Harman Phoenix in Milan
I’ve called it in my recap of 2023, here is some photography related content for you all! While in Milan earlier this year, I opened the door of a camera store in which I couldn’t afford anything (mostly Leicas and Hasselblads, so…yeah…). But I spied with my little eye a roll of Harman Phoenix that was reasonably priced, so I gave it a go.
I know I’m super late to the party, but if you’re not aware, Harman Phoenix is the first color film produced by Ilford, but since Ilford only does Black and White, they started doing color film under the Harman name.
FYI: I know there are plenty of reviews online already, but I wanted to share my personal take on it, and it’s not always that I have the opportunity to shoot something new.
This first batch of Phoenix remains in its infancy, dealing with prototype characteristics. For a 200 ISO film, it is extremely grainy but also, totally inaccurate color-wise. It constantly has a very pronouce yellow-orange tone, giving sunset vibes to pretty much every shot.
Despite the heavy grain that blankets each frame, Phoenix will give you pretty big halations with strong artificial light. It’s the CineStill 800T on a budget but with pretty modest dynamic range, so shadows will be super black, and it’s pretty easy to blow-up the highlights. That kind of stuff isn’t universally appreciated, but it makes for good artsy and surprising shots, and I absolutely love the high-contrast golden look that you get.
I wouldn’t say it’s a film that needs tones of light. Most of these shots were done on a cloudy day or even inside. I’ve read online that some people shoot it at 100 or even 50 ISO, but Harman will tell you that you can go between 100 and 400.
Interestingly enough, some of my shots that I took in what definitely looked like white/neutral light to me and my human eyes, came out with this heavy green tone for some reason. Probably another artificial light wavelength that Phoenix still struggle to handle.
During my short time in Milan, I tried to grab as many shots as I could in various situations and experiments with the 39 frames I could extract from this roll. (Yes, 39!) To sum it up, it's probably a bit early to try doing a bike check or anything that's supposed to be a faithful representation of reality with Harman Phoenix. It’s not what you could call “A safe bet”. But when it comes to trips, or anything that implies making dreamy pictures, it's the right call. Phoenix truly gave me that film feel where you have no idea what you're going to get, and I loved it.
Couldn’t leave Italy without a Pizza in me.
🎞: Harman Phoenix 200
📷: Leica M6
📍: Milan
