X-Ray damage by multiple passes through airport and venue security; COLOUR AND MONO

Velvia 50 is safe from X-rays (Customs portal/carry-on). On a NZ trip a few years ago I went through about 8 x-ray sessions trotting about the country. No film was hurt.
No airports in Australia will hand-examine film on request: you do as Customs instruct you in the queue: put your goods through X-ray or you don't get in. Simple. (StoneNYC take note!)
Airside luggage scanners are lethal: it is said a bottle of Chanel No. 5 will "lose it's sweet pong" in there after just two passes (!)
Films above 400ISO will take around 3 passes before "bandy-bandy" becomes evident.
You can stuff film in lead-lined bags, but if Customs cannot adequately determine what the "shadow" is during X-ray, likely the item will be opened, inconveniencing all manner of people in queue, not the least of you.

T-Max P3200 and Delta 3200 films — don't bother taking these.

At Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, hand inspection of my few rolls of delta 3200 was refused, when I requested it, after sending the rest of my film through the scanner. The inspector insisted that hand inspection would mean opening each roll, and unrolling it. When I asked to speak to his supervisor he said he WAS the supervisor.

The film went through the scanner. Hand inspection was done at other airports, that trip, including England - might have been Manchester rather than London. The film was OK.

I've never had any trouble with film being scanned (don't use >400ASA though).

I don't know how you carry your film (dumped in a bag or neatly stacked in a corner of a flight case) but banding is less likely a problem if the film is in a different orientation with respect to the X-ray tube with each scan.

sly said:

At Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, hand inspection of my few rolls of delta 3200 was refused, when I requested it, after sending the rest of my film through the scanner. The inspector insisted that hand inspection would mean opening each roll, and unrolling it. When I asked to speak to his supervisor he said he WAS the supervisor.

The film went through the scanner. Hand inspection was done at other airports, that trip, including England - might have been Manchester rather than London. The film was OK.

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I can report that I have had a LARGE quantity of film hand checked at Schiphol no problem. Maybe it was because I was with a native Dutch speaker.

RobertRF said:

I'm interested in experiences other have and any solutions employed. Is threre a way I can be accredited and avoid the x-ray risk? A trip to the USA was marred by my insistance on hand-searches and flat refusal in some places. Again an internal flight added passes but everyone said "our machine is X-Ray film safe...

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I have never had a problem with getting film hand checked in the US. One thing that may be helpful is to travel with a boxed roll of 3200 ISO film and label your other film "shot at ISO 3200." I've done this and skipped the whole "our machine is fine for ISO 100 film" speech. What's amazing about it is it takes less time for them to hand check the film than it does to argue with you.

The problem I have with xray machines is you pass through so many of them nowadays. You also do it in multiple countries where you really don't have all (or any) information about the scanners and operators. Also xray operators pop wood when my bag goes through the scanner. They run it through... then they pick it up and run it through again! All those camera bodies and lenses are TSA porn. I really don't want my film going through that ride multiple times at each airport. There have been multiple pronouncements in this thread but basically no links to back them up... other than the Kodak link telling you it is somewhat risky to run your film through an xray machine.

Personally I would do the relabeling thing and only take as much film as you need. Be polite and dress like someone who knows what they are doing. Also be prepared for all of this to not work and accept the fact that sometimes your film will get scanned. As people's anecdotal reports have shown most of the time no changes will show up in your final print. I mean it doesn't hurt to ask. But if you are refused it may not hurt to run the film through the scanner.

jimbop said:

I don't know how you carry your film (dumped in a bag or neatly stacked in a corner of a flight case) but banding is less likely a problem if the film is in a different orientation with respect to the X-ray tube with each scan.

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I find it hard to visualize that. But anyway, it were so, is there a practical use from this?

Be careful about hand inspections. There are horror stories of dimbulb inspecters removing film from cassettes or opening cameras containing film. Remember we are now dealing with the digital mindset to which the concept of film is totally alien.

Gerald C Koch said:

Be careful about hand inspections. There are horror stories of dimbulb inspecters removing film from cassettes or opening cameras containing film. Remember we are now dealing with the digital mindset to which the concept of film is totally alien.

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That is the situation that, many years ago, made me a complete convert to just puttinghte film on the xray machine belt and not worrying one iota about it. The TSA agent was quite willing to hand inspect my sheet film holders but felt the need to pull the darkslides to do so. Can't fault the kid... it wasn't his fault for not knowing about old camera gear.

All airports I have been to in Australia (Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns, Gold Coast) have hand checked for me, some more difficult than others to ask for it.

Small risk is not no risk. If they didn't damage then an unlimited number of passes would not affect film.

I prefer to ask when I can and have time to do so to minimise the number of passes. I just tell them I stake my living on this/professional use, and that no, a single pass isn't going to hurt, but it's already had multiple passes, and that I prefer to be safe than sorry with my work, and ask if they could kindly do an explosives swab instead of an xray.

There are also lead lined carry on bags that will attenuate (but not block) the X-Ray scans, so that the level is quite reduced and they can boost the image digitally after the pass.

Gerald C Koch said:

Be careful about hand inspections. There are horror stories of dimbulb inspecters removing film from cassettes or opening cameras containing film. Remember we are now dealing with the digital mindset to which the concept of film is totally alien.

