5 European Airports... Film Was Never X-Rayed. This Brief Note Might Work For You Too!

[Scott Rosenberg]

good day...

i just got back from Europe, having gone through security checks in Paris, Budapest, Florence, Rome and Barcelona, and managed to have my film hand checked every step of the way.

according to the TSA, it is your right to request an item be hand checked in the states. however, when traveling overseas, it seems to be to the discretion of the security agent as to whether or not to grant you a hand inspection. on the trip out, my film was scanned once, as i could not communicate adequately with the security agent. fearing the additive effects x-raying has on film, i thought i would try a new approach on the trip back to the states.

for a part of the trip i stayed at a farmhouse in tuscany. the owner understood just enough english so that i was able to explain my situation to him. he wrote the following note in italian, which i simply handed to the security agents every time i had to go through a check, and not once was my request refused. the note read:

per cortesia non passare queste pellicole sotto i raggi x perche verrebbero danneggiate. (professional camera film). per cortesia ispezionatele a mano. grazie.

as i said before, this message in italian worked very well for me, so i thought it might prove useful to some of you as well.

maybe some of you multi-lingual users of the forum can translate it into other languages for those traveling to yet other parts of the world.

hope this helps, scott

[Jimmy Peguet]

In french :

Serait-il possible, s'il vous plaît, d'éviter d'exposer ces films photographiques pour appareil professionnel aux rayons X qui risqueraient de les endommager, et de les soumettre à une inspection manuelle ? Merci.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

In Spanish:

Por favor no inspeccione esta pelìcula con rayos X ya que es posible que sea arruinada por ellos. Si es posible me gustaria que me extienda la cortesia de inspeccionar la pelìcula a mano. Muchas gracias.

[Andre Noble]

In English:

I from Canada.

I no American not.

[Hans Berkhout]

Had my TMX100 xrayed @ 4 airports this spring for Tuscany trip. fbf on return 0.06.

[jose angel]

You have been so lucky. I have visited four spanish airports in the last two months and they always refused hand inspection of all films (sometimes more than 20 120´s... grrrr!). Last week it was the first time I see a woman giving to the policeman only his 800 ASA films. The rest of their equipment, including the rest of the film, passed throught the X-ray machine.

I have asked all the times for hand inspection, specially for non used APX 400´s (X-rayed for several times) and they always refuse to do it. Usually, they are not so helpful about it.

For those suspicious, I belong to the most common arial race, every morning take a bath, and also comb my short hair with a side line after washing my teeth.

[Luís Pereira Ribeiro]

In portuguese:

Por favor verifique manualmente estes filmes pois uma análise com raios-X poderá danificá-los. Muito obrigado.

[kreig]

While traveling in the countries of Japan and China, I have never been refused hand inspecitions on films, although some are very extreme opening every sealed and unsealed box of the 54 rolls I was carrying. Have not yet tried traveling with sheet film. The really big problem is that often in China, they will also x-ray in buss and train stations. Often I am unprepared for this and my film is buried deeply. I dont trust the machines outside of airports.

[Ole Tjugen]

In Norwegian: "Denne esken inneholder profesjonell film, og jeg vil vennligst be om at den blir manuellt undersøkt og ikke kjørt gjennom røntgenmaskinen. Takk."

But I don't think it works - it never has for me!

[Jean-Louis Llech]

EN. Please, do not scan these films under X-rays (Films for professional photographic camera), because they would be irremediably damaged. Please make a hand inspection. Thank you very much for your comprehension.
FR. S’il vous plaît, ne passez pas ces pellicules aux Rayons X (Pellicules pour chambre photographique professionnelle), car ils seraient irrémédiablement endommagés. Soyez assez aimable pour les inspecter à la main. Merci beaucoup pour votre compréhension.
GE. Bitte vorstellen Sie diese Filme den Röntgenstrahlen nicht (Filme für professionelle fotographische Camera), denn sie würden unheilbar beschädigt. Sein Sie bitte liebenswert, um eine Handkontrolle zu machen. Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis.
NL. Als hij u bevalt, gaat niet deze films over tot de Stralen X (Films voor professionele fotografische kamer), want zij zouden hopeloos beschadigd worden. Is vrij vriendelijk om ze te inspecteren aan de hand. Bedankt veel voor uw begrip.
SP. Por favor, no pasan estas películas a los Rayos X (Películas para cámara fotográfica profesional), ya que se dañarían irremediablemente. Sea bastante agradable para examinarlos a la mano. Muchas gracias para su comprensión.
PO. Por favor, não passam estas películas aos Raios X (Películas para câmara fotográfica profissional), porque são danificados irremediavelmente. Sejam bastante amáveis para inspeccionar-o à mão. Obrigado muitas para a vossa compreensão.
IT. Per cortesia, non passate queste pellicole sotto i raggi X (pellicole per camera fotografica professionale), perche sarebbero irrimediabilemente danneggiati. Per cortesia, ispezionate alla mano. Molte grazie per la vostra comprensione.
GR. Εάν σας αρέσει, δεν παρουσιάζει αυτές ταινίες στις ακτίνες Χ (Ταινίες που χρησιμοποιούνται για μια επαγγελματική φωτογραφική μηχανή), θα βλάπτονταν οριστικά. Είστε αρκετά ευχάριστος να αυτόες επιθεωρήσει στο χέρι. Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ για την κατανόησή σας.
RU. Пожалуйста, не представьте эти пленки под рентгеновскими снимками (пленками для профессиональной фотокамеры), потому что они окончательно были бы повреждены. Пожалуйста сделайте осмотр руки. Большое спасибо для вашего понимания.

[Shogo]

Sorry Jean-Louis Llech, but I don't think anyone would understand your Russian, at least the portion where you ask of the inspection of hands instead of hand inspection. Here what it should be like:

RU: Огромная просьба, не пропускать эти пленки через рентген (пленки для профессионального использования), так как они будут безнадежно повреждены излучением. Пожалуйста, проведите ручной досмотр пленок. Огромное спасибо за Вашу помощь и понимание.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

And your spanish would probably cause the opposite effect. Your phrase "sea bastante agradable" is a confrontational one where the person inspecting the film would probably pass it through the x rays just for being an ass......

[Jean-Louis Llech]

Shogo :
Thanks. You're right, and it is a very good thing for everybody to have these mistakes corrected by people who speak these languages better than I do.
About russian, I didn't use this language since a very long time, and I was not quite sure of my translation.
Jorge : Cuál sería su traducción ?



If we have several reactions like yours to this post, we will probably obtain a very good and complete "please don't fog my films" note. ;>)