Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Darrell Wood wrote: >I hear they are to phase out Kodachrome 25. Is this true? > >Which B&W and Colour slide film would people recommend to take to >Belize/Mexcio in March 1999. >I would be concerned about fast B&W as I will be going through customs 8 >times.>>>>>> Hi Darrell, I hate to sound like a heritic, but at the rate the new E6 films have improved I'd forget the kodachrome. I realiaze there are some "keeping qualities" at the moment that the newer E6 films that have not had the time test survival. (like a 100 years!) However, I'm a great believer in if photographers are concerned about their film surviving hundred years forget it, as you are going to be long gone anyway, so who cares! I'd take the E6 film of choice be that E100 sw or E 100 or some other manufactures in that range. The B&W similar if you are into Delta 100 or T-max 100 run with that. Some 400 just in case depending on subject film. But ___do not___ get loaded down with a bunch of different films as its just a pain in the butt keeping track of them all. Think about the assignment and what you are shooting and which film will effectively address your end result. As far as 8 times through security scanners make sure your film is hand baggage and carried on the plane. And get hand inspection rather than scanned by machine as often as you can. Take all the film out of the cannisters, load it 20 0r 30 rolls to a clear sealed freezer bag. If you are big on replacing the film back into the canniters put them in the checked baggage then at your final destination reload the rolls back into the cannisters for safe keeping during the assignment. Or as I do get rid of them all in your office as you load the freezer bags and make sure you have lots of spare freezer bags to place the exposed film in as you use it up during the shoot. Generally the hand scan machines seem to be harmless. But under no circumstance "baggage check" film, as you could be courting total disaster. And that's going and coming. You'll get 200 hundred versions of what to do from the LUG, but for what it's worth I've done this more times than I can count and it has worked successfully each time. However, there are some countries security staff who are complete mental midgets and no amount of common sense works with them, your film will have to go through the hand baggage scan check. Give it a hail Mary a it disappears in the machine and hope for the best. ted Ted Grant This is Our Work. The Legacy of Sir William Osler. http://www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant