X-Rays and the intrepid international traveler

[JohnTF]

Please use the singular "I" in the future... and speak for yourself, not others. In Singapore it was possible something about you, your appearance, your mannerisms, or the way you presented your 120 film to the screeners that made them suspicious, not the film itself. 🙄

My 120 film has drawn attention in New Jersey and in Paris. In Paris they tore open each foil packet, and joyfully pronounced the film ISO 120. In NJ, I had some film with red paper, and well, you know what rolled up red paper looks like.

Not many screeners are old enough to have seen 120, am afraid as I get older and the TSA folks get younger, I need to try to remain as calm as possible, There does not seem to be consistency and you can know all the laws and rules, but they do not apply unless the TSA says they do.

I also think I should get a note and more careful repacking when they open my luggage, and when my luggage is opened and resealed by TSA once, that should be enough. My luggage has been broken in to while I was in transit, along with several others, and no one in TSA even returned my messages.

I leave extra time in connections so I can try to get through TSA inspections calmly. Also, do not put a square book in your bag, that flagged me, as books are the same density as the stuff they are looking for, and everyone knows the bad stuff is square.

I always tell them I have cameras, and ask them how many they see as a joke, and they often tell me. I also look for the line with the oldest guys there.

I also hope since they see so little film, that they are more relaxed about a hand search.

Am not going ballistic over X rays, but my processor every now and then finds a roll that got a little too much, I accept his word. Also, 120 film in your pockets does not set off the metal detectors.

Part of the journey?


Regards, John

 

[vincentbenoit]

But there are many other reasons to avoid CDG. It is a bit like MIA and JFK: very unfriendly airports

Heathrow beats them all.

 

[sos314]

i just tell them to hand check all of my film, everywhere i go. why risk it? sure, it doesn't happen "much", but it does happen. and they flat out told me last time i flew to not put film of any kind in the checked in baggage because it will almost definitely get ruined by the intensity of the scanners that handles the check-in luggage.

they might complain about having to hand check it, but who cares? the people at mcdonalds complain about making fries and that doesn't change the fact that it's their job. i just mention 1600 speed film. it always raises eyebrows and gets me an obligatory hand check.

last time i went through the newark airport, a roll of 120 portra 160nc set off the machines that scan the swipes they rub all over everything to test for chemicals.... not fun.

 

[Freakscene]

The scanners in Europe are the same models as used everywhere in airports throughout the developed world. The difference is the operators. All currently used models can, in simple terms, be 'turned up' to see through denser objects and get a better look. In some airports or with some authorities it is standard practice to use a higher level of penetration.

I've carried hundreds of rolls of film through scanners all over the world and have had some problems in airports in developing countries where older machines are in use, but never had an issue in Europe, North America, Australia or New Zealand. My guess is that the machines in NZ that fried Tom's film were replaced a while ago.

Take your film out of its cans, put them in a ziplock bag and send them through the scanner in a single layer. That helps. Asking for a hand check these days often results only in your film being sent through the scanner at a very high setting (personal experience) unless you have pre-arranged it with the airport authority, as you need to do in Britain to get a hand inspection.

And to reinforce Tom's excellent advice, don't even think about putting film in your checked luggage.

Marty

 

[Haigh]

I have the films in their plastic canisters all in a see through plastic bag and on their own, no metal camera in the same tray. This works fine for multiple scans with Tri-X, exposed or unexposed in the camera. I never leave a film in the camera when it is being scanned.

 

[Vobluda]

I can tell you my recent experience. I am from Prague and went for short trip to Rome two weeks ago.
Great service at Prague airport. I have asked for manual control of films (all Fujichrome). The lady asked about films ISO and I claimed that there are as well ISO 1600 films though the maximum was ISO 400🙂 The lady said that than there is no problem and that they will make a manual control. I have films opened in cans in plastic bags. The officer come with some kind of detector. He make tests (for explosives probably) and writes down my flight number and identity informations. They did not even open the bag to have a look or take the films out. It all took just a few minutes.
While in Rome, which is the biggest tourist factory I have ever seen, I went through several x-rays controls at monuments (Vatican, Colosseum). I try to ask for manual control but all I heard was "Film safe, film safe" in funny English.. Same thing at Rome airport, in "We don't care about you" attitude I would say.
So some of the films received 3x x-rays.
No harm to the films that I have developed, don't know about the few that just make a trip and are now back in fridge.

 

[JohnTF]

I can tell you my recent experience. I am from Prague and went for short trip to Rome two weeks ago.

While in Rome, which is the biggest tourist factory I have ever seen, I went through several x-rays controls at monuments (Vatican, Colosseum). I try to ask for manual control but all I heard was "Film safe, film safe" in funny English.. Same thing at Rome airport, in "We don't care about you" attitude I would say.
So some of the films received 3x x-rays.
.

Did you present your Skoda Gold Card for preferential treatment? ;-)

 

[JohnTF]

Heathrow beats them all.

People in the US, for some reason, joke about the French being rude, but the only rude people I have encountered, worked at the airport, and they seem to be rude to everyone, French, Italian, Americans.

It helps to get the nice blue nylon duty free bags, the airport at Rossy makes more money from duty free than flights, so they tend to let it slide.

I have passed through Rossy perhaps 60 times, and I suppose I, like most people, only remember the rude ten percent, but they have been less than helpful more than their share of the time.

