It is a real concern even if it doesn’t ruin the film outright. I had several rolls of film from Hawaii come back grainy-ish. The technician said it was probably because of the x-rays. (The film was in checked baggage if I remember correctly.)
Yep, I saw it happen. I went on vacation to Europe with a friend who is a photography buff. We each had lead bags. While we were going through the baggage check in Paris, I watched mine on the monitor. The lead bag was inside my backpack. You could see everything in my backpack clear as day, but there was this black square. Then the guy staring at the screen hits a button and BAM the screen got brighter and you could see straight through the bag. Pissed me off, cause I had high speed film, including a 3200 speed roll I shot on the top of the Eiffel tower at night. Maybe they can’t control the intensity in American baggage checks, but in Paris they do. I would watch it. Every film I have that is 800 or above gets hand checked. I stuff as much of the other film in my pocket as possible. (I usually take a LOOOT of film… 50+ rolls).
While it’s true that the slower speed films won’t get ruined. But they may fog up. The higher the speed (800+), the more likely it will be foggy.
Definately agree about the ziploc bags. That is one item I almost always travel with. They are a great all purpose tool. Take extra.
Generally, I have found that you can request a hand check, even if all you have is 100 speed film. The guards don’t like it though and if all they see is slow speed film they will comment on it. Be ready for some sour faces, but be strong. Don’t let them get away with fogging your shots.
Interesting story. My friend and I went to Europe about a month after 9/11 (we actually purchased our tickets ON 9/11) and went through security here in Houston. They hand checked his lead bags, but didn’t check mine. I could have EASILY smuggled a gun in that bag. It kind of pissed me off.
Old film geek here -
I keep hearing blanket ‘do this, not that’ - the real issue is:
What level of precision do you want? If you’re shooting C-41 snapshots to have processed at the local drugstore - you may or may not be safe on a couple of US domestic scans. Avoid the issue entirely by having the local 1-hour shop develop and print them.
If you run your own darkroom and demand the highest performance, check around before you arrive for a trustworthy lab to develop the film, and don’t worry about scans. You can print them at home.
AFAIK, developed film is immune to all scanners, sniffers, and other machines. The minimum-wage ‘security’ folks, on the other hand, cannot be trusted to handle film - get glassine (sp?) envelopes and let them check the envelopes, if they want to snope.
If you insist on doing your own processing, research the issue much further than a message board.
“any f-stop over 11 is to be avoided, unless you run very good glass, or have an overriding need”