![\"harman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/three-films-web.jpg\")
Harman Red, Harman Phoenix II and Optik Oldschool Opticolour 200; three colour films released so far this year (Pic: Stephen Dowling)<\/p>\nHarman Red, Harman Phoenix II and Optik Oldschool Opticolour 200; three colour films released so far this year (Pic: Stephen Dowling)<\/p>\n
There have been some encouraging signs of encouraging signs of recovery in the analogue photography scene in the years since the Covid years of shortages and price rises.<\/p>\n
This year, however, appears to be the busiest in recent memory \u2013 at least in terms of new films being announced.<\/p>\n
Inspired by this YouTube video from Japan Camera Hunter<\/a>, Kosmo Foto has compiled a list of the major photographic films announced so far this year, along with further links and sample photos where possible.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Not all of these films are necessarily on sale yet, but they signal an encouraging uptick in film production \u2013 especially when you consider that the two remaining giants of photographic film, Eastman Kodak and Fujifilm, aren\u2019t featured.<\/p>\n Harman Red (35mm and 120)<\/strong><\/p>\n Harman Red<\/a> is the first of two films released this year based on the company\u2019s first colour emulsion, Phoenix 200<\/a>. Red is a redscale film, nominally rated at ISO 125 but which can be used from ISO 100 up to 400. The strong colour cast is because the film is shot with the emulsion exposed through the base of the film, creating strong red\/orange casts. Harman says the colour cast is strongest when the film is shot at lower ISOs, and fades in intensity at higher ones.<\/p>\n The 35m version was released in February, with a 120 version also appearing in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can see some example shots taken on the film in Malta by Kosmo Foto earlier this year:<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n First roll experiences on 35mm<\/a><\/p>\n First roll by Shoot Film Like a Boss<\/a><\/p>\n Dubblefilm Stereo 400 (35mm)<\/strong><\/p>\n Dubblefilm is a Spanish photographic brand that has released a range of experimental films over the last decade or so. Stereo is a revamped version of their colour film<\/a>; the original version had a reddish tint across the first part of the film which faded into blue for the last frames. This new version has the red\/blue gradient effect across each frame of the film, rather than spread across the entire film.<\/p>\n Original Wolfen NC200 (35mm)<\/strong><\/p>\n The formerly Easy German film brand returned to colour film production in 2021, releases the desaturated NC400 and NC500 films, which resembled Lomography\u2019s experimental Metropolis colour film.<\/p>\n First teased late last year, NC200 was announced via a holographic display at this year\u2019s Photography & Video Show in London<\/a>. NC200 was touted as having a much-improved colour palette than the company\u2019s previous colour films, aswell as more refined grain.<\/p>\n Officially, NC200 has not been released, despite the marketing push. Before the German brand releases it, the initial production of the film \u2013 which is said to have issues with the anti-halation layer. They have been released by two European film brands, Optik Oldschool and KONO!. (You can read more about this film in the entries for KONO Color 200 and Optik Oldschool OptiColour 200.)<\/p>\n Kentmere Pan 200 (35mm, 120, bulk)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Kentmere range of black-and-white films made by Harman Technology in the UK have been a budget-conscious choice for students and the cash-conscious for some time. The two films \u2013 Pan 100 and Pan 400 \u2013 are based on Ilford-branded films but with a little less silver in the emulsion to help keep prices down.<\/p>\n This year, the line-up got a surprise new addition: Pan 200<\/a>. The arrival of a third, 200-ISO film means the Kentmere range can go toe-to-toe with the Fomapan films made by Foma Bohemia in the Czech Republic, which also boasts 100, 200 and 400-ISO films.<\/p>\n Kentmere Pan 200 has been described as the \u201cstandout\u201d film in the Kentmere range, according to noted US film processors The Darkroom<\/a>, offering a sharp and contrasty image that definitely looks different to the traditionally grainy Foma range.<\/p>\n Kosmo Foto was given a roll of the film to test which we took to Malta, and you can see some images below:<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Review on Parallax Photographic Co-op<\/a><\/p>\n Review by Roger Lowe<\/a><\/p>\n Review on Stuck In Film<\/a><\/p>\n Optik Oldschool Opticolour 200 (35mm, 120)<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the biggest surprises this year \u2013 at least in terms of film releases \u2013 was the announcement of a new colour film from a completely new player \u2013 a photographic lab in Dusseldorf, Germany.<\/p>\n Of course, Optik Oldschool do not have a film factory secreted in their basement, and the film \u2013 called Opticolour 200<\/a> \u2013 is in fact made by someone else. But unlike most branded films, this is a film that has not yet appeared under its original name. The film is in fact Original Wolfen NC200, the third colour film to appear from a newly revived ORWO, and one that promises more lifelike colours after the relatively muted NC400 and NC500.<\/p>\n The new film is the first production run of the emulsion, with the film\u2019s anti-halation layer being incorrectly applied. \u201cThe halation effect isn\u2019t as pronounced as known from CineStill films, though still visible. You may also spot some red\/green dots here and there,\u201d Optik Oldschool said when the film was released.<\/p>\n NC 200 will eventually make it to market with the anti-halation layer correctly applied, but in the meantime you can get a hint of what the finished film will look like via this no-doubt limited-edition rebrand.<\/p>\n Kosmo Foto was kindly sent some rolls of both the 35mm and 120, which we\u2019ll shoot for a first rolls post in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Review by Rick Davy<\/a><\/p>\n Review by Jan On Film<\/a><\/p>\n Leica Monopan 50 (35mm)<\/strong><\/p>\n The camera maker that kicked off the 35mm stills camera 100 years ago, it\u2019s taken until now for it to produce its first branded film. Announced in June, Monopan<\/a> is a 50-ISO black-and-white film.<\/p>\n \u201cIts\u2019 ultra-high resolution produces shots with extraordinary sharpness and remarkable tonal value reproduction. The low light sensitivity of ISO\u00a050, combined with our fast M-Lenses, make shots with a wide aperture possible even in bright lighting conditions \u2013 for that unmistakable Leica bokeh,\u201d Leica said upon its release.<\/p>\n Leica has not been hiding a film factory in its Wetzlar basement all these years; the film is rebranded but still made in Germany. Monopan 50 is, as most photography sites have suggested, most likely to be Adox\u2019s excellent HR-50 film, though there are some that believe the film is a slightly reworked version<\/a> of the film that HR-50 itself is based off, Agfa-Gavaert\u2019s Aviphot aviation film<\/a>.<\/p>\n Released sometime in August, the film will be available from Leica stores around the world, with a recommended price of $10 a roll.