Around the World with A Load of Film - An X-ray report

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PointOmega

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Just returned from a trip and wanted to share my airport notes with you. I brought 75 rolls of 120 film (mostly 400 Tri-x and Portra and some 100 Neopan) in clear ziplock bags through a number of airports...

New York (JFK) - Requested a hand check. No problem. Very courteous. Checked with bomb residue detection swab. Really professional and friendly.

LAX - Requested a hand check. No problem. Very courteous. Checked with bomb residue detection swab. Really professional and friendly.

Beijing - Requested a hand check. No problem. Very courteous. Checked with bomb residue detection swab. No smiles, but no problems either.

Shanghai (Quonqiang) - Requested a hand check. No problem. Very courteous. Checked with bomb residue detection swab.

Hong Kong - Requested a hand check. No problem. Very courteous. Visual check.

Bangkok (Suvarabhuma) - Requested a hand check. No problem. Very courteous. Visual check. Actually kind of slack, I was surprised.

London Heathrow - I dreaded this one based on RFF reports. Requested a hand check and was initally refused. Supervisor summoned, but offered to hand-check only one of 4 bags given the number of rolls. I ended up transferring the exposed rolls (about 30) into one bag, which the supervisor checked with the residue swab. The unused rolls were sent through the machine, but this was their first and only airport x-ray exposure so not terrible.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected the Chinese (mainland and HKK) airports in particular to be difficult, but after JFK and LAX they were the most reasonable of all. Same goes for the countless subway x-rays in Beijing - they all agreed to hand check. I had also expected Heathrow to be an absolute nigtmare, which it was compared to the others, but am grateful that they ultimately agreed to handcheck exposed rolls. If I can offer any advice, you've probably already heard it: use clear zip-lock bags and be friendly but firm.
 
Good to hear it. However, I was told (here actually) that the X-ray machines for carry-on luggage won't harm your rolls. On several trips to India (Amsterdam - Paris - Bangalore or Amsterdam - Delhi - Chandigarh and of course back) + daily scans at every entry into the hotel, I could see nothing special on the rolls, not even on Tri-X exposed at ISO1600.

In Paris (Charles Le Gaulle) they asked me once to get my cameras out of my bag. 'What, all of them?'. They insisted, but were friendly overall.
 
Good to hear the friendly service you recieved. Sounds like putting all your film in one bag makes thing easier. Thanks for the report.
 
Generally speaking most airports are really friendly about hand inspecting your rolls. From my own experience, it hasn't ever been a problem, even in Turkey /

Working 6+ years at a photo lab and handling hundreds of rolls a week, I can tell you that X-ray damage seems to be pretty heavy if you put your film into a checked bag. It should show up as a wavy line, running through the middle of the roll. I haven't had any issue with the scanners for carry-on bags, but I do not shoot much film faster than ASA 800. I avoid the scanners at all cost, in fear of damaging my film rolls.
 
PointOmega said:
..................... If I can offer any advice, you've probably already heard it: use clear zip-lock bags and be friendly but firm.
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That is a great summary of my view. There is no provision for anything other than x-ray inspection in Cuba, but I am 20 for 20 in getting visual inspection with no x-ray. That is in a totalitarian state and me with limited Spanish language skills.
 
Only places where I have gotten looks like I was a pain in the a*s, was smaller airports in the USA. I think they are less familiar with the request. But really no problem.
 
I dont worry about it either, even with fast film. You can get enough hand checks to ensure exposure is limited.
 
kzphoto said:
Generally speaking most airports are really friendly about hand inspecting your rolls. From my own experience, it hasn't ever been a problem, even in Turkey /
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In April 2005 at Tehran Airport, they gave me a cup of coffee while I waited for my film to be hand inspected. Very friendly guys!!!

But I don't bother with hand inspection now. Not worth the hassle. During a trip to Istanbul and Europe in April, my film went through 11 carry-on baggage x-ray checks and came out fine (just don't put your film in your check-in baggage) only to be scratched badly when the local camera store developed it for me. I now develop my own film 😡
 
Me too, I don't bother with asking for handchecks anymore. I just double check that I haven't left anything in the checked luggage.
 
jonmanjiro said:
In April 2005 at Tehran Airport, they gave me a cup of coffee while I waited for my film to be hand inspected. Very friendly guys!!!

But I don't bother with hand inspection now. Not worth the hassle. During a trip to Istanbul and Europe in April, my film went through 11 carry-on baggage x-ray checks and came out fine (just don't put your film in your check-in baggage) only to be scratched badly when the local camera store developed it for me. I now develop my own film 😡
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that about equals my experience, which of course is all i can share. i have run a lot of film through a lot of airport scanners, sometimes upwards of a dozen times a trip, with little to no adverse effects. i have. of course, had labs cook my c-41 into grain the size of golf balls upon arrival at destination.

i can only share my experience but i share Jon's... i am more concerned about the lab than the X-ray machine. and i had run a LOT of film through MANY X-ray machines.
 
