Harman releases special effects color films

[thinkbrown]

Just snagged 5 rolls in 35mm and 120 from b&h, very much looking forward to giving it a try.

 

[AERO]

I don't normally use any of these "effects films" but I am actually tempted by this. I really like the sample photos I've seen.

AnalogueWonderland have it at £12.50 for 35mm £11.00 for 120

 

[pentaxuser]

HARMAN SWITCH AZURE is the latest creative offering in our growing range of HARMAN colour films.



Aimed at the creative photographer SWITCH AZURE welcomes you to a world where pink and orange skies meet cyan bananas and blue strawberries.



From the everyday to the extraordinary, it’s time to switch the world around you.

HARMAN SWITCH Azure invites you to flip the familiar on its head and turn the everyday into something strange and special.​

As the colours switch, ordinary scenes become unexpectedly extraordinary.

Iconic red London buses? - Now they’re blue.
Yellow New York cabs? - Not anymore!
Your friends? - Think Smurfs… or maybe Avatar.
Sunsets? - Reimagined in cool blues and dreamy purples.

The above is what my e-mail today from Harman says. I attach it just in case others haven't seen it

pentaxuser

 

[FotoD]

Switzh?

 

[pentaxuser]

Switzh?

No idea why the "Z" Their e-mail says switch which is the correct spelling in English Perhaps this is the kind of "Hip" word that appeals to what it thinks is its audience of Gen X,Y or Z i.e. whatever the present generation are called ?

pentaxuser

 

[koraks]

No idea why the "Z"

I take it as a little marketing joke. Probably for the reasons you mentioned, as well as the Z being a shape that can be interpreted as depicting as switching one thing for another due to its zig-zag shape.

 

[thinkbrown]

Switzh?

Typo, they corrected it

 

[mshchem]

I'm thinking that Harman is carving out a nice niche here. Why try to out Kodak Kodak? This is genuinely bizarre stuff. Now, make something like this in an E-6 product???

 

[BrianShaw]

Genuinely bizarre, for sure. But there must be a market for it. Im not in that market…

 

[Kino]

"Pre-expired" film?

Just joking. If you like it, you like it.

Enough room for everyone...

 

[halfaman]

Perhaps Harman is still too far of being able to offer something close to a normal C-41 film, but I wonder if a crowdfunding campaingn will be better than bringing films like Azure. Not only because of the weirdness, but because this already exits (LomoChrome Turquoise). At least Phoenix has a unique "flavour". I would prefer just to give Harman money that keep buying all kind of weird stuff that I am never going to use.

 

[thinkbrown]

because this already exits (LomoChrome Turquoise).

Alex from shaka1277 did a good breakdown and compared azure to turquoise and while they're the same sort of dye swap, azure offers a meaningfully different color palette. They also undercut Lomography on pricing which I hadn't realized.

 

[Milpool]

I’m sure if you called them up with a donation offer they’d be happy to take it.

Perhaps Harman is still too far of being able to offer something close to a normal C-41 film, but I wonder if a crowdfunding campaingn will be better than bringing films like Azure. Not only because of the weirdness, but because this already exits (LomoChrome Turquoise). At least Phoenix has a unique "flavour". I would prefer just to give Harman money that keep buying all kind of weird stuff that I am never going to use

 

[Lachlan Young]

I'm thinking that Harman is carving out a nice niche here. Why try to out Kodak Kodak? This is genuinely bizarre stuff. Now, make something like this in an E-6 product???

I would suggest that the right mix-down of Phoenix II and Azure's components might deliver a fully masked CN film.

Harman did state that there were components that missed the deadline for incorporation in Phoenix II's making/ wide coating window of machine time, and I would suggest that those components are likely those that you don't want cross talking uncontrollably into the green/ magenta layer.

The timeframe for Azure is that it likely had its coating event in Oct/ Nov last year (the leaked film boxes showed an expiry suggesting a finishing event in December, thus the coating event might have been 6 weeks before that).

 

[brbo]

I've seen many pictures more boring than this on technically perfect films. Hell, I took thousands myself...

 

[Agulliver]

Regarding the timing of the production of this Azure film, remember that on the Sunny 16 podcast some months ago the Harman media rep, Michelle Parr, did suggest that a new colour film might just make the market before the end of 2025. We now know this almost certainly referred to Azure. So it likely was coated in Q3 of 2025 and they decided to launch it onto the market just before Spring 2026.

 

[fdonadio]

They also undercut Lomography on pricing which I hadn't realized.

Lomography is, and it seems they will always be, a “boutique brand”. Think “the Supreme of film”.

It’s one of the reasons I don’t support them. I feel better giving my money to companies that design and coat their own material, like Kodak, Ilford and Foma.

 

[thinkbrown]

Lomography is, and it seems they will always be, a “boutique brand”. Think “the Supreme of film”.

It’s one of the reasons I don’t support them. I feel better giving my money to companies that design and coat their own material, like Kodak, Ilford and Foma.

They provide value to the community though, especially when they make film available in formats it wouldn't otherwise be produced in. I really like UN54 which is only normally available in 16/35mm, but lomography gets it custom finished in 120 which is great.

 

[brbo]

I feel better giving my money to companies that design and coat their own material, like Kodak, Ilford and Foma.

You do know that you are effectively giving money to Foma and Kodak by buying some of the Lomography films? As you are giving money to Inoviscoat by buying some other Lomography films. Why would it be wrong for Inoviscoat/ORWO/Filmotec/whatever to have a chance to improve their colour films?

 

[thinkbrown]

Finished the first roll today and it was a lot of fun. Had me thinking a lot more about color compliments than I usually do while shooting.

 

[mshchem]

I received my 3 rolls of Azure. The cartons are beautiful. Disappointed that the film canister isn't different, maybe a nice blue lid Now I need to shoot at least 1 roll. I wonder if Harman will ever attempt actual normal color film?

 

[ChrisGalway]

...... I wonder if Harman will ever attempt actual normal color film?

My guess is "no". But we'll see, give it until 2035 ...

 

[koraks]

My guess is "no".

It's a firm "yes" though. Every step they're taking is quite clearly aimed at that goal. See @Lachlan Young's interpretations of the various developments we've seen across the Phoenix products over the past few years.
The question is not 'if', but 'when' the first regular, masked C41 film made by Harman will hit the market. Will it be the next product launch, or the one after?

 

[ChrisGalway]

It's a firm "yes" though. Every step they're taking is quite clearly aimed at that goal. See @Lachlan Young's interpretations of the various developments we've seen across the Phoenix products over the past few years.
The question is not 'if', but 'when' the first regular, masked C41 film made by Harman will hit the market. Will it be the next product launch, or the one after?

That's a bold prediction, I'm tempted to bookmark that! "Masked" does not mean half-decent though ... it can still be a weird film.

So, let's see what the rest of 2026 and then 2027 brings.

 

[koraks]

What would you think they're aiming for? Dabbling in some kind of half-baked Lomo stuff? Of course not. That's too small a niche to justify the R&D expense. It's been clear right form the start where they have been going.