Recent experience -- film 'hand inspection' request at airports

[Winedemonium]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

On other recent trips I had virtually no problems requesting my bag of rolls of 135mm film be hand inspected instead of put through the scanner.

 

Not so this recent trip.

 

Departing Hong Kong, no problem. Out comes the little residue tester kit, a roll is opened. That's it, all smiles.

 

Istanbul airport has two sets of scanners - one to enter to enter the airport, one to get airside. First scanner, no problem. Second scanner, refusal, and a lot of tension for having asked the question at all.

 

Beirut - a lot of tension, but ultimately complied with. Every roll of film opened, taken out of the canister and looked at, and an argument between security personnel about it.

 

London Eurostar - no problem

 

London Gatwick - no problem

 

London Heathrow - calls the supervisor. Supervisor gives me a stern lecture and is angry I asked. Request refused rather rudely. He tells me hand inspection is NOT discretionary, that his guidelines states that scanning is mandatory for all film 800 ISO and below.

 

Bordeaux - security guy refuses loudly "impossible!!", so much so that his two colleagues start chatting with him and my request is complied with. The original chap, having lost face, doesn't make eye contact with me or speak with me again.

 

 

 

What to make of this?

First of all, I know that requesting a half inspection of film is a bit of the pain, consumes time, and ultimately is discretionary. I also accepted that it was going to be a pain for me too, having to ask each time with unpredictable responses. 

 

Second of all, I know that the impact of film going through a scanner is probably very small, probably noticeable. But I do suspect that film going through 20 or 30 such scans might make a negative difference to the film (I'm not exaggerating on the number of scanners I went through - it was more than anticipated. In Istanbul for instance my hotel had body and bag scanners at the entrance, as did most major buildings we entered. Not just the airport).

 

Thirdly, I don't begrudge security measures, I welcome them (as much of a hassle as it is for the concerned film photographer).

 

Well, my conclusion is that there are a lot of (rightly) nervous security personnel out there right now who really don't like these requests at a time of heightened fear about terrorism. I didn't encounter anything like the nervousness (and in a number of cases outright hostility) travelling last year. I am now less likely to take a film camera to such places, especially if a lot of airports are involved. Perhaps if my travel involves only a small number of airports I'll persevere. But not a trip like this one.

 

(My wife's conclusion is that she will no longer travel with me if a film camera is involved!!)

 

 

 

Probably nothing much new in this post for most of you, but a sad experience for me despite anticipating some unpleasant experiences at security check points. 

 

How have your recent experiences been? Or has everyone given up on requesting inspections, and just stick the film through the scanner and be done with it?

 

 

[@McLeica]

Well, I'll try Heathrow, Hong Kong and then Shanghai shortly and let you know. 

[earleygallery]

I've never bothered about asking for hand inspection of films and just keep them in my hand luggage, and to date I've never had a problem with X ray damage.

 

Airport hand luggage scanners/security scanners are designed to be safe for at least 8 passes of film (according to some specs I read a while ago) and I have yet to pass through more than 8 with the same film!

 

Spare some thought for the airport staff. They have to deal with a lot of idiots every day (by some of the encounters I've witnessed) and are subject to regular spot checks - a piece of luggage will be presented with some prohibited item and if they don't pick it up they can lose their job. Maybe some fear that your request is such a test by their employer to catch them out, so the immediate reaction is to refuse.

[stephen j]

I have recently read somewhere (possibly the Japan Camera Hunter website) that this is more important for those of who have some very high speed film like Delta 3200 in our bags... So I tend to agree with earleygallery above.

 

The last time that I travelled just between Ireland and the UK, I received quite a bit of muttering and jokes about David Bailey and so on, but they did hand inspect a bit grudgingly...

 

In the mean time I have since read that if you want to guarantee a hand check, get yourself a lead lined film bag, and watch them eagerly open that and check the contents... You don't even have to ask!

[andybarton]

 

Spare some thought for the airport staff. 

 

Agree 100%

 

It's a bloody awful job

[A miller]

Interesting

In the Ben Gurion Arirport in Tel Aviv, my large bag of film was only given a cursory glance by the security checkpoint personnel...

Go figure...

[stunsworth]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Not used film for ages, but I don't remember getting a hand inspection in any of the European airports I flew through when I did - certainly not in the UK. Never had any problems even after trips where the film had gone through a dozen or so scanners..

[M9reno]

I don't even bother asking any more, except in the US, where the guidelines provide for hand checks.  If you request a check in the US, they will do it, but the film needs to be presented in a clear zip-lock bag.

 

Everywhere else, what I do is to put the zip-lock bag with my film inside a lead-lined bag.  I declare the bag along with my laptop or iPad, and they usually go in the same tray, separate from the rest of my hand luggage.

