Harman Red 125 is a new redscale film that produces dark and murky images with a ghoulish red/yellow cast. Hey, I’m all for new films hitting the market but you have to wonder why would anyone want their pictures to look like this? Hit the jump for more!
What The Heck Is Harman Red 125?
Harman Red 125 is a new redscale version of Harman Phoenix 200 which was the company’s first experiment in producing color film stock. What’s redscale film, you ask?
Redscale film is color film that’s wound backwards on the cassette and exposed from the wrong side. This causes the red layer of the film to get exposed first and leaves less light for the other colors so everything comes out super red. It pretty much looks like you got the white balance wrong on a digital camera.
This kind of thing might be an interesting experiment for a photo club wanting to push limits of the medium and see what happens. But the results are pretty much ugly and unusable.
Here’s a gallery of some Harman Red 125 shots for reference:
Ya, that’s pretty much the worst film I’ve ever seen.
Why Is Anyone Even Talking About This?
The reality is that film photographers are so starved for new film products that we will jump for joy if anyone even mentions a new film stock.
When Light Lens Lab announced they’re planning to new make a new line of film from scratch everyone took it as gospel that a new film was on the way. And nobody mentioned the initial sample shots looked terrible because they were shot without an anti-halation layer. Because new film!
And when the North American Marketing Team for Lucky Film announced that Lucky 200 was coming soon with nothing more than 3D rendered film cannister? Everyone took it as gospel that the new film was confirmed and on the way. But that film isn’t even in production yet. So… ya.
But at least those examples were pointing towards actual new products. And that’s where I have a problem with Harman Red 125.
Harman Red 125 Is Not A New Film Stock
Harman Red 125 is literally just Harman Phoenix 200 reverse wound into film cassettes so you shoot through the base layer instead of exposing the emulsion directly. This is literally what the redscale process is. You can literally do it with any color negative film and get the same murky results with the same ghoulish red/yellow cast.
Heck, Red 125 isn’t even the only redscale film on the market! Lomography Redcsale XR 50-200 comes immediately to mind. And even though the Lomo redscale film is reverse wound with a completely different emulsion, it still produces equally dismal results. So why does Red 125 even exist?
Did the marketing department feel pressure to deliver a new product? Did they just rush a gimmicky version of Harman Phoenix 200 to market to get the CEO off their back? I suppose it’s got new packaging and a new product sku so they can safely claim it’s a new product.
But I’m not buying it.
The Last Word
Think of all the greatest images that have ever been taken in the history of photography. From Bresson’s cylcist to Winnogrand’s Laughing Woman. From Edward Weston’s Peppers to Diane Arbus’ Grenade Boy. None of those images would be better if they were shot in redscale. But every one of them would be ruined if they were shot using the same process.
You never know when the next great image is going to pass in front of your lens. It’s simply not worth the risk of taking that shot on this film. Especially when you know it’s automatically going to be this ugly.
But hey. New film.
If you want to give Harman Red 125 a whirl it’s available online:
What’s your take on Harman Red 125? Do you like the look of redscale film? Or does it look like it was developed in dirty sock water? Post your ideas in the comments below and keep the conversation going!