Ground-Breaking New Colour Film: The Story of Harman Phoenix

[@imitdiu]

The love and passion from Harmon is truely inspiring.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Of course - they've really gone and done something amazing 😍

[@steveb7477]

SO happy to hear about this! Once the kinks are all worked out.....next step is 120 and MAYBE 220 (please!). Looking forward to trying out this new film !!! FILM IS NOT DEAD !!!

[@AnalogueWonderland]

A really exciting development! Yes lets hope, lots of people have requested 120. There's a QR code on the film box and on the bottom of the HARMAN Phoenix website where you can add your feedback: www.harmanphoto.co.uk/phoenix

[@ExpiredFilmClub]

Seriously excited for this! Having another factory that can produce brand new colour film in the world can only be a good thing. Loved making this video with the AW crew too ❤

[@AnalogueWonderland]

You did an amazing job of telling the incredible story, Miles! 🙌

[@FocalMatter]

This was a beautiful produced video and well put together, such a good insight into the origin of Phoenix. Thank you 🫶🏼

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Thank you very much! We had great fun making it with the team at HARMAN 🙌

[@NorbiWhitney]

Absolutely brilliant video guys. Super informative from everyone on screen, and well done on some great looking scans.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Thanks so much! We hope it encourages you to buy a roll or two 😊

[@jimgraves4197]

This is going to be fun and educational at the same time. I think it's great we have a Film Manufacturer that designed, coated and packaged a Beta Film and asked the film community to help grow the brand and evolve this brand new emulsion.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Exactly! And we're so glad the film community have got behind it 🧡

[@MrDeelightful]

I'm over in western Canada and a local photo lab that opened earlier this year has stocked this film since they started up. I only got back into film around the same time they opened but it's sure an exciting time for it. I like Kodak Gold for "serious" subjects but experimenting with the crazier film stocks was a big draw to me. Excited to see where this ends up!

[@AnalogueWonderland]

That's cool! It's a very fun experimental film - have you seen the 120 release too?!

[@ianfleming4356]

Great video Paul, much appreciated to Harman and Ilford

[@AnalogueWonderland]

🙏🧡

[@Answersonapostcard]

I would like to see a return of being able to buy a 3-pack of colour 35mm film for £11.99, the cost of colour film is still three times too much. Looking forward to trying this new ilford colour film at some point.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

That would be the dream, right! But worth getting behind this new Harman film - it's super fun 😊

[@Shmooexe3440]

Ordered a 5 pack as soon as i could from you guys, can not wait for this to arrive!

[@AnalogueWonderland]

the warehouse team were busy all weekend - it won't be long!

[@ehsanesbati]

Very exciting development. I remember how surprised I was when I first came across Ilford films many years ago and realised they don't produce any colour film! Good to see it's finally being addressed.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

It's really great news for the film community and hope you can get behind it!

[@ehsanesbati]

@@AnalogueWonderland Already ordered three rolls. 😁

[@AnalogueWonderland]

@@ehsanesbati Amazing - enjoy it!

[@BackflashJim]

Really excited to give it a go. Great video, nice to see the faces behind the product.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

We hope you'll love it! It was great to be able to show off the incredible team behind it 🔥

[@AdamAugustPhoto]

Ordered my first batch as soon as i could. Looking forward to getting it loaded and seeing the results. So exciting as i grew up near the site Ilford site in Mobberly and have always used their films for B&W work.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Fantastic! Ahh that is really exciting - hope you love it 🙌

[@josephomalley1526]

I would love to use it in 120 format.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

That would be great!

[@monochromebluess]

Great introduction to the film. With regard to scanning - have you found that the Fuji Frontier or the Noritsu works better with the film given it’s properties and the experiences you have had. If so can we specify which scanner we want to have the Harman Phoenix film scanned on ?

[@AnalogueWonderland]

We've got detailed side-by-side comparisons! It obviously depends on personal preference (and to an extent the subject and lighting) but we've found that the Noritsu tends to do a better job - which will therefore be our default for Phoenix. However if you'd like to see what the Fuji looks like then just give the lab a ring with your order number and they should be able to sort something out!

[@IainHC1]

I LOVE the fact that ILFORD have invested in this fillum... A BIG WELL DONE to the Rand D department!! "your work is BRILLIANT guys" !! A question to AW.... How much do you have to tweak the settings to get the cool colours you've managed to achieve? (cool as in KOOOOOL and not, not warm)

[@AnalogueWonderland]

100% their R&D department deserve a big pat on the back 👏 You can get those cooler tones when scanning Phoenix using a Fujifilm scanner, as opposed to a Noritsu which brings out the warmth - more info: analoguewonderland.co.uk/blogs/film-photography-blog/analogue-wonderlab-how-to-scan-phoenix-for-optimal-results

[@RickMahoney2013]

The film needs to be tweeted.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

