Travelling by air with high speed film

[Rey]

I'm going to be flying into Madrid and out of Paris next month. I'll be taking some fast film (neopan 1600). Any tips to avoid x-ray damage? I usually pack the film in a ziplock and ask for a hand inspection. Would a lead lined bag be usefull?

 

[mich8261]

look for the French and Spanish airport security agency websites to see if they have an official policy on film. When I travel with film in the US I keep a print out of the TSA policy which states that hand inspection is authorized.

 

[JohnL]

I've always been lucky with requests for hand inspection, but have no experience of Paris or Madrid. I'd imagine that a lead-lined bag would just cause the x-ray operator to turn up the power until he can see through it. If that fails, he'll probably have it opened ... possibly every canister. To be sure, I'd buy the film in Madrid on arrival and process it in Paris before departure.

 

[popstar]

Airports, and individuals within airports, can be different. All you can do is be polite, patient, and ask clearly for a hand inspection while explaining you have high-speed film. Most times it's not an issue in my experience, buy you'll always find some who just don't care.

I personally don't believe there's much upside to using a lead-lined bag. Personality and politeness will protect your film more!🙂

 

[kaiyen]

You should at least try and ask for a hand inspection. In which case doing so in the appropriate language helps tremendously. When I couldn't quite get my German together I was being rather forcefully told to put the film in the machine. I finally figured out how to say "higher than 800" and they immediately did a hand check at Frankfurt. Similar experiences in Paris with French.

allan

 

[dmr]

I'm going to be flying into Madrid and out of Paris next month. I'll be taking some fast film (neopan 1600). Any tips to avoid x-ray damage? I usually pack the film in a ziplock and ask for a hand inspection. Would a lead lined bag be usefull?

I fly frequently, mostly domestic. (I take off on an early-morning redeye tomorrow, so that report out of NYC caused my blood pressure to rise about 100 points ...) I'll almost always have film, exposed or unexposed, with me.

I can only speak for Stateside airports, but that's exactly what I do. I take the rolls out of the canisters and put in a clear ziplock bag. I have never had a request for a hand inspection refused. Sometimes they just look at it, other times they take it over to that nasty stuff detector and swab it off.

The only thing unusual that ever happened was one of the inspectors in LAS was obviously trying out to be a standup comic with a "you realize I'm going to have to turn this film over to the FBI ..." smart@$$ remark as he handed it back to me. 🙂

 

[peter_n]

I have personal experience of Barajas in Madrid. No arrival problems, but definite issues on leaving. I also had many rolls of exposed NP1600 and my pleas for hand inspection fell on deaf ears. There is a notice on the x-ray machines at Barajas that they are safe for films up to 1600, and my film was scanned - the only scan on the whole trip. The film was OK.

 

[Nikon Bob]

No personal recent experience with these particular airports but I can only echo the advice to politely ask for a hand inspection of your ziplocked film spools and forget the lead bags. I have had no trouble on overseas flights when asking for a hand inspection. If you can't get a hand inspection the chances are pretty good that it will not damage your film and that is from personal experience. It is just a chance you have to take with mixing film and air travel these days. Have a good trip.

Bob

 

[egpj]

Always be polite and pray you get someone knowledgeable to help you out. I travel with a couple of rolls of Fuji Neopan but a majority of the film in my bag is 400 but I push that so many times up to 1600. Sometimes the TSA guys understands what I am saying nd other times not. Pot luck dude!

 

[Rey]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to skip the lead lined bag, carry the film in a ziplock, carry a copy of the fed regs (sec.211), and hope. Anyone know how to say "high speed film" in French?
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