X-RAY Paranoia - Fact or Fiction

[maddoc]

Was it in your hand-baggage or checked-baggage?

... carry-on...

 

[Bob Michaels]

To be clear, I don't care if you have your film x-ray'd or not. It is your film. In fact, if you are in the security line in front of me, I would prefer that you just put it in the scanner and move on.

The scientific facts are in this post. Now everyone has the information to make their own informed decision. I found this worthwhile.

 

[setyotomo]

Years ago I've had some base fogging of TMAX 3200, but you're not supposed to xray that 😉

Last week I traveled from NYC to Jakarta with a box of Ilford HP5 4x5 film in my back pocket and walked through a few magnitometers. Didn't set off anything.

Hi, next time you go to Jakarta give me a PM, I'll show you around 🙂

I never had problem in airport xrays.. mostly i only carry Iso 100 and 400 films though

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

... carry-on...

😱 Maybe I shouldn't use my carry-on scanned P3200... 😡

Cheers,

Juan

 

[tlitody]

As with all polls, you've got to ask the right questions and from the responses given in the posts and the votes I think I got the question wrong as whilst it's clear there are potential problems I'm not clear on how much potential problem there is with hand luggage.

So at the risk of boring everyone but for everyones benefit in the end, I'm going to post another poll with better questions. Please just vote again. No need to elaborate with posts.

vote on follow up poll here

 

[Bingley]

FWIW, flying out from Heathrow y'day, the security staff refused my request to hand- inspect film in my carry-on bag, saying they only did so if the film speed was 3200 or higher. This was the first and only occasion during this trip that a request for hand inspection was refused. I'm dropping the color film off for processing this afternoon. I'm thinking the film will probably be OK, but it was still irritating to encounter an outright refusal to hand inspect.

 

[hendriphile]

I have yet to have a negative experience.

When I traveled to New Zealand my ISO 100 and ISO 400 films were scanned 9 times in total (every airport plus NZ security check) and I could not observe any ill effects.

I have one Delta 3200 roll to be developed which was scanned with as a carry-on luggage as I could not persuade our very own slovakian security guys that the film is too sensitive for that.

Pun intended, I'm sure??

 

[zenza]

This was 160NC/400NC that I stupidly put in my checked luggage. You can see (sine?) waves in all of 'em.

 

[Freakscene]

FWIW, flying out from Heathrow y'day, the security staff refused my request to hand- inspect film in my carry-on bag, saying they only did so if the film speed was 3200 or higher. This was the first and only occasion during this trip that a request for hand inspection was refused. I'm dropping the color film off for processing this afternoon. I'm thinking the film will probably be OK, but it was still irritating to encounter an outright refusal to hand inspect.

There is a long and frustrating application process for British airports to guarantee a hand-inspection, otherwise it is at the discretion of the security personnel. For a hand inspection, you need time, because they get you to go to security I think 3 or 4 hours prior to flying. I've had it done a time or two for critical jobs where clients demanded film (some was autoradiography film too, which is very sensitive to x-rays) but I rarely have that amount of time when travelling through an airport.

Marty

 

[rxmd]

This was 160NC/400NC that I stupidly put in my checked luggage. You can see (sine?) waves in all of 'em.

Interesting, thank you. I infer that the film canisters were lying diagonally in the luggage (and/or the luggage was lying diagonally on the conveyor). The frequency of the sine wave should be increasing as you get towards the end of the roll, which is wrapped more closely around the spool.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

After all the posts I'd conclude that "X-RAY Paranoia" is far more fact than fiction.

Furthermore, I'd say that, individually, X-rays and Paranoia by themselves exist, and that calling the anxiety of letting film being scanned with x-rays as "paranoia" is extremely biased.

 

[thegman]

Whilst the title of the thread could be considered biased, would "terrorism paranoia" be biased too? Obviously terrorism happens, but it's rare enough that you could argue paranoia is unjustified.

Anyway, I get paranoid about putting film through x-ray (on carry on), but never had a problem yet, even on fast film.

 

[Sparrow]

... perhaps we need a war on paranoia

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

That would mean that it's fact and not fiction.

 

[Avotius]

I just completed my 20th crossing of the Pacific ocean, cameras and all. Never a direct trip, always stop offs in many different places. I have never had film fogged by x-rays, that said I ask for hand inspection every time but not every country will oblige. This last time flying out of Seattle I asked for a hand inspect and was not granted it, instead the film got x-rayed and my bags got displayed out on a metal table (probably for asking). Every time I have flown through Japan I have not been granted hand inspections either.

My film has survived though.

In fact the only time I have got x-ray damage was from traveling through bus and train stations once in China. It looked like big red swaths in the pictures which was not fixable.

 

[thegman]

I've had a couple of hand inspections, but due to laziness and not wanting to draw attention to myself at U.S. airports I don't any more. Rightly or wrongly, I find U.S. airports a tad threatening, and I fear if I don't "play the game", I'll be in a holding cell answering questions when I should be catching a flight.