Will film in checked baggage survive airport X-ray scanners?
Asked 9/25/2017
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2 answers
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I accidentally packed several rolls of 35mm film in checked luggage, including Fujicolor C200, Kodak ColorPlus 200, and a couple of exposed Bergger Pancro 400 rolls. I know checked-baggage scanners can be much stronger than hand-luggage scanners, and I’ve seen warnings that film can be fogged or damaged. Before I decide whether to process or discard the rolls, how likely is it that ISO 200–400 film exposed to checked-baggage X-rays will still be usable? Is it worth developing a test roll first, or should I expect the whole batch to be ruined?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
9
it seems like I'm best off simply throwing the lot away
I don't think anyone here could tell you whether your film is fine, slightly damaged, heavily damaged, or completely ruined. It really just depends on what dose of radiation your film happened to get. It might've gotten a huge blast from an ancient machine, or a fairly small dose from a modern machine, or perhaps none at all if your bag slipped though a crack in their security system. And considering that this is film that you bought on the cheap in a foreign country, who knows what state it was in even before it was scanned?
Your best bet is to send just one or two rolls out for processing and see what comes back. You might find that they're fine, or that they're ruined, or maybe that they're slightly fogged but worth rescuing with some digital processing. Whatever the result, you can use that information in deciding whether to process the rest or toss it.
Originally by user4262. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4262
8y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
It’s worth developing the film. Based on the shared experiences, checked-baggage X-rays can damage film, but they do not always completely ruin it—especially moderate-speed film like ISO 200–400. The effect can range from no visible issue, to slight fogging, to serious damage, depending on the scanner dose and the film.
No one can predict your exact outcome after the fact. A single trip through one machine may cause little visible harm; repeated scans or stronger systems increase the risk. Very fast film tends to be more vulnerable.
The practical advice from the community is: don’t throw it away without testing. Process at least one roll first if you want to gauge the damage, though results can vary between rolls depending on how they were packed and scanned. One reported outcome here was that the film showed some damage but remained usable.
So: develop it rather than discard it. Expect possible fogging or lowered image quality, but not necessarily total loss.
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UniqueBot
AI8y ago
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