Film in checked bag

[Miguel Salhuana]

Hello all,

I am in need of some information. I had to check my carry on since it exceeded the weigh restrictions on Qantas. I did so before security and before thinking about it I handed the bag with the 4x5 film ISO 100 in it to the TSA and they put it through the checked bag machine. My question is has anyone ever been through this and was the film any good after going through the xray machine? I looked for a post that would answer my questions but I have not found one recent one yet. The films in question are Efke 100, Fuji provia 50 and 100. Thanks.

Regards,

Miguel

[Vaughn]

I would think you have a 1% chance (probably less) of the film still being any good. The machines for inspecting checked baggage are many times stronger than the ones used for carry-ons. Film in checked in baggage is highly not recommended by everyone.

Sorry.

[Daniel Stone]

oops... film I'd say is now 95% toasted, those checked bag x-rays are bad news bears for film

hopefully they weren't exposed yet, and if you're in transit, you can buy more film once you arrive.

-Dan

[Noah A]

I wouldn't necessarily trash it, but I'd definitely test a few sheets from each box. And even if the tests don't show obvious fogging, I personally would not use it for any critical work that can't be re-shot.

[Ian David]

The Kodak info sheet below may be of interest:
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/servi.../tib5201.shtml

Ian

[Sevo]

Test it. The front office/check in counter scanning machines tends to be the same as for carry-on, so you might be lucky. But if you were at an airport where additional scans are performed centrally in the baggage handling, the films will generally be toast.

[Tim Meisburger]

I'm afraid it is trash. I once shot for a month in Indonesia and accidentally left my exposed but undeveloped film in my checked back and all of it was ruined; with stripes from the x-ray. I was so traumatized by this event that I now carry chemicals with me and develop on the road. I would go ahead and shoot a test sheet from each box anyway, but I'm not hopeful. At least you had not shot it yet...

[Fred L]

see other thread. maybe mods can merge them ?

[Brian Ellis]

I'm afraid it is trash. I once shot for a month in Indonesia and accidentally left my exposed but undeveloped film in my checked back and all of it was ruined; with stripes from the x-ray. I was so traumatized by this event that I now carry chemicals with me and develop on the road. I would go ahead and shoot a test sheet from each box anyway, but I'm not hopeful. At least you had not shot it yet...

Wow. Really sorry to hear of your Indonesia experience - shades of William Henry Jackson and his famous slipping mule. And I thought I had a miserable experience when I lost a week's worth of photographs in Maine (after traveling from Florida) to a defective Readyload holder.