HARMAN Phoenix 200 - An Interesting New Colour Film Stock

Want to try a new 35mm film at an affordable price? Check out this review of the HARMAN Phoenix 200 color film stock shot on a Leica M6 in London.
If you're a film photography enthusiast, you know the excitement of trying out a new film stock. In this video, we take a look at the HARMAN Phoenix 200 color film and see how it performs on the streets of London. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, this film stock is definitely worth a try!
Links:
Instagram - @Jamie.dop
Website - www.jamiekeith...
Homeless Portraiture Book - www.jamiekeith...
Kit used:
Camera - Leica M6
Lens - Leica 35mm Summicron f2
Film Stock - Harman Phoenix 200
Video - Iphone 14 Pro Max / GoPro Hero 12
Music - The Music Bed / Artlist

[@jimmaherphotography6245]

I bought a load of it, more to support the project than to use, I saw the results people were getting and know it’s not for me because I know I’d be annoyed with taking the photo and having it turn out absolutely the opposite to how I envisioned it. That said I salute them and will continue to buy which ever the next reiteration is to keep supporting the project.

[@jamie.dop_]

A true film enthusiast and supporter mentality! Love that. Supporting these movements is a key part to being an analog photographer! Good on you and I agree. I will be sure to try there next batch as it will only get better!

[@easononthest]

Excellent video and photos, thank you for sharing!

[@jamie.dop_]

Thank you for watching it! Means a lot to me. Have a good weekend. J

[@dmbrownphotography2449]

Just stumbled across this, good video. I recently got some Phoenix to try out. Watched a bunch of videos on it, reactions/opinions were all over the place. Along with the images lol. But what I was able to get came out fairly normal looking. Shot it in a sunny day at 100, but came out good for me. Almost like a crap shoot I guess. Either way gonna subscribe and looking forward to other videos.

[@jamie.dop_]

@@dmbrownphotography2449 thanks for the sub! Yeah I was let down by phoenix and I know the images on another stock in the locations would have been beaut so was bit pissed off that I attempted those snaps with that film stock. Would have been better to test it on a dog walk or a friends bbq. Appreciate the efforts they have gone to to create this new stock but it falls short in all areas for me. I think under exposing it is meant to be quite beneficial and helps bring our phoenix’s contrast. Hope you enjoy more to come. J

[@demetrio3d239]

You should send your comments to Harman. I thought about buying it but I think I'll wait until the formula is improved a little bit more. I guess next year.

[@jamie.dop_]

I think that is the right call. Unless you are shooting something for fun and not to worried about the results otherwise you may capture some great images and you will forever look at them and think “why didn’t I shoot that on Portra!”

[@sc1]

What were you aperture and shutter speed settings for most of the day?

[@jamie.dop_]

Good question. Afraid I don’t have a specific answer as they change depending on the frame and light available to me. If I gave an average I would say I shot around f5.6 and around 1/10 shutter

[@sc1]

@@jamie.dop_ I just recently started with film photography and purchased a Leica MP. I'm still struggling to choose the right film ISO for the occasion. On my first roll, I shot Fujifilm 400 on a partly cloudy day, but I underestimated the brightness of the light, and needed to stop down to 11 or 16 most of the time, in order to keep the shutter speed at around 1/500. (I shoot handheld, so I don't like to go below 1/250). With the 400 film, I couldn't open up my lens to get any shallow depth of field at all. I will try out a 200 or maybe even 100 film next time. Or I might need to carry an ND filter with me. Thanks for the video.

[@jamie.dop_]

@@sc1 where are you based? No sunshine here in London for sure!! So have been having to use 400 iso minimum. Can’t wait to have more light so I can shoot Kodak gold all day every day! But URTH do a great variable ND 8-128 if your looking to getting shallow depth in your inages

[@nickystewart]

Is that the M6 reissue? It's a beautiful camera!

[@jamie.dop_]

No it’s a 1999 model. It’s in lovely condition with the perfect amount of wear and tear. Kinda like when you have new white trainers and they’ve have their first few good outings and still shiny white!

[@nickystewart]

Wow that’s awesome! It looks like it could be from this year. Where did you get it from?

[@jamie.dop_]

@@nickystewart patiently waiting and keeping an eye online and this one ended up sprouting on eBay!

