Testing Airport X-Rays on Film

I did a test of the effects of X-rays and CT airport on ISO 25 and 400 film.
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[@GlaciaDay]

I’m pretty experienced traveling with film inside Japan. You can always ask them to hand check your film rolls. If you have one roll inside your camera, they will politely ask you to take one shot to confirm it. Hong Kong and Thailand were also pretty nice when you ask for hand checking. Mainland China was a different story though. Staff at airport were nice but in other places there were a bit of problem. You are required to go through Xray scanners at metro or train stations, they were not that willing to help you just for a few rolls of film.

[@SprocketHoles]

Being offered a hand check at the airport was a nice cherry on top to end my trip there.

[@ycphotography-go3mz]

I travelled to Mainland China quite frequently before, the behaviour of the staff at the security checkpoint of metro and railway stations are usually terrible. When I was in secondary school, I attempted a school trip to Xiamen, when I started travel back to Hong Kong from railway station, the woman worked at the security checkpoint asking questions about the film with me with using rude speech! And the reason that those buggers always behave rude to the other people, is to show off the power they are holding.

[@GlaciaDay]

@@ycphotography-go3mz that is sad. I don't even understand why they have security checks for metro and train stations in the first place, what is the point.

[@ycphotography-go3mz]

@@GlaciaDay I could actually tell you some of the reasons why the security checkpoint (it is quite a long story), as I did live in Mainland china and Hong Kong for two decades at least. Before the year of 2010, the public security is quite terrible in most of cities in Mainland, as the people from the remote areas/provinces heading to the coastal cities/provinces for job opportunities. And the sad news is those groups have a high crime rate, as they did not have a diploma or a diploma up to the level of primary school usually (secondary and high school diploma holders from remote areas/provinces were very less due to the economy and family issues). Those people are belongs to disadvantage social group, as most of them did not have any connections with the people in cities. So they were always being treated unfairly by their boss of even the government employees in the cities. Due to the situation they are facing and the level of their education, number of them will prefer to solve the issues with violence. For example like making troubles in public transport facilities or government offices. To avoid those safety risks, the public transport facilities like metro and railway stations start set up security checkpoint to reduce the risk of crime breakout.

[@francowu643]

I live in Beijing and sorry to hear about your story. But every time i traval with film at metro and tell the staff that i have flims then i will not be checked. I just open my bag and show them there's film and they don't even touch the film. i'm not sure what they do in train station but at metro, i have never been checked by X-ray

[@illitrait]

...easily the most succinctly informative video dealing with this specific issue on YT. Props.

[@GirdHerd]

Great tests and excellent advice. I just did a round trip with film in my carry-on camera bag and forgot to ask for a hand check at either airport. The four rolls are all 100 ISO so I'm hoping I won't notice any fogging after developing. I'll take your advice and not push the film developing.

[@Fluterra]

So why don’t you tell us how they looked after developing?

[@oscatMeow]

any update. i’ve been through 5 airport scanners thinking they were only x-ray, but 2 of those were possibly CT. what was ur results

[@Raine-Cat]

Recenlty I went to Glasgow from Heathrow airport. Security at Heathrow was perfectly fine to hand check the; Kodak 200 Gold, Cinestill 800T and some unused Polaroid SX-70 Colour film I had on me. But when it came time to fly back home, Glasgow airport insisted that all the film had to go through x-ray, despite me having it all in clear bags and asked for it to be hand checked... I've yet to have it developed, but that was quite disappointing as I had gotten some pretty good shots on my trip.

[@b6983832]

In most cases I've had no problems, but one roll of Ekrar was destroyed recently by an airport scanner. All the higher ISO films in the same bag were unaffected. I had one roll of Ektar, several rolls of Porta 400 and a couple of Ilford HP-5 with me. This was in Helsinki, Finland, where they routinely refuse any hand inspections. CAT scanners are in use.

[@mickcookson8009]

Great info for the traveler

[@SprocketHoles]

Glad it was helpful!

[@brads.3674]

well done! Thanks for the testing and for sharing your results.

[@augustaugustaugust9568]

Thank you very much for your experiment!!!! This is such helpful information!

[@panagiotiskalapaseas6980]

For my last trip, have with me a Cinestill 800t, a Rollei Crossbird 200 and a Cinestill 400d, they xray them 3 times and nothing happens! I develop them and photos appear beyond good! Think the only problem is with the infrared b&ws ~ all film shoot at box speed though~

[@devroombagchus7460]

Thanks! Excellent test. My compliments. I could not have carried out your procedure, if I had known, when I lived in the USA. No matter how friendly I asked, my 400 and 800 ISO films went through the machine. Standard procedure! Underpaid and overloaded staff? All films were Portra and some turned out to have been affected. Apparently the machines differ greatly. The same treatment was/is at Heathrow.

[@nathanpiperphoto]

I've flown throughout the USA dozens of times with 35mm film and never had this problem. Even in insanely busy airports like Miami during peak tourist times, where it would have been easy for them to tell me to f-off they've still been accommodating. If you give yourself enough time and you explain the situation well enough to the TSA staff, they will do their hand checks and swab around the exterior of each 35mm film canister. Just make sure you hand them the film rolls in a clear plastic bag marked, and make sure have no film in your cameras. This is even more imperative nowadays as every major airport in the USA has new high-power CT scanners that affect film much worse than the old x-ray scanners.

[@tundrusphoto4312]

Thank you for this - and all of your great videos.

