Kodak · ISO 500 Cinema
Kodak Vision3 500T
Vision3 500T is the film Kodak engineered for night cinema in the 2010s, and it is the single most-shot motion picture stock of the past decade. Robert Elswit shot most of Inherent Vice on 500T at native speed. Bradford Young leaned on it for the night interiors of A Most Violent Year. Hoyte van Hoytema shot a third of Dunkirk on 65mm Vision3 because IMAX film is the only format that can match it for dynamic range, and digital still cannot.
For still photography it has become the gold standard for low-light color negative, with the caveat that you need an ECN-2 lab. Most C-41 labs will run it (the remjet has to be removed first) but you trade about a stop of shadow detail. CineStill rebadges this exact stock as 800T for one-stop pushing in C-41 chemistry; if you have ECN-2 access, shoot the Kodak version at 500.
The dynamic range is extraordinary. Vision3 holds about fourteen stops of latitude in either direction, more than any still negative. Underexposure is recoverable in ways that would destroy a Portra negative.
Available in cine perf 35mm (400-foot cans), 200-foot daylight loads for still SLRs, and 65mm for IMAX cinematographers. The reciprocity exponent is 1.10. Kodak's published reciprocity guidance for Vision3 effectively says do not exceed eight seconds at native speed; Zone Light Meter respects the one-second threshold and applies the published exponent past that point.
How the app handles this stock
- Box speed: ISO 500. 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 1.10.
- Expired film: if you load an old roll, set the expiry year and storage in the app and the ISO scales for you. Cinema decay rates are baked in.
Frequently asked questions
What ISO is Kodak Vision3 500T?
Kodak Vision3 500T is an ISO 500 cinema film from Kodak. You can rate it at box speed or push and pull it; set the speed you actually shot and the meter follows.
Is Kodak Vision3 500T still in production?
Yes. Kodak Vision3 500T is a current film you can still buy new.
Does Kodak Vision3 500T suffer from reciprocity failure?
Yes, on exposures longer than about one second. Its reciprocity exponent is 1.10, so a metered 10 seconds becomes about 13 seconds. Zone Light Meter applies this automatically.
What formats does Kodak Vision3 500T come in?
Kodak Vision3 500T was available in motion-picture, 35mm.