Film through air port security.

[Ryan00]

Hello everyone!
ON wednesday Im traveling from New York to China and stayng for 3 weeks. Im bringing my x 700 and about 7-8 rolls of balck and white film. I was wondering if it is safe to just let film go through the x rays or are there special precausions I should be taking. Thank you all very much.

 

[DepthAfield]

Request that your film be hand inspected by a TSA agent at the security checkpoint.

Low ISO film will not likely be harmed by the x-rays, but high ISO is another story. In any case, it is your right to have your film inspected by hand. I personally refuse to allow any of my film be x-rayed.

 

[ksmattfish]

When I fly in the US I usually Fed Ex my film to my destination, and then Fed Ex it back. In the US you can request your film to be inspected by hand. Good luck with that in China. Your best bet would be to buy the film in China, and get it developed there before you leave. Developed film isn't affect by x-rays.

 

[Orrin]

Request that your film be hand inspected by a TSA agent at the security checkpoint.

Low ISO film will not likely be harmed by the x-rays, but high ISO is another story. In any case, it is your right to have your film inspected by hand. I personally refuse to allow any of my film be x-rayed.

I have found that many TSA agents will 'hand' inspect you and everything
you have with you if you ask for hand inspection of film! If you have film
that is ISO400 or less, let it go through the scanner.

 

[ksmattfish]

Low ISO films are still damaged by x-rays, just not as much. Run a roll of ISO 100 through the x-ray one time, and you might not notice any damage. But if you end up having it x-rayed 4 times throughout the trip the damage could be much worse.

 

[DepthAfield]

I have found that many TSA agents will 'hand' inspect you and everything
you have with you if you ask for hand inspection of film! If you have film
that is ISO400 or less, let it go through the scanner.

I have never experienced any difficulty when requesting a manual inspection of my film. I occasionally run into surly TSA agents who don’t appear overly pleased about having to do it, but most are very understanding.. My film does not go through the x-ray scanner, regardless of ISO.

Low ISO films are still damaged by x-rays, just not as much. Run a roll of ISO 100 through the x-ray one time, and you might not notice any damage. But if you end up having it x-rayed 4 times throughout the trip the damage could be much worse.

You are absolutely correct! I should have made that clearer in my first post.

 

[PNA]

I just came back from a trip to Egypt taking 6 different flights. Each time I requested hand inspection of the film and was never refused. Being pleasent about the issue with customs generally helps.

Suggestion: you might want to consider going digital........I took my F5 and D70 and truly found the D70 much more useful then film. If you own a digital you understand my point.

 

[rmh159]

What is this "film" word you guys keep using? Jk... Jk!!! Yeah I totally agree with taking a digital if you have it. No hassles.

 

[zedin]

One thing to keep in mind is that the hand checking takes time so give yourself extra time when you go to check in. I was stuck at the security checkpoint for around 30min while the guy swabbed and checked each canister individually with their explosive scent thingy. Guy was polite but it just took forever.