Hey guys, it’s Sam! Today, let’s dive into my recent adventures with the Minolta X-700, one of my favorite entry-level 35mm film cameras.
I was originally planning to bring my Canon 1V, but since it still had a full roll of film I was supposed to use for portraits, I decided to go with my trusty Minolta X-700 instead.
The day’s agenda included a party and costume shopping, which made for a fun film testing trip. We were also waiting for the sun to set, as testing Cinestill film requires shooting at night, especially capturing neon lights.
Remember the last time I was in Palm Springs and didn’t finish the Kodak Gold 200 roll? Well, it’s still in the camera. This means I have to finish this roll before I can start using the Cinestill film, which is one of the joys of shooting with a film camera!
As I bought the film, I began thinking about where I could find neon signs to photograph. Hollywood Blvd, of course! This experience made me realize how little I actually know about Los Angeles, despite living here for almost a decade. I really need to get out more!
… and Hollywood at night is not really as pretty as I remembered it to be.
Oh, and did I mention I forgot to bring a tripod? Hollywood Blvd has strict rules about tripods, requiring a permit, which I didn’t have. Shooting at 200 ISO with a lens that only opens up to 3.5 without a tripod was quite challenging. You pretty much have to be a “human tripod.” Please don’t giggle at the term “human tripod,” it just means “steady!”
Anyway, I don’t recommend shooting handheld at shutter speeds below 1/30. However, at some point, I found myself shooting at 1/4 shutter speed, resulting in blurry photos, as expected. But hey, that’s the life of a human tripod!
My cameraman was getting impatient, which made me realize I was also running out of patience. Shooting film is a slow process; one shot equals one dollar, remember? You can’t rush it.
And getting distracted by a giant bear certainly didn’t help speed things up.
Apologies for the detour; let’s get back to the main focus: testing Cinestill film. If you’re still with me, congratulations! We’re finally starting the test. Since it was my first time using this film, I decided to shoot at its box speed of 800. The high ISO makes it much easier to shoot at night, which is what this film is designed for. It handles different types of light sources very nicely.
Cinestill 800T is essentially a modified version of Kodak motion picture films, used for shooting movies. One of the film’s distinct characteristics is its halation, the glow around light sources. Traditional Kodak motion picture films have a chemical layer that removes this effect, but Cinestill retains it. Some people dislike this feature, but I find it adds a cool, retro, dreamy, and dramatic feel to the photos, giving them a cinematic feeling, hence the name “Cinestill.”
The “T” in Cinestill 800T stands for tungsten, indicating a cooler color balance, around 3200K, which means a bluer tone. There’s also a Cinestill 50D, a daylight-balanced film, which I’m looking forward to testing as well.
Cinestill 800T produces interesting results when mixed with different light sources. A comparison between Kodak Gold 200 and Cinestill 800T shows how they handle lighting and color differently. Overall, I’m impressed with the colors produced by this film and can’t wait to shoot some portraits to see how it handles skin tones.
If you want to see how Cinestill performs in portrait photography, stay tuned. Please consider subscribing to my channel if you enjoy hearing me talk endlessly about photography. Thank you so much! This is Sam, and I’ll see you next time.
Captured by Sam 
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