Kodak films direct from Eastman Kodak (was: Kodacolor 100. New)

[brbo]

Maybe, or maybe they'd sell more. I often want a higher speed film just for casual photography or in a point and shoot, and I can't justify paying Portra 800 prices for that. So I never buy it, but I would buy a cheaper 800 speed consumer level film.

Here's Santa (Color 800)!

Response here on Photrio was, as expected, abysmal.

 

[thinkbrown]

Here's Santa (Color 800)!

Response here on Photrio was, as expected, abysmal.

Hadn't seen that, but at least where I am in the US the pricing doesn't make sense. Lomo 800 for $19.30/roll, santacolor 800 for $21, while Portra 800 is available for $17 from FPP.

If Eastman Kodak could offer a consumer 800 iso film for closer to $12-13, that'd be a more interesting proposition

 

[brbo]

Try to think about (SantaColor 800) from a different point of view.

Respoolers obviously can get high quality film from Kodak and if they can get it into cassettes, canisters and boxes in Germany and still be 30% cheaper than comparable Kodak or Lomography in EU...


But, yeah, you folks living the Golden age in America and still complaining that Portra 800 costs 14 EUR... kinda brings me down that I get excited about cheaper film over here in Europe.

 

[Agulliver]

Hadn't seen that, but at least where I am in the US the pricing doesn't make sense. Lomo 800 for $19.30/roll, santacolor 800 for $21, while Portra 800 is available for $17 from FPP.

If Eastman Kodak could offer a consumer 800 iso film for closer to $12-13, that'd be a more interesting proposition

If anyone can offer a decent consumer 800 ISO film for that kind of price, I'll be all over it.

 

[MattKing]

FWIW, my reliably informed understanding is that Eastman Kodak is being very tight lipped about what the exact nature of these emulsions is.
So any speculation out there remains speculative .

 

[Daniël - Tech&Music]

Looks like they're not done yet, Eastman has added Ektar and Tri-X as a separate line of "professional films".

EKTAR 100 Film

Get ultra vivid color, finest grain, and sharpness with this film, which is perfect for vibrant nature, travel, fashion, and commercial photos.

www.kodak.com

TRI-X 400 Film

This high-speed black & white film with classic grain, sharp detail, and wide latitude is perfect for low light, portraits, and street shots.

www.kodak.com

So it's not just the consumer film getting the Eastman treatment, and leaves the door open for the other currently Alaris-only films.

 

[polaromar]

Wonderful! This aligns with some of our predictions earlier in this thread, that EK will be taking over film distribution for North America.

 

[MattKing]

Wonderful! This aligns with some of our predictions earlier in this thread, that EK will be taking over film distribution for North America.

Or at least the USA.

 

[Cholentpot]

Wonderful! This aligns with some of our predictions earlier in this thread, that EK will be taking over film distribution for North America.

Hopefully this allows them to get creative and start bringing back some dead films. I want some Panatomic-X and an E6 Kodachrome. Don't care about authenticity, just for fun.

 

[2ndGenNikonian]

Hopefully this allows them to get creative and start bringing back some dead films. I want some Panatomic-X and an E6 Kodachrome. Don't care about authenticity, just for fun.

If EK starts resurrecting old films again, my money's on Plus-X being first. Plus-X fills a medium-speed niche that's currently empty in Kodak's traditional-grain films. While a return of Panatomic-X would be sweet, it's niche of extremely low grain is filled by T-Max.

 

[Lachlan Young]

If EK starts resurrecting old films again, my money's on Plus-X being first. Plus-X fills a medium-speed niche that's currently empty in Kodak's traditional-grain films. While a return of Panatomic-X would be sweet, it's niche of extremely low grain is filled by T-Max.

125PX (unless they decide to do TXP in rollfilm) is realistically the only other BW emulsion Kodak could relatively easily bring back, as it was reformulated for B38. That reformulation (and it being therefore potentially in the emulsion making system) is the key to anything being even theoretically revivable. All the other E-6 films would depend on how much they could technology share with the revived Ektachrome's revised couplers.

Some people also need to get real about the fact that Panatomic-X wasn't much better than PX in the 1980's, never mind the 2000s 125PX - TMax 100 runs rings round Panatomic-X.

That said, it would be interesting to see where combining the B38 Plus-X emulsion & the relevant bits of sensitising knowledge that went into TMax 400 would end up.

 

[George Mann]

- TMax 100 runs rings round Panatomic-X.

I liked Pan X. I don't like TMax.

 

[Cholentpot]

If EK starts resurrecting old films again, my money's on Plus-X being first. Plus-X fills a medium-speed niche that's currently empty in Kodak's traditional-grain films. While a return of Panatomic-X would be sweet, it's niche of extremely low grain is filled by T-Max.

Wouldn't complain about getting Plus-X back. However, Eastman has to understand it's not about niches in usefulness anymore. It's about appealing to nostalgia and 'fun'. Kodak can put out 5 different 100 speed films that differ slightly and have wild packaging and they'll sell like hotcakes. Need I remind you the best selling camera of 2025 was the Charmera.

125PX (unless they decide to do TXP in rollfilm) is realistically the only other BW emulsion Kodak could relatively easily bring back, as it was reformulated for B38. That reformulation (and it being therefore potentially in the emulsion making system) is the key to anything being even theoretically revivable. All the other E-6 films would depend on how much they could technology share with the revived Ektachrome's revised couplers.

