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Travelling to Rome


dr._karl_hoppe

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I shall be travelling to Rome at the end of October. I'm leaving from Newark on

Continental. What has anyone's experiences been relative to carrying on cameras

and film?

 

I plan on taking about 50 rolls of 35mm film, ISO 100. Should I leave the films

in original unopened packaging or take the rolls out and dump them in a clear

plastic freezer bag?

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I don't think anyone can predict now what the airport security situation will be in late October. Things can change fairly quickly and there's almost two months for things to change. When I was at Heathrow ten days ago, rules changed during the time it took me to go from outside to inside, it was that volatile.

 

It's not that hard to find film in Italy, at least it wasn't when I was there five years ago. Even in Sicily, I was able to buy 120.

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On the assumption that nothing else material happens in the meantime, you should be fine to take this carry on. If you plan to ask for a hand inspection at the USA end (I wouldn't bother, frankly) I'm sure the security folks would prefer the stuff out of its boxes and it makes it less bulky for you.

 

Whether its wise, economically speaking to take film to Italy will depend on how much you're paying for it in the USA. If you're buying from a discount source it will almost certainly be considerably cheaper than buying from a retailer in Rome.

 

With regard to your camera gear, I'd check your airline's web-site where they should provide guidance on what size/weight limits they are imposing on carry-on. Very frequently, airlines don't actually apply their own rules very closely and you can get away with somewhat bigger and heavier. But this is discretionary and in my view not to be relied upon when things get a bit stressed- so I'd advise sticking to your airline's rules. I flew in and out of Rome within a couple of weeks of 9/11 with no specific difficulties, and no problem with film put through the hand-baggage X=rays.

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Basically just to support what the others have said.

 

The situation is so volatile that it can change in 7 hours let alone 7 weeks. Monitor the situation via your airline nearer the time.

 

Even in normal times out of the big package was best just in case they wanted a closer look.

 

Rome is a big city and quite sophisticated.

 

If you are getting your film very cheap or the situation worsens you could always try posting the stuff to yourself at your hotel in advance and checking that it has arrived. You would be something of a guinea pig but it would be interesting to see what happens :)

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The comments from others pretty much cover the traveling issue.

 

My wife and I were in Rome a few years ago. One thing you need to be very cautious about is pickpockets. They are everywhere, persistent, and the fact that most are cute kids makes the situation even more difficult to manage. Be very careful, if possible have someone with you to watch you as you are looking through the viewfinder of your camera and making pictures.

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Last November they checked each and every roll of 120 film that I had with me. One at a time. Next time I buy locally or stick to digital. Pleanty of film in Rome -- I heard the airport had good prices. If you want specialty stuff, find a Roman photo store.

 

Kindly lift a glass of vino rosso for me.

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I went in June with 6 rolls of 100 ISO film in carry on luggage to Rome (via Brussels, thus two inspections) with no problem. Howver on return Swiss Air decided the "carry on" was too big and insisted it be checked. I hastily removed the exposed film and put it in my wife's handbag. I don't know what I would have done with 50 rolls. I was able to buy a roll of Elitechrome 100 in a souvenir shop in a small village in the Cinque Terra National Park so Kodak film fairly readily available. I saw lots of Kodak signs outside such stores but not many Fuji signs. This may not be significant.
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I've just been on a trip to South america from London which involved four flights. I took all the film through as hand luggage including the return to London last week with no problem. Thus far the films I have developed (100, 400 and infrared) appear to be unaffected by xray. I have previously heard that transporting them in checked baggage can be a problem due to higher intensity xraying, but I have never seen any evidence of this!
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First of all, focus on enjoying your trip. Second, don't make my mistake of bringing too much gear. I took 20 rolls of 120 (Ilford HP5+ and Delta 3200) and mailed another 10 rolls of HP5 to my hotel in Sorrento. Even after snapping away for two weeks in Scotland and one week in Sorrento and Rome, I had 17 rolls left over. I was granted a hand inspection when leaving LAX to fly to London, but we had to go through security again when connecting to our London to Edinburgh flight, so everything got scanned. Then I was granted a hand inspection at Stanstead flying to Rome, but had to scan everything leaving Rome. So all in all, my Delta 3200 (shot at 1600) was sent through three hand scanners, and there wasn't the slightest difference in the negatives or 11x14 prints.

As for carrying cameras in Rome, I used a Domke little bit smaller bag with the Domke label cut off. The packs of juvenile pickpockets will follow anyone who appears to have a camera or purse, so keep a low profile. One day I carried my Mamiya 645 in the Domke, and my Bogen 3221 in a plain black tripod bag, all over Rome, including to the top of St. Peter's Dome (300 tiny steps), and apparently no pickpockets took notice. It was a lot of weight, but definitely worth it because I got some great night photos around the city once the sun set. In my opinion Rome just screams out for night photos. Especially once the majority of tourists go to bed. I will say that I never worried about violent crime there, in spite of all the pickpockets and vandalism.

More important than the photo gear is a great cafe by the Spagna subway stop, they serve Nutella crepes, which are a great source of camera carrying energy!

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I have first hand knowledge of the pick-pockets in Rome; they are VERY good. I was able to get my wife's stuff back after wrestling with a gypsie to the poit she wasn't going to get away, but I was very lucky. Some suggestions

 

1) If you wear a backpack, wear it on your front.

 

2) Make sure you have important documents and travelers checks in a wastebelt or neckbelt.

 

3) Do not take too much stuff with you.

 

4) Crowds are the main places they hit. Train stations, major attractions, etc.

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Agree wholeheartedly with the previous warnings about Rome's pickpockets. After my wife's purse was snatched from between our feet in our hotel's private breakfast room, I made sure that my money and cards were in a money belt inside my pants, and everything else I carried was ALWAYS attached to my body within easy viewing. The pickpockets can even get through snaps and zippers in pouches and purses.

 

Also, we make sure that anything of value that we are NOT carrying on our bodies is locked in our room's safe or the hotel's own safe. I wouldn't trust solely in the security of a room's locked door, either. Our room key (sporting the hotel name and room number) was in my wife's purse when it walked. And when we warned the hotel staff about possibly needing to change the room lock, they couldn't have been less interested.

 

So a key for that room is probably floating around somewere in Rome... and might still unlock its door. Heck, pickpockets are so good that there's probably a key for every hotel room in town floating around somewhere!

 

Dave

 

P.S. I too vote for bare film canisters in a plastic freezer bag.

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Thanks to everyone for the input. I think I shall go with the clear plastic freezer bag. I had planned on overnighting the exposed films back home to NY to lessen the load. I am orginally from the Netherlands but have not been to Rome in over 25 years. The gypsies were a plague back then, I suppose not much has changed. I know I can get film overseas prettty cheap, but I am working off a ssupply of discontinued Agfa Ultracolour 100, so I must bring it with me. Maybe 50 rolls is overdoing it, considering my wife will be weilding a prosummer digital camera.
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Karl, you have a lot of great answers above. When traveling I shoot film, which I take out of the boxes and put into ziplock freezer bags. I just got back from London , and ran all my film though the carry on xray with out any fogging. This was around 70 rolls of B&W color and Infared film ,with ASA's from 25 to 3200 without any fogging.
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I got picked near the Coliseum by a group of early teen girls. They hold a piece of cardboard under your face to conceal their picking, and a couple of them grab the back of one's upper arm, causing pain, so you don't feel the pick. I didn't lose my passport or wallet, just some petty cash in the front pocket. Funny, they didn't take my Leica 28 lens in my jacket pocket.
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  • 1 year later...

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