Securing hand check of film at Heathrow

Has anyone had any luck getting film handchecked at Heathrow? I"m

leaving May 21, 04 for Syria, with a night coming and going in

London via Heathrow. Past experience has been rejection of any film

handcheck at this airport, and I'm looking for any tips or advice on

ways to secure handcheckes. I want to take ASA 1600 film on this

trip..

THanks

Paul

I got one once and they were not happy about it. Have all films in a clear plastic bag out of the packaging so it goes quicker and easier.

Paul

 

I can't speak for Heathrow, but the last time I travelled through Manchester airport in the North West I was refused a hand inspection. I had some Fuji 1600 film in the bag but that made no difference. I couldn't see any problems once the film was developed.

I travelled through there last August. I begged for hand inspection, both times. I had all my film in a clear plastic bag and everything. It was all 100 and 400 film. I took it out and asked the guys working there to hand inspect. They politely refused. There are signs all over saying their machines are certified by Kodak to be safe for film up to 3200asa.

 

On the way home I made sure I had some 3200film. They made me find the rolls of 3200 and take them out and then put the remainder on the belt for scanning. I pleaded again for them to reconsider but they refused. They then had a manager hand inspect the two rolls of 3200 film.

 

I didn't notice any fogging on any of my film, it was scanned twice at Heathrow and once in Poland.

 

Good luck.

I was taken out of line at Heathrow, put in a special place and told to open my bag while a bunch of guys with weapons watched me. Turned out a battery charger matched some sort of weapon profile. By the time it was over, I had drenched my clothes in sweat.

 

I don't ask for anything in Heathrow.

I've never been through Heathrow, but here in the states there are a good number of people that work as baggage checkers that don't understand the phrase thirty-two-hundred. I now only refer to my typical choice for high speed as Delta three-thousand-two-hundred.

I've had mixed luck getting hand scans at heathrow, and only ever with 3200 speed film. They do unwillingly take swabs from your rolls and pass it through an electronic sniffer. Sometimes they'll only hand test the high speed films.

 

On a recent trip to New Zealand requiring passing through some six airports (via singapore and domestic flights) I couldn't face the battles necessary to get hand scans at each place and just let my 1600 superia and 3200 Ilford films go through the hand scanner. No problems in development - no ghosting, fogging or lack of contrast witnessed. I suggest you just suck it and see - I'd only be worried about airports with very old equipment.

Supposing that they're right, and the X-ray scan doesn't hurt the film at all. I want to know what they can _see_ in the scan, that distinguishes rolled-up film from, um, something else disguised to look like rolled-up film.

I passed through Heathrow a few weeks ago. They told me they would not hand inspect any film that wasn't 3200 ISO. I sent all 200 rolls through the machine. No problems with the developed film. I was shooting up to 400 ISO. They swear it's safe up to 3200.

Rule of thumb:

 

So I have been told by those in the know (Airport Security at various cities)....

 

Always keep film in your hand baggage. From personal experience, even the faster films will withstand a many passes through an x-ray check without any noticable fogging of the emulsion. I'va had rolls that must have done 15+ x-rays without issue. Admittedly they weren't 3200. More like 100, 400 & a few 800's. Some sfx 200 too.

 

Never use your hold baggage to transport film as the scanners there are stronger and are potentially capable of fogging faster films. They will also re-scan bags automatically under a higher power x-ray if the machine's not sure first time.

 

Gavin

www.urban-landscapes.co.uk

I was just reading the articles here and I want to point out one thing. Even though most people here say they "didnt see any effect" on their films after they passed through inspection, this is not true for all pictures.<br>

I am a professional astronomer, and with astronomical photography its all a question of signal to noise. You care about every photon you can get from those distant galaxies.<br>

Last year i was at some big telescopes on Hawaii doing research, and in my spare time I set up my camera on my tripod outside the observatory and tood some pretty star pictures. I took a handfull of films of comets, trailing stars, nearby observatories, constellations and galaxies. Exposure times were from 30 secs to several hours.

<br><br>

But unlike daytime photography the signal to noise is isnt very high in these photos. And every time you pass through a checkpoint at the airports it adds a level of noise to your film. 3 airports later, all my films were useless. The daytime pictures i took looked fine, but all my nighttime shots were destroyed by the x-rays. I was furious. Once in a lifetime opertunity. Many many hours of work. Extrordinary objects that i wont see again. All gone.

<br><br>

So I want to warn you:<br>

<i>

X-Rays add a level of noise to your film, so if you have astronomical photography (or any other low signal to noise photography), it will get destroyed if you go through inspection points at airports.

</i></b>