Some people also need to get real about the fact that Panatomic-X wasn't much better than PX in the 1980's, never mind the 2000s 125PX - TMax 100 runs rings round Panatomic-X.

That said, it would be interesting to see where combining the B38 Plus-X emulsion & the relevant bits of sensitising knowledge that went into TMax 400 would end up.

Yes but PanATOMIC-X has a cooler name. Go checkout the film photography project. They move film based on the silly names they give 'em. They admit that calling a film Wolfman or Frankenstein sells far better than calling it Astrum 100. It's all about branding now.

 

[lamerko]

Something interesting is happening - I would really like to know what's going on behind the scenes

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Some people also need to get real about the fact that Panatomic-X wasn't much better than PX in the 1980's, never mind the 2000s 125PX - TMax 100 runs rings round Panatomic-X.

The latter is likely correct on technical criteria. But Panatomix-X has a certain "look" that I still like, despite age:

https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2025/10/vinny-does-shelton-washington-with.html?m=1

But Panatomic-X is gone. I've shifted to Acros 100 or Tri-X 400 for 35mm work.

 

[koraks]

Something interesting is happening - I would really like to know what's going on behind the scenes

Some.people are scrambling to try and create a global distribution system, that's what's happening.

 

[Eric Klingberg]

Funnily enough I recently got a 100ft bulk roll of Panatomic X from 1987. It's my first time shooting it, since it's before my time.

As for Kodak Eastman, first I hope to see more 120 options, and my dream is for different bulk rolls to be available. I missed my chance for 400ft Ektachrome.

 

[NortheastPhotographic]

I find it a bit interesting that the stocks via EK are the same price as they are via Alaris. I would have assumed ditching a middle man would bring down cost some. There does seem to be some difference with Gold, but Ektar is about $15 for a roll of 36 and that's the same as what Alaris is selling it for.

My hope for some cost control when it comes to color sheet film is dimmed. $30 a sheet is bananas. I know it's not the same base, and I know the production is lower, but it will never make sense to me that the same physical amount of film is double the price of the 35mm version, which has it's own packaging and canning costs associated with it. In 2005/6, it was SO much cheaper. A box of 8x10 Portra VC or NC was about $80. In inflation adjusted terms we're talking about $130. But somehow Portra 400 in 8x10 is $329 and 160 is like $280. I even read that Alec Soth is having a hard time justifying 8x10 color with these prices.

Luckily for me personally my work has moved almost entirely to B&W, but maybe I'd be shooting more color neg it if was viable in larger formats.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I find it a bit interesting that the stocks via EK are the same price as they are via Alaris. I would have assumed ditching a middle man would bring down cost some. There does seem to be some difference with Gold, but Ektar is about $15 for a roll of 36 and that's the same as what Alaris is selling it for.

My hope for some cost control when it comes to color sheet film is dimmed. $30 a sheet is bananas. I know it's not the same base, and I know the production is lower, but it will never make sense to me that the same physical amount of film is double the price of the 35mm version, which has it's own packaging and canning costs associated with it. In 2005/6, it was SO much cheaper. A box of 8x10 Portra VC or NC was about $80. In inflation adjusted terms we're talking about $130. But somehow Portra 400 in 8x10 is $329 and 160 is like $280. I even read that Alec Soth is having a hard time justifying 8x10 color with these prices.

Luckily for me personally my work has moved almost entirely to B&W, but maybe I'd be shooting more color neg it if was viable in larger formats.

Manufacturers can't charge less than their licensed distributors. That would put their distributors out of business. Additionally, there;s somehting else going on since Alaris has exclusive distribution rights. So there must be a deal in the works between the two companies that is allowing Eastman to sell directly. Maybe Eastman is buying Alaris? I recommended that in the past. I believe the retiree issue is no longer involved. So it makes sense for Eastman to control the whole enchilada. If they get rid of Alaris, then they will be able to reduce their prices at retail for the end user as there would be one less markup without Alaris.

 

[MattKing]

I expect the world outside the USA will pay more for Kodak films and/or will have even worse availability if Eastman Kodak and its demand for higher returns on investment are forded to replace the international distribution infrastructure that Kodak Alaris has been providing.
The same might apply within the USA.
Eastman Kodak is expensive to run, and TANSTAFL.

 

[BrianShaw]

I find it a bit interesting that the stocks via EK are the same price as they are via Alaris. I would have assumed ditching a middle man would bring down cost some.

Someone needs to get paid to do distribution. If EK didn't have sufficient in-house distribution capability then they probably needed to build or subcontract such a capability, both of which costs money. Are we certain that film is being sold "directly" rather than through the existing distributors? Seems to me that there is often a middle-man or two...

 

[ChrisGalway]

TANSTAFL.

WDYUTSA ?

 

[mshchem]

WDYUTSA ?

What the Freak?

 

[MattKing]

WDYUTSA ?

My mis-spent youth, which included a lot of science fiction reading, including in particular Robert A. Heinlein and his book, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
A partial translation of that acronym: ******* Free Lunch

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I expect the world outside the USA will pay more for Kodak films and/or will have even worse availability if Eastman Kodak and its demand for higher returns on investment are forded to replace the international distribution infrastructure that Kodak Alaris has been providing.
The same might apply within the USA.
Eastman Kodak is expensive to run, and TANSTAFL.

If Eastnan eliminates Alaris as their sole distributor with their high markups, Eastman can hire among dozens of film distributors at much lower mark ups for distribution. There's no reason for Eastman to actually do the distribution themselves. At the end of the day, that will mean lower prices around the world for Kodak film.