CineStill 50Daylight

CineStill 50Daylight is a slow, exceptionally fine-grain colour film made for bright light and maximum detail.

Rated at EI 50 and balanced for daylight, it's right at home on sunny days, with landscapes, portraits and anywhere you want to make the most of a medium format negative. The slower speed also makes it easier to shoot at wider apertures in bright conditions without reaching for heavy ND filters.

50D started life with motion-picture DNA, but CineStill prepares it specifically for still photography and standard C-41 processing. With the remjet layer removed, bright highlights can produce the distinctive halation associated with CineStill films.

In 120, the combination of a larger negative, extremely fine grain and high resolution makes 50D particularly good when detail matters.

Best for

• Medium format photography
• Bright daylight
• Portraits
• Landscapes
• Architecture
• Travel
• Fashion and editorial work
• Shooting wide apertures in bright conditions
• High-resolution scanning
• Photographers wanting very fine grain

What to expect

Expect very fine grain, high resolution, strong detail and rich colour, with the possibility of CineStill's characteristic halation around bright highlights.

CineStill recommends a base rating of EI 50, but the film can be rated anywhere between EI 12 and EI 100 without push processing. Changing the exposure affects colour, contrast, highlight rendering and shadow detail, with lower EI ratings tending towards warmer results and stronger highlight halation.

Because this is a slow film, you'll get the easiest handheld shooting in bright conditions. In lower light, expect to work with slower shutter speeds or a tripod.

Developing

C-41 colour processing.

CineStill 50D has its remjet backing removed before sale, allowing it to be safely processed by a photo lab using standard C-41 chemistry.

It can alternatively be processed using motion-picture-style chemistry such as CineStill Cs2/ECN-2, which produces a lower-contrast negative, but C-41 is the standard option for most photographers and labs.