Canada Post Air & X-rays (can I trust my film?)

[walter23]

I flew to the west coast the other day and preemptively mailed myself a few boxes of film (colour transparency, FP4+ and ekfe IR820). At the post office I decided to send it "XpressPost" which, it turns out, got it here by the next morning (it's a 12 hour drive plus ferry ride), so I suspect it was probably flown.

At that point I realized maybe xpresspost wasn't such a hot idea - air and X-rays.

Any of you have experience with this? I can't test the film, I have to either trust it or try to secure some fresh stuff out here and test it out once I get back home.

Ironically I had no problem getting a hand inspection (without them pulling the darkslides!) at the airport for my loaded film holders (which I didn't have time to put into boxes before flying) so that's my only definitely safe film now

[Snapshot]

I've accidentally packed film in checked baggage and found no loss of quality. Baggage x-rays are stronger than standard pre-flight passenger x-ray machines. However, it was 100 ISO film so I cannot vouch for higher speed film.

[tim_walls]

I can't really help your particular situation, but for future reference whenever I post film I clearly mark the envelope "PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL - DO NOT X-RAY"; I've no idea if it has any effect or not, but I've not had any trouble yet ;-).

Is there no way you could fire off a roll of film - with a few 'lenscap on' shots - and get it same-day processed in a local lab to reassure yourself?

[jnanian]

i can't comment on your particulars
but a year ago i flew from boston to basel
and my film was zapped by airport security
close to a dozen times between going and coming
and then ... last june the same thing.
my film was all asa 400 and below, slides, c41
black and white ..... , i pushed
a lot of it ... and i had no problems ...

again, different situation, different airlines
but no problems ...

[walter23]

Is there no way you could fire off a roll of film - with a few 'lenscap on' shots - and get it same-day processed in a local lab to reassure yourself?

It's 4x5 sheet film and I don't know that there's a lab that would do it here. I guess I could buy $20 worth of chemistry and try tray processing a couple of sheets in grandma's bathroom though it's not my ideal vacation passtime and a total waste of money

[tim_walls]

It's 4x5 sheet film and I don't know that there's a lab that would do it here. I guess I could buy $20 worth of chemistry and try tray processing a couple of sheets in grandma's bathroom though it's not my ideal vacation passtime and a total waste of money

Ahh, fair enough. Sounds like you need a friendly local APUGger who could do it for you

[Akki14]

Heathrow security guy wouldn't hand inspect my delta3200 or Pro800Z this past weekend claiming Kodak has tested their machines for up to 32 passes without issue :rolleyes: I've devved one of the delta3200 so far and it seems fine, after 3 handluggage x-ray passes.

[MP_Wayne]

One of the ongoing major beefs about current air security is the authorities DO NOT xray freight put on board commercial passenger flights. Of course, that brings into question the overall effectiveness (or not) of current security measures (not the topic here) for passengers.

As one earlier poster indicated, the checked luggage Xray is the one to worry about. The security on packages is so lax, you have little to fear. I have sent exposed film via air courier to Vancouver for processing, and have received everything back without issue.

Just get out and capture some art, enjoy yourself, and don't worry about it (and bring the exposed images home in your carry-on luggage).... Have fun!

[PHOTOTONE]

I have said this before, I will say it again. The film has to get to the stores someway. That way is shipping. If you order an overnight delivery of film for a job from a vendor, then it goes by air. I have to order every single sheet of film I use commercially as well as for my personal projects. I have never (in 30 years) had a box of color or b/w film suffer X-ray damage from shipping. Whether you ship film yourself, or a vendor ships film to you, it is all the same shipping services. There are no "special" shipping services for film that manufacturers and vendors use. Think about it. You need to not worry, be happy, make photos. If you actually have a store locally that stocks film..well, how do you think it got on their shelves, elves? It was shipped to them by common carriers, from a warehouse. The manufacturer shipped the film from their plant to the warehouse, the warehouse shipped the film to the store.

[PHOTOTONE]

At that point I realized maybe xpresspost wasn't such a hot idea - air and X-rays.

Air travel is only a hazard to film if it is in your "checked" luggage. Freight does not go thru this process.