I'd argue, that regardless of your thoughts on the fact that they mainly repackage film, they're putting money and hype into the film industry.

Wait, repackaging? That's right. most of their film is repackaged cinema film from Kodak (thus, Cine + still). Their 800T film stock is pretty much Kodak Vision3 500T with the remjet layer removed, which makes it possible to process in standard C-41 chemicals. You can basically get the same thing by shooting 500T then removing the remjet layer using baking soda, then processing in C-41. No markup needed kekekeke.

Ok so what's their new film? Well they decided they discovered a new film (Kodak Vision 250D) and decided to sell it as Cinestill 400D. They sold it through a Kickstarter-style campaign that I decided to take part in and as a result I got four rolls of it to try out.

Do you develop at home? You should just buy 250D. The remjet removal step is easy enough to do and one that I have done countless times during my 500T adventures.

note the ... green. nikon f2, cinestill 400d, oct. 22 in nyc

But shooting 400D is pretty enjoyable. The color reproduction somehow matches my idea of New York very well, a somewhat green overcast to images with a slight halation feel. Honestly I'm not a big fan of the halation effect, but the other colors are all very pleasing.

I think if you're new to film and haven't/just started self film development, you should buy this film. It's readily available and you won't kick yourself for buying $15 rolls of Kodak Gold 200. But if you're like me and off the deep cliff of film (developing), just roll 250D yourself.