Film is Dead for Overseas Travel…

rfaspen said:
You have clearly never gone through Heathrow.
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Or Charles De Gaulle...

I keep seeing all these comments about it never being a problem well I have been refused hand inspection with as little as 40 rolls and that is not a lot of film when going to a place like New Zealand for three weeks.

The main reason for this whole post IS and always WILL be: “Refusal to get a hand inspection, coming to an airport near you.”

I do like the idea of creating an app or a network. Heck I am going to eventually be holding workshops and the last thing I want to do is tell someone who flew in from Chile who came to the Rockies for a ski vacation would be hey bud, sure you can take a 1-2 private field and darkroom lesson, but did you bring any film???

One of the reasons I think not many have caught on to this is that right at the time these new scanners were starting to replace the ones we could send film to iso 800 through were coming online, the pandemic hit and brought travel to a grinding halt.

Well you are going to possibly be in for a rude awakening when you find things have likely changed when you do start traveling again...
 
You will be the first person I know, even though the internet, that has ever received a hand check of film at Heathrow. I've asked a few times, politely, and always been told no in rather unkind ways. I stopped asking after the last time when I was afraid they were going to cavity-search me. Don't get their ire up! Don't ask.
 
p.giannakis said:
I think this is blown out of proportion in a typical internet fashion. Imaging machines are well known to damage photographic film - this is not news. Over the last 20 years that I have been traveling abroad, I have asked for a variety of different things to be hand checked - films, baby milk formula, wife's ultra sensitive make up powder - no one ever declined my request (yes, that includes Heathrow, Schiphol and Charles De Gaulle airports).

If these machines are so much worse (by the sound of it, they are) maybe before flying contact the airport and explain that you are carrying film, ask about requesting hand search and ask about any signs being put up to inform staff and passengers regarding CT scanners and film. Maybe that way we can be vocal about it and airport staff are more aware of such requests. That is what I will be doing.
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You are not getting it man, not only did I reach out directly to each connection and verify if the machines were in use or not, I offered to pay $200 US each inspection point to have the inspections done at the hubs that were using the machines!

Go ahead, try your luck. I don’t like to gamble like that with film.
 
I wouldn't make that gamble with the amount of film you're using K25. Too much stress and heartburn just thinking about it.
 
We'll see what the future is. I was trying to find out what is the trend in Europe and it seems that in quite many airports Smiths Detection HI-SCAN 6040 CTiX will (or is) be used (they say they signed with Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Gran Canaria airports). And they claim that they will be safe for up to iso 1600 film (but you never know). I traveled to Malaga two weeks ago, but did not pay attention to their scanners. The film I developed after that trip was not affected in any way.
 
KM-25 said:
Go ahead, try your luck. I don’t like to gamble like that with film.
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I don't share your worry, maybe because I never travel abroad with more than 3 or 4 films with me - they all fit in a small zip bag and never had any issues with hand checks.

Over and out.
 
rfaspen said:
I wouldn't make that gamble with the amount of film you're using K25. Too much stress and heartburn just thinking about it.
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Yeah, for sure. I have been at this problem solving thing for two weeks now, it is very demanding and the up and down of it all emotionally draining. I don’t want to cancel this trip but I will if I have to. I think my reality is that in order to ensure 100% safety and reliability, I am going to have to pay out the nose to get the film there and back, could be as much as $2K, that is nearly double the cost of my flight with seat upgrades, lol!

Last year in the US was horrible for road trip travel due to the horrendous fires. They look to be on tap again this year so I just want to get the hell out of here. Every time I entertain the idea of using digital in an incredible location like this I think about how it would feel to not have a negative to print in my darkroom, a real latent image and it just crushes me...
 
I travelled to Germany in 2019 with 30 rolls 400TX. Departing from PDX I asked TSA to hand check my film and they were more than happy to do so. They didn't make a fuss about it and were even interested in my camera. They swabbed every roll for explosive residue (I think that's what the swab is for) and sent me on my way.

When I arrived in Frankfurt I was late for my connecting flight and decided I didn't have time to ask for a hand check. All of my film went through the carry on baggage scanner that time. None of it was fogged as far as I can tell.

In Berlin, I visited the Reichstag. They refused to hand check my film and said it had to go through the scanner. I asked if it was safe for film. They said yes. None of that film was fogged (two trips through a scanner for those rolls).

Finally, departing from Frankfurt on the way home I asked security to hand check my film. It was busy. They looked at the ziplock bag of film, shrugged, handed it back, and sent me on my way. Once I got home, customs didn't bother to look at my film and let me keep it out of my bag when they scanned it.

I missed what kind of film you are taking, but if it is 400 speed or slower I would not worry at all. I think your requests to hand check will mostly be accommodated. Do your best to show up early and you can probably avoid needing to send your film through the carry on baggage scanners. Whatever you do don't send your film through checked baggage as those scanners will fog film.
 
KM-25 said:
Yeah, for sure. I have been at this problem solving thing for two weeks now, it is very demanding and the up and down of it all emotionally draining. I don’t want to cancel this trip but I will if I have to. I think my reality is that in order to ensure 100% safety and reliability, I am going to have to pay out the nose to get the film there and back, could be as much as $2K, that is nearly double the cost of my flight with seat upgrades, lol!

