Germans in Frankfurt wanted to run all my film through. I protested. The guy showed me a printout paper with the EU logo on top saying 1600iso and bellow can go through the scanners. They run everything but tmax3200
There's no unifying Europen rule.
The guy showed me a printout paper with the EU logo on top saying 1600iso and bellow can go through the scanners.
There probably are directives in x-ray scanners in general from the European Commission. Whether any of that says something about photographic film or film speeds, I don't know, and I doubt it. It's certainly not actively enforced policy given how security staff in different airports apparently choose (sometimes individually) how to deal with the issue.
Also, anyone can print a flyer with some logos on top. I wouldn't attribute too much value to it. In all likelihood you saw a local policy, possibly in part derived from a EC directive. That doesn't mean there's actually any EU-wide rule on specifically this issue. And as said, it's definitely not a commonly respected directive even if there is one. It has no practical value.
I have passed through Germany many times without a problem.
This guy seamed like a manager of some sort who goes by the book.
It did say photographic film 1600iso and under is safe to be scanned.
Somebody printing a fake document and having it at the Frankfurt airport sounds highly unlikely.
He made me open one of my cameras. I had to roll the film back.
It did say photographic film 1600iso and under is safe to be scanned.
Somebody printing a fake document and having it at the Frankfurt airport sounds highly unlikely.
Standing EU policy is that luggage must be checked. EU policy does not dictate how this check must occur. It's up to airport operators to decide how to do this effectively and efficiently. For the EU air travel luggage policy, it doesn't matter if film is checked manually or x-ray scanned.‘Can go through’ and ‘is safe’ are surely not the same as ‘must go through’.
I have been surprised with the TSA--they have always been willing to do the hand check, evel at JFK which was a crowded nightmare compared to most airporst I fly from, they still hand checked my film. Mexico (León) and Russia (Moscow) on the other hand were no-go. Mexico even hand inspected everything but still required te xray...
The did say: "we also have alternative procedures when certain objects cannot be passed through Rx machines" but thats not the most confidence inspiring.
Wonder if a very slow film like Adox CMS 20 would get through a CT scanner OK.
Otherwise its digital for me on trips abroad.
My personal experience has been positive except in Paris. Once in Milan I asked for hand check and the agent said that it was safe in the X-ray but his fellow agent was familiar with film and agreed to hand check. My last trip out of Miami and return from Houston we were running late so I took a chance with the X-ray Very bad move fogged Delta 400 Next time my wife will have to get up early. Only hand check for me. Fortunately I was able to salvage with Photoshop but the negatives were useless in the darkroom It’s a shame the TSA can’t come up with something like their preclearance. I take my film out of the boxes and put it in a clear ziplock. If you’re using sheet film what do you do?
Why? It's perfectly possible to fly with Delta 3200, which I did just 48 hours ago.
koraks, if I have understood what you have said, it is this: Each and every airport in the EU can decide for itself whether to offer a hand inspection and should some decide not to offer a hand inspection then there is nothing that anyone can do about it as there is no EU directive and will be no directive covering such a matter.
However it isn't clear to me if you are saying that this policy of individual airports' decisions on insisting on the use of scanners or offering hand inspections only cover the older safer scanners and that there will be a directive to allow hand inspections when airports install CT scanners
If there is no intention of the EU making a directive on offering hand inspections when CT scanners are installed then the situation for each film user will rely on the discretion of each airport and film users will be lucky at some EU airports and unlucky at others
Have I understood what you have said correctly? If not then can you clear up my misunderstanding? Thanks
pentaxuser
I have been surprised with the TSA--they have always been willing to do the hand check, evel at JFK which was a crowded nightmare compared to most airporst I fly from, they still hand checked my film. Mexico (León) and Russia (Moscow) on the other hand were no-go. Mexico even hand inspected everything but still required te xray...
I didn't say the document was fake. I said that any organization can decide on a policy, use whatever sources they use including EC directives and print those policies out and attach some logos to them. That doesn't make the policy fake. Neither does it show that there's a EU policy that says that film below 1600 ISO is safe to go through x-ray scanners.
As a EU citizen, film shooter and fairly active traveler throughout Europe (although we tuned it down during and also after covid), I've never noticed anything about a EU-issued film-specific airport scanner policy being in effect. I have not traveled by air through Frankfurt, but a wide selection of other airports in various European countries and of various sizes, usually carrying film and actively approaching security staff about the issue.
There is of course EU legislation that requires airports to check luggage carried on airplanes. There are also EU rules about what cannot be taken on a flight. Those directions don't pertain to photographic film, however. The question if it's safe for film to be taken through a security scanner is also something that's extremely unlikely and illogical to be subject to EU regulation for a number of obvious reasons.
Standing EU policy is that luggage must be checked. EU policy does not dictate how this check must occur. It's up to airport operators to decide how to do this effectively and efficiently. For the EU air travel luggage policy, it doesn't matter if film is checked manually or x-ray scanned.
Since the EU doesn't give a hoot about whether a product might be damaged by treating it to a dose of xrays, it's not something that the EU is likely to ever issue policy on, let alone policy that's ridiculously susceptible to all sorts of technological change and variation. It just doesn't make any sense.
What of course is totally logical, explicable and even likely, is observing a couple of things, and then drawing a conclusion on them that happens to be erroneous. Such as seeing a logo on a piece of paper, someone saying something about 1600-speed film, and then interpreting this as proof that there's a EU policy on film going through x-ray scanners. It's easy to be mistaken.
Have I understood what you have said correctly
It also possible that border agent was racist or a nazi to give me all those problems.
In order to cause a system wide directive to be put into place, you will need to somehow ensure that the appropriate authorities actually know about the existence of film and the associated problem.
And then you will need patience - these things happen slowly.
Never had problems with TSA. But now days I just let the film through. Never had a problem.
Yeah, very likely, that.
In all seriousness though - seems to me you just misunderstood what was going on. No biggie, happens to all of us.
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