<\/p>\n KONO! Color 200 (35mm)<\/strong><\/p>\n Another colour film rebrand that is released before the emulsion it is derived from. Like Optik Oldschool\u2019s OptiColour 200, KONO!\u2019s Color 200, which was announced in June, is from the first production run of Original Wolfen\u2019s NC 200.<\/p>\n Like OptiColour 200, KONO Color 200 has the same issue with the remjet layer which can lead to a \u201cglow\u201d effect around highlights, much like the old-school CineStill films had.<\/p>\n Harman Phoenix II (35mm, 120)<\/strong><\/p>\n Harman Technology \u2013 the makers of Ilford and Kentmere-branded black-and-white films \u2013 had never made their own colour film until the end of 2023, when the company unveiled Phoenix 200, their first in-house-designed colour negative film.<\/p>\n Phoenix was a bold step for a film company synonymous with black-and-white emulsions \u2013 partly due to customer expectations and partly due to the sheer complexity of turning out a colour film (especially if you haven\u2019t made one before). Phoenix, they warned, was a work in progress and not a film to be considered an alternative to Kodak Portra. Those warnings, it turned out, were accurate.<\/p>\n In July, Harman brought out Phoenix 200\u2019s successor, called Phoenix II<\/a>. The film is a vast improvement in terms of colour palette and grain, and also tames some of the highlights halation effect seen in the original emulsion.<\/p>\n Released both in 35mm and 120, Phoenix II is another step forward for a film company that has nearly 150 years of experience making film but little more than 18 months making colour emulsions. The film is likely to be another limited-edition version, to be supplanted by a further-improved film in due course.<\/p>\n You can see examples shot by Kosmo Foto below:<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n First rolls: 35mm on Kosmo Foto<\/a><\/p>\n First rolls: 120 on Kosmo Foto<\/a><\/p>\n Lucky Color 200 (35mm)<\/strong><\/p>\n China Lucky Film was a relative newcomer to colour film in the early 2000s, making a range of colour negative films for the Asian market for nearly a decade. As digital cameras became more affordable and smartphones cameras more capable, the market dwindled and China\u2019s colour range disappeared.<\/p>\n Now, little more than a decade later, China Lucky Film has restarted colour production \u2013 though at first it is only producing a single colour emulsion which has reportedly been called Lucky Color 200<\/a>. First teased in 2023, Lucky\u2019s new colour film moved through developmental stages this year until first examples were shared with the public in June<\/a> \u2013 and with a promised release date of the middle of July.<\/p>\n As it turns out, that release date is provisional \u2013 the film still appears to be a work in progress, and a relatively small batch of 10,000 rolls has been produced for sale only in China, according to reports.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Film examples on Reddit\u2019s r\/analogcommunity<\/a><\/p>\n Aperture Printing Euston 400 (35mm)<\/strong><\/p>\n Aperture Printing is a film processing lab based in the centre of London which can process C-41, E6, eCN-2 and black-and-white films. In recent weeks, however, it has added another service \u2013 black-and-white slide development. Along with this, it has launched its own film especially for the purpose \u2013 Euston 400<\/a>.<\/p>\n Euston 400 is in fact Rollei 400S film rebadged by the lab, but the film is able to be processed as a slide using a proprietary developed by one of the lab\u2019s new employees, Alex Cole. The film produces crisp, contrasty black-and-white positive images when developed using the lab\u2019s service; Aperture Printing are planning to add to the range with other films that use a clear base.<\/p>\n You can see some examples taken by Kosmo Foto on a recent trip to Germany below:<\/p>\n I’m a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).<\/p>\n I\u2019m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harman Red, Harman Phoenix II and Optik Oldschool Opticolour 200; three colour films released so far this year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,4022,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-336098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115010950481415988","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Harman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Red-135.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Valletta](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/quayside_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gozo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/gozo-skyline_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Valetta](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/orange-valletta_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dubblefilm](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Stereo2_400ISO.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Kentmere](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Kentmere200Range.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Tyre](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spare-tyre_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Street](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rabat-balconies_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Corner](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/stone-doorway_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Truck](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/gozo-truck_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Screengrab](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-06-02-at-21.13.05.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Leica](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/14717_Leica_MONOPAN-50_packaging_groupshot_1_LoRes.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"KONO](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/KONO-COLOR-200-35mm-.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Harman](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_2958.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Couple](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/bank-walkers_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Clock](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pennants-clock_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Yellow](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/veteran_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Screenshot-2025-06-20-at-08.38.39.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Aperture](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Euston400_SophieGiddensPhotography.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Shark](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/shark-swerve_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Boat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pier-trio_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dog](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/pensive-dog_web.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/author_80x80.jpg\")
<\/a> I\u2019m Kosmo Foto\u2019s founder and editor.<\/p>\n<\/a>Latest posts by Stephen Dowling (see all<\/a>) <\/p>\n