Kodak · ISO 250 B&W negative
Kodak Double-X 5222
5222 is a motion picture stock that has been running through cinema cameras since 1959. Christopher Nolan shot portions of Memento on it. The opening sequences of Schindler's List were shot on a closely related Kodak cinema emulsion. It is not a stills film by origin; It has a conventional anti-halation layer that washes out in normal B&W chemistry, so it does not need the rem-jet pre-bath that color cinema stocks require. CineStill simply rolls it into standard DX-coded 135 cassettes as BwXX so still photographers can drop it into a 35mm body.
The character is high contrast and punchy compared to conventional B&W negative stocks. Shadows drop faster than Tri-X; highlights compress later. The grain is medium-large and structured in a way that reads as filmic in the motion-picture sense of that word, which is the entire appeal. When people say they want a "movie look" from still photography, this emulsion is often actually what they are chasing.
Nolan and other directors who shoot 5222 in cine cameras run it through D-96, the motion picture B&W developer. CineStill's BwXX is designed for C-41 or conventional D-76 chemistry after rem-jet removal, and that is how most still photographers process it. D-76 at 1:1 gives you good grain and solid tonality. ID-11 behaves similarly. Avoid high-acutance developers if you want the cinematic grain to land right.
Format availability is specific to how you source it. Kodak sells it in 100ft and 400ft cans for motion picture use. CineStill sells pre-loaded DX-coded short ends in 35mm. There is no 120 or sheet option. If you want the look in medium format, Ilford Delta 400 pushed once gets you partway there, but it is not the same stock.
The reciprocity exponent of 1.31 is the conventional silver grain baseline. Zone Light Meter applies the correction past one second. A two-minute meter reading extends to roughly three and a half minutes at the negative. Night shooting on 5222 has a particular deep-shadow-block quality that the reciprocity behavior only amplifies: meter carefully and bracket when you can.
How the app handles this stock
- Box speed: ISO 250. Picker exposes pull/push chips so you can shoot it at any speed you want and the meter follows.
- Reciprocity: Above one second the app raises metered time to the power of 1.31.
- Expired film: if you load an old roll, set the expiry year and storage in the app and the ISO scales for you. B&W negative decay rates are baked in.