Film through hand luggage check

alaios · Joined: 24 Jan 2014 Posts: 724

Hi all,

I just wanted to ask you on how to store properly my films
a. when they are new
b. when they go through the x-rays at hand luggage check at the airport
c. after they are shot and before development
d. after they are burned on fire?

Regards
Alex

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

For any modern airport there is no problem in hand luggage, it's the check in luggage in the hold that could cause problems...dunno about 3rd world countries in some parts of the world though.

alaios · Joined: 24 Jan 2014 Posts: 724

Hi thanks for the answer. I will be travelling inside Europe so I guess I would be fine.
Is not film affected by the x-rays though?

Alex

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

skida · Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 11:12 pm Post subject:

I find that burning film on a fire can have an adverse effect on the end results, giving poor resolution and weird colour casts, but I have never bothered storing it anywhere. Wink

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4748 Location: Cheshire, England

I have seen my film on an x-ray in the airport you can see through the cartridge and see the film rolled up and the sprockets overlapping quite clearly. You can also see in a camera how much film is wound onto the take up spool.

There were no ill effects what so ever. Remarkably. In the 70's you could buy a tin-foil lined bag to take films thru the airport but most of the magazines who tested them said they were un necessary.

Re storing films.

Mine live in a drawer in the bottom of my wardrobe along with a few bags of silica gel. I dont keep them long enough for them to go off. If you have a large supply of specialist films, fridge or freezer is good but not absolutely necessary. Films are subject to fungus like camera lenses so cool, dry and consistant temperature is best for normal use.

Whether the film is used or not makes no difference.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I have a dedicated fridge for my film, my mum bought a new fridge but there was nothing wrong with the old one so I nabbed it and it's now in my garage stuffed to bursting with film Smile

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4748 Location: Cheshire, England

Ian has a fridge full of ancient and/or exotic films in weird sizes for his experiments. This is what I meant as specialist films. If you are buying small batches of normal 35mm as you need them there is no necessity to go to a lot of trouble.

A Tupperware container in your kitchen fridge would be fine. The film must be allowed to get to room temperature for a few hours before using to avoid condensation.