Great review.. Heathrow.. all I need in 1 hour in Heathrow and I remember why I emigrated.. 1 hour in the 'The Lamb and Flag' and I remember all the things I miss about London..

I do a lot of travelling and always carry film.. to be honest I have not had an issue with x-ray damage for years so just let them scan the film.
 
I've travelled extensively in Asia (Singapore, China, India, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan), and have never had any issues with film scannned as carry-on luggage. Most airports have Film Safe scanners as well.

The only thing that annoyed me was that I had to pay customs duty (!) on some lenses the last time I was in India. They refused to understand that the lenses were for my use and not resale, and that I was leaving the country in 3 days. It was close to 2am and the duty was just USD 50, so I paid up and left.
 
vinyljunky said:
The only thing that annoyed me was that I had to pay customs duty (!) on some lenses the last time I was in India. They refused to understand that the lenses were for my use and not resale, and that I was leaving the country in 3 days. It was close to 2am and the duty was just USD 50, so I paid up and left.
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And how about bodies and other photo gear? Lenses only are good for sale, huh? I think you just got flipped, but understand your reaction.
 
btgc said:
And how about bodies and other photo gear? Lenses only are good for sale, huh? I think you just got flipped, but understand your reaction.
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Well, I was only carrying one Leica M3 body which I guess didn't show up on the X ray too clearly. And I wasn't about to pull it out! The lenses in question were a 75mm, 90mm & 135mm, so not the most discrete. I definitely got ripped off, probably not the only one as there was a long queue of people behind me.

The best part is they asked me to provide the value of the lenses. I remembered from previous trips that the duty-free allowance is around USD 5000, so I valued them at USD 4950 - they couldn't really argue with that! The problem is I had also bought an iPod as a gift in duty free, so ended up paying duty on that.
 
I too have overal had very good experience, like the one's mentioned above.

At Paris Charles De Gaulle I was one time asked to take my Hasselblad out of the bag, remove the lens and film back and fire the shutter so that the guy could see in "the box" camera body.

My only BAD experience was leaving Buenos Aires airport, I courteously requested a hand inspection of my film (only about 10 rolls, in a clear zip-lock bag), was refused. I asked again nicely, explaining that I had ISO 1600 film, was refused. I asked to speak to the person's manager, and then he got angry and threatened to send me to the back of a very very long line of people waiting to get through security (I might have missed my flight). So I sent the film through, but had no problems with X-ray damage.
 
On a recent trip I asked for a hand check at Brussels airport and got refused. The person consulted with his superior and told me that any film below 3200 ISO had to go through the scanner. He was nice but firm.

Years ago at Malaga airport I put all my films in a clear plastic bag. I had one roll of Infrared film in a black canister. No matter how I tried to explain it was a special film that could not be exposed to daylight, I had to open the canister, so my film got ruined. Not so nice and quite firm.

Now I try to buy my film on location or order it previously online to have it delivered at my destination. This way I can skip some scanning processes.
 
Jan Van Laethem said:
On a recent trip I asked for a hand check at Brussels airport and got refused. The person consulted with his superior and told me that any film below 3200 ISO had to go through the scanner. He was nice but firm. ...
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this has been my experience too, some years ago tried to get hand check in Sao Paulo and person explained that my films were bellow 1600, so in machine they must go. dont think he even knew what units were they, just knew the number. havent bothered since then, and use only ISO 100 as my travel film. usually just digital.
 
This is nice to know. Thanks!

The only problen with carry on scanners I've had so far happened last year on the way back to the US from Paris. My last exposed roll of Arista Premium 400 (tri-x), which was still in my M6 when it went through the scanner came out completely blank after I developed it. This has never happened before on domestic or international flights, so I don't know what to attribute this to. It is possible that the roll of film had a light leak, but I just don't know.
The one thing I do now is I don't leave film in the camera when it goes through the scanner.
 
Roma said:
My last exposed roll of Arista Premium 400 (tri-x), which was still in my M6 when it went through the scanner came out completely blank after I developed it. (...) The one thing I do now is I don't leave film in the camera when it goes through the scanner.
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I've read somewhere that the person operating the scanner can boost up the power if he/she needs to see something more clearly. If this is in the realm of "urban legends" I don't know, maybe someone with experience or knowledge of airport scanning equipment could shed a light on this.

Come to think of it, I also left an almost completely exposed roll of film in the Nikon S2. :bang:
 
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