Started by k64forever, 24 Mar 2026. 12 replies, 293 views
So Eastman Kodak is taking the still film business back in-house from Kodak Alaris, and with it Portra becomes Ektacolor Pro 160, 400 and 800, and T-Max becomes Ektapan 100, 400 and P3200. Same film as far as anyone can tell, new names, new boxes.
I've shot Kodak since 1979. I'll get used to it. I don't have to like it.
k64forever said:Eastman Kodak is taking the still film business back in-house from Kodak Alaris
wait so is it a different company making it now or the same factory? I genuinely never understood the Kodak vs Kodak Alaris thing
grainyday said:is it a different company making it now or the same factory?
Same factory in Rochester. Eastman Kodak always made the film. When Kodak went through bankruptcy back in 2012-2013, the still film business (selling it, marketing it, the boxes) went over to Kodak Alaris, which was a separate company set up out of the UK pension fund. Eastman kept the factory and coated the stuff, Alaris put it in the yellow boxes and sold it to you.
That's why for ten years you had motion picture film from one Kodak and still film from the other Kodak, and why nobody on the internet could ever explain who to blame for prices.
Now Eastman does both. Whether that's good news depends on whether you think the people who make it will price it better than the people who sold it. I have my doubts. I've had my doubts since about 1999.
For what it's worth I hope I'm wrong. I'd love for this to be the moment they invest in the plant and bring a few things back instead of just new boxes.
ah ok that actually makes sense, thanks
k64forever said:Same film as far as anyone can tell
They could call it Brian for all I care, as long as the 400 still does skin the way it does. Honestly the only thing that worrys me is the price, if Eastman decide they can charge what they like now there's no middle man. Stocked up 15 rolls of the old boxes just incase lol
k64forever said:T-Max becomes Ektapan 100, 400 and P3200
Ektapan though. Who signed that off. Sounds like a cough mixture. 'Take two Ektapan and call me in the morning'
This is why I shoot Ilford. HP5 has been HP5 since I was in short trousers... well, HP5 Plus, but you take my point. Nobody's renaming it 'Harmapan', are they? Are they??
My dad had a theory that every time a company changes the name on the box, the price goes up within the year. He developed this theory about Marathon bars turning into Snickers, which isn't film, but I've never once seen it fail. He also thought the Ilford factory was haunted, which I've never been able to confirm or deny, though I did once visit Mobberley and the woman in the shop was very pale.
To be fair to Kodak, Tri-X is still Tri-X, which is more than I expected from them. My dad shot Tri-X for exactly one summer in 1974 and then went back to FP4 and never spoke of it again.
Anyway. I'll be watching the Ektacolor Pro prices with my dad's theory firmly in mind...
Worth saying the Ektacolor name isn't new. Kodak used it on colour papers and older negative films for decades, and anyone who printed colour in a darkroom in the 80s will have had a box of Ektacolor paper in the fridge. It's a heritage move, same as Ektapan, which I'm fairly sure was an old name too.
Whether the prices follow the heritage is another question.
The old boxes in the freezer just became collectables, then. Give it five years and someone will be selling an empty Portra 400 box on eBay for more than the roll cost. Cheers
rangefinder_rob said:It's a heritage move.
A heritage move would be bringing back Kodachrome.
k64forever said:bringing back Kodachrome
Aye, and who's developing it pal
Nobody. That's my point. That's always my point.