On March 24, 2026, Eastman Kodak launched two professional film families under names few photographers had ever seen on a box: Ektacolor Pro, a colour negative film in ISO 160, 400 and 800, and Ektapan, a black-and-white film in ISO 100, 400 and P3200. The speeds match Portra and T-Max exactly, and the launch was widely read, by us among others, as those two films getting new names.
That reading was only half right. The new names exist because Eastman Kodak, which makes the film in Rochester, is selling its own boxes again, and the Portra and T-Max names belong to another company, Kodak Alaris. But Portra and T-Max did not go anywhere. Alaris still sells them, often on the same shelf as the new boxes.
Ektacolor Pro and Ektapan are Eastman Kodak's names. Portra and T-Max are Kodak Alaris's. In 2026, both are on sale.
How the New Films Line Up
By speed and format, the new films sit exactly where the old ones do:
- Ektacolor Pro 160 alongside Portra 160
- Ektacolor Pro 400 alongside Portra 400
- Ektacolor Pro 800 alongside Portra 800
- Ektapan 100 alongside T-Max 100
- Ektapan 400 alongside T-Max 400
- Ektapan P3200 alongside T-Max P3200
That is a match of speeds and formats. Neither company has confirmed that the emulsions are the same, which we come back to below.
The two families completed Eastman Kodak's own range. Gold, UltraMax, Ektar, Tri-X, Ektachrome and the new Kodacolor films had already appeared in Eastman Kodak packaging from late 2025, under their existing names. Portra and T-Max are the only two that needed new ones. Sheet film and bulk rolls followed in May 2026.
Why New Names: Two Kodaks
After Eastman Kodak's 2012 bankruptcy, its film business went to Kodak Alaris, which took over the packaging, marketing and distribution of much of Kodak's film. Eastman Kodak kept the factories in Rochester and kept making the film. Its annual report for 2025 still lists Alaris as a customer for professional and consumer still film.
Portra and T-Max are older than Alaris. T-Max dates from 1986 and Portra from 1998, and both were launched by Eastman Kodak. But the trademarks went to Alaris with the business, and the current Portra and T-Max datasheets list them as Kodak Alaris trademarks. Selling its own boxes again, Eastman Kodak needed names it controls.
The other films kept their names in Eastman Kodak's new packaging. Portra and T-Max are the only ones that changed, because they are the only ones whose names Eastman Kodak cannot print.
Track this in the app: Film Roll Tracker
Where the Names Come From
Neither name is new. Ektacolor was the name of Kodak's professional colour negative films before Vericolor, the line that Portra itself replaced, and it has lived on for decades on Kodak's colour papers and processing chemistry.
Ektapan has a similar history. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ektapan was a black-and-white sheet film designed as a companion to Vericolor, with the same speed so the two could be exposed at the same settings, according to former Kodak professional film manager Robert Shanebrook, speaking to Kosmo Foto.
So the new boxes reach back past Portra and T-Max to the names those films replaced.
Is It the Same Film?
Probably, but it is not confirmed. Kodak's product pages for Ektacolor Pro and Ektapan never mention Portra or T-Max. Kodak has issued no statement that the emulsions are identical, and no datasheet for the new films has been published that could be compared with the old ones.
The evidence is circumstantial, and fairly strong: the same speeds and formats, the same factory, and product descriptions that echo the Portra and T-Max datasheets. Kodak's description of Ektapan, as retailers carry it, even names T-Grain emulsions, the technology T-Max is known for.
For most photographers, that is close enough. If you need colour that matches frame for frame across a long project, pick one line and stay with it, or test both under the same light first.
Portra and T-Max Are Still on Sale
Alaris still lists Portra 160, 400 and 800 and T-Max 100, 400 and P3200, in packaging it has recently updated. In October 2026, retailers in the US, the UK and Germany had them in stock, with Portra expiry dates running into 2028. Nothing so far suggests the old names are about to disappear.
So the choice in a shop is now between two boxes, often at different prices. We compared them shop by shop in Ektacolor Pro vs Portra: same film? which is cheaper?. The short answer: it depends on where you buy.
Track Your Rolls, Whatever the Box Says
Whether your roll says Portra 400 or Ektacolor Pro 400, write down which one it was. If the two ever turn out to behave differently, your own notes will show it before any datasheet does.
Pellica's film roll tracker logs the film stock, exposure settings, camera and notes for every roll, so you can compare the two boxes on your own frames. The built-in light meter helps you nail exposure on each frame, and the lab finder connects you with development services near you.
Correction, 6 October 2026: an earlier version of this article said Portra and T-Max were being retired as names, that Kodak had stated the emulsions were unchanged, and that the two names dated from the Kodak Alaris era. None of that was right. Kodak Alaris still sells both films, neither company has confirmed the emulsions are identical, and both names were launched by Eastman Kodak before Alaris existed.