Experience so far: Japan and Abu dabi, no question. Athens and Milan hard refusal of hand scan. Fighting to tears with the security staff even in their local language.
These are great videos Lina, I have travelled through a few airports in the last two weeks, Dublin, Amsterdam, Atlanta, Birmingham Alabama and Tampa Florida. I was so surprised that I was given hand checks without any problem every single time at security. It’s never a guarantee though and I have had refusals at some of these airports before. I made sure to tell every security staff member I dealt with that I really appreciated the hand checks. Staff being informed about it and being polite to them goes a long way to keeping our film safe.
In the US, I find that TSA is really good about hand checking film. To this day I have never been denied. I have also been through several airports in Mexico and other parts of Latin America and have never been denied. Also did Frankfurt and Krakow and they hand checked. So far only Heathrow gave me a hard time. I make sure to be very polite and thank profusely and say how much I appreciate it so agents are likely to do it again.
Hy! I‘ve been to New York last week and travelled with lots of film gear including lots of film stock. Here is my experience: In Austria at the VIA you have no chance to get your film trough the security check without having it scanned if it is rated below ISO 1600. I had some Delta 3200 in my film bag and they told me that they have the explicit order to pic out every film under ISO 1600 and put it through the scanner. So just my Delta 3200 got hand checked in Vienna. It was the opposite in NY at JFK Airport. The TSA was very kind and hand checked without any discussion. So 5 Stars for the JFK, 3 for the VIA (only because they were also very polite and friendly)
Great video, Lina! I'm very happy to see such an initiative. I have various experiences traveling with film, but I must say when I started shooting on 120 film it became much easier. On short trips I usually take 3-4 rolls of film that are packaged in factory foil. There is no metal in the reel and packaging that the metal detector frames react to, so I just put the rolls of film in different pockets and pass the inspection. About 9 out of 10 times no one asks what I have in my pockets because the detector frame doesn't detect anything, it's just plastic and foil in there. If asked to show what I have in my pocket, I take out the film and ask to check it with my hands. On my last big trip, I had 8 airport security checks and my fuji slides successfully stayed in my pockets the whole trip without ever going through the scanners.
Handchecking in us was always easy, not in Copenhagen for example... I normally buy film on site and let it develop on site and in the worst case they ship it after developing to your home. If you are all out of options and you shoot medium format film: I got a good suggestion from a New York film lab (lusterphoto), they told me to just put it in your pocket and go with it through the metal detector. I did that back then and everything was fine.
Excellent advice! I tossed two boxes of Delta3200 between my APX100 and FP4 in my zip bag and you know what? It was the only and last argument that made the security agent agree with a hand scan! (Brussels). Now I just have to get back through Keflavik’s security next week, I’ll keep you updated!
Interesting experience ! So it means they even manually check all the films you were carrying and not only the delta 3200 ? For all I know, they sometimes check only the high sensitive films and the rest of the films must go through the x-ray.
@@raphaeliacone8774 indeed! Maybe it helped that I packed all the films tightly in a transparent bag so my package looked nice and begged for careful treatment 😁
Love love love this! I travel so much with film & this is great advice - happy to lend my name/advice to the handcheckfilm campaign too if you'd like me to
If you have a bunch of photographers with a decent amount of Twitter follows, you can start @'ing the airport security organizations of all these countries with your complaints, and a link to your video. They may start to care if they are getting enough social media exposure. Although unfortunately from what I've seen, the main way large government organizations are compelled to take action is through the threat of expensive lawsuit.
This is a really solid video. The only thing I'd add besides developing on location is if possible, mail your film to your destination and back home. I've started to research ahead of time where film is available at my destination and arranging ahead of time to either buy it there, or make arrangements to ship the film I'm going to use there ahead of time. I still carry a small amount of backup film on the flight just in case, and it doesn't always work out that I can ship it ahead of time, but it's a possible alternative. The same goes for at the end of the trip. Simply ship your film back home and circumvent the airport all-together. For super important images, take twice as many frames, ship half of them home, and take half on the flight. It's more work, more expensive, and sucks, but at east there's a higher chance of not having messed up images.