[@lelandfitz1762]

Unfortunately Harman/Ilford isn`t really on the cheaper side of films. B/W films by Agfa or Fomapan are way more affordable. It's still great to see that there is movement on the color film market. ORWO's NC500 (400 ISO) came out 1-2 years ago and it's great to have competition with Kodak there. ORWO also is coming out with a ISO 200 film in 2024, broadening the field from Kodak Gold and Harman Phoenix. Yet, as Harman, ORWO also cannot go *under* Kodak's prices, all three sell at pretty much the same. Thus I don't think or dream of dropping film prices. Yet, competition can force Kodak to stay at their prices or at least halt price hikes for a bit.🙏

[@jamie.dop_]

Thank you so much for taking the time to drop all this info. Very useful! Mr Cad is where I got the phoenix and it was a fair bit cheaper than the usuals! I think we are all hoping the cost of films comes down but we may be dreaming! Ha. Big thanks again. J

[@bmans1]

Harman does make kentmere b/w i think it sells less than both foma and adox

[@lelandfitz1762]

@@bmans1 I don't know where you are from but I suppose Harman/Ilford could be cheaper in GB. In Europe, or Germany where I am, Ilford b/w go by 10-15€, Agfa and Foma 5-8€. Strangely I haven't found Adox in the (Online)Shops I buy film, altough they are a German brand. Could be that they are pricier where you live. I just read they bought a coating machine in Switzerland to produce a new color film. I assume all those investmens make it harder to produce at low cost. I don't know about the brand (or brand names) in detail. Harman Phoenix is called the "first color film by Ilford/Harman" but there is a Ilfordcolor film out there for a longer time. The film market ist really confusing, as to who produces what and especially: Who's film is just re-branded Kodak and whose is their own. I saw a few videos on Harman producing Phoenix from the ground up. I am just wondering how Ilfordcolor is produced and why they couldn't get help from them instead of starting from scratch.

[@jannemyllymaki]

@@lelandfitz1762 There are two different companies using the Ilford brand. Harman only has the rights to produce bw materials under the Ilford brand, hence Phoenix is not an Ilford branded film. Ilfocolor is a product from the German Ilford but it's not produced by them as they don't have a production plant for film. Ilfocolor is probably same or at least from the same factory as the Orwo Wolfen NC500 (which is based on old Agfa XT320).

[@lelandfitz1762]

@@jannemyllymaki Thanks for the info, good to know! The world of film (producers) really is complicated :D After re-starting film production under the ORWO name (and at the former ORWO site, where the new owners of Polaroid bought up the old coating machines) the new owner also was (or is) faced with an issue regarding the name rights. He can sell film under the ORWO brand worldwide, just not in Germany, as ORWO is a registered brand by a Berlin real estate firm. Just shows how long they have been gone. That's why the go by Original Wolfen (what basically ORWO stood for since the beginning) especially in Germany to circumvent any issues. Wondering how it came to this "German Ilford" part. Maybe once Harman thought they'd never produce color film, so why not sell the rights to someone who wants? But on the other hand it's great that there are more players on the market. I just wish some of the ones that only fancy up other film stock or simply repackage under their own name would be clear about that. I mostly don't go for those lesser known brands that nobody knows where the film comes from.

[@thevoiceman6192]

The one with the woman and the dog is amazing. I love saturated film. Kodak ektar is my favorite. I love the unpredictability of film and each brands characteristics. And the reason I cross process my slide film. For the color shifts. Why schewt a film you are not going to like or know what the characteristics are? Shewt the film you like so you don't have to photoshop the shit out of it to get the results you want. Makes sense.

[@jamie.dop_]

Great insight! Thank you for sharing. Really appreciate that. J

[@quite1enough]

looks like lomography film of some sort :D

[@alhOOO2O]

Why are there weird jump cut zooms on the piece to camera? It’s not edgy, it’s just off putting

[@jamie.dop_]

Do you mean punching into the frame and out etc? Cut zooms isn't a film term so just seeing what you mean. The reason for the cuts is too keep momentum and allow me to stutter or make mistakes. Apologies for the distraction. I haven't seen any one else find that but if anyone feels the same please say and I can amend. Jamie

[@danieljimenez1989]

This is a bad scan, the negatives probably can yield much better images by using a dslr or mirrorless scanning setup.

[@jamie.dop_]

For this video I had a lab scan it and since I have scanned myself on my SL2 and results were fairly similar. Think I maybe used the film in some areas too challenging for it and knowing me may have kicked up exposure!! Haha

[@deanconway8776]

The colours are hideous

[@jamie.dop_]

@@deanconway8776 totally agree. Won’t be using it again. Shame it’s the one video where I woke up at 5am to shoot it! 🤣 not worth it at all!! Appreciate the time you took to message. J