Topic: More on the Harman Red

[Kai-san]

In February there was a discussion in a weekend thread about the new Harman Red redscale film. There was some agreement that it was just Harman Phoenix film that was loaded back to front in the cartridge and that the high ISO was due to a clear base. Now there's a problem with the last statement because we know that the reddish hue you get from a reversed film is due to the fact that light has to pass through the orange base that almost all C41 films have. And now I read that Harman confirms that the Harman Red base is indeed clear. So where does the reddish colour come from? Harman says that the Phoenix has a high red sensitivity, but that can hardly explain everything. Maybe the answer is in the shooting advice that Harman offers. If you expose the Harman Red at ISO 50-100 you get cooler tones. If you expose it at ISO 200 plus you get a dramatic shift towards red, orange and warm tones. I've seen shots done at ISO 200 plus, they're really wild! Could it be that this is Harman Phoenix confectioned to ISO 50 (or lower) that with it's high red sensitivity produces more red tones the more you underexpose it?
Harman also confirms that the film is loaded back to front in the cartridges, but they have done something to protect the emulsion from scratching. The Harman Red does not have an anti-halation layer, which contributes to the high box speed.

[Francois]

The red hue also comes from the inter-layer filtration and dye coupled emulsion order. Here is the normal layer order for Fuji Superia
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fujicolor_superia_film_structure.svg#/media/File:Fujicolor_superia_film_structure.svg
As you can see, the bottom layer is the red sensitive one. But since it doesn't have a filter applied when light is coming through the back, it makes the image mostly in the red hues even without the orange base.
The fact that this film has a completely transparent base, the red layer will become even more active than on regular film.
That's pretty much why it's so much more sensitive than other redscaled films.
The only thing I'm thinking that might come close in terms of speed and color is Kodak Aerocolor IV. Though there might be others.
And for the reds becoming more present at higher ISO, it's probably because there is a lot less light getting to the green and blue sensitive layers.

Geez... we're getting to be quite knowledgeable at this stuff for people who haven't studied it in school 

[Kai-san]

I assume the sensitivity of the colour layers are adjusted according to how much light will reach each of them. If you reverse the film it makes sense that the red layer will get more light than it should have, and the green and blue less. One should think that the amount of red would not change with different ISO rating, but it is there for those who would like to experiment.
I must admit that I'm not a big fan of redscaling. I'm more attracted to the red, blue, green and magenta films made by Impossible/Polaroid over the last years, but those are B&W films where the black has been replaced with a colour. It's more of a 70's look. 

[Francois]

I've never shot redscale either.
The thing is that when you kick the ISO up, the other layers don't get as much light so that the react less.
And with a lot of light, you get some red, but since the filter order is out of wack, the colors get funky.

One thing you might like is the old Cokin vari-color filter sets. These definitely give the image that 70's "creative photography" look.

[Kai-san]

For those who do darkroom printing there is also the Fomapastel papers. With these it's the light areas that get coloured. Very 70's.

[Francois]

Oh yeah, I remember those specialty papers from the 70's. It's one of those things that disappeared.
There was also the Berg Color Tone system that you could use to make all sorts of color special effects on paper.

[Kai-san]

Fomapastel is still for sale in 6x10, 12x16 and 20x24 inch. Colours available are cyan, magenta, blue, green, red and yellow.

[Francois]

But you don't get those dayglo colors or the shiny metallic papers anymore...