This doesn't seem right. I have read MANY warnings about how to travel through airports with photo gear, and I have not heard of this before. [And for what it's worth, the risk to film at less than 400 ISO is pretty negligible if you only have to pass through a few X-rays.] rand
The risk to film depends entirely on the airport and their x-ray equipment. I would not advise sending any unshielded film through the x-ray machines in Russia, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Honduras, Morocco, Jordan and El Salvador. In fact, I would not even stand anywhere near the machines in those countries. CF cards can be damaged by the magnetic metal detectors that you walk through. As they state on the CYA warnings with the cards, any magnetic field can damage or erase the cards. It's much safer to put them through the x-ray machine than the metal detector. So - film should be hand-inspected when possible and, if refused, put in a lead bag to go through the x-ray machine. All digital equipment should go through the x-ray machines but not the metal detectors.
Clear as mud? Isn't travel fun?
Tina
Tina Manley, ASMP www.tinamanley.com
http://www.pdiphotos.com http://www.workbookstock.com http://www.newscom.com http://www.americanphotojournalist.com
