Kodak renames Portra and TMax as direct film distribution returns
Portra 400 and TMax are getting new names, but the film inside is staying the same as Eastman Kodak takes direct control of distribution again.
Film buyers just got a new labeling problem to solve: Portra and TMax are being rebadged as Eastman Kodak pulls still-film distribution back under its own roof. The practical fix is simple, if annoying. Portra 400 is now showing up as Kodak Ektacolor 400, while the TMax family is being sold as Ektapan. The emulsions are not changing, so the look that labs and shooters know should stay familiar even if the box art suddenly looks wrong to anyone who has been buying Kodak by habit for years.
Kodak’s current still-film lineup now lists Ektacolor Pro 160, 400 and 800 as color negative films, along with Ektapan 100, 400 and P3200 for black-and-white negative. Kodak says these stocks are sold directly to distributors by Eastman Kodak Company, which is the key shift behind the rename. For photographers ordering from retailers or asking a lab to pull a specific emulsion, the old names now need to be translated on the fly. If someone says Portra 400, the shelf may say Ektacolor 400 instead.
That change only makes sense once you remember how long Kodak’s film business has been split in two. In September 2013, Kodak spun off its document imaging business into Kodak Alaris, and Kodak’s photography history says consumer films, papers and kiosks also moved into Kodak Alaris as part of that separation. Kodak Alaris was formed in 2013 as a spin-off from Eastman Kodak Company, and it now describes itself primarily as an information capture and document processing company, not a film company in the old sense. Eastman Kodak, meanwhile, still makes the film and chemicals, but for years the distribution side sat with a different Kodak.
The result is a cleaner supply chain on paper, and potentially less confusion for buyers once the new names sink in. Kodak had already resumed direct distribution for other films, including Gold 200, UltraMax 400, Ektar and Tri-X, before this latest rollout for the pro stocks. The company has also said it remains committed to making film as long as there is demand. This is not a stock-up-and-panic moment. It is a labeling reset, and for photographers who have spent decades saying Portra and TMax out of muscle memory, the important part is that the film itself should still behave like Portra and TMax even if the wrapper no longer does.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
