There is a B&W film stock from the folks at Kodak that has earned legendary status amongst the film photography community, Eastman Kodak 5222 XX. Fondly named "Double X" by those who champion it, it is a 35mm cinema film that for many decades has been the black and white film of choice for a long list of Hollywood's finest film makers. You only need to see Schindlers List and Raging Bull to appreciate the cinematic quality of Double X and see why Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorcese insisted upon using it in their multi Oscar winning blockbusters. However, many within the film comunity, in particular those who have only just begun their own journey with film photography, may not have heard of it never mind used it.
Thanks to some truly dedicated Cinematographers, Eastman Kodak 5222 XX has been available in 35mm format for many years and gained a lot of fans who love to use it in their 35mm film camera's, but it wasn't available in medium format, until now. The folks at Cinestill have managed to achieve what many folk thought would never happen, they have released Cinestill BWXX 120 medium format film. I had to get a roll before it all sold out so I could see what the fuss is all about. I have only a little experience of shooting medium format film in my Agfa Isolette 1, but my skills with the camera and the format are steadily growing. I decided it was too good an opportunity to pass by and ordered a roll from the good folks at Analogue Wonderland.
Cinestill are a company based in Los Angeles in the USA and, as the name suggests, have made their business selling rebadged Eastman Kodak Vision 3 colour cinema film. If you have seen a colour film photo of an American gas station at night, chances are it was taken on Cinestill 800T colour film. Their colour film has always been available in 35mm and 120 medium format, but Double X was only available in 35mm. Cinestill managed to get hold of Double X in 120 medium format and the film community has been very supportive of this move.
Double X is a film stock that is capable of being shot at a wide range of speeds from 200-1600 or more and developed in Kodak D96, Cinestill D96 and in all of the popular developers such as Kodak HC-110, which I used after reading the spec sheets from Cinestill. I decided to shoot mine at 250 iso and take advantage of the lovely sunshine we have been enjoying here in the UK. I shot my film in 2 halves, one half around my local countryside and the other around town to take advantage of the mock tudor and modern glass fronted buildings.
My Agfa isolette 1 is as manual a
camera as you can get and I metered using Light Meter Free that I
found in Google Play. Thankfully it's a decent app I was able to
accurately meter my shots and get some good images. I developed it in Kodak HC-110 dilution B (1+31) for 6 minutes at 20 celcius.
After scanning and editing I have to say I like the street shots better than the ones I took in the local countryside, it thrives with the mock tudor architecture just that bit better than landscapes. I can see why this film is so beloved by its fans and I will be using it again at some point as I really like the look of it. I think I will get a couple of rolls in 35mm so I can compare the two, but that's for a future blog. Here's a few of my photo's for you to enjoy and as always I have posted them on my Flicker account so you can see them in full resolution.
Cinestill
Flickr Album
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