Recent experience flying with film

Austerby

Austerby

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There are often questions about the effects of security scanning affecting film in hand luggage so I thought it worth reporting my recent experience.

I've been temporarily covering the Middle East region for my firm over the 2012/3 winter and have now returned home and developed the films I took with me.

Over a six week period I took over 20 flights, leaving from London and going through security at Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Beirut, Karachi, Muscat, Bahrain and Kuwait airports, with several visits to many of those, particularly Beirut, Dubai, Bahrain and Riyadh.

I took photographs in Dubai, Bahrain and Beirut predominantly - too busy the rest of the time to get the camera out.

I carried a mix of Tri-X, Tmax400, PanF+, FP4+ and Portra 160 in my hand luggage (plus my R3a with 40mm and 15mm CV lenses)

In some airports the hand luggage can be scanned two or three times per flight and there is often scanning of bags on arrival at customs.

I did not count but would not be surprised if my film was scanned upto 60 times over this period.

Some of the scanners in those airports looked rather elderly to me too.

I have now developed and processed all of the film I took with me and can't see that the films were affected in any way whatsover.
 
Thanks for the report. I have also traveled with film and been scanned multiple times (not as many as you were though), and I've never noticed any detrimental effects on the film from X-rays.

When I travel with Fuji Superia 1600, I ask for a hand inspection and usually the security folk oblige.
 
Thanks for posting your experience. I did the same a week or so ago (here), involving some of the same airports.

I decided to not risk it, gave up and shot digital instead. Before leaving I read that five or so scans was a reasonable limit. But that's nothing today. It's great to learn my concerns were likely unfounded.

John
 
Austerby said:
There are often questions about the effects of security scanning affecting film in hand luggage so I thought it worth reporting my recent experience.

I've been temporarily covering the Middle East region for my firm over the 2012/3 winter and have now returned home and developed the films I took with me.

Over a six week period I took over 20 flights, leaving from London and going through security at Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Beirut, Karachi, Muscat, Bahrain and Kuwait airports, with several visits to many of those, particularly Beirut, Dubai, Bahrain and Riyadh.

I took photographs in Dubai, Bahrain and Beirut predominantly - too busy the rest of the time to get the camera out.

I carried a mix of Tri-X, Tmax400, PanF+, FP4+ and Portra 160 in my hand luggage (plus my R3a with 40mm and 15mm CV lenses)

In some airports the hand luggage can be scanned two or three times per flight and there is often scanning of bags on arrival at customs.

I did not count but would not be surprised if my film was scanned upto 60 times over this period.

Some of the scanners in those airports looked rather elderly to me too.

I have now developed and processed all of the film I took with me and can't see that the films were affected in any way whatsover.
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... that's always been my experience on business trips not in the near-east, but in the US and Canada, Australia, NZ and South Africa
 
thegman said:
I had a roll of Natura 1600 which got scanned in hand luggage maybe 4 times, no obvious ill effects.
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I had three rolls of Fuji Superia 1600 (exact same film as Natura 1600) fried by an x-ray check at Vientiane's domestic airport.

My ISO 400 and slower films were all ok though.

buzzardkid said:
Let's hope we can finally put this internet myth to bed once and for all!
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Oops... 😛

I don't travel with film faster than ISO 400 now. I don't bother asking for hand inspection for it, and don't care how many times it gets x-ray'd. Haven't had a problem since that one time in Laos.
 
jonmanjiro said:
I had three rolls of Fuji Superia 1600 (exact same film as Natura 1600) fried by an x-ray check at Vientiane's domestic airport.

My ISO 400 and slower films were all ok though.



Oops... 😛

I don't travel with film faster than ISO 400 now. I don't bother asking for hand inspection for it, and don't care how many times it gets x-ray'd. Haven't had a problem since that one time in Laos.
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In what way fried? I fly with Superia 1600 every summer and have for years now and would be very interested to see some examples
 
Sparrow said:
In what way fried? I fly with Superia 1600 every summer and have for years now and would be very interested to see some examples
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The x-ray damage to my film looked like wavy lines, similar to example 2 below. I'm fairly certain the damage was caused by the ancient looking x-ray machine for check-in baggage at Vientiane's domestic terminal, and doubt I would have experienced the same problem anywhere else, including Vientiane's modern international terminal right next door. But I still travel these days with film no faster than ISO 400 just to be on the safe side.

tib5201h.gif
 
I rarely ever shoot film over 400, so I guess that might help explain why I've never had an issue, and I fly with film all the time. Even still, I always ask for a hand check. Most security personnel are accommodating. Once in a while I'll be somewhere where they pretty much insist on making me send it through the Xray, but I've never noticed fogging of any kind.

I definitely don't think it's a myth. I just think that for slower films, there's nothing to worry about.
 
The only airport I've been through in recent years that refused a request to hand inspect film in carry-on was Heathrow. But this thread uderscores that x-ray of 400 or slower film at checkpoints should not be a problem.
 
Sparrow said:
Yes I've seen those Kodak test shots before ... usually when I ask to see actual examples of similar negatives damage in the real world
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Well, I assure you that my actual damaged negs do exist in the real world somewhere among the 100s of rolls I've shot in the last 10 years or so. If I can track them down, I will post a photo.
 
What's worse is when folks continually confuse the effects of Invision CTX scanners (used for checked baggage) with the very different effects (if any) of Rapiscan, or similar, carry-on baggage scanning equipment. That puts myth on top of myth at times.

My vast experience is just like the OPs -- no damage after repeated scans by carry-on baggage equipment. I don't even bother asking for hand checks and haven't for at least a decade.
 
jonmanjiro said:
But I still travel these days with film no faster than ISO 400 just to be on the safe side.
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I take that back. I actually took ten or so rolls of Neopan 1600 on a trip last April/May to Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Greece, Hungary, and Austria. At Athens airport, there was a big sticker on their x-ray machine stating that ISO 1000 films and slower were ok, but I passed my Neopan 1600 through anyway. Including that x-ray check at Athens, my Neopan 1600 went through at least 20 hand carry x-ray checks that trip and was fine.

My three rolls of Superia 1600 that got fried in Laos went through the check-in luggage x-ray check (it wasn't even necessary since I didn't check-in my bag :bang🙂
 
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