Harman Phoenix
With all the talk surrounding the new Phoenix II film stock, I thought it would be appropriate to post my first look with the first version. I have shot a few rolls with both 35mm/120 , so I kind of have an idea of what to expect with this one.
Trying out a new film stock on vacation can be risky when it comes to not knowing what you will get in the scans . Phoenix 200 was worth the risk for sure with how saturated everything came out in beautiful Mexico . I typically travel to Mexico in the dry season so this was a pleasant surprise to see everything so punchy . Sometimes it pays off to shoot the new film stock.
Mamiya 7II + 80 f/4
This film stock is advertised as a 200 speed film, but given the results from other users that had the exclusive look before I did, I found that I liked the results better if I rated it as a 100 speed film. I noticed that with other’s results, the shadows appeared to be muddy and overall colors seemed to be thrown off.
Mamiya 7II + 80 f/4
I did notice that there was a nice halation in the highlighted areas which I don’t mind at all. Reminded me of shooting Cinestill 400d in the daytime but much more punchy in saturation.
With the 35mm version of Harman’s Phoenix , you will obviously see much more grain, but I believe the saturation and overall look is still the same . I am not one to complain too much about grain in film. After all, I am so used to delivering the most clean digital files for client work, A little bit of rough scans from a cheaper “experimental” film stock is a welcomed surprise .
Olympus XA
Olympus XA
Olympus XA
In summary, I didn’t totally write this film off like a bunch of people online have seem to have done, but I also know that this film stock was intended for fun use and wasn’t marketed as a pro grade film to shoot a wedding or important portrait session on. I am excited to try the second version of Phoenix II as the few rolls I bought are staring at me as I type up this first look. Below I will include a gallery of my samples that I have shot with Harman Phoenix and hopefully I can find time to shoot version II and circle back here with my findings . Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully it was a little insightful .
