Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400 is here and if you’ve been waiting on Portra 400, this is it.
This is Kodak’s flagship ISO 400 professional color negative film, built for everything from portraits to travel to everyday shooting. Expect the same look Portra built its reputation on: fine grain, wide dynamic range, soft contrast, and natural skin tones that just work in any lighting situation. It’s one of the most forgiving films ever made, with tons of latitude for overexposure and scanning flexibility.
So what’s going on with the name?
Kodak film has been in a weird place for years. After Kodak’s 2012 restructuring, the company split into two parts:
Eastman Kodak manufactures the film, while Kodak Alaris has historically handled branding and distribution.
Portra, Tri-X, and other well-known names have been controlled by Kodak Alaris — even though Eastman has always produced the film itself. Recently, Eastman Kodak has started taking distribution back into its own hands. The issue is that Kodak Alaris still owns the rights to the Portra name, so Eastman cannot use it.
That’s why this exists.
Ektacolor Pro 400 is Portra 400.
Same emulsion, same performance, same results — just a new name and new packaging. This is not a new or reformulated film. It’s purely a branding and distribution shift.
For customers, this doesn’t change how the film shoots at all. What it does do is shift more revenue back to Eastman Kodak, which could help support stronger production and potentially more film options in the future.
A few important notes:
This will be the highest priced film we carry. Supply is still stabilizing and demand is extremely high right now, especially with Eastman stepping back into direct distribution.
Inventory may sell out at times as we continue prioritizing core everyday stocks.
Also worth noting — this is the first time in a long time this film has been offered consistently as a single roll, rather than only in pro packs.
Why people love it:
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Extremely forgiving exposure latitude
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Fine grain for a 400 speed film
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Natural, accurate skin tones
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Handles mixed lighting well
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Scans clean and consistently
If you’ve shot Portra 400 before, this is exactly what you’re used to.
If you haven’t, this is the benchmark for color negative film.
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