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X-raying = AGhhhhhhh
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How on earth are we meant to get through airports at the moment without being made to scan film…… I have had hundreds of pounds worth of film (all taken) forced through x-raying machines on my return from the Philippines, both in Doha and in London. There was no listening to my pleas and even though the films were all in led casing its all ruined. Everything looks like a worm has crawled through them, which includes all my 400ASA film that looks just as bad as my 3200….
Any thoughts? Can we get certificates from the film companies ….I think they’ve bumped the strength of the xrays up…..
Thank you!
by
Giulietta Verdon-Roe
at
Tue Jun 05 14:59:05 UTC 2007
(ed. Mar 12 2008)
London,
United Kingdom
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ahhhh..ugggghhh….i usually tell them, its all 3200 high speed films.. ..i bring out my films ahead of time during line up for xray and present the films and say, could you hand check, with a big smile..and they usually do that..
am sorry to know what had happened to your films getta.i dont know how else you could salvage them though..
how are you doing back in london?
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awful. check to see if that constitutes baggage damage, they could be liable.
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London will not do manual searches anymore, trust me I’ve tried to reason with rentacops, but it’s pointless.
Even when you do say it’s high iso, they look at you and say that policy no longer allows it, the machine is x-ray safe blah blah blah. Even Siam Reap airport refused a hand search, which i found funny as hell considering she didn’t really know what was going on, bless!
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X-ray damage usually manifests itself in the way of base fog on the film. Its also a cumilitive effect from what I’ve read. I’ve never had a problem with tri-x being scanned in many airports through the US, Asia, and Mexico. Can’t speak for 3200.
Here in the US it is mandantory that they hand inspect film of any speed if you ask them to do so. Heathrow, nothing but problems with those guys.
The worm thing is really throwing me. If it were me I’d contact a lab or even the film company to let them have a look.
Regardless, sorry for what has happened to you.
Best wishes
Paul
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I’ve totally bypassed the UK and it’s stazi tactics, they now have, on average, a 1 hour queue to get into security. All in the name of “anti-terrorism”
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thanks so much for these replies…. Im going to add a pic of what it looks like on my films – they must have had the xray on extra high somewhere as this is ridiculous…….. (if someone can tell me how to post an image that would be great too!)
Nana Im fine thank you apart from this really annoying set-back!
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i’ve read heard that airport security staff will yank up the intensity of the x-ray if they encounter something they can’t ‘penetrate’…ie perhaps your lead casing. i don’t know if that’s a myth or not…but it could be that seeing the lead blob on their screens, they upped the strength.
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For your interest….. a scan of the end of a 35mm roll is now on my gallery……. this is the whole width of a 35mm and completely obliterates any image on exposed pictures… sniff
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I looked at your scan. That is strange. I still recommend letting Kodak or whomever the film manufacture is to look at this.
In the US the TSA cannot bump up the “strength” of the x-ray machines. I’ve asked. The intensity of the image can be but not the intensity of the x-ray. I also realize that its some $13 buck an hour government employee that told me this. Um, with benefits too.
TSA Film Information
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I am SO sorry to hear.
There are a few airports that won’t do manual checks AT ALL, London and Brussels being 2 of them. Nevertheless their machines are usually safe.
BUT I would never use the lead bags. Sometimes the security inspectors pump up the power as they can’t see through the bag, ruining everything..
In US airports they HAVE to hand check your films if you ask. Arrive early enough, as they can really take their time, as “retaliation”.
In some other countries, well, rules change all the time and depend on the security person in charge (if you can, avoid WOMEN officers… so sad to have to say that) . Sometimes they ask you a letter from the magazine that sent you on assignment or letter from your agency, something like that.. In Buenos Aires I had a big fight with the officer, my press card wasn’t enough.
When did travelling become such a drag????
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yep, ive had “the worm” too, but not as drastic as that. i was able to salvage images from the film, though. im pretty sure it’s from x rays. i got it while coming back to the states from israel.
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I’d never heard about the X-ray intensity being bumped before. Many of the anti-terrorism “tactics” are crossing the line further every other day it seems. I’ll be in Switzerland and Italy for two weeks in just a few days so it will be interesting to see what their policies are on film.
Just to pose the question…I’ll be taking about 40 rolls of tri-x and I’m wondering if it would be better to just ask for a handcheck or put all of it into lead bags? From the sounds of things it seems like lead bags are useless outside of the states anyways.
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Jonathan
I would take the films out of the canister, and put them in a ziplock bag. Stay away from lead bags!!!!
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If you put the film in lead bags the bastards will simply pump up the X-rays. Never had any problem at UK airports but that was pre 9/11. Gone digital since then and I reckon that is the only safe bet these days. They used to love hand checking film over here but I guess thats luck of the draw who you get on duty nowadays. I remember spending ages at Glasgow airport once when they insisted on opening every single cannister. Thats been replaced now by being asked to show that the laptop is a working machine,(presumably they think it might just be a case stuffed with semtex).
