FILM in luggage is BAD, but is PAPER in luggage GOOD?

removed account4 · Jul 24, 2013

do xrays damage LOW asa "stuff" like paper &c or just FILM?

THANKS

polyglot · Jul 24, 2013

X-rays will expose anything sensitive. Of course you need more to expose paper than film, but I would expect that there is more than enough power in airport scanners to put good stripes on your paper.

For reference, an ISO100 film can get nice dense stripes in it. Paper is maybe ISO6-12, which is 3-4 stops slower. So the markings will still show up on it if you go through the wrong scanner.

Of course you may get lucky; I put a test roll in some luggage for about 5 consecutive flights across China and Australia and it came out clean.

JLP · Jul 24, 2013

I recently did a similar test as Polyglot but involuntarily. On a recent trip to Europe i bought 2 bricks of 100 Iso film and put it in my cary on luggage as i always do with film.
Well, in the early morning check in they told me that my carry on was to heavy and needed to be checked. I forgot i had the film in it and didn't get it out.
When i enetered the security it dawned on me that i just wasted two bricks of film.
Back home i developed an unexposed roll to see what it looked like. To my surprice it came out completely clear with no signs of x-ray.
To me that indicates that not all luggage are x-rayed.
You could be lucky with the paper but that is a big risk to take.

Mr Student · Jul 24, 2013

I had to put a half finished pack of Instax film in an Instax camera in my checked bags from Australia to the US and didn't see any streaking or X-ray exposure damage on the checked film. So I did it a few more times on internal US flights (with the camera being so bulky) and again didn't see any problems with the resulting shots.

removed account4 · Jul 24, 2013

well, i know about the film -deal. (BTDT )
but i am planning a trip where i hope to bring LARGE sheets of paper ( 16x20? ) and
it is too big for my carry on, and may be metal plates coated with emulsion ...
i don't want to deal with the carry on scanner for the metal plates the operators won't understand
when i say " they are metal plates with emulsion coated on them, you know, to make olde fashioned metal photos like "this" (showing them a tintype) "
so i figured packing all this stuff in my luggage would be better, but i don't know ...
the emulsion i hope to use is relatively slow ( maybe asa 1 if i am lucky ) and some normal-stuff - iso 6-24 )
it might get tricky i guess ...

polyglot · Jul 24, 2013

The signs in AU airports say that luggage may be scanned. So probably not all of it is, and my guess is that there are differing levels of technology (exposure levels applied) depending in where you are. There are occasional threads that pop up even now on APUG and LFPF where people go "what are all these stripes and wavy things on my film", so there are still scanners out there damaging some film. Just not much of it.

TheFlyingCamera · Jul 24, 2013

The other option of course is to ship the stuff to your destination via FedEx. The reason I say FedEx in particular is that they actually do listen to instructions on handling of packages, unlike UPS or the Post Office. You'll KNOW the stuff will arrive ok, and if it doesn't, you'll be compensated assuming you insure it. You'll not get that from the airline, ever.

ath · Jul 24, 2013

I think if you put metal plates in your luggage the chance that it gets special treatment (i.e. powerful scan) is high.

removed account4 · Jul 24, 2013

thanks scott, i'll think about that ..
thanks for the reality check andreas, yeah, you're probably right ...

spijker · Jul 24, 2013

I've also been "lucky" with accidentally leaving 3 rolls of exposed film in my checked luggage from Berlin to Amsterdam. No problem. However, there's also this story: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

removed account4 · Jul 25, 2013

i spoke with the maker of emulsion and was told there are too many factors to know if liquid emulsion coated stuff will be ok
and spoke with people i know who work for airlines to told me ( BOTH PEOPLE ) that ALL INTERNATIONAL flights' baggage gets XRAYED ...

u guess it will be carry on if-when the time comes ...

thanks again for your help !
john

Clovis Blevins · Jul 25, 2013

The current state-of-the-art security scanners use dual or multi energy photons from 5keV to 250keV to simultaneously determine composition as well as visual structure. If you have metal in your luggage, it will automatically go to high power with a narrow sweep width (on the order of 1-2mm). Chest x-rays use beam energies around 120keV. If you manage to wake up one these scanners so they jump to 250keV, you might even screw up sensitized photo paper.

clayne · Jul 25, 2013

Not all checked in luggage is scanned. My MIL just brought over like 30 rolls of black and white I left at their place in NZ and where did she put them? Yep. Checked luggage. Haven't had a chance to even test some, but I'm not terribly worried.

FILM in luggage is BAD, but is PAPER in luggage GOOD?

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