CineStill 800T at Night: The Bright Lights of Luxembourg's Funfair

Shooting film at night can feel like a leap of faith, which is exactly what CineStill 800T was made for. Our Analogue Adventurer Masha had been saving a roll in her fridge for the perfect moment, and Luxembourg's enormous Schueberfouer funfair turned out to be it! She also slipped in a few frames of Kodak 800 for a fun comparison. Let's see how she got on after dark...

CineStill 800T at a funfair after dark

Mostly spending time in Luxembourg across the winter months and during Christmas meant that I hadn't really experienced the country in any season apart from when it is cold, grey and occasionally covered with a dusting of snow. However this summer changed it all, and whilst I covered my fascination with seeing Luxembourg in the sun and with green leaves in my previous blog, this one is all about the Schueberfouer, which is basically a Christmas market on 5 litres of energy drinks!

This was its 686th year running, and it is Luxembourg's largest funfair, happening every year in late August and spanning 4 hectares right in the centre of the city. To put this into a more digestible perspective, that is approximately a quarter of the size of London's Winter Wonderland, which is incredibly remarkable for a city that is 30 times smaller than London!

Although it does open from lunchtime onwards, if you walk through it during daytime hours it is mostly office workers trying out a new lunch option; the real fun starts later in the day and continues until the early hours of the morning! Having never been before, I wanted the all-round experience, so the executive decision was made to wait until it got dark to really see it shine, and shine it definitely did! I am not a night owl (or an early bird for that matter, mostly averaging out as a constantly tired pigeon), so you can imagine the amount of effort it took me to wait until it was dark enough outside to give myself the best chance of capturing the shots I wanted.

Shot on Kodak 800

"So you say you want to capture shots, but with what?" you might ask.

With my Olympus Trip and Pentax 17 being preoccupied (you can read and find out why here), my Canon A1 with a simple 50mm f/1.8 lens came with me! As for my film selection, a roll of CineStill 800T had long been sitting in fridge jail, as I could never bring myself to use it. I always feel like there could be a better opportunity, and this felt like the one I had been waiting for!

I have used CineStill 400D before and fell in love with it, so I couldn't not try out one of its siblings too (50D, I am looking at you next, but maybe when the weather is less temperamental). In this day and age, I wouldn't say that it is an expensive film (there are ISO 400 films going for basically the same price!), and compared to other ISO 800 films it is definitely cheaper. Looking at the results, it also gives you a little more fun in your photos than Portra, for example, but of course it depends on exactly what you are looking for!

This film is very much made for night shooting, and I often saw it used specifically for photographs of neon signs in low light and for night-time street photography (having never done this kind of photography myself, it felt like a completely foreign concept to me!). If you want to geek out a little more, Paul talks much more about the film itself, including its origin story and some science-y technical stuff, in his CineStill 800T film review!

I did end up borrowing a tripod in case I wanted to use it, but all the shots were actually taken handheld (I genuinely think I would have been run over if I had tried to set one up, and in hindsight I was glad it stayed at home), with apertures between f/2 and f/5.6 and fairly fast shutter speeds. Whilst I do believe in my ability to hold still, I did not want to risk being accidentally bumped into and wasting what felt like too few frames.

And I won't lie to you, I did feel a little bit intimidated, as not only was this a film I had never used before, but I had also never shot outside of daylight hours. But there's a first time for everything, am I right?

I also had a lovely stash of so-called Kodak (Gold?) 800 that I got from AW back when they decided to crack open a few disposable cameras, so I will sprinkle some of those images throughout too, as I think it adds a fun little comparison (and yes, that does mean we went to the funfair several times, but let's not judge here... the entry was free!). Will AW decide to pull more film from disposable cameras? Who knows, but I am glad I still have a roll saved in the fridge that I can test out in daylight hours in the future!

Both films were developed and scanned by the WonderLab team (of course), who colour balance every roll by emulsion, so please note that results from other labs may vary!

You spin my head right round, or my attempts at capturing movement

Something that I really wanted to try my hand at was capturing movement, and what better place to try that than a funfair, with an incredible number of constantly spinning rides filled with screaming fairgoers and lights flashing and circling all around you?

