The South of France in 35mm: Two Rolls of Harman Phoenix 200

In a world where film stocks disappear each year, Harman (a sister company of Ilford) has boldly introduced a brand-new color film. It's a surprising leap for a leader in black-and-white film manufacturing like Ilford, but with Kodak dominating the color-negative market, it's refreshing to see a new player with decades of experience. Unlike Fujifilm, which most likely repacks Kodak film for their own consumer films (Fujifilm 200 and 400), Harmaan designed and manufactured the whole Phoenix 200 project at their factory in Mobberley, England.

What Is Harman Phoenix 200?

Harman Phoenix is a daylight-balanced color-negative film with a nominal speed of 200 ISO. It's a brand-new emulsion created in a year by a small team at the Harman factory. In the fall of 2023, there was a lot of anticipation building up, and in November, Harman announced the release of the Phoenix 200, scheduled for December. I had preordered two rolls from my local camera shop on Vancouver Island, hoping to use them during the winter. However, as I began to read about the characteristics of this film, I discovered some interesting details.

Harman Phoenix 200 stands out for its high-contrast images with a pronounced grain, which is odd for a 200 ISO colour-negative stock. It also showcases deep, cool green, and bright orange tones with extreme saturation. The absence of an anti-halation layer results in strong halation, reminiscent of old film stocks used in 8mm or 16mm cameras. However, it's important to note that Phoenix 200 has a limited dynamic range, which can lead to shadow burn or highlight clipping.

After seeing a few pictures taken with Phoenix 200 and reading about it, I decided to wait for the warmer seasons and shot my first two rolls of Phoenix 200 in familiar places, consecutively in the south of France.

Who Is It For?

First, Phoenix 200 is not a professional film and was never advertised as such. So, there is no need to compare it to Kodak Portra 400. That would be like comparing a fork and a knife. With that out of the way, I think there is a certain mindset to adopt before shooting Harman Phoenix 200. Think of it as a fun exploratory stock, and don't shoot a professional wedding or product shoot only with Harman Phoenix 200. Instead, use it for an experimental shoot or to capture a vacation or weekend.

I used my first two Phoenix rolls to photograph places I am familiar with and have already photographed several times. So, if it didn't work out, it wouldn't be as disappointing as if I had used them to photograph the March 2024 eclipse.

How To Shoot Harman Phoenix 200

Despite being a consumer film, Phoenix 200 is also an experimental stock. It's not the film stock I would recommend to someone who has never shot film before. It requires the same careful exposure metering as slide film, like Kodak Ektachrome 100, by metering on your subject or for the mid-tones.

I suggest trying out Kodak Gold 200 and Kodak Ultramax 400 for those new to film photography. They are both reasonably priced and easy to work with. When shooting color-negative film, a good rule is to overexpose to get clean shadows. Indeed, color-negative films can retain lots of details in the highlights. I always overexpose my color-negative stocks by at least one stop. For example, with a roll of Kodak Ektar 100, I set the ISO on my camera to 50 ISO and then proceeded to shoot normally. Some cameras, such as the Nikon F3, also have an exposure compensation tool. If you would rather keep the ISO to 100 for your roll of Ektar, then move the compensation to +1. By the way, this is different from pushing or pulling the film!

As stated in the name, Phoenix 200 is a 200-ISO film. Harman states that this film can be shot at 100 ISO, 200 ISO and 400 ISO. I don't think that is entirely accurate, as pushing the film would probably send the already high contrast out of this world. For my rolls, I decided to set the iso 125. When I was shooting, I used the same method I used when shooting slide films in scenes of high contrast.

First, I take a standard light measure, then a measure on nearby highlights, then a measure on nearby shadows. If my first light measure sits between the highlights and the shadows, I know my subject will be decently lit. As expected, I got bold colors and strong contrast in all the images. This look was further enhanced by using a Polarizer filter to reduce reflections, which is particularly beneficial for the seascapes! Remember to take your light metering after you've adjusted your polarizer; otherwise, you'll end up with underexposed images.

