If the 35mm film passed via the airport safety scanner, will the film get ruined??
Question by Year 2012: If the 35mm film passed through the airport security scanner, will the film get ruined??
Immediately after I created the film for a trip I took abroad, I seen that most of my photographs had a ‘light’ defect. Could this have been triggered by the airport safety scanner??
And if so, how can I avoid this dilemma in the future??
Best solution:
Solution by uhm101
Most x-ray scanners in the US for carry-on baggage are supposed to be safe for film up to ISO800. US TSA employees are expected by law to inspect your film by hand if you request it. The applicable law is: Title 49, Subtitle B, Volume 7, Chapter XII, Subchapter C, Component 1544, Subpart C of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Safety abroad differs country to country. Expect zero possibility of acquiring a hand inspection in the United kingdom for instance, and in Israel your film will have no hope of steering clear of repeated x-ray exposure.
X-ray dosage for checked baggage is Considerably higher. Never ever place your film in checked baggage.
The most a good idea factor to do is have your film processed prior to returning residence if you can find a trustworthy location.
Add your very own solution in the comments!
Related posts:
- Q&A: What precautions should I take with film equipment through security at an airport?
- Exciting Film Scanner Question: could somebody advocate a good quality expert 35mm film scanner fo a medium photo lab?
- Film Scanner Q&A: What is the best film scanner for previous 35mm black-n-white film?
- Proposed 35mm film scanner?
- Can a typical scanner be employed to scan in 35mm film photos?
film is ok through airport scanners . i,ve travelled a lot before i went digital and all my films 35mm and 120 were ok. poss causes not closeing camera back or stuff up in lab. you can buy special xray proof bags in photo shops but dont know how it goes with the new security.
hugh
I don’t think the X-Ray machine caused that problem.
Its pretty unlikely, anyway.
The TSA says ISO 400 and lower is safe for up to 5 passes, although I have personally had no trouble even with repeated passes of high speed film(1600 and 3200).
In any case, never put film in checked baggage-the dosage is much higher and your film will most certainly be fogged.
Also, lead bags are a bad idea. If the scanner encounters something like a lead bag which it can’t see though, it will simply ramp up the X-ray level until it can see through it. Because of this, your film actually gets a higher dose of X-ray than normal.
ok, so i worked in a photolab for 3 years and here’s what i’ve learned about the effects of airport scanners…sometimes they do evil things to your film and sometimes they don’t! i think it has to do with how long the film is exposed to the x-rays, but there’s an easy way to avoid it. take all your film and put it in a clear plastic bag and put it in your carry on. when you get to security, take it out and hand it to the security gaurd, asking them (politely, because you know how happy those gaurds are!) not to put it through the machines for fear of exposure. everyone i’ve told to do this has had no problem and it completely avoids exposure. the only other thing you can do is develop your film before you fly, but from what i’ve seen that “light defect” is normally the x-ray machine or really old film! either way good luck and happy travels~