CineStill800T

CineStill 800T (800Tungsten) is an ISO 800 tungsten-balanced color negative film for C-41 processing, made by CineStill from Kodak motion picture film [1] [3]. CineStill says it was originally based on a 500-speed motion picture film and started from Kodak Vision 3; reviewers identify it as Kodak Vision3 500T (5219) without its rem-jet backing [2] [3] [8] [14]. That missing backing is what draws its red halos around bright lights. The emulsion’s datasheet figures are on the Kodak Vision3 500T page; this page covers what changes.

Look and color

• Halation, the signature. Without rem-jet, light that passes through the emulsion is reflected back and exposes the red-sensitive layer, the one closest to the base: bright points get a red to orange halo [2] [7].
  • Where the light reflects is disputed. CineStill names the film base or the camera’s pressure plate [2]; Analog.cafe argues that the pressure plate is not the cause, and that the light reflects off the back of the base itself [7].
  • It shows most when a light source stands against a dark background [12]: neon signs “take on an otherworldly glow” and streetlamps turn into stars [8].
  • In daylight it can add a glow around sunlit foliage [9] or a slight orange cast to bright overcast skies that is hard to correct [5]. Emulsive found it “completely unpredictable” [11]. Pull processing may reduce it but not remove it [5].
• Under tungsten light, colors look “perfectly natural” [8], with “a slight tendency to oversaturate the reds” [5]. Reviews describe skin as healthy [12] and the palette as “not over saturated” [11].
• Overall cool. Reviews speak of “cool and muted tones” [13] and a “slightly-cool color temperature” [12]. Fluorescent light brings out a blue cast and colored lights look exaggerated [8].
• Daylight without a filter gives a light blue or teal cast, strongest on greens and browns [6]. Others saw a slight green cast and desaturated colors [9], or blue hues that “weren’t as overbearing” as expected [13]. CineStill recommends an 85 filter and/or EI 400–500 in daylight [1].
• Shadows. Emulsive saw a purple hue in underexposed shadows [11].

Tonality

• Why 800 and not 500. Kodak rates the original emulsion EI 500 in ECN-2 [4]. CineStill says it chose 800 from the characteristic curves and beta tests of its C-41 version [2]. Casual Photophile calls it a byproduct of C-41 processing [8], and Analog.cafe writes that ECN-2 needs about ⅔ stop more exposure for similar results [5]. Not everyone agrees: Richard Haw rates it at ISO 500 or 640, and got muddy, grainy shadows when underexposed [12].
• Contrast is described as medium [5], with shadows that keep detail instead of “black voids” [12].
• C-41 or ECN-2: the sources disagree on contrast. CineStill says ECN-2 gives lower-gamma, flatter negatives [2]. Analog.cafe writes both that ECN-2 “yields even less contrast” and that C-41 “slightly reduces” gamma [5]. Tahusa found better contrast and less grain in ECN-2 [14].
• Latitude and push. CineStill gives EI 200 to 1000 without push and up to EI 3200 with push processing [1], helped by a blue-sensitive layer that is faster than the rest [2]. Analog.cafe reports about 10 stops of dynamic range, pushed to EI 6400 and pulled to EI 320 with usable results [5].

Grain and sharpness

CineStill publishes no granularity figure. Kodak’s curves for the original emulsion, processed in ECN-2, are on the Vision3 500T page: granularity is highest in the toe, so in the shadows [4].

• Reviews disagree.
  • Fine: “the finest-grained ISO 800 film”, likely finer than Portra 800 [5]; “surprisingly fine grain” [10]; “very fine” [11].
  • Coarse: “a lot more grain than I was expecting” [13]; “larger-than-life grain” in broad daylight [8]; ugly grain when underexposed [12].
• Sharpness. Richard Haw finds it one of the sharpest color films [12]; Casual Photophile calls it sharp but softened by its grain [8].

Spectral sensitivity

The curves shown are Kodak’s for Vision3 500T with rem-jet, processed in ECN-2; CineStill publishes none [4]. The blue-sensitive layer is the most sensitive, about 3.2 in log sensitivity against 2.8 for green and 2.45 for red (our reading of the graph): that surplus of blue keeps whites neutral under warm tungsten light [2], and turns unfiltered daylight frames blue or teal [6]. The Grain Archive style is not computed from these curves.

Names, status and history

• 2012 and 2013. CineStill says beta testing of 800T began in late 2012, after years of shooting “Kodak Vision 3 stock” on bulk backs [3]. The first announcement called it “CineStill 500Tungsten”, later renamed 800T [5].
• What it is made from. CineStill declines to name the original films “out of respect for our unique relationships with our suppliers”, and says its films are not “simply repackaged” motion picture film: they come in DX-coded cassettes with still-camera perforations and without rem-jet [2]. Reviewers describe 800T as modified Kodak 5219 Vision3 500T [8] [13], and Tahusa reported the 5219 code on the edge of early rolls [14].
• The “800T” name. CineStill registered “800T” as a trademark. In 2023 Reflx Lab renamed its own converted Vision3 500T from “Reflx Lab 800T” to “Reflx Lab 800” [15]. Other 500T respools are listed on the Vision3 500T page.
• Kodak’s own remjet-free Vision3. Since 2025 Kodak has been replacing rem-jet on Vision3 with an anti-halation undercoat, which controlled halation better than rem-jet in Kodak’s side-by-side comparisons [17]. That film loses the backing but keeps the anti-halation protection, so it is not a substitute for the 800T glow.
• Status. On September 29, 2026, CineStill listed 800T in 35 mm (in stock) and 120 [1] [16]. It says current production carries an expiration date two years after manufacture [1].