RE: [Leica] Re: Flying with film

["Steve Unsworth" <mail@steveunsworth.co.uk>]

Nathan

I was in Greece last September on holiday. My carry on luggage with about 40
rolls of film was scanned about 6 times. The film was mainly Fuji slide film
(Provia and Velvia). I had _no_ problems with fogging caused by X rays. I've
finally got round to sorting through the slides, so I might be putting an
album together over the next week or so.

In fact I've never had any problems with film that has gone through a carry
on X-ray machine.


Steve

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Nathan
Wajsman
Sent: 15 April 2002 23:17
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: Flying with film


Bill,

I have followed this thread with some bemusement. Why? Because it crops up
here
and on the Rollei list from time to time, with the issue taking on First
Amendment proportions. The reality is as follows:

1) You will NOT get your film hand inspected at either Heathrow or Istanbul,
period. You want to fly? Then you send ALL your carry-on luggage through the
scanner. And I am personally happy that it is this way--I am a lot more
concerned about arriving at my destination in one piece than about some
photographer's fear of getting his film fogged.

2) The good news is that despite the collective neurosis gripping the photo
lists from time to time, nobody seems to actually have experienced and
proved
damage from CARRY-ON scanning of film. There is a lot of confusion about
this
issue, but the bottom line is that the warnings on Kodak's web site and
elsewhere apply to checked luggage, not carry-on. If a LUGger has actually
had
film ruined by carry-on scanning, I would love to see the scans.

I am a frequent flyer. On average I fly somewhere once a week. I always have
a
camera and some film with me. I have been through carry-on luggage scanners
with all kinds of film at Zurich, Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Munich,
Copenhagen,
Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Athens and other airports this year. The film
includes Delta 3200, Kodak High Speed Infrared, Kodachrome 64 & 200, and
numerous 100 and 400 B&W and color negative film. In some cases the same
roll
of film has been through the scanner 4-5 times. I have not detected any
effect
on the film, ever.

I have noticed that security procedures at many airports have been tightened
since Sept. 11, and I am grateful for that. Right now the place where I am
most
nervous about flying is the good old US of A, considering the still lax
standards of inspection by the underpaid illiterates manning the
checkpoints.
The remote possibility of film fogging from scanning pales in comparison.

3) I have never been to Turkey but have friends who travel there frequently,
and from their stories it sounds like one of the most wonderful places to
visit.

Nathan

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