No more hand-inspection of carry-on film

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Traveler: "Could you hand-inspect this film please?"

Security: "All metal items have to go through the x-ray."

Traveler: "But this is film?"

Security: "All means ALL! The x-ray won't hurt your film if it's under 1000."

That was the policy at St. Louis Lambert International, and even at Burlington, Vermont.

The problem with the claim that the x-rays won't hurt the slower films is that the effect is cumulative. If you have to go through more than once, as when changing planes or on the return trip, the fog level builds each time. So it would be well to carry the slowest films you can manage with.

Also, I think I'll just leave the lead bag home next trip. When they see that, they let it sit under the x-ray a while longer while they take a closer look. Maybe, as someone recently suggested, they even turn up the juice for a better look.

I had some of my E-6 processed locally in Vermont (By Lightning Photo in Middlebury). That way I avoided an extra trip through the zapper beam, at least for those 6 rolls. Lightning did a nice job, has 2-hour service, and they offer push and pull processing upon request. They even had some Provia available for me.

I can hardly wait to see what the other 8 rolls, which I think really got nuked, will look like when I pick them up tomorrow. Mostly Velvia and Provia F 100, so hopefully they'll be OK.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), October 10, 2001

Answers

"Also, I think I'll just leave the lead bag home next trip. When they see that, they let it sit under the x-ray a while longer while they take a closer look. Maybe, as someone recently suggested, they even turn up the juice for a better look."

Interesting comment about the lead bag... I just returned from the LHSA show in San Antonio, and at the X-ray machine on the way home, the operator stopped the belt for at least 30 seconds over my bag while messing with the dials on the machine, probably cranking up the power. For curiosity's sake, I had included a roll of Ilford 3200 in the bag on this trip just to see how badly it fogged... I haven't had it processed yet, but I'll report back to the group as soon as I get it back from the lab.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), October 11, 2001.


Yeah, I took a roll of 3200 along with me as a test during a photo trip to Idaho where I was assisting a photographer. In seattle I got the "All items must go through the x-ray machine" even though the guy was standing right in front of the "please take out any film higher than 1000iso" sign. I could have tried to make a big deal out of it, but there was a huge line behind me, and I really didn't care at that point.

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), October 11, 2001.

Time for film makers to start developing a X-rays resistent film.

I have read of some X rays resistent bags to store film for traveling. Are those any good and permited in airports?

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.


I just flew to LaGuardia (NY) a couple of days ago. They checked my film by hand in Missoula, MT when I left. When I returned and went through at Laguardia, they wouldn't hand check my film, but the two photographers I was traveling with were in a different line and their person gladly hand checked their film. It seems that it is pretty much up to whoever is controlling the x-ray machine.

I had 800 asa film, but I wasn't too worried. I've put that type of film though a machine once before and it didn't get fogged. Of course that was a couple of years ago, so we'll see.

john

-- john locher (locherjohn@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.


In august I put my E100 and Superia 400 through no less than 6 x-ray machines on the way in and out of Bombay and had no problems.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), October 12, 2001.


I have gotten around this for years (including many third world countries). Here is what you do... you put one roll of 3200 speed film in one of your ziplock bags and say you have film rated at 3200 speed in there. They will complain because they don't want to do it (and are lazy)... you then insist, and exclaim that it would ruin your job and that those 50 rolls (or in my case last time it was 140) are vital for your career... Until now i have had a 100% success rate, even in airports that have a "everything must be scanned" policy. Since Sept. 11th I haven't flown... things may have changed, but one roll of 3200 speed film in a bag with your slower film gets you passed that rule. Things may be different now, so i have two lead bags, Jack, i would be very interested in hearing your results.... Matthew My Complaint: P.S. I think this whole new emphasis on security in airports is good - HOWEVER, i don't think what they are doing will help much. A soldier standing in the terminal with a gun will not help a plane being hijacked in the air... Twice as many scanning people won't help either... you start out with underpaid and trained people, and add a bunch of rookies - who are we kidding! What would help is to REALLY train the people that have been working there for years. One good person beats 4 bad people any day when looking at an X-ray scanner. It bothers me that the american public actually thinks these things help security much! What really helps security and will take a while to implement are impenetrable doors in planes, sky marshals and the like... what is happening now just wastes peoples time and makes them feel safe - i guess that feeling is really all that matters to save the industry.

-- Matthew Geddert (geddert@yahoo.com), October 12, 2001.