Based on the people I follow and the photography that is fed to me on social media, I think there are two camps when it comes to capturing movement: those who want to freeze it in time, and those who want to capture the feeling of movement itself. Personally, I leaned more into the latter, so instead of constantly focusing on freezing the rides, I often leaned into the motion blur. I really like how the photos managed to capture the movement of people on the rides whilst also preserving the décor of the rides themselves so perfectly.

Shot on CineStill 800T

What I really love about film photography (and the reason I will probably never dabble in digital cameras) is the anticipation of finding out whether the moment I wanted to capture actually turned out as I had hoped (especially if you add the sheer panic of watching this film being fed through a CT scanner on the way back to the UK).

Not every shot came out exactly as I expected, and hand on heart, some actually turned out better than I could ever have imagined, which I can only lovingly refer to as happy accidents. Sometimes a photo would unintentionally preserve a specific detail from a fleeting moment without freezing it in place, whilst simultaneously capturing the movement unfolding around it.

Shot on Kodak 800

What I like most about this image is how perfectly it captures what can only be described as terror in the man's eyes, but also the atmosphere around him, with the bright lights and frozen movement of the other Avatar pods making you feel that you are right there, standing next to the ride.

If you look closely, you may notice that the characteristic CineStill halation is missing from the bright lights in this photo. This image was taken on a different evening, when I had Kodak 800 loaded into the camera instead, giving us a very interesting contrast to the CineStill images, with much more prominent yellows coming through and an overall warmer feel than its CineStill counterparts.

Speaking of happy accidents (and whilst I could technically take all the credit for this), one of my (many) favourite photos from this roll was of the 80m-tall ride spinning high in the air. I think it is the combination of the moving lights and the trails they created, CineStill's halation and the stark contrast of the night sky that really make it stand out and make it so much more interesting than the ride was in real life. Having gone on the ride after paying what felt like a mini mortgage for a ticket, I can vouch that it is not about the ride itself, but the view that opens up when you are at the top.

Shot on CineStill 800T

The lights as the main attraction

I have always loved loved loved colours, so the funfair felt as if it was made with me in mind, and what some might call overwhelming and migraine-inducing, I can only describe as "can we stay here forever, please?". I'm pretty sure we did too many laps around the funfair to count, and I had to work really hard to restrain my trigger-happy self and let my camera simply exist without constantly photographing everything around me. I kept having to remind myself that I only had one roll of CineStill with me!

As soon as you enter, your senses are hit by bright lights, an array of colours, music blaring from various rides and DJs, and of course the smell of freshly baked waffles and grilled meat wafting through the air. Whilst film photography has unfortunately not yet reached the stage of capturing sound and smell, it excels at translating the environment itself.

Shot on CineStill 800T

Even before you pass through the entrance, with its constantly changing light displays, you can already appreciate the vastness of the space and the contrasting colours of the lights against the night sky, and CineStill's halation does a fantastic job of emphasising their brightness, which adds an extra je ne sais quoi to the photo. For some (particularly parents) it is also a place where your wallet will get considerably lighter with exceptional speed, leaving you smiling but with pain in your eyes, similar to this clown.

Shot on CineStill 800T

I think both the clown above and the mouse ride below are fantastic examples of how beautifully CineStill 800T and Kodak 800 captured the lights against the dark sky. The photographs really make you appreciate the designers behind these rides and the thought that has gone into the shapes, patterns and colours of the lighting.

I'm especially mesmerised by how the lights trace the outline of the upper part of the ride, making its structure stand out so distinctly against the night, with the colours coming across much more intensely. The way something as ordinary as the ride's tracks, which might otherwise disappear into the darkness, becomes one of the most striking features of the photograph by drawing out the shape of the ride for you is what really pushed this photo into my top 10.

Shot on Kodak 800

I also feel like I would be doing both of these films a disservice if I didn't comment on how surprisingly fine the grain turned out in these photographs, even in the smallest of details. I've always associated higher-ISO film with more noticeable grain, so I was genuinely surprised by just how sharp and detailed these shots came out. I'm sure there is a perfectly good technical explanation for this, but that's most definitely beyond my level of knowledge and understanding!

