Going to Beijing: A few film Questions

R

richiedcruz

Guest
I will be going to Beijing for a couple of weeks to spend Christmas with my sister and her family. When I have travelled before, I always stocked up on film when I got to my destination and never worried about fogged film or x rays since my film was only travelling one way.

On this trip, however, I will not have time to track down film and have decided to bring my Tri X with me, some of which I was hoping to shoot at ei. 1600. I have done some searching on the various photo forums about travelling with film, and still have some questions.

1. People talk about their film getting fogged when they travel by air, but how much fog are we talking about? Enough to obliterate an image? Or just enough to freak out someone who scans every exposed frame with a densitometer and cannot tolerate anything less than the most beautiful, perfect, flawless prints?

2. I have seen threads where it was sugguested that film be devloped before returning home. Has anyone ever tried to do that? Can I stick developing chemicals, a tank and changing bag into my check-in luggage without getting into trouble with airport security? I will be using a pelican case, so I am not too worried about everything getting there alright.

Richie
 
Small note. If you buy film at your destination the exposed film can still be damaged by X ray machines on the return trip. Sorry I can't answer your questions directly.

Bob
 
I have the same question actually. Im going to California over Christmas, and am planning on bringing Neopan 1600... I think what Im going to do is put the film in a plastic bag, and put that in my carry-on bag. When I have to go through security I will take out the bag and ask them to hand check it for me.
 
I didn't have any trouble with my exposed film on our two trips to Vietnam, that said the next time we go I intend to soup it myself there.

I would think that if you packed powdered developer & fixer in your checked luggage there wouldn't be any problem. Then all you'd need is a patterson type tank with reels and a changing bag to bring negatives home rather than risking exposed film. A liter kit of diafine and a bag of kodak fixer would probably be a good combination for this kind of trip. You could find liter soda bottles in Beijing easily I'd imagine.

William
 
I was in China this summer. I brought 10 rolls of Velvia to tide me over until I found a local shop in Beijing where I stocked up on Kodak 100vs. The Velvia travelled both ways by air the Kodak one way. It all turned out fine with no fogging. I kept it in one of those xray bags though, (but I'm not sure they actually do anything.) I've only ever had one roll ruined by xrays, so count myslef lucky.
If you're going to do any travelling within China by train and some boats they will x-ray your baggage. This applies to entering the station aswell. However I managed to sneak my camera bag through without having to scan it all the time. It's usually a highly chaotic affair and they tend not to bother foreigners too much.
I rarely use B&W when travelling but from what I've read alot of people bring powder developer and spend some quality time in the hotel.

-Werner
 
I read somewhere that the threshold is about 5 passes through the high quality low intensity x-ray machines for a 100ASA film to fog. Figuring that you are bringing 400ASA (?) and that x-ray machines in China maybe lower res, higher output intensity...

Nick
 
I wouldn't worry about the X-rays in China, as their machines are no more powerful or dangerous than those in the U.S. Just remember not to pack any film, exposed or unexposed, in your checked luggage & ask for a hand check for your ISO 1600 & up film if you're paranoid. You definitely don't need a hand check for any film slower than ISO 1600 because the X-ray machines used for carry-on bags are not very powerful &, contrary to popular belief, cannot be "turned up higher" by the operator. Even ISO 1600 film can go through multiple passes through modern carry-on X-ray scanners w/no discernible fogging (I know this from personal experience, because I've had 1600 & 3200 speed film scanned in airports that didn't permit hand checks); in fact, once you're in the air, your film will be exposed to more background radiation from natural sources (cosmic rays, etc.) than any X-rays on the ground.

richiedcruz said:
I will be going to Beijing for a couple of weeks to spend Christmas with my sister and her family. When I have travelled before, I always stocked up on film when I got to my destination and never worried about fogged film or x rays since my film was only travelling one way.

On this trip, however, I will not have time to track down film and have decided to bring my Tri X with me, some of which I was hoping to shoot at ei. 1600. I have done some searching on the various photo forums about travelling with film, and still have some questions.

1. People talk about their film getting fogged when they travel by air, but how much fog are we talking about? Enough to obliterate an image? Or just enough to freak out someone who scans every exposed frame with a densitometer and cannot tolerate anything less than the most beautiful, perfect, flawless prints?

2. I have seen threads where it was sugguested that film be devloped before returning home. Has anyone ever tried to do that? Can I stick developing chemicals, a tank and changing bag into my check-in luggage without getting into trouble with airport security? I will be using a pelican case, so I am not too worried about everything getting there alright.

Richie
Click to expand...
 
I was in China last summer, shot a lot of film, 35, 120 some from China, most from Canada. No problems with the film when it came back and was processed here. I think this is a bit over stated, sort of a sky is falling. Once in a while ... maybe. I have flown for 30 years and never lost a roll to an xray machine.

Odds are on your side.
 
Welcome to Beijing, welcome to China!
You can buy every kind of film in Beijing I think. So IMO you need not to take so many films. If you have friends in Beijing, as them to buy you some in a store at Wukesong.
Good luck!
 
x-ray'ed 5 times

x-ray'ed 5 times

I recently went to Taiwan and India, and took Velvia 50 and Provia 100 and 400 with me. Always had them in my carry-on luggage, but not in any special bags. One x-ray at SFO going out, another at Taipei, and for unknown reasons, also got x-rayed while EXITING the airport in Delhi, India. Then one more time in Delhi getting on the return airplane. So I figure I will have those developed in Taiwan, and I did. I did not notice any fogging. And some later exposed film got x-rayed one more time in Taipei before getting back home and got developed, so that's 5 times. And those looked ok to me too. Here is an example of one Provia 400F which had been through 5 x-rays, a photo of Taipei 101 taken on a rainy night, currently the tallest building on earth.
 
China X-rays film going in and out. I have no faith in the authorities of that sham government, and it wouldn't surprise me if they cranked those machines up to max. But I must concede that I didn't notice any fogged film.

However, I also wanted to shoot infrared, so I respooled it into a plastic cassette and then carried the film in my pants pocket (in a light-tight container).
 
When we traveled to Spain from the US, we took our film with us, probably unnecessary, but I think it was a good decision to have it processed there as we shot it. Handily, we were living in one location and found a good local processing lab. This allowed us to see how things were going, photographically; that the film was ok, that the equipment was ok. Very reassuring. Indeed, by this means I did find that some of the film I'd brought was not so good, a false economy to bring some outdated 1000 ISO film, and so I stopped using it, improving the later pics.
 
einolu said:
will my tin foil hat help fight the paranoia?
Click to expand...

No...

That only works for Alien invasion types of paranoia with transmitting intergalactic cosmic waves.

Nick
 
I traveled to China in October for 3 weeks-Beijing,Lhasa Xiang, Chendu and Hong Kong-carrying 40 rolls of Fuji Superia 400 in a clear plastic bag. At each airport, and there were several, I asked for and received hand inspection of my film. In most cases they simply handed the film bag around the x ray machine to me on the other side and didn't even look at it. Not a problem.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I would love to use Diafine, but my local shop does not stock it. And it sounds just like the thing for travelling 🙁 Oh, well, I am really used to D-76 anyway.

Anyway, I will be visiting all the usual tourist sites, plus the terra cotta soldiers. I'll try to get everything scanned and posted ASAP, once I get back.

Richie
 
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