[@SprocketHoles]

Glad you like them!

[@Jsitu93]

Thank you this video was helpful! I strictly only shoot film, but I think maybe as an alternative, If you can purchase the film in the country you are shooting and get it developed there as well would probably be easiest.

[@davidmascorro5636]

I just traveled to Texas from California and ask for 1 particular roll to be hand checked but didn't realized I had 2 more rolls in bag :{, went thru twice ,coming and going !!

[@DesertPunks]

How'd they develop?

[@The_Mathues]

I would’ve loved if you showed how the images would have developed to be! I’m not to familiar how it’ll develop

[@paulherron1933]

Good info. May stick with digital from now on. Cheers

[@sneakingelephant]

Toronto is great for hand checking. London is adamant about xraying anything other than basically 3200 iso film at this point

[@bardofhighrenown]

Thanks so much! Very helpful information!

[@juanlatorre8939]

Great test ! Thank you! My question is: When the film travels from the factory to retailers in other continents all over the world, isn’t it scanned for security in customs anyway? Thanks again!

[@etienneportail5122]

Thank you very much; very instructive !

[@iphoneskidad]

very informative thanks. were heading to the philippines and japan and will definitely shoot some b&w film but mostly digital. maybe i should bring my developing tank ... haha just a thought

[@BryHong]

Nice test. I love it. I've been doing a lot of testing with airport x-rays in the last year. I had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago going through Narita terminal 3. They had signs saying that all film needed to be declared and hand checked. I thought maybe it was because they had the new CT scanners (I haven't run into any in my travels, yet) but they looked like the same scanners I sent film through in Incheon a couple days later 🤷‍♀ At any rate, I've now run ISO film through up to 14 x-rays with little or no negative effects and so I'm traveling with film MORE now than ever before haha.

[@vitmahong]

i forgot 5 rolls of tmax 400 and 100 in the checked luggage this morning, i dont know if it was destroyed or not :(

[@BryHong]

@@vitmahong I doubt it. Even by the results of this video, it's not going to be totally ruined. I put a roll of Lomo 400 in checked luggage as an experiment and you can see the results in my shorts :)

[@ahenryrose]

nice test, thanks for doing this :) one question: why does the 25 control strip look so dark? just to throw in my experience here with this "problem": i have had no trouble getting hand checked film in the united states or in japan. however, i often forget to ask. for this reason i often travel with my film in a lead pouch. if i forget and send it through the scanner, it will get pulled aside and then hand checked. recently i forgot the lead pouch and the hand check, and sent 8 rolls of exposed film through the carry-on scanner in US/Canada customs! finger's crossed. ack.

[@MakingMonroe]

Nice video thank you!

[@nathanpiperphoto]

In the USA getting your film hand checked is a must now. Over the past several years every airport in the USA has switched from traditional x-ray scanners to new high-powered CT scanners. These CT scanners WILL completely ruin your film in just one pass, no matter the speed of your film. If you are flying with film in the USA just have your i's dotted and t's crossed and the TSA will accommodate your request 99% of the time. Always give yourself an extra 30-60 mins to get through security, have the film cassettes out of the canisters inside a marked clear plastic bag, and make sure you have no film loaded in your cameras. The worst that's ever happened to me is they detect a certain chemical from swabbing the film cassettes, and require they check all your bags and do another body scan again.

[@SprocketHoles]

Its amazing how far being polite and prepared to make their job as easy a possible can get you

[@nathanpiperphoto]

Precisely

[@andrewwright9512]

Would it be easier to arrange film ahead of time to be waiting for you in your destination cities, or planning to go to a camera shop as soon as you arrive? Just a thought.

[@SprocketHoles]

I bring it with me and ask for hand checks.

[@danc2014]

What are the darker lines across your film? Did the xray leak in past the film guides fog are not always even due to the metal gaps in the film holder.

[@SprocketHoles]

That was from me transferring the film into the reusable cans. RPX has a clear base and can have light piping issues. I taped the film in the light and transferred in the dark.

[@user-de1jw5kh2x]

Poor me. When i come back to Indonesia from Malaysia, Malaysia staff imigration said that i must put my roll film in xray, meanwhile i have permission by their. But wtf they are so bad 😢

[@PaulFerg279]

A great test!

[@Fluterra]

Did you use a lead Domke bag?

[@SprocketHoles]

Nope. I haven't bothered to buy one

[@Fluterra]

@@SprocketHoles Get one- it shouldn't change the film at all.

[@joerg_koeln]

There are also modern CT Scanners, which ruin every film. Hand checking seems to be the only option to avoid damage.

[@duratorque]

Tried getting my films hand inspected at Stansted and Malta. Both refused. Had to go through x ray. Let's see what my photos come out like.

[@popcorny11]

Would love an update, curious to know. Thanks in advance!

[@MrocznyTechnik]

Here you have much better approach with control sample and detailed description of experiment. TLDW: Don't X-ray your film.

[@rrr324sds]

Sorry to disapoint you, but traveling by plane with digital is much worser, because on the high altitude same x-ray will end up dead pixels in your full frame sensor(Officialy proven information).

[@SprocketHoles]

Ive heard that but the camera corrects it for a normal amount of flying.

[@roybixby6135]

For me airports were always a concern for film. I'm was hoping modern X-Ray equipment is less aggressive than decades ago... 🦘

[@popcorny11]

This, exactly. You would think that the modern equipment would be more efficient and yet its worse now for film. Its obvious that damaging film was not one of the design considerations.