Can multiple airport X-Rays make film blank?

[bhop73]

My friend took a trip to Vietnam recently. She sent a roll off for developing only to have the whole thing come back blank. She said she went through a lot of x-rays throughout the two week trip, (10 or more). I thought the film would be fogged at worst, not totally blank, so i'm curious about it.

 

[Carriage]

Here's Kodak's info from '03 https://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/tib/tib5201.shtml

If it was all carry on scanners I wouldn't expect blank.

 

[Gumby]

Blankness is not a symptom of X-ray damage.

It is more likely that the film was either loaded wrong and never exposed or processed wrong, most likely the former. Are there edge marking?

 

[Carriage]

Blankness is not a symptom of X-ray damage.

Yeah, xrays expose the film. Is it clear or densely exposed?

 

[bhop73]

Yeah, xrays expose the film. Is it clear or densely exposed?

Now that I read this, she may have said the film was black, not blank. I'll ask her tomorrow.

 

[bence8810]

Don't think it's Xray damage. If you hand carry, x-ray hardly ever damages film unless it's very high speed. Even when damaged, there are "ghost-like" blurs and fog on the pictures but definitely not blank.

Ben

 

[Gumby]

Now that I read this, she may have said the film was black, not blank. I'll ask her tomorrow.

Blackness is not a symptom of X-ray damage.

 

[bhop73]

Blackness is not a symptom of X-ray damage.

Overexposure though.. wait.. I can't remember if overexposure makes the film lighter or darker.

 

[pixelated]

It's not likely that carry-on x-ray would fully expose the film, even 10 passes. If it's entirely black then it's most likely fogged from mishandling.
(overexposure would make negative film darker, lighter for slide film).

 

[bohdan]

I had this happen in Berlin back in the 80s. They still had the old style Xray machines back then. What you'll see is uneven fog in the direction for which it was radiated. In other words, it will oscillate. Sometimes, if it hits it the right way, you'll see where it hits through the opening where the film comes out. Also, you may see the sprocket holes exposed.

I think in Vietnam, you'd probably not have the most recent technology. Newer machines would not have the problem. It is also dependent on the ASA of the film.

 

[Murray Kelly]

This was baggage scanning. Spoiled image but neither blank nor black. Carry on shouldn't show at all with regular speed film.

 

[Carriage]

This is from the kodak link and is for 800 speed film after 5 baggage scans. After 10 I could see it maybe being blank. So, yeah, it's unlikely it's due to xrays but it's possible.

 

[jonmanjiro]

These shots are Natura 1600 that went through about 12 hand carry luggage x-ray checks and one check-in luggage x-ray check by mistake. No doubt it was that mistaken check-in luggage x-ray check that fried it, but strangely, my ISO 100 and 400 film that was with the Natura 1600 still looked fine, regardless.

 

[willie_901]

Bohdan's post says it all.

 

[x-ray]

Blankness is not a symptom of X-ray damage.

It is more likely that the film was either loaded wrong and never exposed or processed wrong, most likely the former. Are there edge marking?

It is if it's transparency film. Negative gets darker and slides get lighter. Enough exposure on transparency film will render it clear.

 

[x-ray]

I posted images of 400 Fuji that I had that went through the carry on in Paris. They ran it back and forth several times. The one roll of 400 I ran lookedike example 2 of the Kodak samples. It was Neopan 400.