It's on our AW Twitter feed 😊 twitter.com/AnalogueWLand/status/1731391605628637608

[@tedsmith_photography]

Exciting times. The fact that they have "broke the dam" on this concept is what excites me. I'm not one for experimental work myself, but this indicates the start of something new for consumers. Another big player making colour film is awesome news. They may start with Phoenix, and hopefully that will mean others will follow that are more for consitant workflows. I'd love to know how one becomes one of those photographers who is called upon for these early NDA type beta experiments. I stand by my window waiting for calls, but they never come...ha ha.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Exactly - huge news for the film community and we can't wait to see all the future iterations of colour film that Harman will create! Time to get knocking on Harman's door 😆

[@thenewriotact]

A long shot request from Harman is a 800, 1600, or 3200 ISO film. There isn’t much in the high iso range 😢

[@sculptorgalaxy1806]

Well done on your success. Are people underexposing when shooting or does the emulsion lack the ability to detail shadows?

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Phoenix doesn't deal too well with under and overexposure, so we'd recommend you shoot at box speed (ISO 200) to retain detail in highlights and shadows.

[@natwarlalchudasama5732]

Is this C41 processor film

[@PaulMcKay-cf9rj]

Yep 👍🏻

[@AnalogueWonderland]

yes!

[@b6983832]

What I find disappointing, is the total lack of information about printing this film in a darkroom. Harman (Ilford) is known for their products used by photographers - both professional and amateur - in their own darkrooms. For Phoenix, all the information available is of the type "when you send your film to be scanned". Yes, of course, I can find out by trial and error, how this works, but forgetting the hand printers is something I don't get. Yes, most of the young kids scan, but this is true for even black and white.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

You're right, there doesn't seem to be any information about home processing out there BUT Harman are very keen to hear your thoughts so this is something you could let them know - they have a feedback form on the bottom of their website www.harmanphoto.co.uk/phoenix

[@gertbehrmann4877]

Would immediately try it…. If it came in 120.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Ah yes, you and many others! I'm sure they'll take this feedback on board for future development 🙏

[@cdl0]

Fascinating video, well produced and edited; however, I find the music is annoying, loud, and unnecessary.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

Thank you! We thought the audio levels were spot on but thanks for your feedback 😊

[@cdl0]

@@AnalogueWonderland Many thanks! The voice levels are good, but just omit the music during the main content when people are speaking. The new film is excellent news, and you covered it well.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

@@cdl0 noted thanks 😊

[@tadwolujewicz3923]

Once they get a look alike for Kodachrome 64 in transparency film, I will buy a wagon load!

[@lloydgarland4667]

Brilliant that Harman should try, and it's great they're going to develop (sorry!) the film to improve it etc. Seems like the video and commentary was all about covering up the down sides to this film and resting on the only real positive "It's a new colour film". It has surface imperfections? Doesn't capture colours properly? +/- 1 stop latitude? halation on the highlights? is only experimental? Needs high quality optics to get anything acceptable out of it? I guess that means it isn't all that sharp or fine grained and resolution suffers as a result. There's no way you can use that film for anything serious where you need consistency and predictability and at 12 quid plus processing it's just too much to pay to be a beta tester. I don't think this should have been released onto the market just yet, it's not ready. As I said, fair play to Harman for giving it a go, and it'll be great to see what it's like once it IS ready.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

heya - yes you're spot on, and Harman are the first ones to say that Phoenix isn't the perfect film yet! I think the business reality is that no-one in the film world will have the (much greater) resources needed to continue perfecting the emulsion before release. So they made the call that it's better to get a few rolls out there and generate some revenue to extend the lifetime of the project - while at the same time recognising that there are plenty of film shooters who *love* the idea of experimental emulsions and will happily feed back and help craft the next generation of emulsions!

[@luviskol]

Hasn't stopped the impossible project with their recreation of Polaroid materials

[@irresponsiblepictures7451]

"Fujifilm doing what Fujifilm are doing" shooting themselves in their foot.

[@AnalogueWonderland]

😆😆😆

[@Answersonapostcard]

they invest more in their excellent digital cameras and respective film simulations, such as the X100V.

[@irresponsiblepictures7451]

@Answersonapostcard Yeah I know. I've owned a few of their digital (including the somewhat overrated x100V) and instax...which is their biggest seller. Doesn't change that they've made some sad decisions in regards to film production. Less caring about their consumers and fans and focused more about margins of late. But business is business.

[@Answersonapostcard]

I think the Fuji film simulations, especially the B&W ones are excellent, and in terms of look, almost make film redundant for me, especially when you think of the costs involved. The Ricoh GR series also makes some really nice filmic images. There is however the experience of shooting film, the mechanical feel of using a film camera, the more tactileness that can not be replicated by digital. I will always enjoy loading up a camera with film and using it, but at times I think to myself what am I doing wasting time and money, when the Fuji captures such great images. @@irresponsiblepictures7451