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Can film survive TSA?

Yes! And traditional x-ray scanners only affect films with an ISO of 800 or upwards. Secondly, you can ask airport security to check your rolls of film by hand. Keep your rolls of film in your hand luggage and carry them through security yourself.



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Take your film out of all its packaging and wrappers and store it in a transparent, ziplock bag (the same way you would for all your liquids in your hand luggage). This way you can easily show it to airport security for hand inspection!

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I've shot some Portra 800 I carried around on several trips before shooting it and it was fine, going through the hand-luggage scanner. DO NOT PUT IN CHECKED BAGGAGE. Your film will be damaged and you will cry.

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Practically speaking, security officials won't allow you to walk through the metal detector with metal, and that includes recording media. Unlike magnetic media, X-ray will most certainly ruin undeveloped film.

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Available in small, medium and large sizes, FilmGuard protects unprocessed sheet film and cassette film against the low-dosage x-ray machines that are used to check carry-on luggage at airports around the world.

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In the past, older models of X-ray scanners were even more damaging to film, particularly high ISO films. However, most current machines used for carry-on luggage scanning use a very mild dose of X-rays that is unlikely to cause any damage to your film if it's under 800 ISO.

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