Shooting Harman’s New Red 125
I was just looking back at my photography articles and noticed that I have written quite a few about new films over the last couple of years. You can see the broader list of photography articles here. It is pretty cool that there are new film emulsions still coming out in 2025. Today I am writing about Harman Photo’s new Red 125. This is the second new film emulsion by Harman in the last couple of years. The first emulsion from Harman was the Phoenix 200, which is a film emulsion that I reviewed early in 2024 and have grown to really love despite how challenging it is to shoot. I have heard that Red 125 is not a completely new emulsion actually and rather just Phoenix 200 reversed so that you expose the red light sensitive layer first. It produces an almost Mars like layer on top of everything. Despite the unique nature of the film, it is not the first red-scale film I have shot. A couple of years ago I posted an article on Lomography Redscale, that you can read here.
So what do I think of it? It is interesting. I went back and looked through my Lomo Redscale photos and while if you read my blog piece on it you would know that I didn’t think it was absolutely amazing, I actually liked the way those photos turned out more than the ones from the Harman Red. And maybe a little surprisingly, they are actually quite different. I think the lack of an anti-halation layer in the Harman film makes a big difference, as lights and darks are the really most of what comes through. It is almost a black and white film where gray has been replaced by red. Looking at the Lomo photos, the colours make a huge difference. In the photos I have included here, the ones that would have been strong black and white shots, I think, came out the best. Ones that would have benefited from some colour inclusion are not quite there. My personal favourite photo is the last one with the two people crossing the bridge at Goldstream Park. I think that I must have had my aperture completely open as I was in the forest, which let in light differently because for whatever reason that one has some cool greens that made it through.
I would love to hear what you think of Harman Red 125. Let me know in the comments and if you want to get a roll, you could try Kerrisdale Camera, where I got this roll or maybe Camera Traders has brought some it, though they hadn’t last time I was there.