CineStill BwXX (120)

CineStill released BwXX in 120 on May 26, 2021, ending the sixty-two-year run during which Kodak Eastman Double-X 5222 had been available only as motion picture cine stock. Medium-format shooters had been bulk-loading slit-down 35mm into 120 backing paper for years to get the look. The 120 release made that workaround unnecessary.

The stock is Kodak 5222 repackaged. Eastman has been making 5222 to the same essential specification since 1959, and no B&W cine film carries remjet, so there is no special chemistry involved. Process it in D-76, ID-11, HC-110, or CineStill's own D96 motion picture developer. D-76 at 1:1 for around six minutes lands you in the middle of the published curves. HC-110 dilution B gives punchier results with the same shadow detail. Box speed is ISO 250 daylight, ISO 200 tungsten, and the film pushes cleanly to 800 and to 1600 with visible grain.

In 120 the grain that defines this stock in 35mm settles into something closer to a fine-grain medium format negative. You still get the structured, high-contrast cinematic look that draws people to 5222, but the texture quiets down enough that a 6x7 enlargement scales to a wall print without the grain becoming the subject of the photograph. Compared with HP5+ in 120, BwXX gives you a steeper contrast curve and faster shadow drop. Tri-X sits between the two in look but does not chase the cinema reference at all.

Where it disappoints: highlight rendering on bright sky. The shoulder is short. Skies blow toward paper white faster than they would on T-MAX 400 or Acros II. If you are shooting beach or snow, drop half a stop and develop normally.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.31. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second on the standard curve. A metered 30-second exposure becomes about 90 seconds at the negative. For city night shooting at f/8 on a tripod, that math comes up routinely. Sold in 35mm 36-exposure cassettes and 120 rolls. No sheet film.