CineStill 400D Dynamic Film Review

CineStill 400Dynamic (I’ll refer to it as “400D” from hereon for brevity) is a medium-speed, high-resolution emulsion that renders medium-contrast images with an occasional mint-green cast.

This newest member of the brand’s colour-negative series (see: 50D and 800T) continues the tradition of rendering red halos around gleaming light points. But unlike the other CineStill films, the 400D is more than the Kodak Vision 3 film (i.e., 250D) with remjet removed.

In this review, I’ll unpack this film’s unique qualities, discuss the best ways to scan it, and share plenty of high-res samples.

In this review: A brief history of CineStill. CineStill 400D grain and resolution. CineStill dynamic range and colours. Scanning and colour-correcting CineStill 400D. Download sample scan files. Is CineStill 400D an everyday film? CineStill 800T, 50D, and 400D compared. Available in 135, 120, and 4x5 formats! Where to buy CineStill 400D. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

A brief history of CineStill.

CineStill was founded in 2012. You can still read their first-ever post where they shared their initial tests for what’s to become CineStill 800T. The article where they announced Cinestill 500Tungsten (later renamed to 800T) still has 0 comments, and their Etsy shop where they were selling their first few rolls has one lonely review. Being one of the most talked-about film brands today, they’ve come a long way.

The company sprouted during the dramatic decline in film sales of the early 2010s, as the photographic industry was in the process of switching to digital sensors. Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection the same year CineStill was founded. A year after, Fujifilm pivoted to pharmaceuticals, while numerous analogue photographic products and businesses started to disappear.

But despite the headwinds, CineStill managed to become a behemoth of a brand with a huge fan following, eventually building on the resurgence of interest in analogue photography.

CineStill 400D grain and resolution.

CineStill 400D is the brand’s third colour-negative emulsion, based on Kodak Vision 3 chemistry (with some significant modifications).

The 400D appears to be an exceptionally fine-grained film. I think it may resolve as well or even better than Portra 400 — Kodak’s pro-level emulsion that claims to have the finest grain at this speed.

Unfortunately, there’s no technical datasheet for the 400D, making it hard to tell for sure how it compares to other films. However, you can get a feel for it from the high-res samples below (if you’re on a mobile device, turn it into landscape mode for best results). You can also download the uncompressed scans to see for yourself on a larger screen (find the download link below).

CineStill dynamic range and colours.

CineStill 400D has an impressive dynamic range. The results speak for themselves — no matter how much contrast my scenes had, this film was able to capture virtually all shades an eye could see.

Whereas other films would often show a significant bump in colour noise and grain size in the deepest shadows, the 400D keeps both in check. The image below was exposed with at least 12 stops of difference in exposure between the highlights (clouds) and the shadows under the rhododendron bush. Though there is some expected loss of information in the darkest areas, those parts of the image are still perfectly usable:

Inverted CineStill 400D scans tend to render colours with a slight mint colour cast. Scanner software may correct that automatically, shifting the gamut towards red-green, which sometimes can overemphasize the brown and red tones in your scenes.

This colour property can yield warmer skin tones and even warmer sunset colours while retaining the correct white balance (i.e., if you try to “warm up” the colours on other films, you risk turning your greys yellow as well).

Other than the above, the 400D seems to render colours very accurately with a significant tonal range. As you’ll see in the sample below, it can even handle mixed lighting, which is a kryptonite for most colour films.

I was also pleased not to find the halation affecting large bright planes like overcast skies. This was an issue in a select few frames I exposed on CineStill 50D, which gave my grey clouds a slight orange tint that was very difficult to remove. However, I think this was an edge case, and I haven’t tested for it specifically.

Scanning and colour-correcting CineStill 400D.

CineStill 400D dries flat, which makes it easy to scan and archive.

I’ve seen examples of some scanning software over-compensating colour corrections for the 400D scans yielding brown-looking photos. This is not how this film should look. If you suspect that your scans may be suffering from this issue, try scanning them as positives and inverting manually.

You may need to apply some colour correction to your scans (even if you invert them manually) — but the good news is that this film is very responsive to post-processing. Whereas other colour-negative films may become grainy or begin to lose detail in the shadows, 400D can handle significant manipulation.

Perhaps the most challenging condition to shoot film in is mixed lighting. For example, the above photo of my dogs chilling in a room lit by an indoor lamp and a strong ray of sunlight looked very green in the shadows (the fact that the wall is actually painted green didn’t help). Correcting that would usually turn parts of an image that are lit by the natural light purple or pink; however, I was able to fix the green cast on CineStill 400D without too much trouble.

