Film and x-rays! a warning...

[Beverly Lynn]

with my APX camera I found that 400 speed is great for taking pictures at disney.

I would be more in fear of York losing my photos or the mail than of it being destroyed by the xray at the airport.

 

[StilesMom]

I agree with those who have warned about having film developed at an "outlab"...
I worked in one many years ago and wouldn't trust them with valuable photos. If you would see how easy it is to lose film and negatives, you would agree. Now, granted, all places may not be the same and things may have changed, but are your Disney pics worth the risk??

As for York, I once sent them a roll of film for developing and they completely ruined my negatives. And when you use a "by mail" company, it is harder to complain when things go wrong!! When this happened, I couldn't find a phone number to call and complain and writing letters got me NOWHERE!

I agree that the safest place to have photos developed is anywhere that your film, negatives, and photos will stay "in house". I now use Ritz for important photos and for me, it is worth the extra $.

As for the x-ray machines at the airport, I have never had anything happen to mine either and I just put my whole camera bag (incl film) in the belt.

 

[AllanJ]

Only for the paranoid...

For film developing in a department or drug store, if there is a power failure the machine operator must crank the machine according to a set procedure otherwise film partially processed would be ruined. In a store, that person will likely be called away to other duties.

In a photo lab at least the chances are better that the machine operator will tend the machine until all the film inside has reached a safe area where sitting still won't overdevelop it.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Allan,
Wal*Mart is a fully staffed photo lab, our associates DO NOT leave for other duties.
Anyone can have a power failure and if that situation arose you can bet we would not leave to attend to other things if we had film in the processor. I would be more worried about the outlabs where they are doing hundreds of rolls per hour.
Ritz, while an excellent place, has their employees selling cameras as well as processing film.
I would expect that your very far fetched scenario would be more correct in a situation like that.

 

[displanner]

Do I need to open up the boxes of UNUSED film and take the unused roll out of the canister for inspection? Or is the potential for problems only with used film?

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

The slight potential for problems is with all film. I have my film(exposed and unexposed) in my carryon bag (big purse) and have never had a problem, even going out of the country.
If you are worried, then yes, you will have to take the film out of the package and out of the containers. I take mine out of the package anyway, easier to pack.

 

[msr709]

Just my 2 cents worth, how about joining a photo club like snapfish.com. They send you prepaid self addressed envelopes and you just drop them in the mail from your location and you will have your film by the time you get home and have them online to share with others as well! When you first enroll in the club (no fee) but you have to leave a credit card that will be charged when you develop film so you don' t have to worry about payment either. I've done it several times and it works well. I have not had any film ruined by airport x-rays yet but I will follow the advice here and carry my unused film in a plastic bag so it can be hand inspected. Thanks for the tips!

 

[briane]

I guess it all comes down to personal opinion. If you feel safe giving your film to a teenager making minimum wage at Wal-Mart, do it.

 

[The Hunt]

A few comments:

1. I notice that nobody has reported having film fogged after going through the carry-on X-Ray, and Kodak says it is OK. Therefore I have resolved to not worry about it.

2. I have to disagree with the comment not to use disposables. I have found that that they can take excellent pictures, as long as you do not try to photograph anything that is too far away. They are also easy to carry, and if you lose one, it's not like losing your Canon.

3. As far as where to have it developed, my suggestion would be not to do it anywhere where you just drop it into a slot. If they can't find your pictures or film later, you're out of luck. I've had pretty good luck with both Ritz and MotoPhoto--both have a membership card that gets you discounts.

 

[piglet33]

I have gotten my pictures developed at Sam's Club, Costco and Wal-Mart and never had any problems. I think they look just as good as the ones from MotoFoto, but not as expensive. When I'm packing, I put my rolls of film in ziplock bags and just hand them to the person doing the checking at the airport. They haven't given me any problems in doing this, yet.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

briane,
I am NOT a teenager and I make far more than minimum wage at Wal*Mart. I also take incredible pride in processing film and printing the best pictures possible, as do all the associates I work with, who buy the way make far more than minimum wage.
I truly resent your statements. If you are going to slice and dice, please be sure of your facts.
In this case they are totally wrong. FYI, no one can work in the photo lab at Wal*Mart until they are 18 years old.

