handicap18 said:
Comparing drinking and driving to 35mm film being exposed in an x-ray machine is a little over the top in my opinion.
I'm sorry, I certainly didn't mean to imply that losing one's life in an alcohol related car crash was the same as losing all of your vacation photos because you let them get x-rayed. I simply meant that the potential consequences, relative to the actions, are far too severe in either case to make the risks remotely palatable.
handicap18 said:
However, I will bow to the facts presented. I will also state that on my last trip though airport security they had me take my camera out of its bag so they could hand inspect it. It did have film in it. I did not ask for the hand inspection. They say they require it to make sure its not a weapon.
Although I have never had to take my camera out of the bag, I am not surprised to hear that it happens. I have also heard of people being made to turn on devices like laptops, PDAs, cell phones, etc. to prove that they are real. It seems to be one of those things that varies randomly from airport to airport and month to month.
handicap18 said:
Since all bags and even shoes now have to go through the x-ray machine what do you do with your rolls of film. Do you keep them in your pockets and put them in the little bowl they let you put your change in? I don't mean to sound funny or sound like a wise guy, I've never had a situation come up where I don't want my actual rolls of film to go through the x-ray. How does security handle it? What if you had 10 rolls of film? Will they accept that its film and not run it through the x-ray?
Completely reasonable questions, all! Safetymom, Geoff, and Kelly all gave you precisely the correct answers, but I am going to refer you to my own web page on the subject for further details on how to get film through the airport safely:
http://willcad.org/image_film_tips.html
handicap18 said:
I don't see that happening to me as I have a dSLR now and the 1GB card can hold well over 500 images. I'm just curious how others have handled it.
I'm in the same boat, having recently switched to all-digital photography. Fortunately, digital cameras and media are not affected by the x-ray scanners, so the entire issue is a moot point to me as well as to you. But there are still plenty of people out there who shoot film, and they should know the risks presented by airport x-ray scanners.
I think these days a very common scenario is those with digital cameras picking up a disposable or two while on vacation. After all, if you are swimming at Typhoon Lagoon or
Castaway Cay and want a waterproof camera, you can't find a better deal than the Kodak waterproof disposables, which are less than $10 and take reasonably good pics underwater (within certain limited situations, of course). And when you pick up a few of these disposable, you might decide to wait till you get home to have them processed, and wind up flying home with the disposables - and their undeveloped film - in your luggage.