Shootout: Cinestill 800T vs Portra 800
This is the first of my series doing filmstock comparisons. When I do a “shootout” of film stock, I am loading two film stocks shot at the same ISO in two bodies, my Nikon FE2, and FM10. I am taking the same picture seconds apart with the same lens, at same aperture and shutter speed, by simply moving the lens from one body to the other and copying the shutter speed. The result should be a fairly accurate comparison, especially when comparing a new photostock to a familiar photostock.
This is the first of my series doing filmstock comparisons. When I do a “shootout” of film stock, I am loading two film stocks shot at the same ISO in two bodies, my Nikon FE2, and FM10. I am taking the same picture seconds apart with the same lens, at same aperture and shutter speed, by simply moving the lens from one body to the other and copying the shutter speed. The result should be a fairly accurate comparison, especially when comparing a new photostock to a familiar photostock.
For this edition, we have Cinestill 800T vs Kodak Portra 800. When I first got back into photography in early 2024, I noticed a lot of things have changed. Some things where the same, such as TriX, TMAX and Portra. FujiFilm was more or less gone, and all these new boxes where now in the film store. One of the new films, was Cinestill.
Cinestill, like Portra is made by Kodak. Originally sold as Vision for 35mm movie cameras, companies like Cinestill remove the anti-halation layer, so it can be processed directly with C41, and then package it in 135 Canisters. The people at the film store(LGFL) told me it was great for neons and halations, two big items that feature heavily in my work. I decided to give it a try, but I was going to test it against my old go to Kodak Portra. Again note, these are both same ISO film, with same shutter speed and aperture. As much as possible, same lighting conditions as well. No flash was used. Also these are the raw negative scans, and are NOT edited, so they will be slightly different from the published versions.
Venue of choice was the Pinguino’s annual Ninja Penguin party. Lots of Glowey stuff, in a dark dance floor. Perfect choice for 800 speed film.
Left is Cinestill 800T. Right is Portra 800
First up is a people shot. This is a tricky one as its in dim club lighting, and our subject is wearing a very shiny reflect suit. Portra easily handles the highlights better, as well as gives much richer shades of green in the background. The Cinestill looks flat by comparison. You can see much more detail on the man’s face. The tungsten balance might adjust for the artificial lighting, but it kills the mood.
Next up is “Camera in a Dream”(Left), and its Cinestill alt(right). You can see when doing abstracts with light play, the color and warmth of the Portra just blows away the Cinestill.
Light and Shadow play a white fuzzy vest with LED lights in it. Lighting is pretty close, with you can see the portra being sharper, with a crisper image. The Cinestill is softer and dreamier. About even with this one
An attempt at wall art. This one is pulled from the “miss” pile in both, but does a decent job highlighting the characteristics of the film with light. Both are unedited. Portra clearly has more exposure lattitude, as well as better contrast for dealing with shadows. The colors are more vivid and rich. This might be attributed to the tungsten balance. That would make sense for film clear shots for commercial purposes, but it falls short delivering vivid crisp images for artistic endeavors.
The last two are some costume play. Its not clear from the post, but that is a prop of Bruce Willis’s pistol from “The 5th Element”, appropriate given that was the theme of the party. Here is my friend doing some cosplay outside the venue with said prop, illuminated by a sodium vapor lamp street light. Gives a good comparison of how the film performs for nighttime street photography. You can see the tungsten balance of the Cinestill neutralizing the soft yellow glow of the street light, while the portra beautifully soaks up the vibe. This is going to be preference, but I like my streetlights yellow. The Portra captures vibes, the Cinestill extinguishes them
One last one, again pulled from the miss pile, but of technical note. You can see how the cinestill interacts with streetlights. All the streetlights in frame are sodium vapor lamps, which appear white, with some really ugly red halations. From a technical note, none of the color in this scene really looks good. The mid-tones and shadows look OK. That is it OK. Portra, and even Kodak Gold(now UltraMaxx for 400/800), make this look a fuckton better.
Conclusion: Kodak Portra 800 wipes the floor with Cinestill 800T