travel by plane with film

2F/2F · Aug 12, 2009

Make sure the film is in carry on baggage, and not in checked baggage, and you will be fine with any film.

Personally, I would rather put my film through a carry on scanner than let a stranger fiddle with it out in the light. This is especially true of 35mm infrared film, as the felt light traps are not a reliable way to keep IR out of the cassette.

Ian Grant · Aug 12, 2009

When I went to South America 2 years ago my films were scanned at least 15 times with no problems. I've never had a problem but a UK APUG member had fogging with Delta 3200 a year or two ago, (& posted images on APUG).

It's important not to place film over metal objects that might appear suspicious because at that point the machine switches to a higher intensity localised scan and that can fog certain very high speed emulsions.

In the UK there's a committee that oversees airport c=scanning & film safety with members from the film manufacturers and the airport authorities as well as members from the RPS etc. I met the RPS member at Gatwick Airport 2 years ago, he was actually involved in Airport security & scanning and he said their scanners were safe for many multiple scans , far more than any film is likely to encounter.

Ian

samcomet · Aug 12, 2009

great point mate, I too would love to hear of folks who actually DID have problem.........

thefizz · Aug 12, 2009

2F/2F said:
Personally, I would rather put my film through a carry on scanner than let a stranger fiddle with it out in the light.

I'm with you there.

gr82bart · Aug 12, 2009

thefizz said:
So has anyone actually had their film fogged by these x-ray machines? This question keeps coming up and everyone chimes in with "don't do this" and "you should do that" but I have yet to hear from someone who actually had their film fogged.

I'd like to read this too - lots of scary scenarios that they heard of, no real incidents of a personal nature. I'd also like to see just how OFTEN some of the folks that provide 'advice' actually fly with film.

So, to be provocative, there is maybe one incident of an APUGer getting fogged film years ago and those people that provide any advice other than 'toss it in carry on' (in general) maybe fly once a year or less with film. We'll see. I think it's all fear mongering.

Toss it in carry on, throw it through the machine, move on, have a safe trip, post your pics in the gallery when you get back.

Regards, Art.
BTW I have bought film in Spain (a place called Casa something Photographic - it had a professional wet lab too), it's not that expensive, but it's all relative. Plus that was years ago.

ajmiller · Aug 12, 2009

Had a trip from Liverpool to Paris in July, carried HP5+ and Provia 100F in my hand luggage along with my Crown Graphic - no problems. Well, not until the guy sat at the hand luggage scanner wanted to know what the camera was. I opened it up and showed him - attracted some looks and some interest.
We do the Paris trip a few times a year and there hasn't been any issues with fogging.
On another note though, they wouldn't allow us to carry some Plum jam through in hand luggage, said it was a gel! Left it with the check-in staff....wonder if they ate it?

- Tony

Erik Petersson · Aug 12, 2009

Well, I forgot a HP5 inside my camera in the checked luggage. I plan to develop it in the nearest days. Will post here if I see something interesting. The rest of the film was in the hand luggage. Should be safe.

jaimeb82 · Aug 12, 2009

One more thing? Do I keep the film into the boxes and plastic containers the same way as it comes fro the shop? or that will make them think they have to open every box and every container to see what's inside? I didn't think about that.

Markok765 · Aug 12, 2009

In France they put my tmax P3200 through the machine Noticable, and kinda heavy base fog, but still printable.

Erik Petersson · Aug 12, 2009

I have never been able to avoid scanning here in Stockholm. Still, no problems yet.

colrehogan · Aug 12, 2009

When I went to Seattle in Jan. 2008, I put my sheet film (whole plate HP5+) into the bin along with my coat and shoes, and then put the bag with my camera in a second bin since I figured that if anything was to sit in the scanner, it would be the bag with my camera/lenses in it. No problems from fog.

BetterSense · Aug 12, 2009

In France they put my tmax P3200 through the machine Noticable, and kinda heavy base fog, but still printable.

