One item on the list of things Kodak has brought back catches the eye: the 100-foot bulk roll. It quietly faded from view while film prices kept climbing.

What's Back

Now in direct distribution

  • Ektapan 100 · 400 · 4×5 sheets, 100 ft rolls
  • Ektacolor Pro 160 · 400 · 4×5 and 8×10 sheets
  • Tri-X 320 · 4×5, 5×7 and 8×10 sheets
  • Tri-X 400 · 100 ft rolls

It looks like the reshuffle that started with Kodacolor in September 2025 is wrapping up. Still film distribution, which Kodak Alaris used to handle, has moved to Eastman Kodak, and now large format and bulk rolls have come along too.

Box of Kodak Tri-X 400 35mm 100-foot bulk roll. Box of Kodak Ektapan 400 35mm 100-foot bulk roll.
Two black-and-white films back in 100-foot rolls. Tri-X 400 on the left, Ektapan 400 on the right.© Eastman Kodak Company. Quoted for reporting purposes.

How Many Rolls Is 100 Feet?

This is where it gets practical. 100 feet is about 30.5 meters, or 1,200 inches.

Loading one 36-exposure roll, leader included, takes around 65 inches. Do the division and you get about eighteen rolls of 36 exposures. Load them short at 24 exposures and you can stretch it to twenty-five.

Work backward from the price of 100 feet and the cost per roll drops to somewhere between half and two-thirds of what a single roll costs in stores. Exactly how much depends on exchange rates and import prices at the time, so you're better off running the numbers yourself.

Box of 10 sheets of Kodak Tri-X 320 4x5. Box of 10 sheets of Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160 4x5.
4×5 sheets are back too, in boxes of 10. Tri-X 320 for black and white, Ektacolor Pro 160 for color.© Eastman Kodak Company. Quoted for reporting purposes.

What You Need

Bulk loading kit

  • Bulk loader · holds the 100-foot roll and winds off as much as you want
  • Empty cartridges · reusable ones are easiest. Some people pry open spent film canisters and reuse those
  • Darkroom or changing bag · only needed the first time you load film into the loader. After that you wind in daylight
  • Tape · attaches the film to the spool. Pick one that won't come loose

Buy a loader once and it lasts a long time. They're easy to find used, too. Do the first load in the dark, just that once, and it's not hard after that.

Check Before You Drop It Off

When you take hand-rolled film to a lab, a few things can trip you up.

There's no DX code. Reusable cartridges either lack the silver grid that tells the camera the film speed, or still carry the code from the original film. Your camera may read the speed wrong, so set it manually.

Tell the lab what film it is. The canister has no markings, so it's safest to write down the type and speed when you hand it over. Write it on the canister with a marker and everyone's life gets easier.

Frame counts vary. Depending on how much you wound, you might get 37 frames, or it might stop at 34. If the lab charges by the frame, ask first.

Who It Suits

If you shoot three or four rolls a year, we don't recommend it. The film will age before you get through 100 feet. Even refrigerated, black-and-white film lasts only a few years.

If you shoot two or three rolls a month or more and stick with the same film, the math works. Even more so if you develop black and white at home. That's why it's good news that Tri-X 400 is back in 100 feet.

A black-and-white architectural photograph shot on Tri-X 320. The concrete surfaces keep a wide range of tones.
A sample image Kodak posted on the Tri-X 320 product page.© Eastman Kodak Company. Photographer not credited. Quoted for reporting purposes.

It's not a new way to save on film. Back when people shot a lot of film, it was the obvious choice, and the gear from those days is being made again.