Long haul multi-stop film-carrying report, 2022

[grahamc]

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Hello

I thought I'd quickly detail my experiences of an 8 airport routing I'm on at the moment, firstly as I have some time to kill before my final flight home , and secondly in case these experiences are useful to others.

I will keep it as brief as possible and not go too far into the different types of airport scanners, there are other threads for that.  But essentially my understanding is there are standard X-Ray machines (let's call them 'traditional') and also newer tech higher powered ones (let's call them 'CT' for now).   It's commonly thought that traditional scanners won't damage film with ISO 400 and under, although I found a guide by Kodak from the early 2000's stating to request hand checks rather than passing film through, and also to use a lead-lined bag if passing through more than 5 times.    CT scanners on the other hand, are 'thought' by some (inc Kodak after tests) to damage 400 film after just one pass (Kodak's test was Portra).  Becoming more common of course which is the worry and topic of serval threads here and elsewhere.

I'm aware I could have bought film at most destinations on the trip (Although not all easily), but I happened to be holding good stock of my preferred films before travelling.    Also worth noting that film will generally be OK in older machines but I'm sure most of us would rather it didn't pass through.

Anyway, my experiences were that out of 8 airports I only had a real issue at one.  The rest were universally very happy to hand check the films . 

Film carried was 50 to 3200 ISO.   A good tip from another forum is to mix in some random high ISO films so that they can be shown in the event of dispute (this saved me in Berlin). more collated tips I've found elsewhere are listed at the end of this article. 

1. Sydney.  Traditional scanners. No issues with hand check 

2. Bangkok. Traditional scanners. No issues with hand check 

3. Berlin. Traditional scanners. Major issue with hand check, but after some time and much debate, very reluctantly agreed.   I flat out refused for them to go through but it was a bit embarrassing as it turned into a bit of a stand off with a Police Officer who couldn't be bothered to check and swab them ("they won't be damaged', "yes they will", "no they won't, etc etc).  Tried every trick in the book, pulling out 3200 ISO film, letting him know it was 'commercial grade and very sensitive', in the end flat out begging worked, and also shamed him a bit by saying I do this all the time and with no problem anywhere (both lies).

4. Birmingham UK. Traditional scanners. No issues with hand check 

5. Amsterdam. CT Scanners. Very happy to handcheck with a smile after checking with supervisor, although initially the attendant looked very confused.

6. Varanasi, India. Traditional scanners. Didn't appear to understand what I was asking regarding hand check and proceeded to put films through in my Domke protective bag.  I wasn't too phased by this considering they were old scanners and using the bag. 

7. Delhi, India. Traditional scanners. No issues with hand check 

Despite this 'success' it was a bit of a hassle / stress travelling with film. It might only really take one false move with CT scanners to undo any successful run.  

I was generally developing film where I could, but this was a bit of a scheduling stress of it's own.  This, or buying film in each city, is ideally not how I want to spend a holiday, and I found onward supply of negatives also to be a headache when developing times don't work with your onward travel.   

General tips collated from my research :

• unwrap all individual rolls completely and put them in a see through bag, to show the attendant what they are
• smile, understand that we are asking for assistance / a favour of sorts here, since they have to go to the trouble of hand-inspecting and swabbing the films with explosives / drugs indicators.
• mix in some high ISO even if you aren't going to use it - that's a trump card when you pull it out and show how sensitive it is to Xray 
• Buy a Domke protective bag, and if a hand check is refused (or there is a language barrier) put the Domke bag (and only that) into a tray and put through the machine.  Feedback on other forums from Heathrow airport (who refuse hand checks) say that this will force a handcheck. In my case in Varanasi this happened but then they didn't even inspect the Domke bag after it passed through. 
• None of this will save you if you hit a major roadblock or language barrier (see Varanasi, India experience). Although luckily mine wasn't using a CT scanner (yet).
• Finally, look out for unexpected xray machines - I had these at subway stations and my hotel in Delhi, and had to lunge for the bag and gran the films as I wasn't in that train of thought at the time. 

All in all I've loved shooting with film this trip, although I've had to be thinking one step ahead a little more than I would ideally like. All together it was a little stressful accumulating images you are happy with but not being fully confident they will make it home.

I'm a hybrid shooter but would like to be all in on one format (usually film now) for a special project or trip, so it's going to be very tough choice next time .  Although in fairness I didn't really have any major issues and the truth is the 50-400 film could've gone through most of these scanners and probably not effected so I'll also consider that when I make my decision for next trip. 

Once stop to go - a transfer at Melbourne which apparently has CT and recently refused a hand-check for Phil aka @stray cat.  If the same happens to me I'll be refusing to pass through as I'm now carrying much of my efforts from a 4 week trip.  I can opt out and then post them home I'm sure.  Re-purchasing a budget $100 flight to get home would seem like good value at that point.

