Another airport story

[pagpow]

Hi all --

this was a new one to me.

I was flying through Frankfurt (transferring) and went through security with
a camera bag and an RD-1. Security asked me if they could open my carry on and started rummaging. I finally asked them if I could help. Yes. What are you looking for? Do you have a camera here? Yes? I pulled out the bag and showed it to them. They had me followed them to an office where they did their rub and sniff machine test.

This is the first time this has happened to me. I asked whether this would happen all the time. Yes. Could I do something to expedite. No.

Any similar experiences or info? Any notion whether this is tied to camera form factor?

 

[axiom]

Perhaps the dial on the RD-1 somehow makes them suspicious of bombs?

Sorry for not having anything constructive.

 

[oftheherd]

Something about the way it looked on their monitor, or something, may have caused them to think it was necessary. One never knows.

 

[pschauss]

Since I routinely carry one or more old cameras when I travel I have come to expect this sort of thing. On my last trip, after looking at my Zorkii in the X-ray image, the guy asked me, "How old is that camera?". The he remarked that it certainly was a big chunck of metal. My Sverdlovsk light meter gets an extra look no and then as well.

 

[rlouzan]

Most of the times it's the batteries.

 

[pagpow]

Yes, I was wondering just this about the form factor. The last time I had a hand inspection of camera related hardware was at Dulles, with a Leica M-3, but I also had a lot of wires from rechargers etc associated w. other equipment. I thought maybe the wires gave them worry.

At Dulles they ended up calling not one, not two, not three, but five inspectors of various ranks, all the while ignoring any assistance from me. They found the Leica, the form factor seemed to be what concerned them.

As adrenaline levels declined and the ranks of inspectors drifted off, one of the younger ones turned quietly to me and said, You have a Leica, congratulations."

Do they not subject dSLRs or SLRs to any of this? Any experiences out there?

 

[sevo]

Do they not subject dSLRs or SLRs to any of this?

Advanced baggage scanners do identify familiar objects and any modifications made to them - if you own odd ones, like a Pentax, Samsung, Sony or Mamiya you probably are in for the same investigation as with a rare oldtimer, but the regular Canonikon will be identified and flagged harmless on screen. Unless you use a third party battery and had a PCB failure fixed with a couple of wires, that is - in which case you'll have the entire explosives squad upon you...

 

[Tim Gray]

At some point about a year ago, every time I flew, they would take out my M7/M6 and rescan it. They told me it just showed up as a solid black mass. Anyway, one time after a bomb sniffer scan, the guy told me that I should pull out my small camera bag and have it scanned separately from my carry on. I started to do that.

About 6 months ago, I got sick of doing that and just started putting my carry on bag through with the camera(s) inside. They've not run it through the machine twice since. I don't know what has changed. It seriously was every time I flew; now it's never. I fly a bit more than once a month.

 

[LeicaFoReVer]

Carry leica thru germany you will not have any problems, probably because it is a non-german camera 🙂 sorry for joking I could not hold...

one time I flied over germany and with my leica and lenses, the guy asked my to open the bag and when he saw the leica, he shouted wow leica is the best 🙂 I am not kidding haha it was funny

 

[wgerrard]

I believe the agents will inspect anything that cannot be identified in the scanner's image. Other items in a carryon can obscure a camera.

I've traveled with a Leica or a Bessa in a mall camera bag. No one has asked to inspect it. On the other hand, I have had agents open my carryon a few times to identify something that was obscure in the scanner. The reason they do not want a passenger's "assistance" is that if a bag does contain a weapon or a bomb, the passenger could set it off.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Nothing new...in Frankfurt they do the sniffing quite regularly

 

[KenR]

In Munich this fall, my Bessa R2 and R4 were suspicious on enough on the scanner, that not only were they were taken out of the camera bag for a look-see, but I was also asked to click the shutter on them. I think that the whole process is rather dependent on the individual scanner operator - this is what makes it so frustrating but perhaps makes it safer for us all as they are constantly varying the items checked. Of course, this is probably giving the TSA and its worldwide equivalents more credit than they deserve.

 

[sevres_babylone]

I'm not sure what you mean by rub and sniff, but my cameras are frequently swabbed when I fly out of Toronto.

 

[dcsang]

I'm not sure what you mean by rub and sniff, but my cameras are frequently swabbed when I fly out of Toronto.

Same here...
last time I traveled though (end of November to Vancouver), nothing of mine got swabbed down - I was carrying my M7, Rolleiflex, Olympus E-P2 and a bunch of Leica glass - nothing got touched.

I, on the other hand, submitted myself to a "pat down" instead of going through the x-ray body scanner - I prefer to be touched than be zapped with x-rays.

Contrary to what I've learned from comic books, one doesn't garner super powers due to an overdose of radioactivity... 🙂

Cheers,
Dave

 

[nolasafari]

Any similar experiences or info? Any notion whether this is tied to camera form factor?

Yes, I was flying back to the US via Frankfurt this summer and I had a backpack full of Nikon and Apple gear and I was pulled out of line and brought into a side office and the gear was swabbed. This scared me a little as I collect military fire arms and reload some of my own ammunition and my guns and cameras share a lot of common space.

Jim

 

[dmr]

I'm not sure what you mean by rub and sniff, but my cameras are frequently swabbed when I fly out of Toronto.

I'm assuming this is what I call the "Nasty Stuff Detector" which is used almost universally here in the States when you request a hand inspection. IIAC it's a fairly simple chemistry analyzer which looks for residue of various nitrogen compounds and such.

They will typically swab the camera and maybe 1-2 of the film rolls. One security supervisor in LAS invited me to watch, and it took maybe 15 seconds to process the sample and give a red/green result.

 

[hkrz]

I went through Frankfurt just over two weeks ago and they didn't bother with my Bessa.

I've read somewhere that sometimes it's the lens coatings that have strange
signiature in scanners, not the camera body itself.
To me the problem with the sniffing of gear is not a hassle, but unforseen consequences.
I was travelling through Heathrow and as usual all laptops are taken out, looked at and wipped with cloth, which is scanned. A businessmen ahead of me was waiting pateintly for his laptop to be inspected, but to his supprise the security officer dropped his computer. The laptop refused to power on, the guy was furious. Probably meeting a client later that day or something equally important.
However he was informed politely, that they have no liability for any damage casued during security searches.

Imagine it was your camera ahead of important photography trip.

 

[ERV]

I travel with my M8 and the brick battery charger always draws suspicion in my hand luggage. I have to get the compact version.
I've also learned not to travel with a double end cap connecting two lenses together.

 

[axiom]

Were you carrying some radio active lenses?

 

[jplomley]

Recently travelled to Louisianna with a pair of M7's and a 28/50 lens combination. Had to go through Toronto from Montreal. The entire kit was carried in a Hadley small along with forty rolls of B&W film. Was never asked to open the bag and security in Montreal, Toronto, and Louisianna all complied with my request for a hand inspection even though the film was ISO 100 and 400.