AshigrainColour negative · Natural
Fujifilm Eterna 500
The Descent's inky dark, at 500 speed.
Steady greys and deep blacks from a fast tungsten Eterna, printed Fuji-on-Fuji. Original vs Ashigrain.
At a glance
- Exposure index
- 500
- Tungsten
- Introduced
- 2004
- Discontinued 2013
- Process
- ECN-2
About the film
For Neil Marshall's cave horror The Descent (2005), Sam McCurdy tested Eterna 500 against Kodak in near-darkness and shot the whole film on it, preferring its stronger contrast and deeper blacks.
Fujifilm introduced Eterna 500 in 2004 as the first film of its Eterna series, coded 8573 in 35 mm and 8673 in 16 mm. Its engineers set out to give their fast tungsten negative the grain of a medium-speed stock, and Fujifilm reported granularity close to its EI 250 film, a large step from the F-500 it succeeded. Fujifilm also reported steadier grey balance from shadow to highlight and, thanks to new couplers, less of the red fringing that F-500 showed at high-contrast edges, which mattered for scanning and compositing. Eterna 400, 250 and 250D followed, sharing its palette so that stocks of different speeds could be cut together. Phedon Papamichael shot 3:10 to Yuma (2007) on Eterna 500 and Eterna 250T, avoiding very fast or slow stocks so the grain would not change through the film. Fujifilm reported that Anthony Dod Mantle worked mainly on it for Slumdog Millionaire, pushing it a stop, and that Barry Ackroyd used its 16 mm version on The Hurt Locker, the Academy Award winners for Best Picture of 2009 and 2010. Fujifilm ended all motion-picture film production on 31 March 2013.
Sources for this history
- FUJICOLOR NEGATIVE FILM ETERNA 500 (KB-501E), FUJIFILM Corporation
- Motion Picture Film Manual (KB-0707E), FUJIFILM Corporation
- 映画用カラーネガフィルム ETERNA シリーズの開発 (FUJIFILM RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT No. 51), FUJIFILM Corporation
- GFX ETERNA 55 開発秘話 #1 – 製品コンセプト, FUJIFILM Corporation
- The Latest Technologies of Motion-Picture Color Negative Film, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
- Fuji Eterna 500T 8573 / 8673, Timeline of Historical Film Colors, University of Zurich
- Fujifilm Expands Eterna Family With The Introduction Of Eterna 400, Eterna 250, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. (via WebWire)
- Discontinued Films, FUJIFILM Corporation
- Fujifilm, Film and Digital Times
- Announcement on Motion Picture Film Business of Fujifilm, FUJIFILM Corporation
- The Descent: Creepy Crawlers, American Society of Cinematographers
- 3:10 to Yuma: Unsafe Passage, American Society of Cinematographers
- Fujifilm congratulates Slumdog Millionaire on their Oscar® success, Fujifilm UK Ltd
- 'Best Films' choose Fujifilm, Fujifilm UK Ltd
- The King's Speech records hat trick for Fujifilm in the 2011 Academy Awards®, FUJIFILM Corporation
Shot on Fujifilm Eterna 500
The Descent
Shot entirely on 35mm Eterna 500 (8573), chosen after low-light tests against Kodak for its contrast and dark shadows in the cave sets.
Un prophète
Fontaine's first feature on Fuji, shot on Eterna 500 8573 and F-64D, using the fast stock outside when the winter light was dim.
Precious
Because 13 days had to be reshot, Andrew Dunn switched from the production's original Kodak stocks to Fuji Eterna 500T and 250D, rating the 500T at 320.
Låt den rätte komma in
One of three Eterna stocks, with 250T and 250D, that van Hoytema called versatile and grainless and a good base for the digital intermediate.
The Fighter
The fastest of three Eterna stocks, with 250T and 250D, that van Hoytema chose because he had used Fuji before and expected it to respond well to many different colours.
The look
Fujifilm Eterna 500 is the tungsten-balanced EI 500 negative that launched the Eterna line. Its palette is restrained, its grain fine for its speed, and its greys and skin tones hold steady from shadow to highlight. It prints on Fujifilm Eterna-CP 3513DI by default.
Low-key lighting with fine grain for a 500-speed film.
Available light on a fast tungsten negative.
Best for
- Night interiors under tungsten
- Low-key horror and thriller lighting
- Pushed, gritty location work
Among the films
Science & sources
A tungsten-balanced colour negative with an exposure index of 500. Fujifilm prints one granularity value and one sharpness curve, so its per-layer grain and sharpness are modelled, and its dye shapes are fitted from Kodak Vision3. It prints on Fujifilm Eterna-CP 3513DI by default.
Response curves and the evidence behind the model
Compare manufacturer data with the Ashigrain model on the same axes. This shows the calibration to source curves; comparison with photographed film is a separate question.
Characteristic response
RMS granularity
Density variation (σD) measured through a 48 µm aperture. Where the datasheet gives a single grain value, the response away from that point is an approximation.
| Channel | Density | Datasheet-based σD | Model σD |
|---|---|---|---|
| R | 0.3 | 0.001917 | 0.001978 |
| G | 0.3 | 0.001917 | 0.00198 |
| B | 0.3 | 0.001917 | 0.001982 |
| R | 0.6 | 0.002711 | 0.002798 |
| G | 0.6 | 0.002711 | 0.0028 |
| B | 0.6 | 0.002711 | 0.002803 |
| R | 1 | 0.0035 | 0.003612 |
| G | 1 | 0.0035 | 0.003615 |
| B | 1 | 0.0035 | 0.003619 |
| G | 1.5 | 0.004287 | 0.004428 |
| B | 1.5 | 0.004287 | 0.004432 |
Model limits
These images show the film model in use. Spectral response, lighting and viewing conditions include approximations, while halation, bloom, grain size, weave and flicker are not fully measured for each film. A real film capture also depends on development and print timing.
- The model assumes custom lighting spectra, camera metering and the spectral reflectance inferred from fixed-white-balance footage. These inputs are not measurements of the film.
- The model calculates colour-print timing and scan balance for arbitrary lighting. Scanner colour balance is expressed without a standard physical unit.
- A 3200 K tungsten source is specified as the design light. Its spectrum and the conversion filter’s transmission are approximated because the source supplies no spectrum.
- The characteristic curves use a relative exposure axis marked in camera stops. Their absolute normal-exposure point is not specified; its alignment is assumed.
- The source publishes only one RMS granularity value, 3.5 × 10⁻³. The granularity response away from that level is modelled, not a digitised grain curve.
- The source publishes one contrast transfer function with no density legend, not separate per-layer MTF measurements.
- Only neutral and minimum spectral densities are published, not separate cyan, magenta and yellow dye spectra. Individual dye shapes are fitted assumptions.
- The prescribed Kodak 85 filter transmission, grain size, push/pull behaviour and interlayer effects are approximations.
- Characteristic response outside the published exposure range is an extrapolation, not measured film data.
- The source does not identify an antihalation layer. Rem-jet is assumed; halation strength, radius, layer weights and bloom are not measured.
- The available documents do not name a development process for this film. ECN-2 is assumed, not confirmed by those sources.
- This preview approximates the printer lamp and filter spectra and the Status A grey target. The source does not provide the spectral data or laboratory target needed to calibrate them.
Film guide: assumptions and practical choices
Sources
- Diffuse RMS granularity: FUJICOLOR NEGATIVE FILM ETERNA 500 (35mm Type 8573 / 16mm Type 8673) data sheet, Ref. No. KB-501E (SK·07·05), p. 1
- Exposure index: FUJIFILM Motion Picture Film Manual, Ref.No.KB-0707E, p. 13
- Characteristic curves: FUJIFILM Motion Picture Film Manual, Ref.No.KB-0707E, p. 14