CineStill XX Meets Nude
The Magic of CineStill ISO 200 and Medium Format Camera
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
In the gentle hills outside Zurich, Switzerland, Yuliya Panchenko found herself standing at the edge of something powerful — a perfect storm of film, light, and emotion.
Armed with the legendary Bronica Zenza S, a heavy, tank-like 6x6 medium format camera, and loaded with the stunning CineStill XX 120 black-and-white film, Yuliya set out to create something timeless: a pure, artistic nude boudoir series that spoke the language of freedom.
This blog celebrates the love affair between medium format photography, CineStill XX, and the infinite beauty of black-and-white nude art.
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
The Film: Why CineStill XX Became Her New Obsession
CineStill XX 120 ISO 200 isn't just another black-and-white film. It's a legendary motion picture stock, originally made for cinema, now adapted for still photography. It carries decades of Hollywood's visual history within every roll — subtle grain, deep shadow detail, and breathtaking highlight control.
The 120 version elevates that beauty even further. When Yuliya first pulled the negatives from her Zurich session, she was stunned.
The tones were creamy but bold. The shadows wrapped around the human form like silk. The highlights breathed life into every movement.
It wasn’t just film — it was memory, emotion, and time stitched into silver and grain.
From that moment on, Yuliya knew: CineStill XX would become a signature part of her Forbidden Frames work.
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
The Camera: Bronica Zenza S and the Beauty of 6x6
The Bronica Zenza S — affectionately called the “Japanese Hasselblad” — is a beast of precision and power. Using the 6x6 format allowed Yuliya to frame each image like a complete piece of fine art, giving her models room to breathe inside the square composition.
But it wasn’t just about format — it was about feeling. The shallow depth of field achieved with medium format film created an ethereal softness, a tangible intimacy that smaller formats just couldn’t deliver. Each frame captured in the fields of Zurich felt less like a photograph and more like a dream you didn’t want to wake up from.
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
The Session: Black-and-White Nude Art in a Zurich Field
The setting was pure poetry: a golden field dotted with red wildflowers, whispering under the cool Swiss breeze. Yuliya, photographing a nude figure against the open landscape, used the Bronica's stunning depth of field to isolate her subjects — pulling soft skin into perfect clarity while melting the background into a painterly blur.
Every frame captured in black-and-white felt timeless.
There was no need for color; the texture of the earth, the curves of the body, and the weight of the air spoke louder than anything else could. CineStill XX didn’t just record the scene — it romanticized it. In 6x6 squares, the field, the sky, and the soul of the moment were preserved forever.
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
Final Thoughts: A New Love Story with Film
This Zurich session changed everything. Yuliya didn’t just find a new favorite film; she found a deeper way of seeing, feeling, and connecting with her subjects.
The combination of CineStill XX 120, the Bronica Zenza S, the medium format 6x6 ratio, and the raw beauty of black-and-white nude photography created some of the most iconic images of Forbidden Frames Season 1.
It was more than just another session. It was a rebirth of everything boudoir could and should be — pure, simple, emotional, and honest.
Boudoir with Bronica Zenza S Captured by Yuliya Panchenko.
