Cinestill 400d vs Portra 400 and 800 for indoor portraits
Cinestill 400d
This one is for my fellow film geeks. I was recently gifted a couple of rolls of Cinestill 400Dynamic for Christmas, and took it along with me to an indoor mommy + me maternity session. I thought it’d be fun to use it alongside my trusted Portra 400 and 800 films and share the results, all of which I was so pleased with. All photos were taken using 35mm film.
Portra 400
This was my first time shooting Cinestill, so I used it just like I do Portra 400 when I’m shooting indoors - rating it at 250 and exposing for the shadows. I also rated the Portra 800 at 400 and exposed for the shadows. I find that when shooting indoors both Portras need to be overexposed to really shine and not end up with murky colors, and Cinestill handled the overexposure equally well. I processed all film normally.
Portra 400
What I noticed:
Warmth
Like Portra 400, Cinestill 400d has strong warm tones. The following images were taken nearly back-to-back in the same room, the first with Cinestill and the second with Portra 800, and there is a noticeable difference in warmth. Also, my eye sees a lot of magenta in the Cinestill images, whereas with Portra I tend to notice more yellow/orange in the warmth for both 400 and 800.
Cinestill 400d
Portra 800
Luminance
I can only describe Cinestill 400d as having extreme luminance. If you want your subject to positively glow, this is a great film stock for you. I personally don’t prefer it, but I can appreciate the beauty of it. Check out the images below to see what I mean (you’ll also notice the magenta tones).
cinestill 400d
Cinestill 400d
cinestill 400d - so much glow!
Grain
I found Cinestill 400d to have slightly more grain than Portra 400, especially in the shadows, but still a much finer grain than Portra 800 (in full transparency - I had to zoom in to see the difference - the grain of Portra 800 is a little larger and rougher zoomed at 100%).
Cinestill 400d - still glowing and making this baby look like a cherub!
Portra 800
Latitude
Based on this limited experiment, I would say that Cinestill 400d has just as much latitude as Portra 400, and certainly more than Portra 800 (which doesn’t perform so beautifully in low light). I was shooting in mixed light for much of this session, and was able to capture details in the shadows without blowing the highlights for all of my images shot on Cinestill 400d and Portra 400. With the Portra 800, some of my highlights were blown (see below).
Portra 800 - those are some hot feet! I still love it :)
Cinestill 400d - love how this film softly rendered the harsh sun shining in through the curtain
Skin tones
I’m partial to Portra 800 for achieving the most flattering skin tones, and my opinion didn’t change after this session. Portra 400 is typically too orange for my taste, and Cinestill 400d has more magenta and luminance than I prefer. For me, it’s so worth a little bit of extra grain for the dreaminess of Portra 800.
Portra 800
Portra 800
In summary, I think Cinestill 400d is a beautiful film and a nice alternative to Portra 400. It doesn’t suit my personal taste, so I likely won’t continue to use it (at least not indoors - I’m curious to try it outside), but I can appreciate the qualities that make it stand out from Portra and I’m glad to see more options popping up for us film photographers.
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A family session on portra 400
