Hosted by: Cameron
Sponsored by: Poppy Labs
Starts 19th March
Abstract
The goal of the cine-film challenge is first and foremost to introduce film shooters to the concept of shooting cinema film rerolled into casettes for stills use.
In the current film photography market, color film can be expensive and hard to come by. Cinema film is a great alternative to traditional C-41 color negative film options, offering good performance at a reasonable price.
Participants in this challenge will be tasked with submitting several edited images per month in the form of a Discord thread. Other participants will offer critiques (where requested) and share their experiences shooting on a new medium.
At the conclusion of the challenge, participants in the challenge will vote on their favorite image from each participant, and a zine will be made to commemorate everyone’s participation.
Rules
- Photographers participating in this challenge must shoot exclusively on cinema film when creating work for the challenge (obviously, shooting for other projects or for fun on other mediums is fine).
- Photographers must submit 10-20 edited images per month. All images do not need to be submitted at once, and can be spaced out to accommodate processing time, mailing negatives back and forth, etc.
- Photographers are allowed to source cinema film from anywhere they want, including re-cans for C-41 like Cinestill, Reto, etc. Processing in C-41 is welcome, but please check with your favorite lab before sending any true ECN-2 cinema film for processing in C-41 chemistry. The Remjet anti-halation layer on the back of these films will ruin both chemistry and machines.
- Shooting medium format in the form of cut-down 65mm film or Cinestill films is allowed
Where To Get Cinefilm/Cinefilm Processing
Available World-Wide:
Cinestill – Cinestill re-cans motion picture stocks that have the Remjet layer removed prior to exposure. This causes the popular “glow” around specular highlights. These films are safe to process in C-41 machines.
Sibersalz – Based in Germany, Sibersalz sells re-cans of motion picture stocks and offers motion picture-grade processing and high quality scanning. Processing turnaround times can be long, especially if mailing from outside the EU.
Northern Film Lab – Based in Ireland, mix of various re-spooled films, with a good amount of cine film. Includes some of the ‘super slow’ film stocks that have no-remjet, so can be processed in C-41. Technically a good option for the UK, but does ship worldwide.
US Only:
Poppy Labs – Poppy Labs is sponsoring the challenge, and operated by the challenge moderator, Cameron. Re-cans of some motion picture stocks are available, as well as processing in true ECN-2 chemistry. Discounts for both film and processing will be available to US-based participants in the challenge in the form of a code applied at checkout. For the price of shipping, Poppy Labs is able to offer a free 20 exposure sampler roll to anyone based in the US.
Midwest Film Lab – US-based lab offering true ECN-2 cinefilm processing and scanning.
Boutique Film Lab – US-based lab offering ECN-2 cinefilm processing and scanning. They can push, pull, and provide both prints and contact sheets.
DIY ECN-2 Kits
For anyone processing color negative film at home already, expanding your abilities to include ECN-2 is not difficult. Several pre-mixed kits are available in the US and worldwide.
Cinestill – 2-bath kit. If you are already using Cinestill’s kit for C-41, it is easy to add this to your order, and the workflow is similar.
DIY ECN-2 – Small 3-bath 1L kit designed to do roughly 12-15 rolls or keep for 6 weeks, depending on your level of re-use. You provide your own fixer (Ilford Rapid Fix is recommended)
Bellini – EU-based ECN-2 kit. 12 36exp 35mm/120 films. 4 baths.