Travelled to India with 60 rolls of 400 iso..in my main luggage, worried wether it would be damaged..

[dawn_trivedi]

I travelled to India with 60 rolls of film 400 ISO colour -ve film and am worried , whether any damage would have

occured to the film.

What do u think?

I think i'm going to check a roll and see if it is ok..but any feedback would be appreciated!

Thanks

[ellis_vener_photography]

I would not have done it! Film needs to get carried on with you these days.

[howard_m]

agreed. they crank up the Xray machines for checked luggage.

 

should have carried it

[ellis_vener_photography]

They don't "crank up the x-ray machines". Instead many countries now use gamma ray technologies to scan checked

luggage for possible explosive material. This is a much higher energy and hence more penetrating type of

radiation.

[dawn_trivedi]

so now that i have done it...wat do u think are the chances of the films survival..

I clearly wasn;t thinking....

[john_shriver]

The chances are poor. Pretty much "certain death" to put unprocessed film in checked baggage.

 

But, take an unexposed roll, and have it processed. If it comes out without streaks, you're lucky, otherwise not.

[starvy]

would slower speed film fare better?

[randall_pukalo]

I was going to answer this but, on second thought (and maybe being a bit paranoid), the only thing I will say is this - check it yourself, and dont tell us the results. I wish you the best, but in this day and age of terrorism, it would be pretty stupid to advertise to the whole internet whether or not certain flights are being/have been x rayed. Best of luck to you, but for everyones sake, hopefully they are toast!

[sandy_labana]

If your film is x-rayed only twice, then you are OK. Process a roll and see how it looks. Sandy

[somak_ray]

Generally not a problem..I've got films x-rayed at least 3 times without any visible effects on color negative, slides and B/w upto ISO 400...

[stephen_schoof1]

Sandy and Somak, are you referring to checked luggage or carry-on? Because my understanding is that putting film in checked is a big no-no, but carryon is generally okay.

[bgelfand]

Hi Nishant,

 

Since you have already done it, there is no sense worrying. The damage, if any, is done and cannot be undone. Process one or two rolls and see if there is any damage, and if there is, to what extent. Then make up your mind if you want to pay to process the rest of your film.

 

You are in once respect lucky. You shot still film and there is always scans and Photoshop. Several years ago, the BBC filmed a program in India and shipped the unprocessed film back via British Airways. The baggage was scanned for explosives which ruined the film; there were bands across each frame.

 

Next time DO NOT ship film in your checked luggage. Explosive sniffing machines will ruin even the slowest films.

[dawn_trivedi]

Thanks Sandy Somak and Brooks, I still have a certain level of optimism, even after my stupidity.

Will be getting a roll processed..fingers crossed .

[carbon_dragon]

In the united states, checked luggage undergoes machines which use "cat scan" technology (I think the model number of one machine was CTX5000). Such machines will almost certainly ruin film. The xray machines in US hand checked security lines typically won't damage film for a limited number of scans (unless the film is very fast). In general, therefore, it's better to hand carry. You can ask for a hand inspection but don't expect them to allow it post 9/11.

 

Outside the US, I don't know what is used, but I've heard that some older xray machines may have higher power.

 

I would echo what someone has already said -- take a representative sample (1 or 2 rolls) and develop them and see if you can see streaks. If you can, throw them all away. If not, then you might have lucked out. But don't count on it. Sorry.

[amlan]

Nishant, <br><br>

 

I traveled with exposed films several times and on my way to India. Incidentally the routes were not all the

same, so the films went through x-ray at all different locations (NY, Houston, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels

... ) and nothing ever happened to any of them. Although they were never in the check-in luggage ... I always

used to carry them with me.

[two40]

Just came back from a trip to Europe (I live in Australia) and none of my 2 dozen rolls were affected at all. I had all sorts of rated b&w's and slide as well. The only problem you might have is with high ISO films such as 3200.

[James G. Dainis]

George,

 

Was your film in the checked luggage or did you take it with you as carry on?

[somak_ray]

I took the films in checked luggage .....BTW nishant just for u'r information if u'r visiting india as a tourist Indian customs law says that film rolls counting above 20 is subject to duties. The law doesn't state anything about sheet films though.

[Farkle-Mpls]

When I traveled a few months ago, a sign on the scanner for checked luggage did indeed LOUDLY proclaim "not safe for

photographic film" ... However, I had put my film in a lead-lined film bag, ON TOP of everything packed in the suitcase

so, if some security guy saw the big black blotch on his x-ray machine and pulled my bag, I was less likely to piss him

off by making him dig for the offending x-ray-blocking bag. I have never fogged any film and the bag is x-rayed often. Recently, I put

my Canon F1N in the bag too since it still had film in it (I pulled the lens and capped the body). Everything was fine and

I did protect the lead bag a bit more in that case (put some clothes over it).

 

The comment regarding gamma rays concerns me because I had never heard of that before and I doubt conventional

lead-lined film bags would protect your film from that level of radiation. Might want to do some checking up on that.

[bgelfand]

Hi Nishant,

 

What happened? Was the film damaged or not?