Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/25

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Subject: [Leica] WAS: A trip to Paris NOW: XRAYS from HELL!
From: kabob@tiac.net (Bob Keene/Karen Shehade)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 13:08:45 -0400

I know this topic has been hashed before, but-

My plan was to bring my own film and ship it back to the states for
processing by my lab. I did this on a trip to Australia and it went fine.
Someone earlier had posted (or e-mailed me) not to do this- that the mail
gets X-rayed extensively. True?
If so, how about FedEx? (I don't mind paying Xtra- just don't want the
memories of a trip of a life time wiped out).

Bob (afraid of the evil Dr. X and his photo-unfriendly Rays!) Keene

>
>Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 00:31:02 -0500
>From: George Berger <gberger@his.com>
>Subject: Re: [Leica] A trip to Paris
>
>Hi, Bob -
>
>You shouldn't have any trouble getting through both Immigration and
>Customs entering France. At DeGaulle, the customs personnel are
>overworked and underpaid, and you can get through without a hassle.
>
>However; on departure, your film may go through their machines.  I
>had mine in transparent cases and in  plastic bags - -  "salted" with
>several rolls of Kodak 3200. I respectfully asked for a manual search
>of my film.  No dice! The inspectors demanded that I put the packages
>on the conveyor belt to run through the machine.  Yuck!   The
>machines had notices posted that proclaimed that the x-rays wouldn't
>fog the film.  None of my ASA 50, 100 and 200 chromes were apparently
>affected, but, when I had my local lab develop the 3200 B&W, there
>was  clear evidence of attenuation. I hadn't exposed any of the 3200
>rolls - - I just had them in the bunch for salting and, later, for
>QC. The film was fogged.
>
>George
>George Berger
>gberger@his.com
>
>------------------------------