Kodak Film Has Changed Names. What’s Going On?

If you’ve bought Kodak film recently, you might have noticed that things look a little different.

The familiar Kodak Professional packaging is now sharing the shelves with new yellow Kodak boxes, and some films seem to have completely different names.

So, what’s going on?

For more than a decade, Kodak’s photographic film was distributed by Kodak Alaris, while Eastman Kodak continued to manufacture the film. Since late 2025, Eastman Kodak has been bringing the distribution of its still photography films back in-house, with new packaging and, in some cases, new names.

The confusing part is that some of the films have changed names because Kodak Alaris retains the rights to certain brand names.

So what happened to Portra?

This is probably the biggest change for photographers.

The films we know as:

So if you see a box of Ektacolor Pro 400 and think, “Isn’t that just Portra 400?”, you’re basically right. The change is primarily about the name and branding, rather than suddenly introducing an entirely new type of film.

What about the other Kodak films?

Thankfully, not everything has changed its name.

Films such as Gold 200, UltraMax 400, Ektar 100, Ektachrome E100 and Tri-X continue to use their familiar names, although the packaging has changed as they move into Eastman Kodak’s new distribution system.

You might therefore find old and new packaging sitting alongside each other while the transition takes place.

Does this mean the film is different?

Not necessarily...

The important thing is not to assume that a new box means a completely new emulsion. The new Ektacolor Pro and Ektapan ranges correspond to the familiar Portra and T-Max films, just under different names.

So, if you’ve always shot Portra 400, don’t panic when you see Ektacolor Pro 400.

It’s still Kodak.

It just has a new name on the box and in some instances is a little cheaper... which can't be a bad thing!