Shooting Motion Picture Film at Night: Cinestill 800T

Created for cinematic use under Tungsten lighting, Cinestill 800T is arguably one of the most highly sought-after films on the market. Should you manage to get your hands on some, what are you going to do with it? 

Coming to you from Willem Verbeeck, this video walks you through Verbeeck’s first go at shooting the film. He shoots the film at night in Brooklyn and produces some excellent examples of the Cinestill 800T “look.” As noted in a previous article, 2019 was a great year for film, as is clearly evidenced by the increase in popularity of this particular film. In addition to Verbeeck’s video, Christoper Hamberger, Shutterstock Tutorials, and Grainydays all created YouTube content for 800T this past year.

For months, Cinestill 800T was on backorder on B&H, but at the time of writing, it is available in both 35mm and 120. Back in December, while B&H was still out of stock, Cinestill had some 800T available on their website and I bought a few rolls. What makes it so special? I honestly don’t know. I suspect it’s more or less that it’s a cool concept. I’ve only shot through one of my rolls so far and wasn’t super impressed. However, it was only one roll, and I intend to save my final judgment for after I’ve shot through all I bought. 

Have you ever used this film? If so, did you like it?

James Madison's picture

Madison is a mathematician turned statistician based out of Columbus, OH. He fell back in love with film years ago while living in Charleston, SC and hasn't looked back since. In early 2019 he started a website about film photography.

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7 Comments

Picked some up for my sister, at the very least it's an interesting novelty. Perhaps it should be included in next years gift guides...

I second that idea. I had some on the list I sent to my family but alas, it was sold out everywhere they looked in the month prior to the holidays. That's nice of you to pick some up for your sister. Are you planning to give it a go as well?

I don't shoot film, not much stills either. I'll stick to the video side of things!

Cinestill has been an interesting one to watch. At the moment, I don't have any room in my fridge for new film but I've been impressed with the unique results of 800T. Might have to pick some up.

You should! I'd be curious to know what you think about it.

It looks like it really comes alive in dark/reflective scenes with lots of artificial light.

Weird method of metering (reflective?) considering the meter had an incident dome on it!