Shipping film/ film holders /camera to - from france

[jnanian]

hi there

 

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i will be heading to france in august and was planning on using

a 4x5 camera. does anyone have experience with shipping

equipment back and forth, or would i be better off bringing some

of the items with me? i was planning on sending unopened

boxes of film, 5 -10 film holders and a camera. when i return i

was going to ship everything so i wouldn't have to worry about

custom or airport folks exposing my "shot" film.

 

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thanks in advance for your advice!

[adrian_ngasi]

I will also be travelling to Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania early next

month and given a lot of thought to the whole issue of travel and

film. If the fact remains that, checked baggage scanning machines are

more powerful than those for carry-on I would strongly suggest you

carry your film with you on either to or from destination. It makes

no sense to let bombs in the country by DHL i.e not scanning anything

that is DHL, FEDEXed, TNTed, or US Post mail. All packages go through

the same process regardless of either comming via air or sea - there

is even scanning machines for containers, so what difference does it

make to DHL??? Just carry and let them be scanned at the airport as a

carry-on.

 

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I will carry mine and not wasted $$ on DHL.

[roger]

Why not develop your film in Paris? There are 63 pro labs in the central area,

some known to be among the best in the world. It will also cost you much less

than in the US. Some are open 24h/7d, most will process E6 in 2 hours.

 

<br><br>For film, you can get it from Prophot for about the same price of B&H.

[f._william_baker]

I use "Picto" when in Paris for E6. I showed them my business card

and they discounted the processing about the same as the TVA (20%).

Processing took about 3 hours as I remember.

 

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On film, I would buy upon arrival just to be safe.

 

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Good Luck,

FWB

[roger]

Just forgot to say that Prophot is in Paris. (www.prophot.fr)

[jnanian]

thanks for your input :)

 

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if i was going to be near paris, i might think of sending the b&w

film to the folks you mention. i will be staying with family in a

small village about 6 hours east of paris. when i say small, i

mean really small ..

 

i was just thinking of convenience more than anything else ...

 

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if i have exposed film that i am bringing back with me ( if is don't

ship it to myself), do the airport security people ask me to open

boxes of film? or do they take my word for it that it is film?

 

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sorry for such a goofy question :)

thanks again!

[brian_ellis3]

I don't know about France but here in the U.S. the degree of

inspection seems to vary widely among airports and even among

personnel in the same airport. I recently flew from Tampa to San

Francisco and back carrying 4x5 film, some in Readyloads some in

holders, plus a lot of 120 film. Most of the film was in unopened

packages except, of course, the 4x5 in holders. I asked for a hand

inspection. In Tampa I got some argument based on the idea that only

film faster than 800 (according to one person) and 1200 (according to

another) would be harmed by the passenger x ray machine but I did get

a hand inspection. They didn't try to open any of the sealed boxes.

Returning from San Francisco I got a hand insepction without any

argument (though the inspector said only film over 1600 speed would

be harmed). The inspector looked at each individual sheet of

Readyload film and opened the boxes containing unexposed 120 film.

Everything went very well and very fast. However, a friend who was

travelling with me but on an earlier flight had a very rigorous hand

inspection - opening sealed packages, going into a "darkroom" to

check sealed packages, requiring that the foil in which the film came

be opened, etc. etc. He said the inspection took more than an hour

and the inspector insisted that he open the holders containing

exposed film. Since the "darkroom" wasn't all that dark, he declined

and sent it through the x ray machine. I don't complain about any of

this, better some film be thoroughly inspected than that the plane

blow up, but the inconsistency is bothersome.

[roger]

Airport security guys here will problably open all your film boxes. You'd better

FedEx everything to yourself, and mark clearly in your package that you have

sensible film inside.

[alan_eisenberg]

I also will be in France this summer (with 4x5 film), and need a site

for E6 processing at the conclusion of my trip in Paris. What would

be your recommendation in the downtown area (I will not have a car

then). Do you have an address for "Picto".

 

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Thanks.