Do airport X-rays harm 35mm film?

Do airport X-rays harm 35mm film?

Yes, say the experts from CustomCameraCollection. With over 28 years in the disposable camera industry, we have learned a lot, and want to pass on the information to the traveling public.  When traveling with disposable cameras there are certain steps you need to take to protect your film from damage.  They’re simple, easy to perform, and will help keep your film from being damaged by X-ray equipment.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) advises the following regarding film in disposable cameras.

Never place undeveloped film (disposable cameras) in checked baggage. Security equipment – X-ray machines — used for screening checked baggage will damage undeveloped film.  This X-ray is much more powerful than what is used when you walk through security – but you still need not expose your cameras even to this X-ray.

Place your cameras in your carry-on baggage and request a hand inspection from the TSA Agent. You may be required to open the box, canister, or wrapper so a Security Officer can inspect it.  The TSA agents should be gracious about complying with your request.

Carry-on baggage X-ray equipment also damages film, but it’s a cumulative damage – a minor amount of damage each time it’s X-rayed. The more times film is X-rayed, the more damage – it’s cumulative. Never allow the disposable camera to be X-rayed more than 5 times. It is preferable to prevent any X-raying at all.

The higher the speed of the film, such as 800 speed, should NEVER be placed in checked baggage nor should it be processed through carry-on baggage X-rays. 800 speed film should always be hand-inspected.  The higher the ISO on the film – like the 800 speed – the more susceptible it is to damage from X-ray equipment.  Likewise, 400 speed is much more likely to suffer damage than 200 speed film.

Security personnel, at least in United States airports, are required to heed your request to hand-check film, and the inconvenience is minor.

When traveling to international locations, though, it is a different matter.  It is recommended that you check the policies of the individual countries you will be traveling through regarding film (disposable cameras) and hand-checking in advance since the policies of different countries may differ from those at U.S. airports.  And you could also encounter language related difficulties trying to make their security personnel understand what you want.  So, play it safe, and if you can, check out the policies of the different international locations.

Your cameras have the precious memories of your trip or vacation.  It would be a shame for them to be ruined by airport X-rays.

Please take a moment to read our FAQs.  There’s a wealth of information in a few paragraphs which will help you in your picture-taking.

We often have business clients who are traveling either domestically or internationally and they want to take custom business logo cameras with them to these events.  They actually had the cameras custom made for these events.  Whenever we know that they plan on traveling with the cameras, we will direct them to the TSA warning.  Usually they opt for us to ship them to their destination hotel.  Wise decision.