In my experience, TMZ always has visibly heavy base fog, especially if it's near or beyond expiration. I would expect xray-damaged film to show scanlines or uneven base fog, not even, printable base fog.

removed account4 · Aug 12, 2009

Markok765 said:
In France they put my tmax P3200 through the machine Noticable, and kinda heavy base fog, but still printable.

they usually say film over asa 400 has a higher chance of
being damaged than lower asa films.
the 800fuji that i had onboard, i didn't know it was there
until i got home ... and i was lucky ( it wasn't damaged )
or too oblivious to notice ...

ymmv

2F/2F · Aug 12, 2009

" Originally Posted by Markok765 View Post
In France they put my tmax P3200 through the machine Noticable, and kinda heavy base fog, but still printable."

Your film was not fogged by the French x-ray machines. It sounds like old and/or poorly-stored film. When film is damaged by x-rays, it is not just the addition of an even blanket of fog to the entire roll, besides the fact that their carry on x-rays simply will not damage film of any ISO.

michaelbsc · Aug 12, 2009

bdial said:
Some people put 120 in their pocket and walk through the metal detector, it won't harm the film, but it doesn't seem worth the hassle if they notice the bulge in your pocket and decide to investigate.

I do this successfully all the time. I guess if you have 10 rolls of film it would look weird, but for a two day jaunt I rarely get more than one chance to go out with a camera, and two rolls of film is about all I get. That fits in a shirt pocket nicely, and no one ever asks questions. An ink pen would make a far better weapon than a roll of film.

bdial said:
The last time I asked for a hand check in the U.S. was coming out of LA a couple of years ago with a batch of film I had just purchased at Freestyle .... Mileage does vary for some people, but most people commenting in these threads have had no problems with the scanners anywhere.

My own experience is that big airports don't mind doing it by hand because some guy last month or last week successfully argued them down and they know the rules. But little airports have a whole different viewpoint. I'd bet if you were really late for a plane and decided to be a jerk they may take delight in making you miss the flight, however. Playing nice is important in these things.

A funny story about carry on I have is some years back, just as they were changing the rules, I showed up with a small shoulder bag I have. The clerk said I was over the limit with carry on, so I told her it was my purse. She looked at me, looked at her supervisor, and waved me through. Nobody wanted that rukus.

Michael

Ian David · Aug 12, 2009

I have posted my experiences on the other related thread that is running - lots of flights, no problems.

Not sure if it is accurate or not, but I was once told by an airport security guy that the walk-through scanners are more likely to damage your film than the hand-baggage scanners. If that is correct, it may not be wise to stuff your pockets with your film rather than just putting them on the belt.

At the end of the day, if the hand-baggage scanners are safe for film, and if airports are serious about detecting all illicit objects, then film should be scanned.

Ian

jaimeb82 · Sep 1, 2009

Came back from Spain. At JFK I had my 20 rolls of film on a Zip bag and when showed to the police guy there he was happy to do a hand check in less than one minute.

In my way back, I had the same zip bag with 10 rolls exposed and a few new rolls unopened. I asked if it was possible to do a hand check. The guy at the scanner asked me "WHAT ASA?" "WHAT ASA?" I said 3600!! (all my film was Delta100 and Delta400) they replied "YOU ARE FINE!" "but if you want a hand check the police guy over here will go over each roll" I said ok. They police guy said to me ASA 3600? to what I replied I push my film to 3600. He said "this is really old, no one does film anymore? I said "I know, everyone does digital now days!" to be nice to him. He opened 2 rolls and gave me the bag with a smile and said "have a good trip".

I got the feeling that their jobs are so boring that when someone ask for something different they really like to do it so their routine changes a little bit.

BradS · Sep 1, 2009

jaimeb82 said:
I got the feeling that their jobs are so boring that when someone ask for something different they really like to do it so their routine changes a little bit.

What I have found is that they (the security inspection people in the USA) are generally treated so rudely that if you just show them even modest common courtesy...and a bit of humanity, they are very happy to do whatever it is in their power to do to help. I've even had a TSA manager thank me for loaning him a changing bag to do a physical inspection of fresh sheet film in boxes! He recognized the changing bag immediately as I pulled it out of my kit. He said they had been trained to recognize objects by touch using a changing bag similar to the one I produced.

travel by plane with film

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