Traveling With Film

[kali_coles]

Hello,

 

I am going to be living in the south of France (the Marseille area) for this

coming year and I plan on shooting a lot of film (mostly 120/220 color and b&w

negative) while I'm there. I've never been there and have no idea what prices

are like for film and processing but from what I've heard, film is cheaper in

the US than in France. So, with that in mind, here are some questions:

 

1. What is the best, most econimical, and safest way to transport film from the

US to France? Should I buy all the film that I think I'll use ahead of time and

just carry it with me on the plane? What is the best way to go through security

with film? Or should I ship most of it? What would be the best way to ship it?

 

2. When should I process my film? Should I do it in France, or is it too

expensive? Or should I just wait and take the bulk back to the US for

processing there?

 

3. Does anyone know any good photo labs in the Marseille/Provence area? If so,

what are the prices like for film and processing?

 

Responses/suggestions to any of these questions would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks so much.

 

_Kali

[leon chang]

Since the Euro is strong vs. the US$, you can expect to pay higher prices for film. Why don't you just to go to France and order directly from BHPhoto.com and have it shipped to you? I wouldn't know why processing in France would be better or worse than processing in the US. It all depends on the lab. Ever thought of ordering online from a european supplier?

[john_shriver]

Well, if Kali orders from B&H to France, the Postman will be collecting the VAT from him. Remember that anything you buy in Europe has from a 15% to 20% VAT (sales tax) included.

 

Bringing film in carry-on is the only way to beat the VAT, so long as the value is under the duty-free limit. Throw in some ISO 1600 film to see if that will earn you a hand inspection, but don't be surprised if it costs you 15 minutes. ISO 400 and below is safe in the hand baggage checking.

 

Don't put any unprocessed film in checked baggage, it will be destroyed by X-rays.

 

See if you can find a local lab you like. If printing is too dear, just get develop-only processing, and plan on printing when you get home.

 

If not, FedEx the exposed film in batches to A&I or some other mail-order processor. Air Freight isn't X-rayed. Of course, if they ship the processed film to your US address (or agent), you won't see if there is any problem. I suppose you could have the mail-order processor put scans online for you.

[awindsor]

I am jealous.

 

I cannot comment about prices in France but the one thing photographic thing I found to be cheaper in the UK than in the US was developing slide film. B&W processing also seems to be more common in Europe than in the US.

 

I have never had a problem requesting a hand search in either Europe or the US. Film is almost certainly cheaper in the US. I would buy a job lot and carry it with you are carry-on baggage.

[craig_shearman1]

While you can theoretically ask for hand-inspection of carry-on film at U.S. airports don't count on it and expect it to get x-rayed. At European airports it will almost certainly be x-rayed whether you ask or not. Whether this is a problem depends on the film speed, number of passes through x-ray and how critical the work is. Some people will tell you s-ray doesn't hurt film below 1600 or 3200 speed. But rRemember that x-ray is cumulative: two passes of 400 is like one pass of 800-speed, four passes is like one pass of 1600 speed etc. Four passes is routine if you have even one connection each way and you take your film with you and back. If the work was important to me I would buy and process in France regardless of the cost. The easy thing of course is to shoot digital.

[david_henderson]

Well you shouldn't get X rayed on the way into France so I wouldn't worry about the cumulative thing - I, like many other frequent travelers, frequently have multiple X Rays on a trip and take the unused film on another trip without any ill-effects.

 

I suppose I'm just wondering what the Customs people in France might say if they find you're importing maybe a few hundred rolls of film, thats all, and the potential questions about whether all this is for your own use and whether you'll be leaving France with it. It isn't terribly hard to conclude that this is an import.

 

For me I suppose that I'd buy as much as you can reasonably and inconspicuously carry in the US and put it in my hand baggage -I frequently carry 50-75 rolls or more of 120/220 with no comments so far. This will give you time to sort out whether its best to buy from B&H and pay the duty/VAT, or buy from a discount retailer there.

 

Certainly if you compare the B&H price with town centre retail prices in France there would be a big difference, but then the same comparison in the USA is a bit horrific too. Fact is that if you need a lot of film you'll explore mail-order or internet prices there.

[hart michael]

John, if you pack films into triple or quadruple lead bags (one inside the other), would film be safe enough from Xrays in suitcase luggage?

[william_roberts4]

No because they use a stronger xray on the checked luggage, in addition if they find they can't see through something they pump up the power till they can see through the lead bags. The X-rays at the gate will not hurt your film, I used to travel extensively for my old job, meaning taking two to three flights a week and always carried my camera and film. I never had any fogging or damage to my film even after repeated x-rays.

 

William

[bill_thorlin]

As most have said in carry on luggage no problem - checked luggage major problem.

 

Hand inspection is available at quite a lot of airports if you ask ( politely ) especially if you are carrying 1600 upwards. I would advise a very early check in if you wish to do this and be prepared to wait. Frankly I have never yet seen anyone post an example of fogging of film as a result of carry on security scanning so I no longer bother. ( This business of putting a few rolls of 3200 in just to try and ensure a hand check is getting counter-productive as the airport staff seem to be getting wise to it and getting annoyed by it ).

 

If you decide to carry large amounts with you it would seem wise to not draw attention to yourself by requesting hand inspections etc.

 

I can only speak for the UK but if you import from outside the EU they take the declared value of the shipment and the postal costs and then charge you 5% import duty on that and then 17.5% VAT on the total of that lot - all told close to 25% ( you may get lucky and get away with it ! ).

 

Again in the UK there are a number of on-line sources for film purchases and if you buy in sufficient quantity then the price difference seems pretty small.

 

I doubt that France is too different ( although is does appear to like to try ) and the same, I would suggest, applies to processing although you may have to find this out for sure when you get there. Use a couple of meaningless rolls for test purposes.

 

Enjoy Marseilles and around ( the fish and seafood is especially good down by the harbour ) and no there isn't a drug baron on every street corner :) but I am sure you know that.

[maclean]

In response to asking for a handcheck, I have, in the last year, travelled (more than once) from Washington DC to: Los Angeles, Cincinnati, London, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Mexico. I have asked for handchecks at EVERY airport along the way, and have not have one refuse it yet. That's the way to go. I just put the rolls (not in boxes) in a clear plastic bag and ask right before I go through the metal detector.