New Colour Film!!

Harman Phoenix 200

A few weeks ago, we saw Harman release their brand new colour film into the world and it was interesting to see how varied the results were from person to person. This isn’t entirely surprising with it being a totally new colour negative film.

This is one of the most challenging stocks to shoot. It changes in look quickly and drastically depending on how you work with it. 

A Film in the Beta Phase

This is a unique film, it does not perform like other colour negative films. It’s grainy for a 200 speed film, and offers a strong contrast. It does not have the best latitude. These were my initial impressions when I first saw some of the images. If you’re careless with your approach to exposing this film, you’re definitely going to see mixed results. But when things do work out it can look pretty nice. It’s quite punchy and I like its colours, especially the way it renders reds, greens, and blues. After shooting with this film, and especially after reading how Harman describes it, I very much view Phoenix 200 as a film that is still in its beta stage. In marketing the Phoenix 200, Harman goes out of their way to specify that this film is experimental and has quirky characteristics. 

Phoenix 200 Characteristics 

This is not your typical colour negative film when it comes to flexibility with exposure. You have to be spot on. I’ve shot the film at ISO 100, or one stop of overexposure, and even then I still had some scenes where shadow detail was pretty thin, especially in scenes of high contrast. Even in overcast situations when properly exposed you don’t get that much detail in the deep shadows. In some high contrast scenes, especially around the edges you do see some halation, which varies depending on the subject matter. Because of that lack of flexibility, scanning technique will be important in terms of being able to get the look you want, and that’s probably why we saw such a wide variety of images when Phoenix 200 was released.

Colour 

I actually like the colour from this film. It does have a unique look to it – with the right subject matter and when properly exposed, you can get pretty pleasing colours, but it all really depends on each specific scene. The colours are definitely punchy, especially the reds and blues. I do really like how this film renders green. This comes down to what lab/scanner you use and the software being used to convert, so it is going to be different for everyone.

Grain and resolution 

Phoenix 200 is very grainy for a 200 speed film, and there is no way to avoid it. Overexposing does help, although there will always be grain in the shadow areas. Looking at my images, this is a film that seems to be lacking a little bit in sharpness, but for some that can certainly be a part of its charm.

I would not shoot this film at box speed. I would highly recommend ISO 100 or even a stop and a half at ISO 64, or ISO 80.  Shooting at box speed looks underexposed, and I think that’s why we are seeing such varied results. If you shoot it at ISO 100, ISO 80, or even ISO 64 and if you are scanning yourself, there is some flexibility to make this film look less grainy. Overall I did enjoy shooting with this film. I am curious to see where Harman takes this film stock, and I hope to see some improvements in the latitude.

Regardless, I’m excited to have a brand new colour film on the market from a big manufacturer, something we don’t see happen too often.

If you would like to get your hands on some Phoenix 200, it’s now available at Beau Photo.

Big thanks to both Nicole and Kathy for letting me use their images since I didn’t get a chance to shoot it at box speed.