Amazing work Lina and the team! I am planning a long trip later this year = layover or departure including airports with CT Scanners. 50+ 120 rolls of film, so very relevant. My plan is to write the airports/relevant parties in advance, paperwork, be kind and bringing documentation; Kodak stickers, Fuji 2020 release and the I&P Europe document. Somehow I managed to get a Domke Lead bag cheap, as a fallback IF. I hope the initiative with Silvergrain Classic to help bringing a TSA like policy ahead moves forward. SIgned up and sending some additions on the airport list.
Hahaha that's also a solution. However, cargo CT scanners are getting installed at ports/postal centers, so there is increasing risk that film gets damaged before even being sold.
@@linabessonova This was starting to simmer at the back of my mind after I received a parcel of (exp) film once from EU (to CA) and it came with a "FREE" >X-RAY scanned< security sticker 😒 Is there any word on what manufacturers plan to do for this emerging threat?
Heathrow is by far the worst, but I have never been refused a hand check at Gatwick. Jersey Airport (Channel Islands) now only has 3 CT scanners, but they will do a hand check happily. Not sure how many of your viewers travel through Jersey though.
After refusal of hand check of my analog sheet films I wrote my official complaint in Warsaw Aiport. They respond with the following: " With regard to your speech, I would like to kindly inform you that the activities carried out by security control employees were performed properly, in accordance with applicable procedures, based on which films are not a category of items exempt from security control in X-ray devices. These devices do not destroy highly sensitive photographic materials." (google translated) Lastly as a recommendation from the security staff: * why you don't buy digital camera ? * why you don't buy scanning protective bag ? Good luck with hand checks on airports.
Wow, the arrogance! This is exactly why I believe we should push for a EU-wide legal right for hand checking film. Experiences like this should really, really not happen.
This is by far the most interesting post about this matter. Thank you for your meticulous work, Lina! I already subscribed to the newsletter you mention.
I watched your first video on this topic a few weeks ago, and this Saturday I flew from Sao Paulo to Istanbul with a couple of rolls of Cinestill 800. I was a bit scared initially, but the security guy was nice enough to hand-check them for me in Brazil. I was very relieved. Their scanner was the old type, not the round one.
Great work and information! Yes, I try to get all my film hand-checked but, like other sometimes airport security can get adamant. Glad you mentioned self-development on the road as an option. I think its been mentioned in the comments if you don't do self dev and its available in the country you are heading you can both buy film locally and/or get it dev'd locally before you leave to avoid the airport issues. This of course is not always possible and can get expensive but, in countries with good photo services I find it a way to get around the x-ray issue.
@@linabessonova i feel you on that, it’s why i look for 24-48 turn around if possible. Still other thing can and do crop up too… i had an occasion where got my dev and scan to usb drive in London, was done on time but i left my finished negatives 🤯 on the counter… lucky i had time before my flight to circle back!
I did this last year after roaming Europe for about 80 days; Last stop PARIS and was nervous about taking all the undeved stuff obaord EUROSTAR. Luckily I found a few labs with 48/72hr EXPRESS for C-41 and B&W......but the cost was obviously a bit more €€€.
When leaving LONDON I repeated the trick; but I kept telling myself it would be better to get it wrapped up at least 1 week ahead of departure to allow enough time for REGULAR processing fees. The only risk would be negs left behind if something happened that delayed things at the LAB. I wasn't sure about travelling w/ chemicals, and its obviously less feasible for c-41, but also there is a lot more labs with RUSH colour VS the few that even have ILFORD B&W machines.
Hi Lina, thanks for that video and for the initiative to start a petition for the right of hand-checking. With Frankfurt, Germany being my homebase, I actually realised that the CT scanners recently installed there made it very easy to get a hand-check. But in case you get a poorly trained security agent, the items on your checklist can be very useful to minimize the damage. Thanks! I hope Ilford can keep up with the jump-increase in demand for Delta 3200 over the holiday season? Keep up the good work! Cheers, Heiko
Thank you again for more of you work! I travelled to Berlin again recently and they finally hand checked my film! I did get film developed at FilmSpeedLab while there too. Flying from Edinburgh to London to Belfast I had some issue in Heathrow saying no at first but I asked to speak to manager and after some discussion they eventually agreed after saying the film was all being pushed and explaining what that was. Hopefully it gets easier! The Delta 3200 stickers is gonna be my next step too!
