Film Terminology: A Quick Guide

Film Terminology: Pro Pack

Several people have asked for clarification on what a pro pack is so I figured it would be worth writing about here. A pro-pack or PP for short is the name for a five pack of film that comes in a cardboard box, which can be seen below. Kodak's Portra Film and Ektar sell some of their film this way.

Not every film manufacturer sells pro-packs. Ilford, for instance, sell film in what is known as bricks, which consists of 10 rolls of film held together by thin, transparent plastic. Bricks don’t look as cool as pro-packs, but they’re efficient, and many brands use them. Below is a picture of a brick of Ilford film 

I have a fair number of pro-packs listed on the store for Kodak product. Unfortunately, there is not a price break for pro-packs. There’s no real price break as to whether I buy single rolls or pro-packs from the manufacturer, and that’s why if you check any online store, the price of a pro-pack is almost always the same as five individual rolls.

I have seen an exception to this. Some cameras stores may charge more for a single roll than a pro pack as they don't want to just carry or sell single rolls, this isn’t common though.

Now the quirky bit about pro-packs relates to which films are sold this way. This has always confused me, especially when it comes to Kodak, which have a sort of confusing setup for this. Here’s the basic rundown:

• Kodak Portra is mostly just sold in pro-packs. This is why if you buy a single roll anywhere, it just comes in the little plastic container (or the foil container in the case of 120 format).
• Kodak Ektar 100 is sold in pro-packs if you get the 120 size, but as far as the 35mm size goes, it just comes in individual boxes, which are packaged in bricks of 10.
• When it comes to B&W film, Kodak is a bit less confusing: Both Tri-X and T-Max are sold as pro-packs in 120 format, but comes in individual boxes in 35mm format.

Kodak chooses to package as a pro-pack vs. an individual roll, I imagine that it’s probably based on whether people are more likely to buy a single roll versus an entire pack. Ultimately it's just how it is, though feel free to explain it to me in the comments if you think you've figured it out.

I hope this helps with clearing up some confusion from the film buying experience.

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