Film and TSA (Page 3): During my younger days, i did a vacation activity shooting for my aunt's foreign friends. They did not bother to develop the last photos because of time...

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

During my younger days, i did a vacation activity shooting for my aunt's foreign friends. They did not bother to develop the last photos because of time constraints and upon having them developed for printing in their homeland they were shocked to see their images damaged by the airport x-rays.

Since going digital, i do not know if that will still be the case. It has me worried though because i was planing to buy a Polaroid camera and travel with a bunch of films. Time will tell....

johnblenko Loc: Pittsburgh

DougBlearning wrote:

How do i get film (not digital) through a TSA checkpoint without ruining the film??

I’ve also been told that TSA agents might/could/will increase the strength of the X-ray in an attempt to penetrate a lead bag containing film. When I used to carry film, I asked for it to be hand checked. I once had a factory sealed brick of 25 rolls and was required to open all 25 rolls so they could be inspected. I’m guessing that in 2019 they would probably swipe each container to check for explosive residue.

Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

johnblenko wrote:

I’ve also been told that TSA agents might/could/will increase the strength of the X-ray in an attempt to penetrate a lead bag containing film. When I used to carry film, I asked for it to be hand checked. I once had a factory sealed brick of 25 rolls and was required to open all 25 rolls so they could be inspected. I’m guessing that in 2019 they would probably swipe each container to check for explosive residue.

Yes, they will ramp up the power to see through lead bags. Ask to have your film hand checked.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Longshadow wrote:

They may have changed the machines over time, but I knew of a guy years ago that came back from Europe with four rolls of "yucky green" slides, not even the frame numbers were visible.
I still won't trust them.

This guy may have had a bad batch of film, or more likely, the film was incorrectly processed. If the airport x-ray machine really had an effect, its directional nature wouldn't impact the entire film roll evenly, only in small segments.

Oldnintheway

They can't "ramp up the power" of the x-ray machine. Doesn't work that way. A lead bag will not be transparent on the screen and will be pulled for further screening.