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I second that! The airport environment has close to zero tolerance now in terms of what people are carrying, and where and how people try to smuggle-in contraband, and rolls of film have been on the radar for a while now. If Customs want to unravel a roll of film, there is nothing stopping them (least of all you!) — the law is on their side and they are entitled to be very thorough if they have the slightest suspicion. Just put everything on the counter as directed and in through x-ray: keeping things nice, pleasant, civilised and orderly will make everybody's day; the reverse having you shunted off for an intricate interview in a back room (and yet more things pulled apart). All this is because at some stage idiots have smuggled in drugs in otherwise innocuous-looking rolls of film (opening the canisters, removing the film spool, stuffing in e.g. heroin or ice). It is through the refined detective work of Customs that we don't have a great deal of illicit stuff getting through the border, and their methods and detections are always being fine-tuned.

I had a few screeners try to unroll exposed 120 and 220 films before, and there is always one that wants to pull out on the leader of a 35mm cassette. A few have asked to unwrap and remove the foil from 120/220 films that were unexposed to check. When going someplace that you know they will not care for hand inspections you can pick up a few of the thick xray bags. I have a big Domke one that is like 10lbs, and another smaller japanese type thats a bit smaller but can easily hold a 10 roll brick. Dont get the thinner plastic roll up pouches unless you plan on bagging film in those, and then into the thicker type bags. They work really well, when they made me pass film through with it instead of giving me hand inspection, it showed up as a huge black space on the monitor. At JFK they didnt care and said the machine was film safe and let it pass, at Shanghai coming back they freaked and had 4-5 people come over, and ultimately gave me the hand inspection I asked for.

Can I add the Fuji 800Z to the list? I was a little afraid of this one, but it turned out just fine.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaz99/5433408778/

Newt_on_Swings said:

They [lead bags] work really well, when they made me pass film through with it instead of giving me hand inspection, it showed up as a huge black space on the monitor. At JFK they didnt care and said the machine was film safe and let it pass, at Shanghai coming back they freaked and had 4-5 people come over, and ultimately gave me the hand inspection I asked for.

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If I understand you right, your idea about lead bags is to provoke a hand inspection.

It's always best to get a hand inspection to avoid the X-rays no matter how X-ray safe they say their machine is because of the cumulative effects of multiple passes, but if the screeners deny you you are better off having the lead bags that nothing at all. Most people in these positions are apathetic to your reasoning about protecting your film.

But what keeps them, after seeing that black brick at their monitor, from opening the bag, pouring out the films and having them run through the X-ray scanner?

AgX said:

But what keeps them, after seeing that black brick at their monitor, from opening the bag, pouring out the films and having them run through the X-ray scanner?

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It doesn't block Xrays, but attenuate them, the intensity is lower, so contrast is still detectable, they increase the image brightness and contrast of the scan.

AgX said:

But what keeps them, after seeing that black brick at their monitor, from opening the bag, pouring out the films and having them run through the X-ray scanner?

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You have a good point. If something shows up as a great black blob, it is likely to be pulled up and opened. It might even trigger are more involved search of the bag's contents. Goodness, just put the film through the scanner and avoid fuss.

Not sure what your getting at but whenever it has gone through with the bags I clearly tell them there is film in an X-ray proof bag. I hold out the bag to show them when I request a hand inspection. They have never rerun the film without the bag and usually go to hand inspection if they care for it. A number of times it has gone through with the bags no problem.

I think the point he's making (which was my experience too when I last used a lead bag - decades ago), Newt, is that if the screener sees a "black blob" they will not assume that it is film and therefore OK... they will assume that they cannot assess the situation and either re-scan in hopes of a "better angle" or pull the bag out for hand check. That hand check may be performed primarily to figure out what is being concealed more than to be nice to the guy carrying film. When that has happened to me, the entire contents of my carryon have been examined rather than just the "black blob". You appear to have had better success with your lead bag than have others.

p.s. When I last used lead bags and told the screener that I had film in a lead bag I got one of two responses: "hand it to me and I'll handceck it for you", or "remove the film from the bag and put both separately on the conveyor". Not enjoying this experience an dhaving never had a problem with xray damage no matter where I've flown... I gave up on the lead bag many years ago. I'd much rather glide through the security stations without ever having to interact with the security personnel.

I guess to each his own then. Traveling without the xray bags is much lighter, and is what you should be doing if you wont be in an area with lodging or a car for a bit of time and have to be on foot. I have also heard that the radiation from longer flights may actually be more than what is experienced from the burst of xrays from the scanner, if thats the case maybe the bags help with that too.

I've recently developed HP5+ pushed to 1600 which went through quite a bit scanning (at least 4 if not more) and I see no damage on the negatives. Same result with tmax 400 @400.

I prefer to avoid any hassle with airport security, specially in the countries which might be considered "hot". I would actually consider both, Jordan and Egypt to lean towards the "hot" side at the moment.

In both countries you can also expect your baggage is going to be scanned at the hotel (at least they did it in my hotels in both countries) on each entry. Better put the camera around your neck before you enter.

Sorry for digging this up, but while the hand-check vs. carry-on scan battle still rages (and doesn't interest me), I get the impression that film in checked bags is a very bad idea?

kossi008 said:

Sorry for digging this up, but while the hand-check vs. carry-on scan battle still rages (and doesn't interest me), I get the impression that film in checked bags is a very bad idea?

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Yes, very bad. Film should be carried on a plane. I have had film scanned half a dozen times while carried on planes with no problems at all.