Travelling with film isn’t a problem folks

Hi, and good afternoon on this sunny Sunday. Today, I just wanted to put some people’s fears at rest when travelling with film. This means film in your camera as well as in carry-on luggage. Film speeds were all below or at 800 ISO. If you checked out my portfolio or some blog posts here, you’ll know that I’ve been shooting film in Tenerife and Hawaii. This means that I’ve been travelling with film for a couple of hours and had them sent through X-ray machines, like twice.

My experience was once with the staff at London Stansted. I emailed security and got an answer that the Xray machines are safe for films up to 800 ISO. When I arrived at security, I had all the films in their packages, and the staff was also confirming that the films would be OK to go through X-ray machines. So far stellar service by the staff. For my flight to Hawaii, the same. But what surprised me was on the way back. The TSA agents would have been happy to hand-check my film, which is excellent. So unless the film is faster than 800 ISO, X-ray machines don’t have any effect on your film.

But please keep in mind that with the rise of CT scanners, this will change. CT scanners are much stronger, and this will definitely cause issues. So please check that you don’t get your films through those, as this will most likely cloud or render your films useless. This also is the case for 120 film, in case you’re wondering. If you still shoot film like myself, don’t worry; you can travel with it.

Tip: Always be nice, as many people might not be familiar with film. If there’s documentation from the film manufacturer, print it out and take it with you. Kodak offers something here

Happy shooting, and I hope I could put some people’s minds at rest.