How to travel with sensitive film and developing paper
Dec 7, 2016
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
Share:
X-ray has certainly brought a revolution and it’s a very useful invention. However, the X-ray and photographic film aren’t exactly best friends. If you travel by plane, you know that your luggage needs to go through an X-ray scanner.
Unfortunately, the X-rays can do damage to every unprocessed film, including the one already in your camera. The images you develop from such films will be foggy, grainy and with dark or light patterns and patches. This is why you need to protect your film and make sure that it doesn’t get scanned on the airport. Mark from the Analog Process will show you how.
When you travel by plane and carry unprocessed films with you, the first thing to do is make sure you don’t put them in the suitcase. Put the films in the carry-on so they are near you. Along with the films, keep a film changing bag in the backpack. You will need it in case the airport security wants to unpack the films, and you surely wouldn’t like to expose them.
Another great tip from Mark is to surpass the language barrier. If you travel to a country where English is not spoken, ask them in their native language to hand-check your films and not to scan them. Don’t worry, you don’t need to learn a new language for this. You can do it by preparing a note with this message in their language, and carry it with you. Make sure to have it near you, so you can show it to the security without digging through your backpack.
Have you ever had your film scanned by X-ray scanner? What were the photos like? Would you add some more tips for saving the film from the X-rays? Or maybe for getting the best out of the films that got irradiated? Let us know in the comments.
[How to Travel with Film via ISO1200]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.
5 responses to “How to travel with sensitive film and developing paper”
I have quite a lot of experience taking films through airports.
While I agree the best case scenario is not to have them scanned at all, this can sometimes make you an unnecessary target for the authorities (not a nice thing to happen!)
My experience is that generally speaking, slow ISO (sub 400) is unaffected by most scanners. I believe in the US they say it is fine up to 800 but I have had some 400 fogged by scanners located in Hungary and also Serbia/ Bosnia-Herzegovina but no where else. I suspect that not all scanners are the same so giving blanket advice is hard but slow ISO seems to be okay.
I’ve never had problems with having film checked by hand when flying in the USA, but in the UK they refuse to do it, forcing you to put it through the X-Ray with everything else. So, mine were scanned once on the way out, and once on the way back after they’d been used.
No problems with the shots, though. but it was Ilford FP4+ (ISO125) and HP5+ (ISO400) all shot at box speed, so not super fast film.
Sorry to put a damper on this- been going through airports since 1988 only had problems in Eastern Europe in the 1990s – but try this in the UK and they will just totally ignore you and say all the machines are film safe And usually refuse in most cases – Never had a problem with 5×4 film in hand luggage in U.K. But almost always 160asa
I’ve traveled with films numerous times and I’ve never had any fogging. On my trip to japan my Kodak Trix 400 that I pushed to 1600 went through xrays in Prague, Paris, Tokyo Narita and Nagoya Chubu, Tokyo Haneda, Paris (on the way back) and I had no fogging.
On all my trips abroad I go trough two or three airport and even though I am in transit I go through security (usually because I am entering Schengen or US/Canadian soil). I store my films in carry on.
Last time I had no more room in carry on so I stored unexposed film in my checked luggage on my way back. I’ve shot the films since and again… no sign of fogging whatsoever. These were ISO 200 print film.
I’ve yet to see my film get fogged by airport xray.
X-Ray scans are cumulative. Each time the film is x-rayed adds up, just like light exposure. In other words ISO 400 is equivalent to four scans at 100iso
If you’re going through once it’s probably not a big deal. But if you’re like me – going on many flights with the same film as you travel country to country – those effects will start showing up on the film.