 

[Lewisc]

Gail--briane is not only rude but he is wrong on most of what he posted.THAT SAID I'd avoid any 1 hour lab that doesn't do volume. Almost every chain store where I live has a mini-lab. Some of them don't do much business and the employees seem to switch from register to technician. COSTCO by me (and I suspect your Wal-Mart) does enough volume to have trained employees who do nothing but process film. The places that send the film out all go to the same labs (just different markups). I don't think Briane is a troll just ignorant.

 

[rhiannonwales]

Hi Gail,

Don't let it worry you Gail, some people have no class. There is nothing worse than a camera snob.

By the way briane, I work for Eckerd and we dont have a mini lab, we have the same machinery as Moto Foto.I am the manager and my employees don't make mininum wage, they are all certified by Kodak ( our chemical supplier) and they have to pass many tests before they can become a photo technician.

We may be a discount store but we are not cheap on photos! Neither is Wal-Mart! They use VERY EXPENSIVE Fuji frontier machines, some of the best in the buisness! WE use Noritsu machines and they are not cheap either!

Perhaps you should do a little research before you open your mouth.


By the way i have a professional photographer as one of my customers.......
He says that he can get the same quality from my service as he does from Moto Foto so why pay more? He uses us to develop his proofs and we even place the copyright mark on the back for him. He is the number one wedding photographer in this area, so i feel confident that i am just as good, if not better than that other place.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Many years ago, I visited Malta.

On my return trip, I was hesitant about putting my camera through the x-ray machine. The operater, obviously an amateur photographer himself, winked and told me to put the camera through the machine. Don't worry, he whispered, this machine doesn't work - I am looking at a blank screen!!

Andrew

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Thanks Lewis and rhiannonwales.
I also do processing for professionals. One of my favorite photos is Tiger Woods. I made a duplicate 8x10 and it is now hanging on the wall as an advertisement of what we "can do in an hour" (along with some AK pictures of lions in all the sizes we can do). We asked the photographer if we could duplicate and display and we had him sign the back.

 

[cmac0531]

Last year was my very 1st trip to WDW and with my brand new camera I shot 12 rolls of film. I bought a 10 roll pack from Costco for $25 (which came with a $10 mail-in rebate) and had the unopened pack hand checked along w/ my camera @ Logan Airport in Boston. When I came back I wanted the security people @ Orlando Intl Airport to hand check my plastic baggie of film, but they made me put it through the machine. After worrying for days while it was processed @ WalMart (great prices) all was well and my pictures were fabulous. But I think people should press the issue about hand checking, at the very least it makes others around you feel you have less to hide. Also, no one has seemed to mention APS film/cameras. With a lot of models you can change rolls (even if you've taken 1 shot) for different speeds and use them later. Mine lets me change the ISO or film speed of the film, so I don't even have to change unless I'm playing w/ color or black & white. And at the end your negatives stay in the catridge and for copies you just pick the photo off of the sheet showing all of the frames. You turn in the cartidge and no mess, no squinting @ negatives, etc.... Good luck to all you shutterbugs!!! C-Ya in about 80 days Mickey!!

 

[CarolA]

I had to add my two cents. I never have my film hand checked and I have traveled extensively in lots of places. However, I would NEVER put my film in my luggage. While Beverly Lynn is right that they don't x-ray all baggage they can decide to xray it if something makes them nervous. Lots of international flights are x-rayed.

I rotate on my film developing. I had it done at Costco once, but was not real happy. (The pictures felt cheap if that makes sense!) I have done it just about everyplace with no issues, but it is not like I am Ansel Adams so...

 

[Beverly Lynn]

having just flown back from MCO this weekend I sent both my sony Mavica digital and disks thru the xray and my Nikon APX camera and film nothing happened to any of it.

they will xray bags if they are going international not domestic. if they are suspicious about a bag then it gets a certain kind of tag on it that alerts the ramp people that this bag does not go on the aircraft unless the passenger does.

 

[CarolA]

Beverly Lynn,


I had a friend who swore they told her that they xrayed her bag. Now I wonder what they really did with it! She had a calculator in it that got turned on. It was one of those calculators with the tapes and it kept making a click clack noise that seemed to upset the bag people. The paged her when she got off the plane and took her someplace to claim her bag and made her unlock it so they could search it. (Now since we had landed, I am not sure what they thought this was going to accomplish, but...) This was several years ago before they were as careful as they are now about matching luggage to travelers so who knows?

 

[Beverly Lynn]

Carol they probably thought it was a bomb! hahaha thats too funny! they call the people I was referring to a "selectee". its a royal pain when they come up too. they like the public to think that the bags are xrayed when they go down the bagshoot!