Harman Harman Phoenix 200 - Film Review

In late 2022, a small team at HARMAN Photo started a small secret project to see if they could design, coat, and manufacture a brand new color film at their UK facility. That color film is called Phoenix 200 and is the first ever color film made, emulation to cassette, at the Mobberley factory where they also, make, coat, and finish all of Ilford’s iconic B&W film.

Like the mythical Phoenix, this new color film represents a rebirth as well as hope for the film community that is so heavily reliant on a single manufacture for its’ color film. It signals a new legacy for HARMAN Photo and a new chapter in color film.

Our thoughts on this film.

With its high contrast, strong saturation, and quirky color, we can honestly say we have never shot a film quite like Phoenix 200. This film is far from perfect and HARMAN will be the first to tell you that as it all started as an experiment(which is why it will be a limited edition) and took less than a year to complete.

Phoenix 200 has no halation layer as well as no orange layer which produces a good amount of contrast, noticeable halation, and why the exposure latitude is lower than typical color negative film. When shooting this film we find that it does best with even, very constant light and due to the lower latitude, similar to E-6 slide film, we meter for there midtowns and not the shadows. We recommend using a camera that allows for exposure control which will allow you to get a more accurate exposure as the highlights can easily blowout when overexposed.

The results below were shot in a variety of light and as you’ll see, this film has strong greens, high saturation, and the lower exposure latitude results in high contrast which is why the the shadows are so dark and highlights, so bright.