Hand checks during my travels required I open the foil packs on all my 120 film. They did not pull them out. They just want them open. I have saved 3200 wrappers and put lower ISO films in them. I have also just told them that all my film is developed at a higher speed regardless of what ISO is stamped on the outside. Long story short, I've never had a problem with hand checking in North America, South American, Central America and parts of Europe. Hand check your film!!!
Thank you so much for this video! Definitely the most helpful piece of information out there regarding film and X-rays, much needed! Let's hope airports change their policy on this matter.
Surely adox could sell an existing adox film at 3200 or 6400 pushed a few stops with appropriate dev times... like Delta 3200 is 1000 ISO or sell the boxes :D
Recent trips through Prague, refused hand check("its less than 1600, no worries") and even ran my bag through the xray scanner twice! Gonna fly through it again in May, I'm planning to print Delta 3200 stickers for my rolls and metal cases. Will see how that goes.
The last time I traveled I asked for a hand check of the gallon sized bag of film I was carrying. The TSA person looked at it, threw it in one of those trays and shoved into the xray scanner. He looked at me and said, "It'll be fine." So much for hand checking.
Just to add to your list. Manchester currently has Rapid Scan 620 x ray machines. Most of their staff appear not to know about film and x ray machines, which I used to my advantage to get a hand check a couple of weeks ago. Porto seems to have older x ray machines (Rapid Scan 620s?) with a couple of newer Rapid Scan 920CX machines - which I think fogged the edges of my Ilford FP4+ (no I don't understand that either). The staff there always want to put your film through the x ray machine no matter how much you plead and argue, with the latest staff member telling me "I think it will be alright" and "Thinks" is not really good enough.... the staff at all airports should be sufficiently trained in this.
I know most people most often travel via AIRplane; but what about BOATS (cruises) and even SITES/musuems!? I often put thought to this, like "How to explain this situation to a Security at Musuem of ______" who sees even less odd requests of such nature. I have read a few advice about cruises, but little info on POLICY as each PORT is different. Saw at least one person with a TLR on a cruise last year and I had a success once using the ZipLoc method in FL. At smaller ports where its up to the ship they had an older sign saying "Will not damage films under 1600"....but you never know. Maybe I will just stick to ISO 200 for these spots or sneak in some 110 (w/ no metal).
Hello Lina, yes we must act as a solid comunity. Can you arange to print the handcheque logo as a sticker that can be distributed among the comunity and fotoimpex ,for example, so that the x ray staff get used to the logo and what it meens for all of us. It is easy for them to dismiss us as individuals but as a comunity not so. Keep up the good work. Best wishes, Phillip.
Thanks Lina. As someone who travels often with film, I just ask for a hand search at each security check and hope to avoid at least some scanners. Of course I try to avoid the new CT scanners if there is a choice. It would be excellent news if there could be a universal agreement to hand check film, but as we are a pretty small minority I think it unlikely, sadly.
Travelled to Heathrow from China via Uzbekistan. No problems getting hand searches. Arrived in Heathrow going to Glasgow the security guy forced a x-ray search while smirking. There is no point taking film abroad now. There are no guarantees regarding hand checks.
I love your videos, Lina! Helpful and entertaining all the time! I never had problems when I asked for hand check of my films. However I will get a Delta 3200, I assume its price will rise soon :-) But I have a question: When developing in Hotels, what do you do with the used chemistry? Is there any chemistry that environment friendly enough so that it just can dumped into the sink? That would be great! I'll order it right now 🙂
Does anyone know what happens to instant film, like instax iso 800? I've also read that after developing the photos are safe from scanners, although few people claimed otherwise.
