A Winter’s Day Out with CineStill 800T

With a flurry of snow came a flurry of sledgers. With such a high ISO I was maxing out my camera’s shutter speed even with overexposing to keep the snow white and not grey. Older cameras would need to stop down their aperture more instead. 1/8000s 50mm F2.5 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Cinestill 800T. Is there really a better film for the long, dark and gloomy nights of winter? If you’ve read last week’s blog, then you’ll have seen why I and so many others love it so much. But I’d yet to shoot it during the day and I was curious to see the results given its tungsten colour balance. What better way to have fun shooting another roll than with a day out to London with friends. Having had a lot of snow in early December I really got to push it from one end of the spectrum to another. From bright and snowy days to the artificial lights at night that this film is accustomed to, you can really see how this film holds up in a variety of lighting situations.

My friend Dom poses in front of the National Maritime Museum. 1/3200s 50mm F3.2 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

We’d come to view the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition. A setting that suited CineStill down to a T. I’ll show myself out…1/40s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Prominently on display is the Miss Britain III, the first boat to top 100mph on saltwater in 1933. 1/100s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

The figureheads of various ships from the past. 1/30s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Once again I came away impressed. The detail is still very good for such a high ISO film and whilst the shots during daytime do come out a little blue, the colours are still very true to life. This isn’t something you should be afraid to use when the sun is up. Though I will admit that during the day I’d prefer the colours of Portra 800 (sadly neither film is cheap, I’ll have to have a go with Lomography 800 at some point). But all that aside, I think this week I’ll shut up and just let the images do the talking. As always I hope you enjoy the blog and if you have any thoughts or questions then do leave them down in the comments section below.

This shot of the model boats shows how smooth the bokeh on CineStill 800T still is despite the high levels of grain. 1/30s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

The surviving stained glass from the Baltic Exchange Building that was badly damaged in an IRA bombing in 1992. It’s unusual to be able to stand in a dome of stained glass. Perhaps my favourite thing from the museum. 1/40s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

The bronze capstan top from HMS ‘Vindictive’ which sank in the Zeebrugge raid in April 1918. 1/40s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

One of the most surprising exhibits, as someone who had never been before, were the many personal items of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Seen here are some of his military uniforms. 1/15s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Darkness had fallen when we left the museum. Upon looking at these images for this blog, I like this shot of Canary Wharf at night much more than when I first took it. The small figure in the front gives a sense of scale and makes the image for me. The detail isn’t great when zoomed in, but taken as a whole it still looks great. 1/15s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Re-creating what looks like a scene from The Exorcist. The glowing red lights caused by the lack of an anti-halation layer are a hallmark of CineStill 800T. 1/40s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

We headed over to Leicester Square Christmas Market for a wander around a bit of food. 1/400s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Producing churros is a steamy business apparently. 1/400s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Dom and Sam quickly posing for a photo. The colour balance comes into it’s own under artificial light and renders the colour of skin tones well. 1/250s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

I love the colours of this Lego bus driver. The colours really pop. 1/400s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Entering into China Town. 1/60s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

One shop in China Town always has crabs and or lobsters on display in the shop window. This big spider crab was the perfect subject, but it looked better once I converted it to black and white. It better focuses the image on the jagged form of the crab and the billowing bubbles. 1/60s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T Converted to Black & White.

But this display of meats for sale definitely worked better in colour. 1/60s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

There’s a slight bit of motion blur from using such a slow shutter speed to shoot the London Eye, but it’s largely hidden by the lower levels of detail from a high ISO film. 1/10s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

Ending the night with a walk through the famously graffitied Leake Street. 1/40s 50mm F1.8 Nikon F100 CineStill 800T.

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