Traveling by Plane with 8x10 Gear

[Robert Kalman]

For 8x10 I would still carry on my equipment and film. For US flights my backpack fits the overhead bins. I carry the film in a separate bag so it doesn't sit in the xray machine while they are trying to figure out what my camera is. I check the tripod and extra film holders (my backpack holds 3 holders). I even carry on my tripod head. If the loose my checked bag I can still shoot because most places I can get a tripod. Another way to carry-on an 8x10 system would be to use a wheeled pilots/catalog case. These are made even to international carry-on standards and will hold 8x10 gear.

Pete,

The pilots/catalog case is a great idea. I just did a check and there are nearly two dozen to choose from. Do you have one to recommend?

[dhirsch]

I carry my 8x10" in an Airport Accelerator Backpack which fits in the overhead bin. Three holders, two or three boxes of film, light meter and accessories. Two lenses and a tripod are going in my checked luggage. Film gets x-rayed every time, never had any problem.

[BradS]

When I have travelled with 8x10, the camera and lenses (just two lenses) went in a pelican case with a zip tie through the padlock hole (like JP above). The pelican case can go by UPS, FedEx or regular mail just as is...the P.O. is quite used to seeing these in fact. The pelican case can also fly with me as checked baggage.

I always keep the film with me in a carry-on bag. I've come to the conclusion that it is far safer to simply let the film run through the carry on baggage scanner machine without making a fuss about it. If you ask for a physical inspection of sheet film these days, they almost always want to "open the box and look inside. Rarely, will you find an agent that "gets it".

[StoneNYC]

I would just carry all Fuji Acros100, my guess is the sheet film package is so dark you could open it in daylight. I once held it up to the sun and couldn't see through it... It's probably light proof without the box. I haven't tested the theory yet, but I think I'm going to soon.

[BradS]

Stone,
We could go on for hours talking about how to carry sheet film on a plane...There are many here who've done many times...I actually used to ask for a physical inspection...once even got a TSA agent who took me, my film and changing bag aside to a little room and did it 'right'. He was excited and told me they were trained using a dark bag...that was a rare case. I get tired of the hassle. Simple fact is, the machine they put carry-on bags through has never harmed any film of mine...and I have let lots of film go through them now. So, I just avoid the whole issue and reduce the risk of film getting damaged. I just put it through the machine without saying anything about it. Never a problem this way.

[StoneNYC]

Stone,
We could go on for hours talking about how to carry sheet film on a plane...There are many here who've done many times...I actually used to ask for a physical inspection...once even got a TSA agent who took me, my film and changing bag aside to a little room and did it 'right'. He was excited and told me they were trained using a dark bag...that was a rare case. I get tired of the hassle. Simple fact is, the machine they put carry-on bags through has never harmed any film of mine...and I have let lots of film go through them now. So, I just avoid the whole issue and reduce the risk of film getting damaged. I just put it through the machine without saying anything about it. Never a problem this way.

I've also had that experience, however I've also had an experience where my Kodachrome 64 that's right 64 ASA SPEED film got hit with x-rays and fogged (actually stripes in a pattern).

This was in 2010, not ages ago, and I just don't trust x-ray anymore.

We each have our own method, hopefully it works for us.

[Drew Bedo]

My TSA story: In 2012 we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. I brought two boxes of Velvia 100 and a 50 sheet box of Tri-X 320. At security screening I asked for a hand check of the Tri-X. They took it away while I waited. It came back with the factory seals broken (well—OK). When I loaded the film,I found that the inside package had also been opened. I loaded a few holders and shot them. At home, all were fogged.


This summer I flew to Portland to visit a college friend, then flew to Seattle to meet my family for a cruse. Every time we re-boarded the ship, all carry on items were x-rayed too. I hadn't expected that. Overall, the film was x-rayed five or six times. The Velvia 100 did ok. The Tri-X was washed out. Now I have 25 sheets (1/2 a box, unopened) of Tri-X, that there are serious doubts about.

We are going to Calif next month for a family event, and will spend 2-3 days in Yosemite. I am only bringing Velvia. I may only shoot Tri-X at home now. film is just too expensive now-a-days.

[Gary Tarbert]

I've also had that experience, however I've also had an experience where my Kodachrome 64 that's right 64 ASA SPEED film got hit with x-rays and fogged (actually stripes in a pattern).