When talking about CineStill film, I feel that it is an unspoken requirement to fawn over halation, and I am more than happy to oblige. I really liked how the distinct red halation sometimes added extra detail and character to the photographs without distracting from the wider ride scene I was capturing. I found it was often most prominent against darker, less illuminated backgrounds (duh Masha, this is literally the whole point of this film...), such as areas of a ride that didn't have multicoloured bulbs outlining them, where the contrast made the light stand out even more.

With brightly lit signs scattered throughout each ride, some shots even appear almost double-exposed, with the bright bulbs overlapping the thin, almost translucent bunting, creating the impression of multiple layers within a single frame and adding even more dimension to the photographs.

Shot on CineStill 800T

How much colour is too much colour?

With the Schueberfouer being what can only be described as an explosion of colour, it would be unfair of me not to touch upon this in the blog. Given that CineStill 800T is known for its tungsten colour balance, it would be a fairly obvious observation that the images often leaned into blue tones. Interestingly, though, I also found that it accentuated the reds, and by extension the purple undertones, in some images too, giving them an overall cooler feel than the scenes had in real life. The colours changed constantly between rides, with every design strikingly different from the last.

In some cases, the cooler blue tones worked in favour of the scene I was capturing, making it much more atmospheric. One such moment was yet another happy accident that I nearly walked past. One of the quieter, sea-themed rides appeared empty at first glance, with most of the boats still waiting for someone to jump in, but one was already occupied by an elderly couple. It was such a heartwarming sight that I couldn't resist capturing it. The blue hues and the soft halation gave this photo a softer, gentler feel, helping me capture what seemed to be a quiet, special moment the two of them were sharing away from the roaring crowds.

Shot on CineStill 800T

Having never shot CineStill 800T before, I was very unsure how it would handle darker areas and shadows (although, to be fair, this is a concern I have with every new film I use, and it definitely grows when shooting in an already dark environment). However, I am very happy to report that the film retained far more detail in the shadows than I had expected, being surprisingly forgiving in a space that wasn't particularly well lit and capturing details even in the darkest of corners, although it did give the image a slight teal cast, which I think was to be expected. The red and orange halation around the few hanging lights only added to the atmosphere, making it look almost as if fireflies were dancing through the air to the sound of Elvis songs.

Shot on CineStill 800T

Coming back to the funfair with that extra Kodak 800 roll also gave me the opportunity to make a fun colour comparison. Whilst I didn't follow in the footsteps of my previous blog by taking exactly the same shots, I could still see an expected but fairly clear difference in how the two rolls interpreted the colours around me.

Now that you have had a chance to get used to the look of CineStill 800T, the contrast is easy to spot, as Kodak seems to bring out much warmer green and yellow hues, which are clearly visible in the photograph, pushing the reds and blues into the metaphorical back seat. And whilst Kodak 800 is often associated with fairly noticeable grain, much like my earlier ponderings, I was pleasantly surprised by how fine it appeared in my photographs. Even when the image had plenty of detail, the grain never felt distracting or took anything away from the image itself.

Shot on Kodak 800

Final thoughts and feelings

Overall, this was a super fun type of photography to dip my toes into, and it pushed me to pay attention to details I might otherwise have overlooked if I had been shooting during daylight hours. I often get so comfortable with my own style and the subjects I gravitate towards that I forget how fun it can be to try something completely different. That said, shooting in these conditions definitely required a little more thought, especially when it came to metering the light and adjusting my aperture and shutter speeds!

Whilst I can't comment on how CineStill 800T performs outside dark and artificially lit environments, I can now most definitely understand why it's such a fan favourite, and I will definitely stock up on more rolls for future adventures (Christmas markets, I am coming for you!).

If you haven't tried this film before and have been umming and ahhing about whether to give it a go, I'd say bite the bullet and add a roll of CineStill 800T to your basket, especially with winter on its way, when higher-ISO films are especially welcome!

Thank you Masha! This is a brilliant introduction to shooting film after dark, and proof that you don't need a tripod to come home with glowing night shots. Perfect inspiration for the Christmas markets and light switch-ons coming up this winter!