Mailing Exposed Film From Europe

[lee nadel]

can you mail film safely back from europe.

[Jeffrey Goggin]

I've never been any further east than the New Jersey shore but if it were _my_ film, I'd use a courier -- FedEX, DHL, etc. -- rather than put it in the regular mail. Even then, I wouldn't put it all in the same package or ship it all on the same day ... better safe than sorry.

[jnantz]

i have looked into using fedex and ups to ship things from france to the us. if you call the local fedex/ups 1-800 phone numbers they will give you information about their affiliates in european countries. at least in france, if there isn't an "afflilate" nearby to you, they will send someone to meet you and pick up your package.

one thing to remember about mailing unexposed film, negatives or actual prints. if they are considered to be "one of a kind" fedex or ups will not insure them. sending in separate packages might be more expensive, but it will save you a lot of trouble if something happens to you work as it is flying to the states.

[Snowy Smith]

Dear Lee, I have posted film back to South Africa from all over the World and have always received my film. Some times late but I eventually received them. Some times the parcels have obviously been opened. I have even send film from some remote places in Africa. The Golden Rule never put all your eggs in one basket and that goes for developing as well. I use THREE parcels each posted from different Post Offices. Films 1,4,7,10, etc in No: one parcel post or for developing. Films 2,5,8,11, etc in No: two parcel post or for developing. Films 3,6,9,12, etc in No: three parcel post or for developing. In 1978 I did a 6 months trip filming underwater with 3 different cameras and 322 films all came back from developing totally black. After a big fight they replaced the film but I lost some rare shots of Ragged Toothed Sharks. I know it was not my fault and that taught me a big lesson. I never send in more than 10 films at a time for developing and I always use the system above. Good Luck, Best Regards, Snowy Smith.