mwalker649 Posted June 30, 2010 Share #1 Posted June 30, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I just went through security in Atlanta going to Russia and I forgot to have my film hand checked, 12 rolls of TMAX 400. Is it ruined? If so I'm screwed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 30, 2010 Posted June 30, 2010 Hi mwalker649, Take a look here Xray and tmax 400 am I in trouble?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
stunsworth Posted June 30, 2010 Share #2 Posted June 30, 2010 You'll be fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplomley Posted June 30, 2010 Share #3 Posted June 30, 2010 Tmax 400, Neopan 400, and Neopan 1600 all survived the X-Ray machine upon entrance to Cuba. Oddly, they did not insist on scanning when I was leaving. Guess they are only concerned about what is being brought into the country. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted June 30, 2010 Share #4 Posted June 30, 2010 You'll be OK. The serious mistake is to put film in your suitcase as checked luggage gets a stronger scan. Don't do that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted June 30, 2010 Share #5 Posted June 30, 2010 Carry on does very slight damage that is cumulative. Suitcase is ruined if they scanned it. Develope a test roll if it went into the baggage hold. If no way to develope, buy all new film or switch to digital. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted June 30, 2010 Share #6 Posted June 30, 2010 Mike it is like mother Russia a bit contaminated but running ok Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndjambrose Posted June 30, 2010 Share #7 Posted June 30, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) Film is incredibly durable. No need to worry. I took the last of some film stock that expired in 2005 through several airport scanners last week. During its lifetime, each roll has probably been through x-rays around six times, not including my recent trip. Plus it was five years out of date. I developed it myself in chemicals that were also out of date. Shelf life was rated as 4 weeks, and I mixed it 8 weeks ago. The results were lovely. Sharp, great colours, perfect density. This is an example image, taken with a 1961 Rolleiflex with inaccurate shutter speeds, an uncoated lens and guesswork metering. Sometimes, the more imperfection you introduce, the more surprised you can be at the quality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 1, 2010 Share #8 Posted July 1, 2010 This question crops up pretty regularly - apart from a couple of deliberate examples I've yet to actually see any examples of film damaged by airport x rays in normal use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted July 1, 2010 Share #9 Posted July 1, 2010 I have. There was a bloke taking photos of 'the wall'. The israelis knew he was doing it and when he went to leave town they ran his entire kit through the xray twenty of thirty times. That was back in the old days when you could turn up the xray equipment and do some damage. These days with oh and s the modern equipment even the dentists dont always retreat behind the screen. Why is it that no one points out that the advances have been in the record and the digital display side and that the rontgens have gone through the floor? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdemas Posted July 9, 2010 Share #10 Posted July 9, 2010 The comment above is so true, security line X-Ray is no big deal (under 800asa) but never check your film in your luggage. The baggage is checked with a far stronger x-ray device. I always try to get my film developed immediately after it's shot abroad, just in case. Kent Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 9, 2010 Share #11 Posted July 9, 2010 I have been in the position where I will have had 4 CT scans (plus a PET scan) in the space of the past 12 - 13 months. The CT scans are roughly the equivalent of 400 chest x-rays, which means that in total I must be looking at 2,000 chest x-ray equivalents in this period. I haven't faded away yet, nor have I gone foggy . If you put your film into one of the clear security bags that airports like you to put your toothpaste in these days, and place the film in the plastic x-ray tray, it will get the minimal dose of x-ray that it can be given. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalphil Posted July 9, 2010 Share #12 Posted July 9, 2010 I have just returned from a business trip to Taiwan, my Tri-X 400 went through Heathrow, Bangkok, on the stopover, and Taipei airport scanners with no ill effects. These were the carry on scanners I would agree with others on the post never put film in the hold luggage it does get a much stronger dose of x-ray. Phil UK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 9, 2010 Share #13 Posted July 9, 2010 I forgot - never put it in a lead-lined bag. They will just turn up the x-ray strength until they can see into it... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falstaff Posted July 9, 2010 Share #14 Posted July 9, 2010 Interesting comments, but has anybody actually had film damaged by putting it through check in baggage? I used to religiously carry mine through until I got fed up. As a test, I tossed a few in my luggage for check in, came back the same way and I exposed them at home. All seemed fine. Film was colour Fuji or Kodak print film and Ilford XP2 and all no higher than 800asa. Now I just put unexposed and exposed film in check luggage. Perhaps something wrong with my vision? Airports were UK and across Europe. Not tried the States or Far East. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted July 10, 2010 Share #15 Posted July 10, 2010 I read somwhere that not all checked luggage is x-rayed. We've travelled with things like a lathe motor (with wires hanging out) and a full power saw kit complete with venomous-looking blades. Going into the country with the saw kit the x-ray operator said to me "you got coffee in that bag?". I did, but not a word from anyone about the saw... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted July 10, 2010 Share #16 Posted July 10, 2010 Interesting comments, but has anybody actually had film damaged by putting it through check in baggage? There was someone here a few years ago who put the wrong bag into the hold flying back from a shoot in Las Vegas. A large proportion of the film was ruined. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted July 11, 2010 Share #17 Posted July 11, 2010 Interesting comments, but has anybody actually had film damaged by putting it through check in baggage? Never. Some of mine has done aus bangkok laos laos domestic bangkok china mongolia cnina bangkok sydney in one trip, sydney new zealand, plenty of hongkong shanghai hongkong sydney in the hold and no problems at all. There have been plenty of people showing up in the forums over the years blaming all manner of problems from light leaks to mass processing stipple roller marks on the xray. The other good one is people refering to the written lit from Kodak that referred to cinema film reels returning from location that were worth Brad Pitt, cast, crew and location costs. Time these xray questions went into the flouride in the water made my daughter pregnant folder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted July 11, 2010 Share #18 Posted July 11, 2010 Interesting comments, but has anybody actually had film damaged by putting it through check in baggage? There's damage and damage. Just enough fogging to be detectable by comparing the density of unexposed areas of films that have and have not been been x-rayed. Enough fogging to be just visible to the naked eye as increased density in the unexposed areas of the film (between frames, along the edges). Enough fogging to make a significant difference to print quality - which means quite a lot. With a high contrast image a bit of fog might even make it easier to print (same effect as the 'low contrast' lenses some people treasure. Film manufacturers and serious cinematographers want less than (1), especially if the reels are worth tens of millions. Pro stills work wants less than (2). More than (3) spoils holiday snaps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted July 11, 2010 Share #19 Posted July 11, 2010 They will just turn up the x-ray strength until they can see into it... A modern myth. The operators can put the film through the scanner multiple times but I don't believe they have any option to alter the strength of the x-ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 11, 2010 Share #20 Posted July 11, 2010 Even if it is a modern myth, as soon as they see an impenetrable lump of solid metal on the scanner, you're in for an interesting half an hour that you could more usefully be spending in Costa Coffee or reading the Daily Mail in Smiths... Coming back from Orlando a few years ago, my wife had a plastic bag with US coins in to hand in on the plane for charity. It showed up as a solid lump. We had all our hand baggage tipped out, I had the PoweBook swabbed for explosives, cameras, everything. Putting the coins in the bag in a tray would have avoided all of that and saved us time and them money. Give these people every opportunity to do their jib efficiently, and everyone is better off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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