For a long time I wanted to use motion picture film, I found myself buying Cinestill 800T for the convenience of developing but after doing some research I found that it is not difficult to develop motion picture film with C-41 chemistry. So I bought some rolls of medium format Kodak VISION3 500T (5219) for less than half the price of Cinestill 800T, from my point of view, nowadays the cost of the film has increased excessively, at least in Mexico which is where I live.

The first thing I noticed when the film arrived is that the backing paper that covers it is recycled, so the first roll I used had a Fuji Velvia 50 paper!! On the one hand, the nervousness of not knowing if they sent me Kodiak VISION3 or by mistake they sent me Fuji Velvia 50.

For my first roll, I shot it completely as a test to see what I could get. The only thing I had in mind was to look for the best possible exposure. I needed to see the conditions and the type of film that I had bought. So I took my Hasselblad 503CX with the 50mm f/4 Distagon C lens. And I went out to shoot without much concern or intention.

Finally, after developing the film, I checked that if it is Kodak VISION3 500T and since I did not use filter to balance this Tungsten film in Daylight, all the shots had a large blue tint. I corrected it a bit in Photoshop.

With my second roll, I decided to test the behavior of the film at sunrise. Sunrise for me has a very interesting light quality. So again I took the Hasselblad, lens, exposure meter, film, tripod, and visit different places of Querétaro at dawn. I only took one photograph with artificial light, it is the interior of a traditional bar.

It was with this second roll that I realized that it is a film that I will always have in my refrigerator.

It is evident how different this film is from others that I have used, the structure is incredible! I’m actually very satisfied with all the features of the film. The only thing that surprised me was the perforations on both sides, but hey, it’s an IMAX film.


EM: The film Abel shot was 65mm Kodak VISION3 500T slit down and bulk loaded as 120 film. If you wish to do this yourself, I wrote a detailed 65mm to 120 film bulk loading guide, which you can find here.


I included the first photograph, as you can see the tape with which the film was glued to the paper can be seen, I am sure it is a problem with the way they rolled that roll but, I repeat, it is not an issue that matters to me due to the quality of the film.

Well, now it is time to use the following rolls in artificial light and find new features of this wonderful film.

~ Abel

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2 responses to “5 Frames… Of Querétaro at dawn on Kodak VISION3 500T 5219 and a Hasselblad 503CX (120 Format / EI 500 / Distagon C 50mm f/4)”

  1. It is an incredible film. Its continued production is guaranteed by a consortium of Hollywood Studios that ensured that would happen by the acquisition of all that was needed from the Eastman Kodak bankruptcy. The top directors prefer to use film instead of digital. Quite often a motion picture is begrudgingly done on video, only because the film cameras to rent from Panavision has a long waiting list. Wonderful film. Keep in mind the size of projection required from the frame at the cinema theatre.

    1. That is good news, that the best directors continue to use film ensures that we can get this film.

 

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