If you love analog photography you will be used to the name Harman, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of analog photographic film favorites like Ilford HP5, Kentmere 400, and Ilford FP4, darkroom papers, and photo chemicals, has now announced the launch of Harman Phoenix 200, a brand-new, limited-edition ISO 200, 35mm color film - the brand's first-ever color film and the newest color film to come to the market.
Harman Phoenix 200 is the first-ever color film made entirely from emulsion-to-cassette at its Mobberley factory located in Cheshire, England - which is a massive milestone for the company known for producing some of the best black and white films that have taken iconic photos throughout history.
Greg Summers, Managing Director had this to say about the announcement: “We are so well known for our black & white films that we are regularly asked why we don’t make colour films. We always believed this wasn’t feasible, but I’m delighted to say we were wrong!”
In late 2022, a small team was tasked with a secret ‘skunk works’ project to see whether they could design, coat, and manufacture a color film at Harman's UK site in Mobberley, Cheshire.
“It was initially an experiment to explore what was possible but what we achieved in such a short space of time is quite remarkable,” adds Greg.
The result is Harman Phoenix, an ISO 200 color negative film with an unmistakably analog look. It produces high-contrast images with strong, visible grain and punchy, vibrant colors. This new film comes in a 36-exposure with DX-coded cassette and can be rated between ISO 100 and 400 but performs best at ISO 200 in good, consistent light, with the possibility of halation.
“We think this is unlike any other colur film on the market,” says Giles Branthwaite, Sales & Marketing Director. “As it is our first, we also recognize it is not perfect, but the film community is crying out for choice when it comes to color, and we want them to know we are listening.”
The news of this film comes on the back of significant ongoing investment by Harman Technology and is a sign of their ongoing commitment to the future of analog photography.
“This is just the beginning of Harman’s colour journey.” Says Giles. “Sales from this film will allow us to further invest, refine, and improve our formulations, coating capabilities and colour technology. Our aim is that each new colour film we produce is an improvement on the previous.”
Having such a hard-hitting film lab behind a new project of color film, with potential and committed to produce more, is certainly a thing I get excited about and I am sure the whole film community will too!
Harman Phoenix 200 is available from today and for a list of retailers and more information about this new product, visit harmanphoto.co.uk