So looks like I'm home and dry either way. 

All the best !

Edited August 1, 2022 by grahamc

[grahamc]

I forgot to mention I also carried a Tri-X 400 through all scanners, with the intention to shoot it at home and see how it handled it .

This included CT at Amsterdam.   If it passes then travelling with bulks of Tri-X would be a nice thought 

That wasn't foresight btw, I just accidentally put it through the machine at the first check point  

Edited August 1, 2022 by grahamc

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[Guest]

All good to know, thank you for posting this Graham.......

[stray cat]

Thank you Graham, for this in-depth report which is a very valuable resource for those of us travelling with film or planning to.

I note that, as yet, the scanners at Melbourne airport international (T2) have not yet been upgraded to CT scanners - they are only at this time installed at T4 domestic. But they are due to be upgraded at Melbourne and Sydney and other Australian airports in the near future.

‘I’ll be very interested to see how your roll of Tri-X has fared! It sounds like your fastidious precautions with your other rolls will ensure they get through unscathed.

Thank you and Bon voyage!

Edited August 1, 2022 by stray cat

[grahamc]

1 hour ago, stray cat said:

Thank you Graham, for this in-depth report which is a very valuable resource for those of us travelling with film or planning to.

I note that, as yet, the scanners at Melbourne airport international (T2) have not yet been upgraded to CT scanners - they are only at this time installed at T4 domestic. But they are due to be upgraded at Melbourne and Sydney and other Australian airports in the near future.

‘I’ll be very interested to see how your roll of Tri-X has fared! It sounds like your fastidious precautions with your other rolls will ensure they get through unscathed.

Thank you and Bon voyage!

Thanks my friend and have a great trip too ! I have a feeling the states should yield better customer service than your departure form Aus 🤞.  Thanks for this it’s great to know about the Melbourne specifics 

 

best 

Graham 

Edited August 1, 2022 by grahamc

[grahamc]

Ok so just to complete this one - I just checked in at Melbourne.  traditional scanner.  
 

Almost 20 hours travel today so ran out of energy to proactively request a hand check, but put the films in the Domke bag and a tray of their own. 

interestingly the bag didn’t get pulled aside for further inspection when it passed through.  I could see on the screen that the operator can see they are films despite the lead-lined bag.  So that’s twice now they’ve gone through in the bag and not pulled aside. 
 

total airports 8.  Major disagreements 1.  Rest plain sailing. 
 

if we are confident in the protective ability of these bags then perhaps requesting a hand check is just an inconvenience to all concerned.   That will still probably be my default position in the future though 
 

hope these posts were useful. 
 

 

[grahamc]

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Also funny exchange with the security officer she saw a sticker on my laptop “film never die”.  She said it out loud and said that’s cool film never dies huh and I said not unless you put it through an X-ray.

we had a good laugh about it then she went on to tell me they are completely safe etc etc 

Lol good sport. Welcome home 

[jaapv]

On 8/1/2022 at 3:02 PM, grahamc said:

then post them home

That is worse - drug scans on mail use very powerful scanners.

[grahamc]

5 hours ago, jaapv said:

That is worse - drug scans on mail use very powerful scanners.

Thanks Jaapv.  Although do you mean international post ?  I was talking about domestic and often post inter-city for development 

[jaapv]

Domestic likely not. I did assume international from your first post

[AZD]

Thanks grahamc for posting this. I too am interested in the unprotected roll of Tri-x, as other reports of x-ray damage avoidance seem to lack an x-rayed control roll as part of the experiment. 
 

FWIW, I’ve never had a problem with any US airport refusing a hand check or chemical swab. My rolls are always packed separately in a clear plastic bag for easy identification, and my camera bag opened before scanning to see the other half of the equation. One time at LaGuardia it took for-ev-er to get it back, but still worth it. And once in Alabama the TSA agent was kindly requesting passengers remove all film for a hand check (assuming newer machine, but I don’t know for sure). She was kind of surprised when I actually had film for her to check. It was a bit amusing. 

[ejg1890]

Thanks for posting.

I leave on a trip for the month of September, flying into Paris with a change of planes to Nice, then eventually fly home from Milan. I plan on carrying the roles in a zip lock back.

Also one note - I recently had my first air travel after returning to film. I had placed all my film in check luggage as that was safe for film decades ago. The film went through luggage X-rays/scans on each leg of the round trip. I still have many rolls unexposed but of the color negative rolls developed only 1 role at this point appears to have issues, but I have not yet scanned the roles for computer viewing. The 1 roll is 120mm film with the half the roll destroyed that is plainly seen. The last half appears ok, but can only determine once scanned. The other rolls consisting of both 135mm and 120mm appear ok but that is just with “eye balling” the negatives. None of the film is over 400 ISO. There are several rolls of BW that have not been developed. I will do those in October when I am back in California.  

