When Eastman Kodak launched Ektacolor Pro and Ektapan in March 2026, most of the coverage, ours included, read it as a rename: Portra and T-Max under new names, with the old ones on their way out. Six months later, that reading has not held up.
Portra is still on sale, from a different company, often on the same shelf as Ektacolor Pro. On 28 September, Digital Camera World's Ektacolor Pro 160 review called it "Portra in all but name" and a cheaper way to get it. On 4 October, 35mmc's map of the new Kodak range noted that the two ranges co-exist and that neither company will confirm whether they share an emulsion.
So two questions are worth answering properly. Is it the same film? And which box is cheaper?
Two Kodaks now sell what is very probably the same film under two names. Neither will say so, and the cheaper box depends on the shop.
Portra Did Not Disappear
There are two Kodaks. Eastman Kodak, in Rochester, makes the film. Kodak Alaris, the company that took over Kodak's consumer and professional film business after Eastman Kodak's 2012 bankruptcy, has marketed and distributed much of it since, and it owns the Portra and T-Max trademarks. That is why Eastman Kodak, selling the films itself again, needed new names. We covered the background in Kodak's return to direct distribution.
What changed in 2026 is that Eastman Kodak started selling its own boxes. What did not change is that Alaris kept selling its own. Its colour and black-and-white catalogues still list Portra 160, 400 and 800 and T-Max 100, 400 and P3200, and on 6 October major retailers in the US, the UK and Germany had them in stock. Fotoimpex listed Portra 400 in 35mm with an expiry date of September 2028, which does not look like old stock being cleared.
Eastman Kodak's own annual report for 2025 still describes Kodak Alaris as "a professional and consumer still photographic film and chemicals customer", worth about a third of the revenue of the division that makes film. In 2023, Eastman Kodak's chief executive said the supply agreement with Alaris ran until 2028. Whether that still holds has not been confirmed since, but nothing suggests Portra is about to vanish.
Is Ektacolor Pro the Same Film as Portra?
Probably. But nobody with the authority to say so has said it.
What is confirmed: Eastman Kodak makes the film that Alaris sells, according to its annual report. Ektacolor Pro comes in 160, 400 and 800, the same speeds as Portra, and Ektapan comes in 100, 400 and P3200, the same as T-Max. Kodak's descriptions of the new films repeat the claims Alaris makes for Portra and T-Max on their datasheets, down to "finest grain" superlatives.
What is not: neither company has stated that the emulsions are identical. Kodak's product pages for Ektacolor Pro and Ektapan never mention Portra or T-Max, Kodak has issued no press release making the link, and no technical datasheet for Ektacolor Pro or Ektapan has been published that could be compared with Portra's. Labs, retailers and writers, including Indie Film Lab, Analogue Wonderland and 35mmc, have said the same thing in different words: it is the obvious assumption, not a fact anyone has confirmed.
For most people that distinction will not matter. If you are shooting a long project and need the colour to match frame for frame, it might. In that case, pick one line and stay with it, or shoot a test roll of each under the same light before committing.
Track this in the app: Film Roll Tracker
Which Is Cheaper? It Depends on the Shop
The review that started this round of interest compared $14.59 for Ektacolor Pro 160 with about $21.99 for Portra 160. Prices on 6 October tell a messier story. These are 35mm single rolls unless stated, as displayed that morning.
United Kingdom
| Shop | Film | Ektacolor Pro | Portra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analogue Wonderland | 160 | £15.95 (on sale) | £18.00 |
| Analogue Wonderland | 400 | £19.95 (on sale) | £23.00 |
| Analogue Wonderland | 800 | £21.95 (on sale) | £20.00 (on sale) |
| 21STUDIO | 160 | £13.30 | £16.24 |
| 21STUDIO | 400 | £17.49 | £18.85 |
| 21STUDIO | 800 | £18.99 | £20.70 |
European Union
| Shop | Film | Ektacolor Pro | Portra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fotoimpex (Germany) | 160 | €16.49 | €16.99 |
| Fotoimpex (Germany) | 400 | €19.49 | €19.99 |
| Fotoimpex (Germany) | 800 | €21.99 | €22.49 |
| Nation Photo (France) | 400 | €21.90 | €25.90 (out of stock) |
United States
| Shop | Film | Ektacolor Pro | Portra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adorama | 160 | $14.59 (backordered) | $14.59 a roll, sold as a 5-pack |
| Adorama | 400 | $16.99 | $16.99 a roll, sold as a 5-pack |
| Adorama | 800 | $23.00 | $19.95 |
| Film Photography Project | 800 | $18.99 | $18.99 |
Three patterns stand out.
