Yes, go and buy some. That is the short version.
The longer version is that Harman Phoenix 2 is a meaningful improvement on the original Phoenix in the ways that actually matter for a colour film, it is significantly cheaper than the Kodak benchmarks (around £10.99 a roll for 120 at retail right now), and the things that gave the original Phoenix its character (the famous halation, principally) are still there. It is a refined version of itself rather than a rebrand.
Harman sent me two rolls of Phoenix 2 in 120 to try. I shot the first one carefully, side by side with a left-over roll of Phoenix 1 from last year, in the same scenes through two Rolleiflex bodies sharing the same lenses. I shot the second one less carefully and most of it came back blank or wildly underexposed, for reasons I still cannot fully explain. So this review is a complete account of both, including the bit where I screwed up.
What Phoenix 2 is
Phoenix was Harman’s first colour film, launched in 35mm in 2023 and arriving in 120 about six months later. It was rough around the edges in a deliberate, character-led way. The reds were heavy. The contrast was punchy. There was a distinctive halation effect around bright light sources that you either loved or you did not. I tested it last year and concluded it felt experimental, which it was, and that the more interesting question was where Harman would take the next version. Towards a high-quality conventional colour film? Or further into the grungy experimental territory?
Phoenix 2 is the answer. They have tried to make it as good as possible without losing what was distinctive. Same emulsion family, refined.
Two things that matter for buyers:
It is launching in 35mm and 120 simultaneously. No six-month wait this time. If you shoot medium format, you can buy it on the same day as 35mm shooters.
The price. RRP is £12.99 a roll for 120, but it is currently retailing at £10.99 a roll on the Harman site. For comparison, in the UK right now you are looking at roughly £20 for a roll of Portra 400, £18 for Portra 160, and £22 for Portra 800. Phoenix 2 is significantly cheaper than the Kodak benchmark. That matters for ordinary shooting where you go through a few rolls a month.
I think Kodak is the benchmark for colour films. That does not mean every colour film needs to try to be Kodak. The world already has Kodak. What I want from a new colour film is for it to be the best version of what it is, and Phoenix 2 is well on its way to becoming exactly that.
![PLACEHOLDER: a frame from the Phoenix 2 roll showing the characteristic look, the halation, the more controlled palette]
How I tested it
The methodology for the first roll was deliberately controlled. I took two Rolleiflex bodies out into the Gloucestershire countryside on the same morning:
- The Rolleiflex SLX loaded with Harman Phoenix 2
- The Rolleiflex 6006 loaded with Harman Phoenix 1 (reviewed separately here)
Both cameras take the same Carl Zeiss lenses, so the only meaningful variable between any two paired frames is the film. Same focal length, same aperture, same shutter speed, same scene, same moment. As close to an apples-to-apples comparison as I can practically set up in a field.
I shot a range of conditions: deep shadow with bright background, bright background with shadow foreground, infinity-focused landscapes, close-up portraits, a series of cows that came over to introduce themselves, and a couple of self-portraits.
A small note for international readers: I shoot a lot of these test rolls on public footpaths through farmland in England. Walkers in the UK have the right to cross private land along marked footpaths, and farmers are required to maintain them. As long as I stay on the path, I am not trespassing. Strange thing to have to explain, but I have had comments from elsewhere assuming I am wandering through someone’s field unwelcome. I am not.
Side-by-side findings
Shadow detail is genuinely improved on Phoenix 2. In the first scene of the morning, with foreground in deep shadow and a brightly-lit background, the Phoenix 2 frame held meaningfully more detail in the shadow areas than the Phoenix 1 frame. This was the most consistent finding across the comparison set. If you were burning out highlights or losing shadows on the original Phoenix, the dynamic range improvement on Phoenix 2 should give you more to work with.
Highlights are more controlled. Phoenix 1 tended to blow out highlights with a strong yellow shift. Phoenix 2 still has a slight yellow cast in extreme highlights but the rolloff is gentler. Not Portra-controlled, but better than before.
The colour palette is dialled down. This was Harman’s stated intention and it is visible. Phoenix 1 had a slightly cartoonish saturation. Phoenix 2 still has its own look (it is not pretending to be a Kodak emulsion) but the colours are calmer. More wiggle room for the scene rather than the film imposing a strong character on every frame.
