Does Efke 8x10 film come sealed?

[Palantiri7]

Hello everyone,

I have been having problems with customs in my country opening my 8x10 Ilford film boxes. As you know, the film inside is not sealed in its envelope like Kodak and Fuji films. Consequently, the officers peek at the film in daylight, and expose everything. I don't have a problem with Kodak Tri-X Pan, for instance, as the film is sealed in a packet that, as yet, customs officers will not open. I would like to experiment with some Efke film, and maybe Foma too. Could users of these films (4x5 or 8x10) please let me know whether the film comes sealed in an envelope? Thank you for your time: this is indeed rather frustrating for me.

P.S. Ya, I've talked to everybody (the customs officers being the more frustrating to talk to), including Ilford. It looks like film that comes in sealed packets is my only solution.

 

[P C Headland]

Efke and Foma 4x5" and 9x12cm come in sealed bags, in a three box carton. At least mine do... I don't know if they pack the film differently for the larger formats

Where abouts are you? If the box is clearly labelled as photographic film, then why are they opening it in daylight? It may be worthwhile talking to some customs agents or importers and asking how they would get around this problem.

 

[Palantiri7]

Thank you for the reply, P C. I live in Trinidad (Caribbean). The customs officers open everything, no exceptions, so I have given up trying to reason with them. An Ilford representative tried to organise something with B&H (where I buy the film) for me, but I don't think he was successful. Kudos to Ilford, though, I believe they did try to help.

 

[Dave Wooten]

Would UPS or Fed Ex customs be of any help?