Last year in the US was horrible for road trip travel due to the horrendous fires. They look to be on tap again and I just want to get the hell out of here. Every time I entertain the idea of using digital in an incredible location like this I think about how it would feel to not have a negative to print in my darkroom, a real latent image and it just crushes me...
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My experience mirrors yours on hand checks and the effects of radiation on film, which is why I gave up taking film on an airplane years ago, even for domestic travel. I'm not going to argue with those who have not experienced that, but I can't pretend I have not experienced it, either.
I'm not really a believer in the "I didn't see it on my rolls, so it didn't happen" theory of damage to film which occurs from scanners, but to each his own. Airlines say the damage doesn't happen. They would say that wouldn't they?
I just gave up and take digital if forced to fly, film if driving, but then again I'm not the professional that you are and have fewer needs.

But, I drove all over North America last year and it was fine. You can find fires if you want to, I guess, but they were hardly the rule, and absolutely no reason to stay home. Some of the best road trips of my life due to the lack of traffic. But, again, to each his own.
 
Larry Cloetta said:
But, I drove all over North America last year and it was fine. You can find fires if you want to, I guess, but they were hardly the rule, and absolutely no reason to stay home. Some of the best road trips of my life due to the lack of traffic. But, again, to each his own.
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Around the time I could have left to do a project in wilderness which is my main use of road trip time, they were in full swing and were very bad. By the time they did clear out, I had to have a long planned foot surgery which took me out for 3 months going into Winter.

Between that and my general dislike for America the past 4-5 years, I really just want to get the heck out of here, lol!
 
KM-25 said:
Around the time I could have left to do a project in wilderness which is my main use of road trip time, they were in full swing and were very bad. By the time they did clear out, I had to have a long planned foot surgery which took me out for 3 months going into Winter.

Between that and my general dislike for America the past 4-5 years, I really just want to get the heck out of here, lol!
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Well, yeah, if there are wildfires where you need to go, that's a different kettle of fish. We just went to different wildernesses, I guess.:)
 
I wonder how, or if, Christopher Nolan circumvents the problem? Seriously.
I can’t imagine he’s saying, “Sure, just irradiate it as much and as often as you want.”
That might be interesting to know. To know, not conjecture.
 
I've used lead-lined packs for film while traveling post 9-11 (made from the same material used in lead aprons at the dentist office). Although it's been many years since I've traveled with film, I never had an issue using these.
 
Larry Cloetta said:
I wonder how, or if, Christopher Nolan circumvents the problem? Seriously.
I can’t imagine he’s saying, “Sure, just irradiate it as much and as often as you want.”
That might be interesting to know. To know, not conjecture.
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Michael Kenna comes to mind as well, I might reach out to him.
 
It seems to me you could never be confident using film that had left your sight, unless perhaps B&H or another vendor was standing behind the logistics. Outbound, you could try splitting the 500 rolls between the two travelers’ hand luggage, expecting to be able to secure hand inspection, but without full assurance. If you think there is a 10% risk some security person insists on putting it through a machine, you may be comfortable self-insuring, placing a big B&H order if the worst should happen. You could pre-position a two-week supply at your destination, via B&H, so you would be set upon arrival in the sad event what you were carrying was put through a machine.

On the return, even a 10% risk to your exposed film is too great. In that situation I would look into ways to ship film out a bit at a time during the stay, dividing up the risk. If I were going to be in the Faroes, I would try to connect ahead of time with professionals and service providers in Denmark for guidance, and see if film could be safely shipped to Denmark for processing.
 
Ouch. I often shipped film ahead and home when I was still shooting. Fed-Ex was my preferred. My local Fed-Ex gave me stickers to attach to the packages so they would handled safely and kept away from damaging x-rays etc... That was a long time ago tho.
 
Matthew Runkel said:
It seems to me you could never be confident using film that had left your sight, unless perhaps B&H or another vendor was standing behind the logistics. Outbound, you could try splitting the 500 rolls between the two travelers’ hand luggage, expecting to be able to secure hand inspection, but without full assurance. If you think there is a 10% risk some security person insists on putting it through a machine, you may be comfortable self-insuring, placing a big B&H order if the worst should happen. You could pre-position a two-week supply at your destination, via B&H, so you would be set upon arrival in the sad event what you were carrying was put through a machine.

On the return, even a 10% risk to your exposed film is too great. In that situation I would look into ways to ship film out a bit at a time during the stay, dividing up the risk. If I were going to be in the Faroes, I would try to connect ahead of time with professionals and service providers in Denmark for guidance, and see if film could be safely shipped to Denmark for processing.
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If I order new stock of the stuff I already have at home and have it shipped from B&H, Freestyle or even Fotoimpex and then have it developed in Denmark, you are talking about $8,000 before shipping and customs. Add to that the nuance involved in processing black and white being at times as specific as making the print it self and this is not not a way to go for me.

I appreciate the input but it looks like I either pay thousands to ship film I already have in stock back and forth or I just say to hell with this and cancel it all.
 
If you're shooting B&W, why not have B&H or Freestyle ship the film and chemicals to the hotel where you'll be staying, and process the negs while you're there and carry the processed film with you on the way home. The scanners won't hurt the film after you've processed it. Heck, Robert Frank processed hundreds of rolls of film on the road as he traveled around the US working on his "The Americans" book.

Alternatively, talk to anyone putting on one of the half dozen photography workshops on the Faroe Islands this summer and ask them about sourcing film and processing.

Best,
-Tim
 
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