First roll of Harman Phoenix photos up!

dcy

Member
Joined
May 9, 2025
Messages
172
Location
New Mexico, USA
Format
35mm
koraks said:
For regular pictorial use, it's a more challenging film than normal CN films. But personally I don't see why people would want to use this for regular pictorial use as there are way better alternatives for that;
Click to expand...

As it turns out, I do aspire to use Phoenix and/or those Orwo films as general purpose films. Whether I end up doing that remains to be seen.

But why would I do that?

Because it's a hobby. If my goal was to maximize photo quality and ease of use, I'd shoot digital. Everything about this hobby (or any hobby) is about making my life needlessly difficult by creating self-imposed constraints, just for fun.

You understand intuitively why someone would want to work with a film that is completely incapable of rendering color. Maybe it's not so crazy that one may want to work with a film that struggles to render color. Aside from the fact that I really do wish to support Harman's efforts, the excess difficulty of working with a less capable film is precisely what makes it interesting.
 

bags27

Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
566
Location
USA
Format
Medium Format

sometimes I wish we had a "like" button!
 

koraks

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Nov 29, 2018
Messages
21,943
Location
Europe
Format
Multi Format
dcy said:
the excess difficulty of working with a less capable film is precisely what makes it interesting.
Click to expand...

Yes, it sounds really nice if you put it that way. I'll not get in your way trying it; there's plenty of things I could say on the topic, but I think I'd better not. Good luck & godspeed!
 

dcy

Member
Joined
May 9, 2025
Messages
172
Location
New Mexico, USA
Format
35mm
koraks said:
Yes, it sounds really nice if you put it that way. I'll not get in your way trying it; there's plenty of things I could say on the topic, but I think I'd better not. Good luck & godspeed!
Click to expand...



There's a decent chance that I might shoot a dozen rolls of Phoenix, find that I can't make it work, throw my hands up in the air and just order Kodak Gold. But even if that's what happens, I think I will be glad that I tried.
 

warden

Subscriber
Joined
Jul 21, 2009
Messages
2,976
Location
Philadelphia
Format
Medium Format
dcy said:


There's a decent chance that I might shoot a dozen rolls of Phoenix, find that I can't make it work, throw my hands up in the air and just order Kodak Gold. But even if that's what happens, I think I will be glad that I tried.
Click to expand...

Rock on. It’s all about the enjoyment.
 

Agulliver

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
3,507
Location
Luton, United Kingdom
Format
Multi Format
Why is any of us doing this? Because we find it fun. And some of us like experimenting and/or like a challenge. Phoenix needs using with care and to my mind (or perhaps my way of doing photography) it isn't an everyday film...but for some that would be fun challenge. And people will have a lot of fun on the journey.
 

pentaxuser

Member
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
19,766
Location
Daventry, No
Format
35mm
I do it because the process of developing is quite interesting and making darkroom prints is even more so but primarily I continue to do it because I know no other way and I like to have and to show prints on a person to person to those whom I know will enjoy looking at them. Oh, and I have no particular desire to scan

However I am not sure I'd bother if it made my life needlessly difficult or gave me difficulties most of the time to get what I need.

I also would not want to work with material that I knew could never produce the kind of quality that similar products could, such as Harman Phoenix in its present state v Kodak colour film

Still different folks for different strokes as the saying goes

pentaxuser
 

dcy

Member
Joined
May 9, 2025
Messages
172
Location
New Mexico, USA
Format
35mm
pentaxuser said:
Oh, and I have no particular desire to scan
Click to expand...
Scanning is boring and I always felt that taking a digital picture of an analog picture was a really weird thing to do. --- I scan color because I don't have the tools or skills to enlarge color; I am barely getting started with B&W printing.


I think most of us can point to something we do that "could be easier" but we like the challenge or experimentation. Maybe it's cooking meals from scratch. Most of us can also point to something other people do that looks like a huge amount of hassle and a miserable way to live.

This is to say, I do have a threshold of how much hassle I'm willing to accept, vs how much I enjoy experimenting and trying new things. Right now I have no personal experience with Phoenix and I'm feeling curious. I've seen other people post images online that I like. But if I find that I don't enjoy using it, I'll just stop and I'll be happy I gave it a shot.
 

koraks

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Nov 29, 2018
Messages
21,943
Location
Europe
Format
Multi Format
Give Phoenix a try; it's certainly unique. If you find it gives you results you don't like, move on to something else, then maybe revisit it some time later one when you've figured out what makes Phoenix so unique to begin with. That was the (perhaps poorly expressed) thought behind my earlier post. I believe that Phoenix can give you something that no other film can, but it's a bit like sourdough bread, in a way. It's so much more effective to first learn to bake a decent loaf using regular baker's yeast before facing the challenges of sourdough. The parallel isn't perfect, but perhaps you get the gist (and someone at some point will get this pun, haha).
 

Agulliver

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
3,507
Location
Luton, United Kingdom
Format
Multi Format
Fully agree with @koraks
Phoenix does give you something no other film currently does. And while it doesn't generally suit my way of doing photography, I've shot three rolls and got some truly excellent photos from about half the shots. Not necessarily accurate colours, but visually very appealing and artistically quite unique images. I think if I were to shoot more, I'd develop a technique specifically for shooting Phoenix to get the best out of it.

I think I'll come back to Phoenix when Harman have improved it significantly. It's quite amazing that it exists at all. And it certainly is possible to get good photos out of it "as is".
 

dcy

Member
Joined
May 9, 2025
Messages
172
Location
New Mexico, USA
Format
35mm

Ha ha. I like the parallel. My first attempt to make bread at home was indeed to make sourdough. It was fun, but soon enough I decided it was too much hassle and started making regular bread with store-bought yeast.
 

koraks

Moderator
Moderator
Joined
Nov 29, 2018
Messages
21,943
Location
Europe
Format
Multi Format
When you're just starting out with sourdough bread, it helps to have a hacksaw on hand that is dedicated for kitchen use. The bread's flavor tends to be OK, though. Sorry, I digress.
 

Agulliver

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2015
Messages
3,507
Location
Luton, United Kingdom
Format
Multi Format
To be fair, Phoenix came along after I had more than 45 years of experience with film and my formative years were sticking to FP4, Kodacolor and a other standard 100ASA C41 print film. About five years in, though still aged only 9, I started experimenting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…