The only films that could reliably perform well in conditions like this were Fujifilm emulsions with a fourth cyan-sensitive layer (Pro 400H, Superia 400, and Natura 1600) — which was a deliberate design. Unfortunately, they were all discontinued. While the 400D does not use this type of technology, it’s good to know that it’s at least somewhat comparable.

Of course, you won’t need to do as much editing when shooting this film in daylight. The above-mentioned mint colour cast may not even be noticeable on a properly scanned and inverted negative, but if you notice that your greys aren’t the colour they should be, you can apply some gentle colour correction via the Colour Balance or a colour grading tool of your choice.

 ☝︎ Further reading: “How to Edit Film Scans.”

Download sample scan files.

If you’d like to play around with high-quality scans of CineStill 400D — you can. The files linked below are unaltered TIFF digital negatives. You can invert them in Photoshop (or any software of your choice).

➜ Free Download: Sample CineStill 400D 35mm Film Scans (TIFF)

Is CineStill 400D an everyday film?

Everyone has their preferences; an “everyday” film may mean different things to different people. For me, it’s availability, speed, dynamic range, resolution, and colours.

CineStill 400D is a brand-new emulsion available in all major formats, and there are no apparent shortages in places that stock it. It’s not as cheap as Kodak Ultramax, but its accurate colours, fine grain, and post-production versatility are worth the expense.

As an ISO 400 colour film, CineStill 400D may be the easiest film to meter for. Most film cameras produced in the last 50-100 years have a maximum shutter speed of 1/500 which lets you shoot this CineStill at 𝒇16 in full sun while dropping down to 𝒇4 and below in the shadows. In fact, this film’s dynamic range is so impressive that you may even get good results shooting it at 𝒇8 with 1/500 on a sunny day. The film’s ability to retain details in under-exposed scenes is also excellent, making CineStill 400D one of the most versatile emulsions on the market.

The 400D isn’t difficult to scan with the right software, and if that fails, you can invert it manually. It’s very flexible when it comes to post-processing.

So, yes, CineStill 400D can be an everyday film. I would feel OK shooting it most of the time, but I would be happier if I still had the option to choose other stocks whenever appropriate.

CineStill 800T, 50D, and 400D compared.

CineStill’s principal product line is its colour-negative film portfolio, which was initiated with the 800T  ten years ago. All those films, including the 400D, render recognizable red halos around bright highlights.

The halation is caused by the removal of the remjet layer during the pre-processing stage at the CineStill facilities. This layer is a hallmark of Kodak Vision 3 films, used for movie production, which CineStill uses to create its colour-negative films. Without this specific pre-processing stage, those films would not be safe to develop at a typical lab.

The grain. The 400D’s grain looks very similar to the 50D’s. It’s visible yet packed tight, resembling a mosaic when enlarged. 800T’s grain is harder to characterize.

800T and 50D are Kokdak Vision 3 films, modified for still film cameras. However, CineStill 400D is more than that. According to the company, it is a product made of various components specifically for still photography:

Of course, one of those components may well be Kodak’s 250D cinema emulsion, but it’s not just that, as CineStill made abundantly clear on their website.

Anti-static coating. CineStill does not reveal the 400D’s component list; however, they mention “…a process-surviving anti-static lubricant coating that makes it a great film for both manual and automatic-winding cameras.”

As it happens, in addition to anti-halation properties, the remjet layer is also responsible for preventing static discharges on film. A notable side effect of its absence is occasional red lines and star-like shapes that may occur in dry climates or if the film is advanced quickly in a motorized film camera. I’ve observed this artifact on some of my CineStill 800T frames — but not on 400D.

 ☝︎ Further reading: “Rebranded Film: Good or Bad?” — in this post, I discuss seven kinds of film labels and their role in the analogue photography ecosystem. You’d be surprised to learn how much of the film sold in-store today isn’t actually produced by the brand on the box!

Available in 135, 120, and 4x5 formats!

CineStill 400D is the only film made by the company available in large format. It’s also the cheapest fresh colour film in 4x5 and the only option outside of the Kodak and Fujifilm large format portfolio.

The 400D became generally available in 4x5 in April 2024 (see the announcement and more samples here), whereas 120 rolls have been available since its launch in March 2022.

Where to buy CineStill 400D.

CineStill 400D is a well-distributed product, sold at most locations that have a decent selection of colour film. The prices may vary depending on your location and retailer. As of this writing (October 2024), it averages $14~20 for either 35mm or medium format (120 may sell for $1-2 less). Large format sheets are a little harder to find.

❤ Please consider making your CineStill 400D film purchase using this link  so that this website may get a small percentage of that sale — at no extra charge for you — thanks!