Can airline scanning equipment mess up my film
Posted on: Thu, 2006-05-18 22:22
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Can airline scanning equipment mess up my film
I haven't flown a lot. I do most of my traveling by car. But since we're thinking of taking a trip to Australia and I obviously cannot drive there, I thought I'd try to find out this information ahead of time so I can prepare. If I take pictures while I am there, will my film be safe coming back through the airline scanning equiment, or should I probably have it developed while I'm there? And, is unopened film safe, or should I purchase the film when I get there? Would I be better off just sticking to the digital camera?
You should be very careful with films with ISO ratings of 400 or higher as those can really get affected by the X-Ray machines. Most airlines suggest that you take them out of your luggage and pass them to the guys at the airport for seperate inspection. I don't use film anymore and digital equipment is usually not effected. Check this thread for a discussion of airport scanners effects on memory cards.
Having your film developed in Australia is also a good option, although most photographers I now have their preferences when it comes to photo labs. Not all are equal and once they have found one they like, they won't give their precious negatives to just about anyone.
Andre
Check out my Photos
Wow, I just looked at your photos. You're an amazing photographer. Thanks for tips about the film too. I'm probably not going to make it to Australia, so I probably don't have to worry about it anyway. But who knows, maybe next year things will be better. After reading this thread and the other thread about the memory cards, I've pretty much decided that I'm just going to take my digital camera with me on vacation. Seems like a lot less to worry about. And, since we always take the laptop wherever we go, if I can get an internet connection maybe I'll even email some of the best pictures to myself just in case (I'm a born worrier. lol).
Or simply back up the photos on your laptops hard drive. It's always important to have them at least in two places. I have had memory cards die on me for no obvious reason. I lost a whole bunch of photos from Lassan Volcanic NP this way. If you spent a lot of time to get those in the first place, its devestating.
Also once back home, you need to backup your photos. A lot of people had their hard drive crash. They lost all their photos.
Some people are o.k. to burn them onto DVDs (always make two copies with two different brands). You need to store them away from home too, so that a fire cannot wipe out all your photos.
I have too many to even do that. I keep several external hard drives. I intend to store one of them at work, but as it is it is still laying around at home.
Andre
Check out my Photos
We usually burn them onto disks, and usually there is more than one copy floating around because family members tend to want copies. I believe I could probably replace the majority of pictures we've taken since we've been married because we've always given copies to our parents.
My husband has often mentioned external hard drives, but we've just never gotten around to that. I think he wants it mostly for his website graphics and things like that, but it would be nice to have one for photo backup too.
Well. I am not a professional photographer (yet) but I imagine if my income depended on my photos, there is no such thing as being too careful. I would probably even have a safe deposit box somewhere where I could stash the hard drive.
External harddrives are cheap compared to a total loss of income for those people who depend on it. For a while I have tried to back my photos up on DVD's but I gave up when I exceeded 15 DVD's. I don't know where I am at right now. I don't trust optical drives (CD, DVD). I have seen many of them go bad.
Andre
Check out my Photos