CineStill 800T vs Kodak Portra 800

Updated October 14, 2026 · 8 figures compared

CineStill 800T and Portra 800 are both ISO 800 color negatives for C-41, built for opposite light: 800T is balanced for 3200 K tungsten, Portra 800 for daylight A1 B1. Each calls for a filter or a lower speed in the other’s light, and Portra pays more for it: under 3200 K tungsten with Kodak’s 80A filter, it drops to ISO 200, while CineStill suggests an 85 filter and/or EI 400 to 500 for 800T in daylight B1 A1. 800T also draws red halos around bright lights, because it has no rem-jet backing A2 A7.

A GA — 012 Cinema

CineStill800T

In production

Film sheet Preset GA — 012 / P

B GA — 006 Color negative

KodakPortra 800

In production

Film sheet Preset GA — 006 / P

Compare other films

From the CineStill 800T sheet, on Kodak Portra 800: “Daylight-balanced ISO 800 still film, suggested by Analog.cafe as the fast color film without halation”
From the Kodak Portra 800 sheet, on CineStill 800T: “The other ISO 800 color film it is compared with: a Kodak motion picture stock balanced for tungsten light, with red halos around highlights”

Side by side

3 of 8 rows differ · 1 not published

Jump to the renderings

CineStill 800T and Kodak Portra 800, documented figures side by side
Identity
	A CineStill 800T	B Kodak Portra 800
Brand Differs	CineStill	Kodak
Manufacturer Differs	CineStill	Eastman Kodak
Type Differs	Cinema	Color negative
CineStill 800T is a cinema film; Kodak Portra 800 is a color negative film.
Process Same	Both C-41
ISO Same	Both 800
Motion picture films are rated with an exposure index for the light they are balanced for.
Formats Same	Both 135, 120
Both are listed in 120 and 135.
Status Same	Both In productionchecked September 29, 2026 [A1]: source 1 of CineStill 800T [B2]: source 2 of Kodak Portra 800
Also known as	None	Kodak Ektacolor Pro 800 (rename, 2026, reported) [B4]: source 4 of Kodak Portra 800
Character
Grain Not published for A	No figure published; reviews range from 'the finest-grained ISO 800 film' to 'a lot more grain than I was expecting'	Print Grain Index 4835 mm, 4×6 print [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 800
Only Kodak Portra 800 has a grain figure on its datasheet. [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 800
Contrast	Medium, per reviews; no curve published by CineStill	Normal to slightly above Portra 400 in reviews; not above it on the datasheet
Latitude	EI 200 to 1000 without push; push to EI 3200 (CineStill)	Kodak claims 'best-in-class' underexposure latitude; push curves to EI 3200
Resolving power	Not published	Not given; MTF curves published [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 800
Reciprocity	Not published	No correction from 1/10,000 s to 1 s [B1]: source 1 of Kodak Portra 800
Look	Tungsten-balanced: natural under warm lamps, blue to teal in daylight, red halos around bright lights	Warm and more saturated than Portra 400, per most reviews
Best for	Night, tungsten and neon light: 'difficult low light tungsten situations' (CineStill)	Low light and long lenses (Kodak)
Datasheet and preset
Datasheet	H-1-5219, edition 2026-03 (original emulsion) (PDF)	E-4040, edition 2025-01 (PDF)
Spectral curve	Published	Published
Preset	GA — 012 / P · darktable and Photomator	GA — 006 / P · darktable and Photomator
Both have a preset.

Source numbers carry the film: A3 is source 3 of CineStill 800T, B3 is source 3 of Kodak Portra 800. Not published: none of the sources on file gives this figure.

Same scene, two presets

SceneBeach cabinBeech forest

Beach cabin under storm clouds, with the preset inspired by CineStill 800T (GA — 012 / P) applied (simulation). — **A · GA — 012 / P** · CineStill 800T

Beach cabin under storm clouds, with the preset inspired by Kodak Portra 800 (GA — 006 / P) applied (simulation). — **B · GA — 006 / P** · Kodak Portra 800

The same beach cabin under storm clouds, base development without a preset. — **Reference** · base development, no preset

Same RAW file, two presets · rendered in darktable 5.6 · simulations on a digital RAW, not film scansPhoto: seume on discuss.pixls.us, CC0 1.0 · Photo credits

Both images start from the same RAW file, with the same base development: darktable’s default exposure and sigmoid. Each side then has one The Grain Archive preset applied. They show our interpretation of each film, not scans of real negatives. Real film also depends on exposure, processing and scanning.

Look and color

At night. In a lab’s side-by-side, Optik Oldschool found “the main difference of warmth vs. cooler cinematic look” under neon light “paired with a slight bit of moonlight”; in a fully tungsten-lit metro station, “the difference becomes less obvious”, and “the main difference is the halation effect” E1.
Halation. Without rem-jet, light reflected behind 800T’s emulsion exposes the red-sensitive layer and draws red to orange halos around bright points A2 A7. Portra 800 is not entirely free of it: a UK lab notes that light sources “can also produce slight glowing effects” B16.
In daylight. Without a filter, 800T gives a light blue or teal cast, strongest on greens and browns A6. The Darkroom says Portra 800 keeps “performing well in daylight when properly exposed” B7.

Grain and exposure

Grain. CineStill publishes no granularity for 800T A1; Kodak rates Portra 800 at a Print Grain Index of 48 for a 4×6 print from 35 mm B1. From six years of use, Analog.cafe’s author finds that 800T “appears to be the finest-grained ISO 800 film, likely surpassing Kodak Portra 800” A5; another review found “a lot more grain than I was expecting” A13.
Push. CineStill gives EI 200 to 1000 without push processing and up to EI 3200 with it A1. Kodak publishes curves for Portra 800 at EI 1600 and 3200 B1.

Which one for what

Kodak recommends Portra 800 for low light and long lenses B1; CineStill rates 800T at EI 800 under 3200 K tungsten light A1, and says its blue-sensitive layer is “even higher speed to make up for the low amounts of the blue spectrum in tungsten balanced lighting” A2.
Both are sold in 35 mm and 120 A1 A16 B2.
Optik Oldschool’s reading of its night pairs: “Environmental light (and be it just moonlight) will elevate the warmth of Portra 800”, while “CineStill 800T remains cooler, due to the halation effect lights turn red” E1.

Real film, side by side

Optik Oldschool, a film shop and lab, published three pairs of night photos of the same scenes on both films, taken by the photographer @cvandebroek and “developed and scanned by @optikoldschool” E1. The page gives no camera, exposure or date, and says of itself: “This ain’t the ultimate shootout” E1.