 

I've not had problems with fogging, though I try not to take unused rolls on more than one trip.  If it's been overseas, it stays in a stash of shoot-at-home-only rolls.

 

I also tend to present my camera bag outside of my main carry-on.  That way, if any equipment is flagged for further checking, it can be done faster.

 

Basically my rule of thumb at security is:  more trays are better than one.

[Leica Fanatic]

On other recent trips I had virtually no problems requesting my bag of rolls of 135mm film be hand inspected instead of put through the scanner.

 

Not so this recent trip.

 

Departing Hong Kong, no problem. Out comes the little residue tester kit, a roll is opened. That's it, all smiles.

 

Istanbul airport has two sets of scanners - one to enter to enter the airport, one to get airside. First scanner, no problem. Second scanner, refusal, and a lot of tension for having asked the question at all.

 

Beirut - a lot of tension, but ultimately complied with. Every roll of film opened, taken out of the canister and looked at, and an argument between security personnel about it.

 

London Eurostar - no problem

 

London Gatwick - no problem

 

London Heathrow - calls the supervisor. Supervisor gives me a stern lecture and is angry I asked. Request refused rather rudely. He tells me hand inspection is NOT discretionary, that his guidelines states that scanning is mandatory for all film 800 ISO and below.

 

Bordeaux - security guy refuses loudly "impossible!!", so much so that his two colleagues start chatting with him and my request is complied with. The original chap, having lost face, doesn't make eye contact with me or speak with me again.

 

 

 

What to make of this?

First of all, I know that requesting a half inspection of film is a bit of the pain, consumes time, and ultimately is discretionary. I also accepted that it was going to be a pain for me too, having to ask each time with unpredictable responses.

 

Second of all, I know that the impact of film going through a scanner is probably very small, probably noticeable. But I do suspect that film going through 20 or 30 such scans might make a negative difference to the film (I'm not exaggerating on the number of scanners I went through - it was more than anticipated. In Istanbul for instance my hotel had body and bag scanners at the entrance, as did most major buildings we entered. Not just the airport).

 

Thirdly, I don't begrudge security measures, I welcome them (as much of a hassle as it is for the concerned film photographer).

 

Well, my conclusion is that there are a lot of (rightly) nervous security personnel out there right now who really don't like these requests at a time of heightened fear about terrorism. I didn't encounter anything like the nervousness (and in a number of cases outright hostility) travelling last year. I am now less likely to take a film camera to such places, especially if a lot of airports are involved. Perhaps if my travel involves only a small number of airports I'll persevere. But not a trip like this one.

 

(My wife's conclusion is that she will no longer travel with me if a film camera is involved!!)

 

 

 

Probably nothing much new in this post for most of you, but a sad experience for me despite anticipating some unpleasant experiences at security check points.

 

How have your recent experiences been? Or has everyone given up on requesting inspections, and just stick the film through the scanner and be done with it?

Well there's only one solution, shoot digital.

 

OK, can I have a 30 second head start then?

[Winedemonium]

Thanks for the replies, and the useful thoughts and suggestions offered.

 

Yes, I too have great sympathy for the security staff at airports (and elsewhere). A thankless task, and an important one. I am always calm and polite in the requests. I usually encountered a pretty relaxed and obliging response up until last year. This most recent trip was quite different though - hence the post. 

 

The lead-lined bag advice sounds useful. 

 

I do also shoot digital. I think for the sorts of trips like the one I just had - multiple countries, multiple scans - that may be the more sensible solution. 

[adan]

If you compare your scanner experiences with world events, the pattern is pretty obvious.

 

Good thing Brussels airport was not on your itinerary - you couldn't have gotten in there, with or without film, for a couple of weeks not so long ago.

[EoinC]

I fly regularly, often making 2 international trips per week. Several of my films should have their own Passports with the amount of traveling they've done before finally taking the leap into a camera. I don't bother with hand inspections, but generally only have ISO 400 or less. Film damage so far has been 100% down to my incompetence, and never down to x-ray scanning.

[Winedemonium]

Thanks Adan - yes, this is very true, and the point wasn't lost on me during the trip (nor in my post). In Istanbul, for instance, there was definitely tension in the air, and you could easily sense it going through these security points too. In comparison, my experience, taking film through, is certainly in the ranks of "first world problems". Istanbul has full security scanning to enter the airport, followed by the same again to access airside. This is the future of all airports I suspect, after Brussels.

 

EoinC - thanks for the feedback. I think this, and perhaps the cheap and simple addition of one of the lead film bags, and I will forget about requesting hand inspection of film (unless, as I occasionally use, its Delta 3200, but I think instead I'll just take a Monochrom, or something like that). My bag did include some Delta 3200.