Harman Red film extensive review of the possibilities of this new experimental film with character

0:05 introduction showing roll before and after development 0:44 broken Leica CL with Chroma Double Glass 24mm f11 3:14 Rollei XF35 AF 6:06 Olympus LT-1 9:22 Leica C2 Zoom 12:19 plusses and minusses and conclusion Welcome to this new episode of Voncam! Today we’re looking at a new film from Harman – the Red 125 ISO. When unexposed, the film is quite yellow and lacks an anti-halation layer, so it’s sensitive to light leaks. Be careful when loading it in direct sunlight. Once developed in C41, it becomes a very red-toned negative, as its name suggests. I started testing it with a broken Leica CL and a Chroma 24mm f/11 lens. Without an exposure meter or rangefinder, it was a minimal street photography setup. The results are striking: very red highlights and noticeable halos in high contrast areas, especially due to the absence of the anti-halation backing. In full sunlight, like in Manchester, you get strong, saturated reds. In lower light or underexposed areas, you may start to see hints of green or blue. With digital post-processing, there’s a surprising amount of flexibility to recover detail and adjust the tones. When heavily exposed, the film almost starts to resemble black-and-white, but with a deeper, layered look that adds its own unique visual character. Switching to a Rollei XF35 AF, I observed similar behavior. In warm lighting conditions, like candles or sunsets, reds and oranges become dominant. But in dimmer, cloudy scenes — like those shot in Geneva — the film begins to reveal more subtle tones. Blues and even some green start to appear, especially in the shadows, and the overall palette feels more natural if the red input is reduced. Harman provides spectral sensitivity charts, which confirm how strongly this emulsion responds to reds. But if you’re shooting under cloudy skies, or with the help of filters, you can coax a surprising amount of green and blue out of it. For example, shots from Roma (in Switzerland) or forested areas in Iceland show the film’s potential for subtle color rendering when red is not overwhelming the scene. Later tests with an Olympus LT1 and a Leica C2 Zoom showed similar results. In artificial light or flash, red tones intensify quickly — like on some still-life shots with oysters or city scenes in London at sunset. But as the light softens or fades, the film transitions into pinkish, bluish, or even purplish territory. It never quite loses its identity, but it becomes more varied and expressive the less you push red into it. Scenes from the Thames, the Shard, and Reykjavik all illustrated how dramatically the film responds to lighting conditions. Shooting just slightly away from the sun, or at a lower exposure, can result in more balance across the color spectrum, bringing out unexpected hues. I also noticed how wide open versus zoomed-in shots created non-linear shifts — you really need to experiment to get a feel for how this film reacts. Some images in Iceland, like those from Mount Esja or the outskirts of Reykjavik, were especially striking. Even when the tones were subdued, the film preserved texture and mood. Greens began to reappear in shaded areas, giving the images a slightly otherworldly feel. I haven’t tried converting this film to black-and-white yet, but I think it would produce something unique, because the data seems to hold a lot of subtle information beyond the red channel. Overall, it’s a very expressive and character-rich emulsion. It’s fun to shoot with, though a bit unpredictable. It feels like driving an old car — a bit of a challenge, but with lots of charm. I really appreciate that it’s a fresh new color film made with care in Manchester, and I’ve enjoyed discovering its quirks. The grain is distinctive and creative, and while the film can lean heavily toward red, that’s also part of what makes it so special. If you’re into experimental film photography or just want to try something a bit off the beaten path, I highly recommend giving Harman Red 125 a try. Thanks for watching — feel free to share any comments or questions, and see you next time! want to support the channel ---- 1 - subscribe to the channel, like and activate alert 2 - get the iOS apps https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/app... 3 - grab my books Serial Matnum 2023 07 https://www.blurb.com/b/11665639 Serial Matnum 2023 06 https://www.blurb.com/b/11641364 3 - comment, respond, propose subjects for future episodes yay! :) direct links to playlists ---- http://aishit.net http://voncam.net fast links http://zand.li http://zzz.ch for the music and intermedia