The halation is still there. Important news for fans, important news for everybody else. When I shot the cows in direct sun on the wide 80mm lens, one of them came back with a clear halo of red bloom around its body in the Phoenix 2 frame. The Phoenix 1 frame had the same effect. They have not killed it. They have not turned it down. This is still a film that does the halation thing, and if that was a deal-breaker for you on Phoenix 1, it will be a deal-breaker on Phoenix 2 too.
Skin tones are less yellow on Phoenix 2. I took a couple of self-portraits as part of the comparison and the Phoenix 1 frame rendered my face with a noticeable yellow cast that Phoenix 2 mostly avoided. Not the most flattering portrait either way (a man holding a camera at himself in the corner of a field at the end of a long walk is not anyone’s most photogenic moment) but the skin tone rendering is better on Phoenix 2.
![PLACEHOLDER: the halated cow frame from Phoenix 2, showing the red bloom around the body in direct sun]
What the first roll told me
Phoenix 2 is a more refined film without being a different film. The things that were rough on Phoenix 1 are now better. The things that gave Phoenix 1 its character are still there. It is exactly the kind of iteration I was hoping Harman would do.
If I had stopped at the first roll, this review would be straightforwardly positive and would tell you to buy some.
I did not stop at the first roll.
The second roll, where things went wrong
I went out again with the Bronica S2A loaded with the second roll of Phoenix 2, this time to Sharpness Docks. The shoot went off the rails from the very first frame.
The first shot was a landscape across the river. Nothing came back at all. Blank. The next few were variable: some came out fine, some were wildly underexposed, some were also completely blank. A handful of frames shot down the harbour into the sun produced barely-there images that did not make any sense in relation to my metering.
I took the S2A home, tested every aperture, fired the shutter at every speed, checked the film advance. Everything works correctly. The camera is fine. I cannot reproduce the problem.
So the failure is almost certainly me. The most likely explanation is that I metered wrong, repeatedly, across most of a roll. That is embarrassing to admit but it is also more likely than the camera spontaneously breaking and then un-breaking before I could find the fault.
The interesting thing is what this taught me about Phoenix 2’s tolerance.
In the paperwork that came with the rolls from Harman, they did say the film likes to be correctly exposed. I can confirm this directly. Underexpose Phoenix 2 and it goes blue. Overexpose it and it goes yellow. Both effects are pronounced and quick. This film is less forgiving than something like Portra 400, which has serious latitude in both directions. Phoenix 2 wants you to hit your exposure.
That is a real characteristic to be aware of if you are buying. Phoenix 2 is not a “shove it in the camera and ignore the meter” film. It rewards considered exposure.
![PLACEHOLDER: a couple of frames from the second roll, showing the dramatic colour shift when underexposed, the blue cast]
Honest disclosure on Phoenix 1
I want to add one thing about the comparison that bothered me slightly when I sat down to write this. The roll of Phoenix 1 I shot alongside Phoenix 2 was a leftover from last year, sitting on my desk for months. I had been given it, never wanted to shoot it, and never picked it up. That is the truth about how I felt about Phoenix 1.
By contrast, I shot both rolls of Phoenix 2. Even the one I screwed up. And I am going to go and buy more.
That, more than any pixel-level comparison, tells you what changed between the two.
What this is and what it is not
Phoenix 2 is:
- A genuinely good colour negative film with character
- Significantly cheaper than the Kodak benchmarks
- A real step on from Phoenix 1 in the ways that matter (shadow detail, highlight rolloff, skin tones, less yellow cast)
- Still distinctive (halation preserved, calmer but not neutral colour palette)
- Less forgiving of exposure error than Portra 400
Phoenix 2 is not:
- A Portra replacement
- A neutral, characterless emulsion
- Forgiving of underexposure
- Available in only one format (35mm and 120 launched together)
Should you buy it
Yes. If you have not tried Phoenix 1 and you are curious about a non-Kodak colour film, Phoenix 2 is where to start. If you tried Phoenix 1 and thought it was rough, Phoenix 2 is worth another go. If you tried Phoenix 1 and loved it for the halation, Phoenix 2 still has that.
At £10.99 a roll for 120 it is hard to find an excuse not to put a couple through your favourite camera. I have already ordered more.
Big thanks to Harman for sending the test rolls. The conclusion would have been the same if I had bought them myself, which I am about to do anyway.