As stated earlier, most recent color-negative film stocks, such as the Kodak Portra line or even Gold and Ultramax, feature excellent dynamic ranges. Due to their good latitude, they are pretty forgiving if you don't meter properly. Overexposing by half a stop an exposure of Kodak.

Gold 200 won't ruin your shot. However, on Harman Phoenix 200, it might! Harman Phoenix 200 performs best in well-lit scenes, particularly on sunny days. It's not the ideal choice for low-light or indoor photography. So, if you plan to shoot a stormy day or a dimly lit room, you might want to consider a different film.

I wanted to capture the massive storm heading our way in this example. I took three shots in the span of 5 minutes (as I needed to run to my house to grab another lens and run back to the beach.) Despite overexposing the first shot on purpose, it was pretty dark. For the two next shots, I decided to slightly underexpose by half a stop to capture more of the cloud's darkness. This resulted in useable images. I was quite surprised that a mere half-stop could make such a difference in the same scene. Overall, I've noticed that it's complicated to predict how this stock will capture a sense.

How To Scan Harman Phoenix 200

Scanning at the Lab

When requesting scans of your Phoenix roll from your lab, it's important to consider a few things. Firstly, some major labs worldwide obtained Phoenix 200 before its release to understand how to scan it properly. However, some independent labs may still be refining their scanning process.

Overall, Noritsu scanners seem to produce more natural results than the Fuji Frontier. Some labs might give you the choice of scanner. When it comes to settings, you could ask the lab to reduce the overall contrast and apply a low saturation. Also, don't hesitate to ask your favorite lab what they think is the best choice for scanning Phoenix 200; they might have some tricks.

ScanningathomeFor several years, I've been scanning my film at home with a mirrorless setup. It was quite an improvement over my flatbed V550, as I also print my scanned negatives. I use my Canon R5C (45mpx) with a 100mm f/2.8 macro lens and the Cinestill CS-Lite light table.

I use the excellent Lightroom Classic plugin Negative Lab Pro to convert negatives to positive images. Here are a few tips on getting the best results with Harman Phoenix 200. When scanning, I pay attention to the histogram instead of the exposure meter and tend to expose it to the right(meaning overexposing). Once in Lightroom Classic, I'll correct the white balance using the color picker on the film mask. Then, I'll launch Negative Lab Pro. On the Convert tab, I choose:

• Source: Digital Camera
• Color Model: Noritsu
• Pre-Saturation: 2 Low
• Border Buffer: 15%
• Roll Analysis: ON

Now, on the Edit panel, I'll change the following...

• Tone Profile: LAB Standard
• Exposure: To be determined for each image separately
• Brightness: To be determined for each image separately
• Contrast: Anything between -5 and - 15
• Lights: 2 to 10
• Darks: -3
• Whites: -2 to -3
• Blacks: -3 to +3
• Lab Fade: 3 (if you like the look)
• White balance: I often toggle between "auto-neutral" and "none" and then adjust for each image.
• HSL: LAB
• Saturation: between 3 and 4 if still too saturated; otherwise, leave at 5.

If some exposures look really odd (for example, underexposed or too dense), you can go to roll and toggle the analysis from "Raw scan" to "this image only" to see if it's better. As you can see in this image of the storm rolling over the sea, changing the setting to roll analysis to "this image only" seriously altered the look of the image.

By now, you should hopefully have a better idea of Harman Phoenix 200 and whether it's a film stock that fits your shooting style.

Harman Phoenix 200 is an exciting yet unpredictable film stock. Some photographers have complained that this initial version of Phoenix is too unstable and that Harman should have perfected the formula before releasing it to the public. However, understanding the expensive nature of developing and manufacturing film gelatine and color dyes, Harman's development of a brand-new emulsion in 2024 should be encouraged. Moving from black-and-white film to color-negative film is a costly venture, and releasing this experimental film to the public was likely the only way to make it financially feasible. Remember, Ilford/Harman is a company that needs to make money and profit to be viable.

Harman approached this project by involving us in manufacturing a new family of color-negative films. Phoenix 200, being experimental, is also limited. Harman relies on us to provide feedback on improving this stock so they can work on a second version (perhaps Phoenix 2) and beyond. Just like a phoenix, this film is a rebirth from the ashes of color-negative films