Harman Phoenix 200 – First Roll Review & Experiences

Sometime mid October I had an ominous message from Michelle at HARMAN Technology saying she needed to talk to me about something. I must admit, seeing as it was the day before the Analogue Spotlight event I was a little worried – for a split second I thought they might not be coming which would have been a disaster… Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, what she wanted to talk to me about wasn’t anything to worry about at all, quite the opposite in fact, it was actually something to be quite excited about – not to mention something that came totally out of the blue – she wanted to bring me up to speed about the forthcoming release of their first colour film, HARMAN Phoenix 200.

If you’ve not heard of HARMAN technology, they are the parent brand to ILFORD Photo. ILFORD Photo is the brand that markets the black & white films that HARMAN technology produces at the HQ in Mobberley in the UK. This new film is a colour film and due to the agreements that HARMAN have to use the ILFORD photo brand, it can’t be marketed as an ILFORD photo film. Hence HARMAN Phoenix 200. Because of this, it’s also worth noting that if you want to keep up with film related news from HARMAN Photo (as opposed to ILFORD) then there’s a whole load of social media channels that I will link to at the bottom.

The main point of mentioning this is to highlight a couple of things. Firstly, whilst this isn’t an ILFORD film, the team behind the scenes is the same. More importantly, the manufacturing is done in the same place as the black & white ILFORD films. And what’s important about that…? Well, in case it’s not obvious, all this means that this is a new film, not a rebrand, not an outsourced product, it’s an organisation with a track record of making films in the UK making a new to market film. And not just any film, but a colour film.

Talking to Michelle, it sounds like there’s more to come too. This first film, as you will see, is possibly best defined as an “experimental” film. That is to say, the colours aren’t exactly accurate or perfect. HARMAN have been experimenting trying to make a commercially viable film and this is what they’ve produced first. Michelle told me that this might end up being a limited edition film that they run with whilst they are further perfecting the manufacturing processes. Personally, whilst I’d applaud progress toward making more films that can compete with the likes of Kodak’s Portra and even the more consumer – but arguable colour-accurate – film ranges from Kodak, I hope they also keep making films like this that are a little more wild when it comes to the colours

To some I’m sure the idea of colour film that isn’t “accurate” will make the eyes roll – “experimental” films aren’t for everybody. Personally though, I think there’s absolutely space in the market for these sorts of films. I’m a big fan of Lomo Metropolis for example, but there are a lot of other even more extreme films out there such as the likes of Dubble’s range that look to add to the serendipitous nature of shooting the medium. And then of course there’s experimental processes such as cross processing and film souping that bring more wild and inaccurate colours to the table.

That, I suppose, is the context for the conversation around the colours Phoenix 200 produces. They are, without doubt, not perfectly accurate. Though, how accurate or otherwise they are also depends on subject matter, development and printing/digitisation processes. I’ve seen loads of samples from other photographers who also had early access to this film and there’s definitely a wide range of results out there already. Molly, for example, has shared her results in our more “official” announcement and review where you can see some very vibrant colours captured in bright sunlit circumstances.

Having seen these and a bunch of other similar results, I thought I’d put Phoenix 200 through its paces in lower-lit and more overcast lighting. I loaded my roll into my Nikon F80 and first took it out for a little family outing to an indoor crazy golf venue where I shot it with the flash.

I then took a couple of lower/low lit “urban” shots. Phoenix 200 is DX coded at 200 ISO and that’s what I shot it at. The shooting instructions say there’s some flexibility for under and over exposure allowing it to be shot at between EI 100 and 400. Judging by my results from this first roll, especially considering the accuracy of the meter in the Nikon F80, I’d probably err toward sticking at EI200 or 100, especially in lower lit conditions. There’s also a couple of other character traits this film will impart onto your images. One of which is very apparent in the nighttime shots. This film seemingly lacks any anti-halation layer. The result of this is some fairly serious halos around points of light. I personally really like this effect.

Following on from this outing at night, I took the opportunity to shoot the rest of the roll of Phoenix 200 on a walk on the Malvern hills on what could best be described as a somewhat overcast autumn day. Having seen a lot of higher contrast vibrant shots from sunny days, I thought it’d be interesting to see what some flat cloudy weather would bring to the table. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s fair to say that the film really seems to suit the autumnal colours. The results I have achieved have a wonderful warmth to them.

At this point, I should probably emphasise an earlier point I made about the development and scanning being a variable in results. This particular roll of Phoenix 200 was developed and scanned by Analogue Wonderland. The team at the AW lab, which includes Duncan from Silverpan Film Lab (who were bought by AW earlier this year) have also been aware of this film for at least the time I have and, as I understand it, have been involved in the process working out the best way to develop it and scan it commercially. I don’t know the rest of the team at AW particularly well, but I trust Duncan’s skills in terms of scanning with a Noritsu pretty much beyond anyone else I know. When the results were sent to me, it was reported back that they had worked on the scanning process using the Noritsu in a way that maintained the core nature of the film but just slightly helped retain highlight detail and kept the reds under control. Whatever they have done, I think the results are really quite attractive.

In short, if you’re in the UK and planning on shooting Phoenix 200 and having a lab scan it, I’d highly recommend Analogue Wonderland or Silverpan as they have something of a head start in terms of getting the best out of it. Of course, if you’re scanning yourself there’s a whole other element of fun to be explored.

A final note I wanted to make about this film is something that I think is evident in all of my results and that’s the sharpness and grain. My result back from AW did seem more soft than I’m used to from the Nikon AF-D lenses I shot with, as such I don’t think it’s a massively “sharp” film. A little bit of post process sharpening in Lightroom helped, although of course this brought out the grain more. For my tastes I possibly favour a little more definition and clarity, but the colours and overall vibe of the film made up for what’s lacking here for me.

Phoenix 200 – Final thoughts

Well, what can I say really…? Firstly thanks to HARMAN for including me in the list of first people to try out Phoenix 200. On a personal level, I’ve really enjoyed it! I’m also pretty impressed with the results I’ve achieved. I especially like the warmth of the film in the overcast circumstances I shot it. Seeing early results I thought it might be a bit of a one trick pony in terms of it just producing bright vibrant colours on sunny days. Seeing it can also be harnessed to produce more warm and cozy colours on an overcast day brings a whole other dimension to how I think it can be harnessed.

Aside from those more subjective observations, I also think it’s really exciting that another company is coming to market with legitimately new colour films. Not that I have much against rebrands as such, but seeing something new to market is always a little more exciting.

Of course, seeing something like a new colour film coming to market from HARMAN is another level really. Even in its own right – albeit as an experimental film with some objective “imperfections” in terms of things like colour rendering, halation, softness etc – I think it’s very exciting. Of course, what’s all the more exciting is the fact that Phoenix 200 is a new colour film. New! And that’s not to mention the fact that this is just the beginning. This is just the start for HARMAN and colour film. This is their first colour film and they have no plans to stop here. Only time will tell what they manage to produce, but having another player in the colour film marketplace can only be a good thing in my opinion!

You can see the rest of my shots from my first roll here

Harman Photo Twitter – HarmanPhoto
Harman Photo FB – HARMANPhoto
Harman Photo IG – harmanphoto

Check out Molly’s news post and review here! Her images were scanned on a Fuji SP3000 so you can see the differences to the Noritsu there.

If you are in the UK, Analogue Wonderland has Phoenix in stock (and film developing) here.

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