Written by Samantha Stortecky
Hello friends! Another day, another fun film stock review. Today we are diving into Cinestill 50D!
A few months ago, I splurged on some fun rolls of film, and CineStill 50D and CineStill 800T were the two I was the most excited to try out.
I’d seen so many amazing artists on Instagram share their photos with these beautiful film stocks, and I just couldn’t wait to dive in myself!
The Look of CineStill 50D
One of the major appearances with CineStill 50D is the color. When shot in full sun, it has beautiful color and contrast.
I would liken it to one of my favorite inexpensive film stocks, Kodak Gold 200! It’s also similar to Flic Film’s new film stock Elektra 100.
While it is much more expensive than Kodak Gold, it does have the benefit of having a much finer grain, which gives it a higher quality look, especially if you shoot it on medium format film.
Like most film it captures highlights and details wonderfully. I’ve found the greatest success when shooting landscapes or details outside.
Related: How To Shoot Kodak Gold 200
How to Shoot & Rate CineStill 50D
When I shot CineStill 50D, I stuck with the 50 ISO, and I shot it within various settings such as a cloudy day, inside during afternoon, and full sun outside.
Personally, I think it did the absolute best when used in full sun, it’s really where all its beautiful colors were able to shine.
Because of its low ISO is can get tricky using this film inside or outside on a cloudy day. As I experimented, I ended up with a whole lotta blurry images on some of the darker days even if I was outside.
If you’re using this film and it’s in lower light conditions, consider pushing this film to 200 ISO.
Because of the low ISO even when shooting in broad daylight it was tricky to photograph my children who tend to get all wiggly when in front of the camera.
The images that I took of them tend to come out a little less in focus than I’d like, so this film would work perfectly with subjects or scenery where there isn’t a ton of movement.
Pros & Cons
There are quite a few pros to this amazing film, one of them being that CineStill 50D comes in both 35mm and 120!
You get both the option of shooting 35 and medium format, which, for me, makes this film stock even more versatile.
Another huge pro is this film can be shot at 100 ISO without the need for pushing from your lab.
This is awesome because it limits your risk of getting blurry images during lower light situations without having to change the look of the film or pay the extra lab fee for pushing.
And lastly, let’s get into the cons.
A big downside to this film stock would be the price. It’s around $12 per roll depending on where you purchase it, rivaling the cost of a lot of professional film such as Portra 400.
I find the price can be a downside to a lot of experimental films. They are fun to shoot but typically hit the wallet a little hard.
My last con would naturally be the low ISO for this film.
It really limits when and where you can shoot if you don’t want to run the risk of having blurry or choppy images, especially if your image subjects are kiddos who like to wiggly around a lot!
Well friends, that’s it for me. I hope this little review inspires you to pick up some CineStill film and give it a try.
If you do, tag me on social media because I love seeing your work!
Thank you so much, Samantha! Samantha is a regular contributor here at Shoot It With Film, and you can check out her other articles here, including a Fujifilm Instax SP-2 printer review and 5 Unique & Experimental Film Stocks You Need to Try.
You can also check out more of Samantha’s work on her website and Instagram.
Let us know any questions you have about CineStill 50D film below in the comments, and you can pick up some for yourself on Amazon here.
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Blog Comments
Peter
September 24, 2021 at 1:41 pm
The funky colors at that price is just a big “no” for me. My results were very similar, and I felt the colors did such a disservice to some of the scenes – almost distracting.