[grahamc]

12 hours ago, AZD said:

Thanks grahamc for posting this. I too am interested in the unprotected roll of Tri-x, as other reports of x-ray damage avoidance seem to lack an x-rayed control roll as part of the experiment. 
 

FWIW, I’ve never had a problem with any US airport refusing a hand check or chemical swab. My rolls are always packed separately in a clear plastic bag for easy identification, and my camera bag opened before scanning to see the other half of the equation. One time at LaGuardia it took for-ev-er to get it back, but still worth it. And once in Alabama the TSA agent was kindly requesting passengers remove all film for a hand check (assuming newer machine, but I don’t know for sure). She was kind of surprised when I actually had film for her to check. It was a bit amusing. 

No problem at all. Now that I’m back I’ll shoot the roll of Tri X and home develop it ASAP.  Maybe I can develop it this coming weekend.  
 

However, it’s a shame it went through the newer, CT scan, as it’s commonly thought this will certainly damage the film. 
 

I would’ve preferred it only to go through traditional scanners as that’s more so where the question mark is regarding affect on film. 
 

But too late now as I forgot about it when I encountered the CT scanner.  
 

I’ll post the results here .  
 

It’s been through traditional X-Rays maybe 9 times (7 at airports + a few at train stations etc) and the newer CT once.   All without protection. 

[AZD]

It’s the CT scanner that interest me most. Of course it’ll be impossible to know what damage, if any, was caused where, but a good worst case test regardless.

[LocalHero1953]

Putting this here for the record, to help those using Eurostar.

I recently travelled to Arles for the photo festival via Eurostar. I took three rolls of Portra 400. On the outward journey I asked for a hand check at St Pancras, but the security guy said that as long as the film was ISO 400 or under then it would be OK. I chose to risk it - I had no better info to support an insistence on a hand check. Coming back, I forgot all about it at the Gare du Nord and left the exposed film in my luggage. 

I have just got the processed film back and scanned it - no sign of fogging. 

[pippy]

Glad to have read this today as I'm off to France tomorrow (from Gatwick) and was debating whether to take a film body. Was not aware of the Domke Filmguard pouches - must get one of those - but will probably go ahead and see how I get on with the various machines I expect to encounter.

FWIW the camera this trip will be a 1930 Leica 1 and I'll only be using it for happy-snap stuff so no great loss if all is lost. If all goes well, however, then I will take the M2 next time.

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Graham, and for all other comments in the thread; very useful!

Philip.

[grahamc]

9 minutes ago, pippy said:

Glad to have read this today as I'm off to France tomorrow (from Gatwick) and was debating whether to take a film body. Was not aware of the Domke Filmguard pouches - must get one of those - but will probably go ahead and see how I get on with the various machines I expect to encounter.

FWIW the camera this trip will be a 1930 Leica 1 and I'll only be using it for happy-snap stuff so no great loss if all is lost. If all goes well, however, then I will take the M2 next time.

Thanks for the detailed feedback, Graham, and for all other comments in the thread; very useful!

Philip.

Great stuff Philip, have a great trip  

[stray cat]

I arrived back in Melbourne today and will develop a couple of rolls of FP4+ tomorrow. I don't expect any issues with these as I bought them in the USA and all my films in the USA were hand-inspected, usually without me having to even ask.

Interestingly, my experience at Melbourne was that the customs guy, after me asking nicely and gentle insistence after he refused, insisted on X-Raying my films through a traditional scanner. Curiously he agreed that it was OK for me to put them in a Domke lead bag to go through the scanner, and having gone through in the bag they were hand inspected on the other side anyway. In the USA (LAX international and domestic and SEATAC domestic) hand inspection was always willingly offered as soon as they saw I had film cassettes in a clear plastic bag. 

Following this experience in future I'll always carry a minimal number of rolls of film, freed from their boxes and plastic containers, in a clear plastic bag that also contains the printed out Kodak warning that these are photographic films and must not be X-rayed (I printed this sheet from Kodak's website). I'll also always carry my Domke lead bag just in case and, where possible, buy the bulk of my film at my destination, where ideally I'd also have it developed before going through more X-rays. 

Is traveling with film worth it? It certainly is for me, but of course that is a question for each of us to decide for ourselves. I'm very interested to hear how Graham's films fared.

[harmen]

On 8/1/2022 at 9:51 PM, grahamc said:

This included CT at Amsterdam.   If it passes then travelling with bulks of Tri-X would be a nice thought 

Keen to hear and see how they came out.  I’ve passed through the scanners at Schiphol on many trips and have yet to experience any issues.  Tri X, Portra 160, 400, and 800 have all come out fine so far.

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[grahamc]

I’m going to shoot the test roll today and develop it as soon as my new sachet of developer arrives.
 

I’d hoped it would be arriving in time for the weekend but I’m not sure