- In the UK and France, Ektacolor Pro is usually cheaper, by about £1.30 to £3 or €2 to €4 a roll. That fits the UK wholesale cut we reported in Kodak's 20% price drop.
- In Germany, the gap is small: about 50 cents a roll at Fotoimpex.
- In the US, it often disappears. Compared roll for roll, Adorama's Portra 160 and 400 five-packs cost exactly what its Ektacolor singles do, and its Portra 800 is cheaper than Ektacolor Pro 800.
The practical rule is simple: compare the price per roll at the shop you actually use, five-packs included, and buy whichever box is cheaper that day. The name on the box is not a reliable guide to the price.
Availability is the other variable. Ektacolor Pro 160 in 35mm was backordered at Adorama, and Analogue Wonderland had only a handful of Ektacolor Pro rolls and packs in 120, against dozens of Portra five-packs. In France, Nation Photo was out of every Portra and of some Ektacolor Pro. If one is out, the other is very probably a like-for-like substitute.
Ektapan vs T-Max: The Same Story, Smaller
The black-and-white pair follows the same logic with smaller sums. In 35mm, Ektapan 400 cost $12.99 against $13.99 for T-Max 400 at Adorama, the same $12.59 for both at CineStill, and £12.49 against £13.49 at 21STUDIO, while Analogue Wonderland had T-Max 400 on sale below Ektapan. A dollar or a pound either way, depending on the shop and the week.
What to Buy
- If you just want Portra's look: buy whichever of the two is cheaper and in stock where you shop. Nothing published so far points to a difference you would see.
- If you need consistency across a long project: choose one line and stock up, or test both side by side first. Until a datasheet or a statement settles it, "the same" is an assumption.
- If you buy in 120: compare five-pack prices, which is how most shops sell it, and check stock before planning a shoot around Ektacolor Pro.
For what every major stock costs this year, see our film prices guide, and for why the same roll can cost so much more in one country than in the next, our look at the regional price divide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kodak Ektacolor Pro the same as Portra?
Very probably, but it is not confirmed. Ektacolor Pro comes in the same speeds as Portra and Kodak's descriptions echo Portra's datasheet claims, but neither Eastman Kodak nor Kodak Alaris has stated that the emulsions are identical, and no Ektacolor Pro datasheet has been published.
Has Kodak Portra been discontinued?
No. Kodak Alaris still sells Portra 160, 400 and 800, and major retailers in the US, UK and EU had it in stock in October 2026. Eastman Kodak sells Ektacolor Pro alongside it, under its own name, because Alaris owns the Portra trademark.
Is Ektacolor Pro cheaper than Portra?
Often in the UK and France, by roughly £1.30 to £3 or €2 to €4 a roll in October 2026. In Germany the gap was about 50 cents, and in the US it often disappeared once five-pack prices were compared. Check the price per roll at your own shop.
Is Ektapan the same as T-Max?
The same logic applies: Ektapan comes in the same speeds as T-Max, 100, 400 and P3200, and is widely assumed to be the same film, but neither company has confirmed it.
Write Down Which Box You Shot
If you mix Ektacolor Pro and Portra this year, the scans will not tell you which was which. The box will be in the recycling. Note the exact name when you load the roll, and you will be able to tell whether the two really behave the same in your own camera and your own lab.
Pellica's film roll tracker records the stock, the camera and what each roll cost you, so a year from now you can compare Ektacolor Pro and Portra on your own frames and your own prices instead of a forum's.
When Kodak announced the new names in March, our article on the rename said Portra was gone and that Kodak had confirmed the emulsions were unchanged. Neither was right, and that article has been corrected.