HARMAN Switch Azure 125 went on sale March 5, 2026 at 9.45 pounds in 35mm and 8.32 pounds in 120, per Harman's launch notice. It is an ISO 125 color negative that switches colors — blues print orange, yellows turn azure, reds drift purple — the fourth color emulsion from a factory that made only black and white before December 2023.
What does Switch Azure 125 actually do?
It is an effects stock, closer in spirit to redscale than to Portra. Harman positions it as experimental: accurate color is not the goal, and skin renders strange enough that portraits become a deliberate choice. Outdoor and architecture shooters get the more obvious win — skies and water trade places with the warm end of the spectrum, so ordinary scenes develop into something like a negative of themselves. First looks published on launch day, including The Darkroom's March 5, 2026 review, confirm the effect is strong and consistent rather than random.
How did Harman get here?
Quickly, by coating-industry standards. Phoenix 200, announced December 1, 2023, was the proof of concept; a 120 format followed on September 5, 2024, alongside a July 15, 2024 investment announcement in Mobberley's film-making capacity. Red 125, a redscale stock, arrived February 14, 2025, and Phoenix II on July 16, 2025 refined the original's palette. On the black and white side, Kentmere Pan 200 shipped May 8, 2025. Switch Azure extends the pattern: small batches, honest pricing near standard stocks, and effects that used to require DIY trickery.
What does it mean for your wallet and habits?
At roughly nine pounds a roll, Azure costs the same as a standard color emulsion, so the question is not money but intent — it belongs in the bag as a second roll, not the default one. Expect limited batches at first, as with every Harman color launch since Phoenix, which means backorders at list price beat marketplace markups. And read the program's direction: the maker of Ilford is spending its coating slots on creative color, which says something about where it thinks the growth is. Shooters who dismissed Phoenix as a novelty are now looking at a four-film family two years later.
For more context, read Lomography Expands Classicolor.
For more context, read film revival timeline.
For more context, read Why Film Keeps Selling Out.