In the above video, Harman engineers also explained that their film’s speed is *mathematically* ISO 123.5. However, the box speed is ISO 200, based on the feedback they got from photographers who tested it at multiple speeds.
I just watched Grainydays’ video on this film, and it struck me (which should’ve been obvious): it was based on Ilford XP2 emulsion! (XP2 review: analog.cafe/r/ilford-xp2-s…)
A little upset I didn’t immediately realize this when I saw the leaked photos of the film boxes. But of course, this makes all the sense in the world.
I’m also pleased to see the young scientists that made it possible. There’s an ongoing fear in the film photography community that the knowledge we accumulated over the past 200 years about making film is leaving us with the retiring population of scientists and engineers who were at the forefront of the production up until the 2010s. Apparently, there’s no shortage of smart young people ready to do it all again, even if it means re-inventing film for the new age.
Now that Harman Phoenix 200 has officially launched, I’d like to comment on its dynamic range: it’s extremely narrow!
It’s almost as narrow as that of the notorious Kodak Aerochorme — an extremely expensive and rare infrared film (analog.cafe/r/kodak-aeroch…).
Though I haven’t tried this film yet, I can tell from the characteristic curves in the datasheet by Harman (emulsive.org/wp-content/up…) that Phoenix has just 5 stops of dynamic range. The samples taken with this film confirm what I predicted about it yesterday (analog.cafe/comments/3nj8) — it is an extremely contrasty film.
This means that metering for shadows will not work with Phoenix 200. In fact, shooting it in full sun may not be the best idea — instead, places with soft light or a dynamic range of no more than 7-10 stops would work best. See my guide “How to Make Perfect Exposures on Film” for more: analog.cafe/r/how-to-make-…
Of course, reading graphs and watching others’ samples of the film is not the same as experiencing it first-hand. I’ll be doing that shortly and comparing it to other films, including Ilford Ilfocolor 400 — made by an entirely different company (analog.cafe/comments/3nj8)
It appears that someone had leaked the entire datasheet for this film.
I’m happy that no one published the samples yet as they would reveal the most important part of this [unconfirmed] film product.
Nevertheless, from the datasheet, I can already tell that it will be a narrow dynamic range film (about 5 stops) with low blue colour sensitivity.
The negatives will have no mask and thus some scanners or scanner software may struggle with it. There are ways to vert negatives by hand (analog.cafe/r/how-to-inver…) if that becomes a problem.
I’m starting to see more posts about the little-known Ilford Ilfocolor 400 film. Note that this film is not what the Harman Phoenix announcement is about.
You see, Ilford was split about a decade ago into two companies, one operating the factory in the UK, which goes by Harman (Ilford Photo) and makes films like Ilford HP5 — and the other, Ilford Imaging Switzerland GmbH. The latter went through bankruptcy and switched a lot of owners but it retains the rights to Ilford name, which they “rent” to Harman to sell under.
Swiss Ilford Imaging (now located in Germany, btw) sells disposable film cameras and they also sell rebranded colour film, Ilfocolor 400. It was not marketed outside of EU and Australia — likely because the UK Ilford Photo has the exclusive rights or an agreement for the US/Canada market where I and most of the Analog.Cafe readers are located.
Ilfocolor 400 is suspected to be an OWO NC 500 (analog.cafe/r/orwo-wolfen-…) rebrand for the similar-looking results and emulsion base colour.
SPOILER IN NEXT PARAGRAPH
As you can see, this is all very confusing. But the good news is that the rumored Phoenix 200 is made entirely within the UK factory, which means it’s likely new and completely unlike the stuff inside Ilfocolor 400 boxes.
Harman, the brand that sells Ilford black and white films has been teasing something for the past few weeks. Only a select few photographers and influencers got special cards from the firm. But unconfirmed yet real-looking ISO 200 colour film packaging has been spotted: youtube.com/watch?v=jeXi3C…
Apparently, a store has made the film available early and one Reddit user was able to snag it before it was de-listed.
No sample photos yet.
This is the second time this year a retailer broke the embargo. Previously, it was Polaroid Reclaimed Blue 600 (analog.cafe/r/polaroid-rec…) that got leaked a few days before the release.
I really enjoyed the Reclaimed Blue film. The rumors were juicy and the results ended up looking fantastic. I’m hoping to see Kodak Gold-level of image quality, if Harman is indeed launching colour film.
Watch the Kodak Gold vs. ColorPlus video on YouTube with a few more samples and Daren’s take on the differences we discovered between the films: youtube.com/watch?v=zw9woR…
Kodak has just announced that they are working on a Super 8 camera with an extended gate, interchangeable C-Mount lens system, a 4” LCD viewfinder, and digital sound capture and sync features. Full list of features here: kodak.com/en/motion/page/s…
The camera is expected to sell for $5,495 USD. To get yours, you need to sign up on the reservation form: www2.kodak.com/super-8-cam…
Matt Stoffel has published some footage shot with this camera two years ago as it was being developed: youtube.com/watch?v=E3p5BP…
I decided that rather than shooting a huge range of B&W films over the last few years it’s time to pick one and really appreciate and understand how it works.
The article is helping my decision making — it looks like I’m down to choosing between HP5 and Foma (probably 200)
Hey, I used silicone. Ideally, it’s best to use a glue that can fasten the materials securely (glass to metal) but the problem with superglue is that it’s very fast and very messy. Instead, something that takes time to cure will give you a chance to clean up any residue, test, and make adjustments.
I don’t have an exact brand or make, with me right now — sorry!
Hey Dmitri, Ive picked up a Vitessa that a bit of a project (sticky shutter — wish me luck, but it’ll be fun). One of the issues is the rangefinder mirror has fallen off. What glue did you use to repair yours? I assume super glue isnt the answer
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