Hi Lina, I'm surprised to see that you pack your ziploc bag with boxed film. I travel with my 35mm rolls without boxes or plastic cases. I have even been requested to open the foil on rolls of 120 before being hand checked. I can't imagine that boxed film would pass security hand checks very easily. Have you not encountered an issue with that?
Hi! You're right, they should theoretically ask for opening boxes...it never ever happened to me! I mean, once I was asked to unroll a 120 film....... but just once.
Thanks for your video and your advices ! Regarding the x-ray machines, I often read that the employee can raise the intensity in order to see through a lead bag. But some others say that's not possible to do it. What's your opinion about it and with a CT scanner, can an emloyee raise the intensity ?
Usually, you just handed in your undeveloped films when working _locally_ . BW film was processed, dried and ready to print in under 30 Minutes. When working _abroad_ for the _news_ , you'd either send the film or developed negatives by courier. Getting the images quickly was more important than having perfect grain or such... When working _abroad for magazines_ , where time didn't matter that much, there probably were different procedures, depending on the publisher or wherer the photographer was a freelancer or not. Most photographers I know, took the films back home and tried to get the films hand-checked when flying. None of the pros bothered using safe bags! They said, airport would just crank the X-Ray up to the max, so the safe bag would make no difference. I used to work at a local newspaper and publisher. Later, I worked at a photo lab - one of the really good ones! I have no idea about how big players like for example National Geographic do it.
Before X-rays in airports they didn’t have to worry about it. International Press Photographers especially those in war zones would get what they needed and fly back, send a photographer friend as a courier, or put the film in the mail. Sometimes they could get newspaper couriers to handle it but basically, you just had to find a way and you wanted to be first to print so time was everything. If it was in a zone that was trying to stop the press, they had to find creative ways to get the film out of the country. The newspapers would develop them so they didn’t have to worry about chemicals while traveling. When x-rays first started out in airports, humans were a different breed and would be more respectful and look through film by hand. Post 9/11 it’s a hit or miss. I’ve heard so many amazing first-hand stories of the early days of photography, it’s really fascinating!
Dear Mrs. Besssonova. For my last flight I have taken a Geiger counter on board. When on the airport the count on a display was something like 0,15. When we reached 35000ft or above the count was 2,20 -> so some 20 times higher. I just wander if that could be the reason for film problems for high ISO films? What do you think?
Dear Darek, coincidentally, I also took a Geiger counter on board - and also was quite impressed by the high radiation in the air! I took an 800ISO film and flew 11 hours to Korea and back - so 22 in total. I have a reference roll at home, so I'm very curious to see if there is a difference!
Тупят обычно на входном этапе, а потом, при входе в зону отлёта, проверяют в ручную или на газовом анализаторе. Это самый неприятный этап в путешествиях на самолёте.
Do not bring empty boxes... they're going to check it... and you're standing there basically proving you committed fraud. Pretty dumb. Just bring actual 3200 film. It could however always be the same rolls every time.
I never get a hand check 😢 I always very polite and try to talk with them but still they always X-ray my film, in Poland, Spain, Italy etc :/ but for old scaners domke bag is very good :)
@@linabessonova i mangę to buy big one cheaper then normal price of small one so if I have small amount of film then I can double wrap and it is like you said bulletproof metod for old scanners. But for ct it is almost nothing for 400iso and above
Well there are no really true IR films, just extended red sensitivity. My assumption is, those react same, because the damage occurs on the green/blue end
I am so very confused right now. I can't wrap my head around someone - in 2024! - travelling and taking almost a dozen flights with film probably worth hundreds of Euros in their lugguage. How can this video be helpful to more than a handful of rich people around the world? And those people who actually travel that much for work, and not for leisure - how do you even make the time to shoot film? Does... not... compute... If you dev on the go, how do you properly dispose of the used chemicals?
Когда больной СПИД ом лечит дерматоз, он, как правило пользуется метиленовой синий, дерматоз проявляется в первую очередь в волосяной области, как правило рекомендации сбривать волосяной покров, но это с эстетической стороны бывает неприемлемо, особенно у девушек, как правило такие девушки красят волосы в синий цвет, вуалируя метиленовый синий. У вас, я так понял, реммисия? Поздравляю.
