I shot my first (and probably last) roll of CineStill 35 film. The box has the number 135 on it, and I mistakenly assumed it was ISO 135. Turns out that it's really ISO 250 which I see now having looked it up on their website.
Anyway I set the film speed on my M6 to 135, and predictably the images were over exposed. But worse than that they're overly grainy and seem to be out of focus which is odd because if nothing else I know how to RF focus and never have had a problem shooting other film on my other M cams.
I had the 35 steel rim reissue attached, and I know well how it creates unique flair (which I love) when shot wide open towards the sun. But most of the images I shot have a weird circular halo around whatever is the center of the frame.
I'd like to rule out there being any problem with my camera (which I don't think there is), and rule out any problem with how the lab developed the film (again I don't think they caused it).
My gut tells me it's a combination of the qualities of this particular film stock, plus the optical qualities of the steel rim reissue (although I can't image that I had it wide open given how bright the sun was - even at 1000 shutter with ISO set to 135 the meter should have indicated over exposure if I had the lens wide open.
Would be interested to know what others think. Below are samples. I included a few that wen't shot directly in the sun and don't exhibit the weird circular effect, although again they still seem not focused well.
I'd say this is normal for this lens design. That is just how it produces flare, with a circular and uniform shape. You will notice the same effect when light comes from the side, and when pointing the lens directly at the sun, a symmetrical rounded flare appears, just like in your images.
Check the edge marking on the film. Most likely it’s Kodak 5222 Double X. It’s a wonderful film and you should try another roll but with a few changes. Try adding a ND4 filter to help dampen some of that super bright Florida sun. Exposing it at ISO 135 shouldn’t have made that big a difference, I used a bunch of it knocking off one stop for a yellow filter. If you have a hand held meter with an incident dome, compare that to the readings from the M6. The meter in the M6 reads the reflection off of the white dot on the shutter curtain and can be fooled by bright lighting situations. The Steel Rim was just showing off its glow! A hood would have helped with the sidelight. Lastly, how was the film developed? I’ve had good results using HC-110 to develop 5222 but D76 or even DDX will produce a nice negative. And like Huss always says,it’s not a mistake, it’s art!
Hope this helps.
I think Huss says the biggest danger is when shooting wide open at infinity.
Yup, wide open at infinity not only focuses the sun perfectly to burn, but also maximizes the effect.
As I don’t use lens caps when I’m out n about (I’ll just lose them) I have my lenses stopped down and focus set to minimum if I am just carrying and not yet shooting.