Harman Phoenix First Impressions

[@AdamAugustPhoto]

Can't believe Harman overlooked you to be honest seeing as how technical you get into film compared to a lot of other KZbinrs. It definately struggles in its current form both in its range and colour rendition, but as you say it is amazing what they've managed to do in 12 months completely in house. Definately a fun looking film to experiment with & hopefully funds further R&D. May never be a 'professional film', but who cares. I bought 5 rolls on launch day but due to a bad back haven't managed to get out and shoot any yet. Will be very interesting to see it printed & just how different it is to print.

[@thedylan123456789]

Perhaps that technical detail is why they skipped over him 😅😅

[@armenianzombie]

Harman knows the pro market doesn't care about anything other than pro-films, - it's much easier to make slop/junk like this and churn it to the lomo crowd.

[@AdamAugustPhoto]

@@armenianzombie I'd hardly say it's slop or junk. It's an experimental first iteration & they're candid about it's limitations. I don't think Phoenix will ever be a Pro film however much they refine it; consumer level at best. But if they achieve that then maybe the future holds for a Harman Pro colour film to go along side it. Probably after releasing Phoenix 400 etc. As big as Harman are, they simply don't have the funds to polish a new product off the bat, it's going to take reinvestment for further R&D. Does this mean we're essentially paying to be beta testers, yes; but plenty of people are happy to do that. I doubt they'll do another run of this version as they've already stated that they're working on the refining the next version.

[@AdamAugustPhoto]

@@thedylan123456789 That was my thinking also, however considering how candid they are about it's limitations in the current form I doubt they are trying to hide something. Possibly just focusing on content creators that will cause the most hype considering how they lead the teaser campaign. Also Greg is more what I'd describe as a fine art photographer and isn't known for using experimental unpredictable films/techniques.

[@jamiegray3245]

Yeah this is why Gregory was overlooked, they don't want us to look too technically at this film

[@emburaman]

1:10 Many companies sending their products to KZbinrs have absolute no idea of the content their sponsored creators publish. They are only interested in the reach they get. You are one of the few creators that publish pristine, complete and profound photography contend that is far beyond those shallow product reviewers self titled photographers.

[@maxbashyrov5785]

It's a shame Harman didn't reach out to you. The funny thing is they collaborated with "vloggers" who don't even develop films on their own, and most probably don't know what H&D curve is...

[@OldJockOldjock]

Yes that tells you everything about where Harman feels its new market is for colour film

[@Noah-lj2sg]

​@user-qm8sx8ne8g or the general market for colour film... most people aren't doing home development

[@AppleGameification]

Lots of people know what a H&D curve is. Should Harman have sent free rolls to every subscriber to this channel? Let's not pretend anyone is more or less deserving of praise because of the style of content they create. That's the height of snobbery

[@giuseppeg.8461]

I was waiting for your review. You are head and shoulders above all other film photography content on youtube. Please consider rejoining Photrio, I know it's full of old curmudgeons who haven't taken a picture for the past 20 years and that these people were rude to you, but there's a pretty nice Harman Phoenix thread where your tests and impressions on this would really be appreciated. Thanks for your hard work man

[@phillipgregorymortoniii4113]

Dont usually comment, but i had to tell you that this was a great unique video as always. In no way did you just repeat what others have already said and i value your unique perpective on all topics.

[@joseerazevedo]

Thanks for the review, comprehensive as always! Can't understand how the marketing team at Harman did not include you on their mailing!! They seem to be very badly informed or are looking for mostly hyped guys - which I find awful if that's the case. Specially because those guys understand more of cinematography than photography... They videos are always better than their photographs or information. Review the focus, Harman!!

[@paolociccone]

Thank you for this very detailed analysis. I've seen the previous reviews and knew that Phoenix has a high contrasts, but seeing that long, extended toe in the chart really made it clear of how the film is working. Excellent video as always, thank you for your contributions.

[@kevinbaylon7660]

Your mere mention of sensitometer should land you a pre-launch roll for the update, hopefully! Thanks for the custom curve profiles, very interesting

[@sprocket_holes]

Love this! You are on another different level that other channels in terms of knowledge and your scientific approach. Btw, the Color mission film looks really great, I have 2 sitting in the fridge, need to try them out!

[@masanthar]

Seems like an interesting attempt, with a bit of tweaking it will be a fun product to shoot. By the way, recent viewer here, love your channel. Very informative.

[@liveinaweorg]

A great insight, thank you. I got a roll of Phoenix (I almost wrote HP) as I believe it is a project worth supporting. I'll probably pick up another few rolls over the next few months if there is any left. Have a fabulous holiday and looking forward to seeing you back in the darkroom.

[@annabelleskinner]

so glad to see your take on a new film stock! I'm excited to get to try it out but I'm a little bit worried about the halation on these bright Australian summer afternoons. it should be good for capturing the feeling of heat this Christmas though

[@isidorocosentino5681]

You should test to see if you can print it as a b and w film using b and w paper that would be an interesting experiment with the purple film base that the Harmon film has.