This was in 2010, not ages ago, and I just don't trust x-ray anymore.

We each have our own method, hopefully it works for us.

Hope those 40 sheets of Velvia 50 will be o.k . Don't they get x rayed in baggage anyway ? so how do you avoid?

[StoneNYC]

Hope those 40 sheets of Velvia 50 will be o.k . Don't they get x rayed in baggage anyway ? so how do you avoid?

The reason that some of the film got x-rayed was because it was in my camera, and therefore they would not and inspect the camera, so they had to throw it through the x-ray machine, all the film that was him inspected was just fine and I normally insist on hand inspecting, but they told me that they wanted to remove the lens to look inside the body of the camera, and since my camera had a cloth shutter, I agreed to let it go through the x-ray machine, so they must have really look hard at the camera body and scanned a bunch of times I assume or increased the x-ray power.

Either way this could happen with any film that was sitting next to electronic equipment where they needed to investigate further.

In the future I will probably ship all of my film ahead of time, I don't think they really x-ray all of the US Postal Service mail etc., I mean not at the same rate, that would be insane if they actually did think of all the mail that is sent around. And obviously our film seems just fine when mailed to us initially from the store, or mailed to the store, so I figure pre-shipping your film is the best bet.

Remember when you stop by my house to pick up the 8x10 Velvia50, your original plan was to shoot it in the US and develop it in the U.S. when you took your trip, so you weren't planning on bringing it back to Australia.

At that point it seemed kind of silly to ship it to you in Australia when you were driving right past my house anyway.

I'm sure the film is ok, and based on how Fuji designs packaging, I would even suspect that the material they use is resistant to x-rays anyway, but that's just a guess.

The one nice thing about the Fujifilm is that on the back of the packaging it does say do not x-ray, so you could in theory show this to the TSA inspectors and that would be proof that this particular film needed to be hand inspected. And at least in all of the situations I have had traveling, about 10 times with hand inspection, they always do it sort of in front of me, and they are pleasant and responsive when you ask if you can just watch them because of the specialty of the film, or to explain to them that they cannot open the packaging etc., they usually seem to understand.

I try not to sound too nervous, because then they get suspicious, but I make it a point to explain to them the price of each box, and that is why I'm being so careful.

I compare my work to ansel Adams, because most know who that is, and I say "i'm like one of those old guys who put their head under the black cloth" they usually think that is neat and that goes a long way.

My TSA story: In 2012 we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. I brought two boxes of Velvia 100 and a 50 sheet box of Tri-X 320. At security screening I asked for a hand check of the Tri-X. They took it away while I waited. It came back with the factory seals broken (well—OK). When I loaded the film,I found that the inside package had also been opened. I loaded a few holders and shot them. At home, all were fogged.


This summer I flew to Portland to visit a college friend, then flew to Seattle to meet my family for a cruse. Every time we re-boarded the ship, all carry on items were x-rayed too. I hadn't expected that. Overall, the film was x-rayed five or six times. The Velvia 100 did ok. The Tri-X was washed out. Now I have 25 sheets (1/2 a box, unopened) of Tri-X, that there are serious doubts about.

We are going to Calif next month for a family event, and will spend 2-3 days in Yosemite. I am only bringing Velvia. I may only shoot Tri-X at home now. film is just too expensive now-a-days.

OMG!!! Did you get your money back for the film? 50 sheets of that film is super expensive! That's also "destruction of property".

[Drew Wiley]

I can't speak for international flights, but anything TSA I'd just leave the film in a check-in bag and let them X-Ray it. I've done careful densitometer readings after multiple such exposures and find their claim credible that you don't need to worry about anything ASA 400 or slower, which includes all sheet film. But I give it a margin of error and generally travel with ACROS and Ektar, which are distinctly slower. I did formally test TMY400 which got TSA X-rayed a total of 6 times on one trip, and couldn't see any signs of fbf issues. I'd never ever put anything of value thru checked-in luggage. But not all film boxes are created the same. Some EU boxes allow light leaks at corners once you open the inner black wrap, and ACROS boxes only have two clamshells, not three, so you want to always rewrap the foil enclosure inside, or else transfer the film to 3-shell Kodak boxes. There are a lot of little issues that can trip you up if you're not aware of them. Trying to get a claim thru TSA after an incident is like pulling teeth from a cobra.