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A First Look at the Harman Phoenix Colour Film
It’s not just another Portra
Exactly one week ago Harman, Ilford’s parent company, launched a new ISO 200 colour film. With a loud marketing campaign, a grand countdown that temporarily disabled Harman’s website, and a flood of photography influencers on Instagram posting their first images at launch time, the film seems to have caused quite a stir in the analog photography community.
I too, was not untouched by this campaign, and my local photography store organized a photo walk for the launch of the film, and kindly carried the cost for the development and scanning of the film. In the following, I’m going to share some brief first impressions.
Keep in mind, here in Zurich, we had considerable snowfall on the day of the photo walk, and the conditions were not exactly ideal to shoot an ISO 200 colour film. All the shots here were taken by me with a Leica M6 and Summicron 50mm lens.
The Harman Phoenix
The Harman Phoenix is the first ever full colour film made at the Harman/Ilford factory in Mobberly, UK. The following is the brief rundown of what Harman say about the Phoenix:
HARMAN Phoenix 200 is an experimental ISO 200, C41 process, colour negative film with high contrast and strong visible grain.
It can be used for any photographic subject with results dependent on ambient lighting conditions, colour palette, and exposure accuracy. Best results are typically obtained outdoors with consistent light and medium brightness scenes whilst metering for the mid-tones.
See the full description and download the full spec sheet at the official Harman Phoenix page.
My first impressions
I have a feeling that this is a love it or hate it film stock. Personally, I love it. For fans of a grainy aesthetic and warm tones, this film hits the spot. I think…