[@szabodaniel9447]

Grear idea!

[@michael195b]

Got a couple of rolls myself to try it. Can't wait, just have to wait for a sunny day!

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I would recommend a cloudy day instead

[@b6983832]

I tried to print Phoenix on RA.4 paper (Fuji DP II) yesterday. It prints better than I thought, but the main problem was too thin negatives, because I exposed them at ISO 200. I have 4 rolls left, so I can play with this. It needs a bit more yellow filtration than a normal film would, but with magenta roughly in the usual range. There is no universal standard for filtration, and my old reliable Meopta does not use the same values as Durst. For a normal film (such as Portra 160) the basic settings are about C00 M100 Y40. For Phoenix, filtration of C00 M110 Y105 was needed. It is still well within the range of filters of any color head. From negatives exposed as ISO 200, most pictures had very little details in shadows, but highlights (sky, even though it was cloudy) was at maximum density. Gotta try exposing this at 100 or less,

[@oudviola]

Thanks for the study. I just shot a roll of Phoenix, metered at 200 to not blow the highlights, will get the developed film back next week so will see!

[@wreckingpress7080]

Appreciate your work and was waiting for your take on this. Thanks!

[@maxbashyrov5785]

Btw, in Europe (Poland) it's sold for about $18 per roll, which doesn't make any sense, especially for "beta" version / PoC stock.

[@wv_]

After having Phoenix for a week and being too anxious to use it (don’t want to lose a good shot) I went to the fish docks in Fukuoka this evening, overcast, blue hour, hoping the low contrast helps and it adds some atmosphere. I haven’t had mine developed and I bought mine to support the mission but I don’t think I will buy any more of this iteration as it’s significant money to just blow, the same reason why I stopped with iType Polaroids.

[@matthewhoult5323]

Love your shirt!

[@tedphillips2951]

Really good analysis of the the film. Go Harman & please try 120.

[@Karreth]

I've bought a few rolls of this film, but given the character I have a usecase in mind for the summer, when I usually go to a beautiful location that suffers from a lack of contrast on film. I'm thinking it'd be fun to try shooting it with this film.

[@heatonize]

NEW INTROOOOOOO

[@vha42]

Off topic : I really miss the Kodak BW400CN, “back in the days” aka early 2000s when I worked at a lab. I used this film for years. It behaved more like 400 iso than XP2 and was easy to scan. XP2 worked better with yellow green filters at 200 iso. Back to topic : Harman Phenix must be interesting to try with old low contrast lenses, single or non coated leica glass, even though colours would still be off.

[@erickvalerio3523]

Great video. ❤ Saludos from México

[@AdamJamroz]

Dziękujemy.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

Thank you!

[@wallyang]

New intro, nice!

[@yolklab]

Very informative as always.

[@O.Persson]

As a general rule I vote that all film manufacturers send you a copy to evaluate in the future.

[@Nobody-Nowhere]

Is the ColorMission are bit too close to Fuji 200 ?

[@TristanColgate]

Ribsy showed a few RA4 prints, his results were "pretty good" (definitely full of character, but it wasnt a complete train wreck either). I've got one more roll to finish before I develop (these will be my first c41 at home), and it is half frame, so it'll be a while before I get to try a print.

[@xander1052]

I've had some pretty nice photos come out on Harman. Contrast was under control, even the halations were quite reasonable though the grain was closer to 3200 speed than 200 speed for sure

[@TristanColgate]

@@xander1052 8m not expecting too much from the half frame, but it's my main holiday camera so figured I should give it a try.

[@kei_yw]

Looking for the darkroom prints. I'm also going to do darkroom prints to see how it performs, tho I haven't finished my roll of film yet

[@LuigiBarbano]

thanks. Very useful video, as usual from you.

[@SteveBrokaw]

Good review, thanks. I had the same results

[@RedPillMode]

Great stuff, thank you. Comparison like this really revealed a lot. As for what to really expect. Wonder if the lack of sharpness is direct result of graininess? I dont mind grain at all. Funky colors are wery ok. Too much contrast is a problem. How would you treat it if it was a b&w film? Is there a way to shoot and develop it to tame the contrast? Not standard c41 way.

[@tim31415]

I've seen a lot unwatchable channels that were sent samples, so it speaks poorly for Harman that they didn't send any to you. Thanks for mentioning that it doesn't have the orange mask. That is the single most important piece of information on a color film and others don't even mention it. As XP2 processes in E6 chemistry for beautiful positives, this may well do so also. It is long past time all films lose the orange mask.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

The orange mask serves a purpose if you intend to print optically. If you are only scanning then it wouldn’t be necessary

[@tim31415]

I understand that a separate orange filter can be used for printing. It doesn't need to be part of the film.

[@stratocactus]

@@tim31415 I have indeed manage to RA-4 print from a maskless film (repackaged Kodak Aerocolor IV) by adding a piece of Kodak Gold 200 as a filter (developed but unexposed part of the film, just for the orange base).

[@TristanColgate]

One of the bets testers has a video of E6 processing phoenix. He suggested it needs a lot more exposure, but did see a marked improvement in sharpness. Not exactly practical, but interesting anyway.