Delta 3200 is actually 800 ASA and TMZ is 1000 ASA. Neopan 1600 is approx. 640 ASA. The ASA on the label is the speed these film were designed to be pushed to. In theory, these film won't be damaged going through the X-ray at the gate. Of course, I don't trust theories when a job is riding on it. I've used Matthew's suggestion many times and it usually works.

-- Steve Wiley (wiley@accesshub.net), October 12, 2001.

Flew from Mewark to Portland,OR, a couple of weeks ago and I was thinking about asking for a hand inspection. However, one glance at the combat-ready state trooper posted there made me decide to put all my film in the box that went through the x-ray machine. They could x- ray it 'till it glowed in the dark and I was not going to say a thing

-- John Myers (mymacv@aol.com), October 12, 2001.

These days, even though you have a right to hand inspection under the FAA regs, it's going to come down to the personality of the person running the checkpoint and how busy they are. One thing I do when traveling with film is to pull it out of the boxes, pull it out of the cans, and stick it into a square Tupperware tub (they hold 16 rolls each). A lot of inspectors appreciate not having to open individual cans of film, and at my local airport they run the tubs through an explosives sniffer anyway.

I haven't been so fortunate at overseas airports, where the FAA regs don't apply and they tend to x-ray everything. But I carry a lot of TMZ and Delta 3200, and haven't suffered any fogging of those films, even after multiple passes through various scanners. So my advice is, try to minimize the number of trips your film makes through the scanners (a polite request works wonders), and don't worry about it if it does get x-rayed. And never put film in checked luggage, especially since the FAA is accelerating the placement of those CAT- scan devices for screening checked bags.

-- Chuck Albertson (chucko@siteconnect.com), October 12, 2001.


I use the same technique that Chuck (above) recommends, and have even gotten hand inspection at Heathrow, which is notable for NOT doing such things. In fact, I even got hand inspection last summer at the Istanbul airport -- where soldiers armed with automatic weapons pulled over our car, got us out, and checked our papers and bags before even letting us up to the terminal. At the x-ray machine, I just point to the "ISO 3200" on the TMZ cannister and ask, politely but firmly, for hand inspection.

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), October 12, 2001.


Gentlemen, for the time being, I suggest you travel with slow film and don't make a big deal about anything. I just traveled to DC and had my bag searched (physically searched) three times on the outbound two legs. Where the formerly would allow a hand check on lap top computers, you now must have it x-rayed and by itself, not in a case - they x-ray that separately.

A coworker of mine works with detonators which contain nitrates. He gets nitrates on his hands and from there onto his briefcase. Their explosive sniffer detected the trace amounts of nitrates on his briefcase. I made the flight, he didn't and we went through security two hours early. He showed up the next day. They had pulled him aside and then into an interrogation type room. Buy the time he got done, he was in his shorts and they did everything but empty out his tooth paste tube, but they did sample his toothpaste. He didn't get out of there until the FBI went out to the federal lab and verified who he was and what he did. I have no idea what he is going to do next time he travels - a repeat of that would end all desire to travel for me.

So if all you guys have to worry about is film, consider yourself lucky. I'll stick with 100 speed and slower when I travel and try to buy it there.

-- mark (mramra@qwest.net), October 12, 2001.


even though you have a right to hand inspection under the FAA regs

FAA regs say that the rules may be suspended without public notice. So for all we know, they have been suspended when necessaary..

Read the full regs, it's in there. So the FAA regs say that you do not have a right if someone determines that you don't have that right.

-- jeff@spirer.com (jeff@spirer.com), October 12, 2001.


It was noted elsewhere that first we have 20-odd radical nutcases trying to ruin our lives. Now it's a bunch of government nutcases :)

-- Craig Zeni (clzeni@mindspring.com), October 14, 2001.

Jack, How was the Leica meeting in San Antonio. Was it well attended? Bob

-- Bob Haight (rhaigh5748@aol.com), October 16, 2001.

I can fit 12 rolls in a Kodak 100ft. bulk metal canister. These are great to work out of, take up the least possible space in terms of film storage, and are easily hand-inspectable with tops removed. I worked on the border of Tigray/Eritrea during the conflict in 1999, with very tight security at airports, and have worked several times in Ethiopia since then. When I meet resistance at the check-in gate, I just open the tops of the cannisters for all to see, and have had no real problems. I think that the accessability and time-savings are real factors here, as check-in folks are stressed and harried, and when they see a hassle coming, they'll do anything to avoid it. Of course, a friendly and relaxed demeanor doesn't hurt!

-- John Layton (john.layton@valley.net), December 23, 2001.


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