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Is this just heathrow or all london airports?
Is this the case for eurostar as well?
Have to make the trip in a few weeks.
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Hi Edward,
Not sure what the latest news on film is at UK airports or on the eurostar-maybe others on LS will know that.
The laptop check was at Munich airport,(Lufthansa). Maybe it was just teutonic efficiency at work. Bloody miracle if my old G4 started up first time anyway!
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Sorry to hear, Getta! I’ve never had a problem in Sweden or in the US ( JFK, Newark, Memphis, Ft Lauderdale, Las Vegas). I put the rolls in a clear zipbag and hand it over to them.
Though, I always hear London is crazy about stuff like this. We have to put fluids in a zipbag, but in London not even that is allowed, I’ve heard..
Anyway, sorry again, hope to get to see you soon!
PS. Only time I had a problem was when I forgot, and put the films in the zipbag, but .. then put the bag in the same container as my laptop.. meaning through the xrays! I blamed the staff, but knew I was wrong. ;)
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I would go to the travel websites for the countries you are passing through or visiting, whether it is USA or UK, put your film in clear bags, and bring with you a few printed copies of their own policy for them.
In the event you have what happened me (someone taking my film from me and scanning it against my will), you have a advantage over most traveling photographers in the sense that you’ll be in a position to prove their own policies back to them.
I feel so much safer already.
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the image you put up in your gallery is quite interesting and looks unlike any x-ray damage that i have seen. does the damage cross over the sprocket holes? the fact that the “worm” pattern follows the direction of the film between the top and bottom of the film edges makes it look like there is a mechanical explanation for this, but I can’t imagine what that is. x-ray damage looks like fog.
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The worm shows the wavelength of the x-ray, and this looks like the classic problem that we see at my photo-processing center. It doesn’t happen that often, but it seems to run in cycles at various airports, including Atlanta, i’m afraid.
On the other hand, i’ve had the same rolls of 3200 Ilford x-rayed at least 20 times, in 4 different countries and 6 different airports, with no cumulative damage at all. All that within the last 8 months. And some of the film was a year out of date.
I would be interested in some definitive information about whether the x-rays can be “pumped up”.
Sorry for your bad luck.
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Oh, and Aric is right that other x-ray damage is more of a general fog. If you go to Kodak’s website, you can see examples of the problems. They even identify the machines that cause each type of damage.
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Btw, Getta.. I had a package of color photo paper in my suitcase when travelling abroad. I think you saw the result in NYC, remember?..nothing visible, until I printed images in the lab – then I got this ugly green broad line across the paper.
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I’m curious how the worm is created by the wavelength of the x rays, given that the wavelength of x rays are measured in nanometers, which are way too small to see.
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Giulietta
That must of really hurt. I just returned from Lebanon and was having the same worries when I got home.
I shot in all approx 65 Rolls of film incl 120 colour neg.
I managed to do the whole trip with only having to X-Ray it twice. Once at Heathrow on the way out. I would normally ask for a hand search and demand to speak to a “Supervisor”. I had to let go this time as I was also trying to disguise the size of my bag as I contorted all my gear into one medium sized holdall.
I got scanned again at Zurich on route to Tel Aviv and that was it. Even by standards it was a feat of endurance not to get my film scanned.
I had to talk my way through several X-Ray machines coming back to Jerusalem from the West Bank for a week.
I then did the same at Amman on route to Beirut, then at Beirut returning to Amman. At the Allenby Border crossing(Although I was detained for 2 hours) then at the central bus station getting the bus to Ben Gurion.
At Ben Gurion all was going well until this horrible women insisted I put my film in the machine.(She told me that they could not get a reading from the chemical swap checking for explosives. I told her that she did not have reading as my film is not going to explode! Finally got someone else involved and talked my way out of it.
Then on route to London from Zurich. It was 6am and I was in no mood to fight but managed to extract one last effort. I must of gone through at least 20 x-Ray machines. I think I was lucky but also determined not to get my film sapped.
There is no need to X-Ray film. You can put a metal detector on it and swab it for explosive residue. Shit if was able to conceal anything in there I would be a wizard.
It’s a real nightmare.
I truly feel for you Giulietta .
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Thank you everyone for your words of advice….
Aric, thanks for that link it explains why all the exposures look completely crazy too. (I put a few more images up on my gallery) and you can see that it did it to all the film ISO’s…. 400 up to 3200, nightmare. (the only 3200 one is the bandw image.)
Mark I dont know how you had the energy to argue through all those x-ray machines, but Im very impressed and glad that your negs are safe and sound.
If anyone wants hi res copies of these images as evidence of why you dont want to put your film thro the xray I will happily send some on to you…..
Giulietta
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