They weighed my carry on, which can hardly pass the very low weight test empty, and guy said I had to check my cameras, and as he said it was obvious I was professional, I should have insurance.

I did bite my tongue, as I was thinking that he had insurance on his arm but would prefer it not broken.

Pulled out what I could, bought the duty free bags, and repacked in NY.

Yeah, I know, chill. And this was before 9/11.

Heathrow has its own set of problems, like refusing to handle Air Canada luggage transfers between terminals.

Good Whisky though.

Am thinking the good luck years with luggage are being balanced in the great luggage karma now.

J

 

[Harry Lime]

I take a few rolls when I board, just so I am not caught empty handed.

At location I have two options.

- Buy local. Not always possible, but not impossible either.
- Have film shipped to the hotel via FedEx from home or my 'dealer'.

I then develop my film in the hotel. The biggest problem is that I am too paranoid to travel with chemicals these days. Maybe a factory sealed bag of Xtol or something, but I'm very reluctant to take plastic canisters of raw chems. So, I try to buy what I need locally. Good thing that I use a very basic developer with three ingredients (Barry Thornton's 2-bath)

If I can't manage to develop in the hotel I ship everything home via FedEx.

I'm less paranoid about film getting xrayd a few times in my carry-on, when traveling in developed countries, with new and hopefull calibrated machines. But I have no idea how old the machines are in other places....

I could shoot digital, but I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel and switch over. Maybe when someone makes a digital sensor that gets 12 stops and has a nice roll off in the highlights...., maybe.

 

[hmccabe]

It is nice that sometimes our desires to not have our film x-rayed is honored... isn't it. I'm thankful for those few experiences rather than grumpy about the other times when I'm asked to send the film through the machine.

I think this is great advice. I used to be pretty paranoid about bringing film through airport scanners. I'd ask for hand inspections and get really annoyed when refused. I'd get stressed out when approaching the security over it and it made the whole airport business even more unpleasant than it normally is. I then realised that even when the film passed through 3-4 scans it didn't cause any fogging in my experience so now I just fling it in the carry-on luggage and don't worry about it.

By the way, I don't get the hatred for CDG. You guys should try flying to Beauvais with Ryanair as a means of getting to Paris. Now that's a nightmare!

 

[Dave Wilkinson]

My holidays are a lot less hassle these days, (not to mention cheaper!) no problem with Xray machines, film storage, or developement!...you see - the camera that I take does not need film!....makes life a lot easier! 🙂
Dave.

 

[jke]

US airports will always agree to hand check, it's in the TSA regulations. Non-US airports you never know.

So much about TSA depends on who you get in the security detail. In 2006, I asked for a hand check of film at Newark Airport. I handed my film bag to the guy, he took one looked at the bag and tossed it into the x-ray machine.

I went through the airport in Phoenix, and the TSA guy there told me that they no longer hand check any film at all. Wouldn't budge.

And I went through the airport in Norfolk, VA, and the guy said, "Wait, you're a photographer, aren't you? I don't see film much anymore, so I know you must be a photographer. Let me do a hand check on your film just to be safe."

Internationally I had a guy at Heathrow tell me that I could not have a hand check on my film and that I probably wasn't a very good photographer anyway looking at me and so whatever the x-rays did wouldn't matter anyway.

I've only had one batch of film nuked. That was 10 rolls of Neopan 400 I forgot I had shot at 1600, and I left them in carry-on flying back through CDG. But I think that would have been a bad idea anywhere. And it was my mistake.

None of the others resulted in any after-effects on my film. So I started following Alan Chin's advice: put everything in a ziplock bag, no cans, put it all into carry-on, & stop worrying. B&W is 400ISO or less. Color film is all E100Gx. I develop the B&W in HC110 to minimize fogging.

If I shoot any faster stuff, I mail it back to myself.

 

[Tom A]

Just back from three weeks in Europe. Took 60 rolls of Neopan Presto 400 and Legacy pro 400 (half and half). The Neopan has gone through three X-rays in its life and the Legacy two. No signs of fogging on either one. They are kept in a plastic bag, without plastic cans and in my carry on luggage.
The security guys in Dusseldorf were a bit baffled by a bag of Leica IXMOO cassettes (no film in them - picked them up at Schonherr's Foto in Stockholm). I demonstrated the opening and closing of them and they were suitably impressed!
One of the IXMOO's have film in it and I have no idea if it is exposed or not so I will do a "clip" test and otherwise shoot it. Probably 20 years old and most likely Tri X as it was in "press" kit.

 

[rgpadron]

Being an Airline Pilot for 37 years I can give you my opinion on this matter.
The worst airports concerning the attitude of security personnel and their unwillingness in this aspect are, in this order, airports located at small cities on the west coast of the US, followed by LAX, SFO, San Antonio TX, Mexico City, Paris CDG, London both Heathrow and Gatwick, and a few I don't remember or don't want to remember. Surprisingly, very polite and accessible , JFK and almost all intraeuropean traffic airports (when I have been traveling as a plain tourist) and many Central or South American airports. As a rule, always ask for a manual inspection for any film above 400 ISO. Had some film fogged on some recent trip in Europe, and it was Ilford HP5.
Generally, for crew-members, it is a pain dealing with security people on an almost daily basis. Bear with us.
Greetings