Going to Italy via Germany. How do I get my Infrared film through the airport X-Ray machines? Travel tips? Thanks, Peter

-- Peter Griggs (tuttgriggs@aol.com), October 19, 1999

Answers

Do not allow any of your film to go through x-ray machines. Always arrive early and insist on hand inspection.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@unblinkingeye.com), October 20, 1999.

Ed, apparently you haven't traveled overseas lately. The only way I can think of to get it through is limit it to 1-2 rolls and double wrap it in very, very small lead bags. Don't even bother to try in Switzerland or Isreal. The only really sure way is to have it developed commercially before you head back. Mitch

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), October 20, 1999.

Bill has a good point -- the right to hand inspection exists only in the US. Even if you get one, the probability that any inspector will agree not to look in the film can for infrared is very close to zero. Fortunately, airport lighting is generally deficient in infrared, and so exposing the cassette to interior light will probably not fog your film. In my experience, hand inspection is not granted in Great Britain, Brussels, and Frankfurt (and most of Russia). Carrying a few rolls in ones pockets sometimes works, but in Europe I have had them insist on my running my sportcoat thru the X-ray as well.

-- John Lehman (ffjal@uaf.edu), October 20, 1999.

Last month I travelled from Dresden to London Heathrow and back to Frankfurt. I had a piece of Neopan 1600 film with me which shows a gray horizontal line, about 5-6 mm wide, told the security stuff, what I would have high speed films with me, not suitable for X-ray. In Dresden they had a quick look in this small plastic bag, because they have never heard of 3200 films. At London one officer opened every plastic canister one by one, but not removing the film from it.

In my cameras I had Plus-X and 200 colour slide, which went thru the hand lugguage X-ray. No problems.

Konica 750 and SFX 200 are not that sensitive to light, so try a hand check. Kodak I would rather risk the hand lagguage X-ray, than open the box in bright light.

I suppose the X-rays in Germany are not that strong.

-- Wolfram Kollig (kollig@ipfdd.de), October 25, 1999.

I send my film by Federal Express. They don't xray. I even send sheet film this way domestically.

-- John Boeckeler (Boeck@mail.tds.net), October 26, 1999.