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X-Ray Protection of Minox 8x11 camera


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<FONT COLOR="#3333FF"><FONT SIZE=+2>X-Ray Absorption of Minox 8x11

Camera</FONT></FONT>

 

<P><FONT COLOR="#000000"> Today's airports

armed with X ray machine to detect hidden weapon. But

X-ray may fog the film inside the camera.</FONT>

<p> Different material has different

opacity to X-ray. The purpose of this article is to compare

the absorption property

of various Minox 8x11 cameras and compare

the relative safety of film inside

 

<P><FONT COLOR="#000000"> The absorption property of

metal is expressed by</FONT>

<BR>

 

<P><FONT COLOR="#000000">

<FONT SIZE=+2>I=I</FONT><FONT SIZE=-2>0</FONT><FONT SIZE=+2> *exp(-Mu*d)</FONT></FONT>

<BR>

 

<P><FONT COLOR="#000000"> In which I

is the intensity of the X-ray after passing a sheet of metal of thickness

d, I0 is the initial intensity</FONT>

<DL>

<DD>

<FONT COLOR="#000000">of the X-ray, and <FONT FACE="Math C">

</FONT>Mu is the X-ray absorption factor. The

higher the absorption factor, the less residue</FONT></DD>

 

<DD>

<FONT COLOR="#000000">X-ray passing to the film.</FONT></DD>

</DL>

 

<BR>

<CENTER><TABLE BORDER=3 CELLSPACING=3 CELLPADDING=3 COLS=4 WIDTH="60%" BGCOLOR="#3333FF" >

<CAPTION><FONT COLOR="#FF0000"><FONT SIZE=+2>Residue X-ray

inside Minox 8x11 camera, d=0.1 cm</FONT></FONT></CAPTION>

 

<TR>

<TD>

<CENTER> <FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">Minox </FONT></CENTER>

</TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"> metal</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"> Mu</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"> Residue X-ray</FONT></TD>

</TR>

 

<TR>

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">LX</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"> aluminum</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">0.624</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"> 94%</FONT></TD>

</TR>

 

<TR>

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">Riga</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"> steel</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">8.5</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">43%</FONT></TD>

</TR>

 

<TR>

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">LX gold</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">brass</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">13.6</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">26%</FONT></TD>

</TR>

 

<TR>

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">LX Sterling silver</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">silver</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">60.45</FONT></TD>

 

<TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF">0.24%</FONT></TD>

</TR>

</TABLE></CENTER>

 

<BR>

<UL>

<LI>

Aluminum body Minoxes, such as chrome or black A/B/C/BL/LX/TLX/CLX

has practically no protection for X-Ray.</LI>

 

<LI>

Riga Minox absorbs less then half of the X-ray</LI>

 

<LI>

Gold Minox with brass inner shell absorbs about

three quarters of X-ray</LI>

 

<LI>

The best protection for X-ray is the Sterling Silver

Minox camera, which absorbs 99.7% of the X-ray</LI>

 

<LI>

A lead Minox of similar thickness has residue X ray of

0.54%. Silver has better X-ray protection then lead.</LI>

</UL><p><P>

<FONT COLOR="#006600"><FONT SIZE=+2>SILVER OR LEAD

STORAGE BOX</FONT></FONT>

<BR>

<BR> Minoxer

who owns a Sterling silver Minox can walk though X-Ray

machine without fear of fogging.

 

<P> The next

best thing to do is find a small silver box or lead box

to store aluminum Minox camera. A silver or lead

box of only 1 mm thick will practically

absorb 99.7 % or 99.4% of X-ray. Silver box is

lighter and looks more

elegant.

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Lead lined film bags or small cans/boxes are readily available from

many photo dealers. Although they are intended to hold 35mm film, they

are big enough for an 8 x 11 Minox and quite a bit of film. When

traveling I normally carry my film in a clear zip lock plastic bag

which I remove from the pocket in my carryon luggage and have it

visually inspected. I carry my cameras in my pocket (a IIIs and a B).

Undo the safety chain from your belt loops before aproaching the check

point. I find about half of the itme I can walk through with the

cameras in my pocket--I have more trouble with belt buckles or

forgetting to take my keys out of my pocket. If the security person

wants to check the camera and look trough the viewfinder, do as I do,

take a picture of them rather than close it up and completely waste an

exposure.

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  • 1 year later...

<h3>Silver is more effective than Lead in X ray absorbtion </h3>

<p> the Mu index of silver is 60.4, the Mu factor of lead is 52.2

 

<p> One residue X ray after passing through:

 

<ul>

<li> 1 mm lead is 0.0054

<li> 1 mm silver is 0.0024

 

 

 

</ul>

 

1 mm of silver absorbs 99.8 % of Xray

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  • 11 months later...
Soft X-ray bombardment of Aluminum and some other metals may cause secondary beta particle emissions. This is probably not a concern for 35mm users whose metal film cannisters would stop the beta particles. Under the Code of Federal Regulations, film doesn't have to be x-rayed in US airports (except maybe film backs)! It does not matter what speed it is. It can all be hand checked if you like. Here is how to avoid the X-ray machine Check my page on it! Here is your definate answer to x-raying in airports. There are links to all the relevant regulations for printing along with an explanation of the federal structure and tips to make things go easier: <a href="http://home.kc.rr.com/aaronphoto/xray.html">http://home.kc.rr.com/aaronphoto/xray.html</a>
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