the ugly effect airports have on film

I recently had what I'm supposing was x-ray damage to some HP5, from the carry-on scanner (scanned 2x, Boston MA & Oakland CA). Appeared only on the tail of the films near the spool. I can't put it down to anything else- only the films I brought on the trip were affected, others from the same brick are fine- various bodies, several developing tanks, same fog at the end.
(yeah, I'm that anal about my film- I keep track of it that much)

surely thats not possible from Xrays as it would have to pass thru the outer layers wrapped around the spool? side on it would be so precise as to miss ou the outer layers. I'm no expert but this once again counds like something else. I got weird bading on some 10x8 fiml that sounded unlike X-Rays, but i never found the other cause either, but from examples online, there is no doubt it was not the Xrays that did it. weird!
 
I've had film scanned a dozen or so times and seen no problems - long may it continue. Guess I will be trying for a hand search on the Ilford 3200 on the next trip but i bet its fine scanned as per usual with an effective speed of 1000 or so. Guess 10 scans on iso 400 = lots more exposure than a couple on 100.
 
I have had my share of xray damaged film myself, despite that places say their xray machines are film safe they just are not...
 
X-ray machines should be safe for film, at least in modern places. X-ray bags wont help, they just have to give the bag a higher volume of X-ray to see through it - This is what I have heard.

It really looks like a light leak to me - faulty seals.

A friend just had something like this with a Yashica RF. I didn't check the negatives but I'm guessing it was just like this...
 
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I don't know why you guys are saying it was the seals...

Those last two color shots were made after my trip, and not a single shot on the roll had any defect to it. (Developed at Walmart)
Granted, that roll was shot within a matter of 10 minutes and developed immediately after.

I have had a roll in the camera for about a month now; I'm going to finish it up now and get it developed 1 hour @ Walmart to see the results...
 
Lots of us seem to be unable to believe that x-ray damage can happen. When only the films that have gone through the x-ray machine are affected, and those films are shot with different bodies and processed in different cans I don't know what else it would be. But that's me. I'm a moron.
 
Lots of us seem to be unable to believe that x-ray damage can happen. When only the films that have gone through the x-ray machine are affected, and those films are shot with different bodies and processed in different cans I don't know what else it would be. But that's me. I'm a moron.

*It was the same body every time



I wasn't able to finish this roll of film because of an immobile car, but perhaps I can tomorrow(?) If I do, it should be pretty clear whether the problem was x-rays or Ritz
 
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Well, I went and scanned it.
hp5airportfog-1.jpg


There was a quite similar, but not identical, fog on the tail of the four rolls I brought to CA. The four rolls were run through two bodies, and were developed in two different cans on different days. No other films from the same brick had this. Seems like a big coincidence to me.

This went into the image area on at least one of the rolls, I'll get a scan of this at some point.
 
well, all of you who said it didn't look like x-ray damage: you were right.

I just got a fresh roll of Superia back from Walmart, and it has lines in it. A few came out bad:
2lb041y.jpg

351fgpt.jpg


and a few came out okay:
iz11j8.jpg

34iqq2h.jpg


In the end, it looks like I paid $60 for a non-functioning Electro 35 from a fellow RFF member!
 
Thanks Bob. I'm wondering about colour film. What colour(s) do x-rays record as?
X-rays are high energy (short wavelength) so they'd affect all layers the same and hence show as white on any film (at least, I think that logic is right!)
 
Most modern securetie "X-ray" systems are film safe. But you if you travel a lot to third world countries you should take extra care as they often use older higher power machines. I have brought films (out of date c41 and e6) traveling trhoug six different airports and seeing no ill efectts (all in europe)

hehe my first post on the forum :p and im just adding to a dead discussion
 
thanks for resurrecting this thread :D

I signed up for the only Photography class my college offers, and will start at the end of January. I want to use this Yashica in combination with the HP5 I have stockpiled in my fridge.

To do so, I'm going to have to replace the seals. Looking on eBay, this is the most visible result: http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Finest-Complete-Camera-Light-Seal-Foam-Kit-PROOF_W0QQitemZ120336366997QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item120336366997&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

Does anybody have experience with that kit? I am not horribly gifted as a tinkerer/mechanic, but this kit looks to be fairly user-friendly. If you guys have any other suggestions for replacing the seals, I'm open to suggestions!
 
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