[@tim31415]

@@TristanColgate XP2 works best with two stops of additional exposure and 25% greater first developer time.

[@doyoudevelop]

Hey man, no worries, I also didn't get any Phoenix .. I think they just aren't very good at PR :)

[@armenianzombie]

I would give anything for a real, pro level color film to be brought back to market - something to compete with portra and 400h (whatever's left of it)

[@MarcoRoepers]

Very good analysis of Harman. Waiitng for the video of \Phoenix in the dark room. You are one of very few KZbinrs who is able to do. Confused by the Holga shirt. You criitized it very harsly, but the sirt seems to tell me that is was ironic and you love the camera.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

It’s all in good fun

[@Austinite333]

I like the look of some of Phoenix shots but it seems very inconsistent. Some shots looked to be higher contrast which is fine by me but others much different and not so good looking. My 2 cents.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

The contrast builds so quickly it’s nearly impossible to predict the outcome. I need to try it on an overcast day, but we are cursed with good weather right now, lol

[@MichaelCortese1]

It's such a hard film to shoot in my opinion. There's almost no shadow detail, and if you were to overexposure (say shoot it at ISO 80) you're going to lose basically all highlights. And from the roll I shot, it somehow seemed to be a bit random which photos had decently exposed shadows and highlights, and which were basically just black and white due to the lack of detail and contrast. But I will shoot it again!

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

The weather has been nice here, I need to try it on a cloudy day to see if the high contrast works better with that

[@TristanColgate]

@@TheNakedPhotographer a lot of the better shots I've seen have been from my side of the pond, where the big nuke in the sky is less obtrusive.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I suspect that’s going to be most cases

[@MarksPhoto]

Well, if you want to become a recognized 'influencer', perhaps you should wear a beanie and a Leica into the shower next time for your intro. That, and you need to snag that ever important squarespace endorsement. But we here watch you because you know what you're talking about, and dispense useful, accurate information.

[@jw48335]

Thanks!

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

Thanks for your support!

[@Sticktube878]

I bet they didn't send you one because they knew what you'd do with it. Maybe they don't want the film to be looked at this closely yet? Just a thought.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I don’t think that’s it. I never reached out to Harman’s media relations team before, I have no prior working relationship with them, and I’ve made it very known that I’m a Kodak fanboy. But as I said, I’m open to collaborating with anyone.

[@Sticktube878]

I reread my comment. It has a much more judgemental tone than what was intended. Maybe i should have thrown in some "lols" or something.

[@TristanColgate]

@@TheNakedPhotographer to be fair to Harman, your channel isn't the first to spring to mind for either 35mm, or colour. That said, I hope you'll be on their list in future.

[@l10industries]

It has those slide film highlights 😅

[@b6983832]

It has much less latitude than any slide film has.

[@masnsen1923]

good that Harman didn’t came to you to review their new product, that’s make you stand out of the woke crowd space!!! as always great PRO REVIEWS!!!! keep it coming Naked👊

[@VariTimo]

So much utility in comparing it C200 instead of Gold. Now I know how it compares to a film that’s not made anymore.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I aim to please

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

Joking aside, the choice was deliberate. It helps to understand the graininess and contrast when next to something else, and the choices for 200 speed are limited. Gold is an obvious choice, but knowing I wanted to compare characteristic curves, using a more “vanilla” color palette than the one Gold offers made sense. This, I chose my last roll of the older Fuji 200.

[@robine5280]

Gold looks like shit

[@VariTimo]

@@TheNakedPhotographer Except that Gold is really vanilla. People always assume that Gold is super warm because of the name but it’s actually fairly neutrally balanced for a Kodak consumer stock. It’s the only stock I practically don’t need to do any additional color balancing to other than Fuji stocks when scanning on my Frontier. The yardstick isn’t necessarily neutral, it’s what people are most familiar with. That’s why Tri-X makes so much sense for the B&W comparisons, even though it’s more contrasty than average.

[@randallstewart1224]

There was a time when, if an employee allowed a prototype film emulsion in the condition of Phoenix into public view, that employee would be fired. Harmon/Ilford has not only marketed it, but they have set a street retail price of $14 US, a fairly offensive price for what you get in return. For me, the only thing interesting about Phoenix is the company's motivation to dump it into retail in this condition. The concept of "There's a sucker born ever minute." leaps to mind.

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

Wow. Big Boomer energy. You act like they are making you buy it and use it

[@jw48335]

Also heard from Randall: "Digital will NeVEr surpass film!" "Why are there so few film stocks available!?!" "400H forever!"

[@jw48335]

​@@TheNakedPhotographerBonus stock for your B&W series: XP2 in B&W chemistry. I've used it successfully from 100 ISO to 1250 in D76 😁

[@TheNakedPhotographer]

I won’t be adding XP-2, but I did sadly forget SFX when I did them all

[@xander1052]

Given that the price is to fund further development and the release is to get people's thoughts on where to take it, im good with the price. It also does funky things around fluorescent lights