Roger, How about digital cameras and their floppies? Safe or no? Regards, Leon Wise >Don't pack that camera film in your trunk >By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY > >Americans may be safer than ever taking a flight this summer, thanks to new= >=20 >anti-terrorism efforts. Alas, you can't say the same for the film they're=20 >carrying. Quite simply: The X-rays are flying at airports like never before= >=20 >=97 and it's becoming harder for fliers to keep film out of harm's way.= > "It's=20 >been a mess since September's (terrorist) attacks," says Bob Krist, a=20 >globe-trotting travel photographer who shoots for National Geographic=20 >Traveler and other magazines. Precautions to protect film that "were=20 >optional before now have become a necessity." What's a snap-happy,=20 >camera-toting traveler to do? For starters: "Never, ever again put anything= >=20 >that is photosensitive in checked bags," warns James Blamphin of film giant= >=20 >Kodak. Even before last September's attacks, airports had begun installing= >=20 >new FAA-certified explosive-detection systems that scan checked bags with=20 >super-powerful X-rays. And the pace of installations has quickened, with=20 >more than 50 U.S. airports now using them. > >The machines will "ruin every picture, guaranteed," says Blamphin =97 even= >=20 >those in lead-lined bags. "The machines are so powerful that (the X-rays)=20 >will go through the bags. Don't do it." The only safe way to transport film= >=20 >on planes is to put it in carry-on bags, and even that isn't fail-safe. The= >=20 >good news: Unlike the new equipment for checked bags, the X-ray equipment=20 >used to inspect carry-on bags emits very low levels of radiation that=20 >experts say won't noticeably damage film during a single pass. >The not-so-good news: The machines aren't completely harmless, and while=20 >the effects are small, they're also cumulative. >"If you put film through (the machines) 16 times, you might start to see=20 >something," says Krist, who writes the travel photography column for=20 >Popular Photography magazine. "It's the people on the multi-city trips that= >=20 >have to worry." Most serious photographers request that inspectors=20 >hand-search their film instead of subjecting it to X-rays. While many=20 >countries in Europe do not allow that, travelers in the USA have that right. > >Unfortunately, "most of the people at security counters do not know the FAA= >=20 >rules," says Krist, who routinely finds himself pleading with inspectors to= >=20 >keep his film away from the X-rays. (The problem is so widespread that even= >=20 >Kodak's CEO recently sent a letter to the Transportation Department=20 >reminding officials that not allowing hand inspections is a violation of=20 >the FAA code.) Krist's advice: Make it easy for the inspectors. Before=20 >leaving home, remove all packaging from film and place it in clear plastic= >=20 >bags to make it simple to examine. "I've found that if they can see the=20 >film clearly, and they don't have to open any boxes or film canisters, then= >=20 >most of the time they will be cooperative," he says. Skeet McAuley, a=20 >California photographer who creates 7-foot-wide cultural landscapes, packs= >=20 >the 200 or so rolls of film he normally carries on shoots in large, clear=20 >Tupperware containers that inspectors can easily examine =97 a strategy he= >=20 >says usually works. But if that doesn't fly, there are even more creative=20 >strategies. Krist sometimes laces his film bag with rolls of=20 >1600-or-higher-speed film, even though he doesn't plan to use it. Because=20 >many machines are labeled safe for film only up to 1600 speed, "if you show= >=20 >them enough 1600 in there, and it's too many for them to pick out, they'll= >=20 >just hand-inspect the whole bag." > >Krist also has stooped to printing up official-looking labels that say=20 >"1600-speed film" to paste over the labels for the slower speed film he=20 >carries so he has a better argument for a hand inspection. "That's even=20 >worked in Europe," he says. >Still, McAuley says, don't panic if the inspectors insist on sending your=20 >vacation memories through the dreaded X-ray stream. "If it becomes a big=20 >deal, I just let it go through the machine. And I've never seen any=20 >damage." Indeed, Kodak recommends asking for hand inspections only when=20 >film will pass through X-ray machines more than five times. Even after five= >=20 >passes, which no doubt causes some changes to the film, "your eye and my=20 >eye cannot see a difference," Blamphin says. Of course, there's another=20 >option, he notes: Buy a digital camera. "X-rays don't affect them." > > > >The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: >Roj (Roger James) >*************************************************** >escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca >Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com >CBC Website >http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ >The Trinbago Site of the Week: >(RBTT) http://www.rbtt.com/ >(RBTT Financial Group) >courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory >Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com >TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt >*********************************************************