airport scanners and film

Years ago, before I started to worry about gear, I put exposed film into checked baggage. Indian scanners didn't hurt it and Heathrow airport thieves didn't throw film away (bag arrived day later, clearly opened though my Mju was with me). It's definitely easier to travel not knowing all those no-no's :p
 
It becomes clear that even in the post-9/11 world, not all checked baggages gets scanned with the most powerful scanners - or more film would be damaged. In a way, I wish more of it was damaged/destroyed in checked baggage. That way, people would not be encouraging others to go ahead and leave their film in checked baggage. Just because your film does NOT get destroyed, does not mean that the scanners don't destroy film. They do. The I3A conducted extensive testing to prove it. Choose not to believe that - fine with me.
 
bmattock said:
No offense intended. I merely meant that in some previous threads, we've had people encourage others to put their film in checked baggage because they themselves had done so with no problems. I suggested to those worthies that although they might well not have had problems, they a) were lucky and b) were not going to stand liable to make whole anyone who took their poor advice and ended up with damaged film, so why give it? I was just trying to short-circuit the usual panoply of wisenheimers who find it amusing to give bad advice.
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As a probable 'wisenheimer' - I'll correct an omission from my previous post! during my years of meandering in and out of airports with unfogged film - I have never once entrusted them to the cargo hold! - nor ever would. :)
Dave.
P.S. 'wisenheimers' or no.....there also abounds here - the panoply of pessimistic and paranoid 'advice' posts! :rolleyes:
 
BMAttock has it correctly. Some fogging always takes place at each scan. You may not notice one time or two or ten, but it IS there.
 
x-ray said:
I recently traveled from the US to Italy carrying a few rolls of 400 neopan and a dozen rolls of 100 across. For the first time in many trips I had my 400 film seriously fogged. The 100 was fine but the 400 was totaled. From closely examining the ruined film I would say it was a massive single exposure that did the damage. The damage was a single pattern extending the length of the film that was in the cassette. The pattern was a sine wave with distinct edges which leads me to also think it was a single exposure with the bag stopped in the x ray machine. I believe it happened at CDG / Parris. I observed the bag being examined at length in the carry on mchine.

Its a chance you take so be prepared in case you get fog.
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I have heard CDG Paris blamed for a fair bit of film fogging... must be that they use more powerful machines on hand luggage than is normally the case.
 
personally I have never had film fogged, but I have no doubt that it does happen. I wonder whether they are open to hand searches at CDG Paris. I suspect not..... Certainly checking film is asking for trouble.
 
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