Re: urgent question!

[RLCaldwell@xxxxxxx]

I have had to go through the stringent inspections at Heathrow twice and can 
suggest one way to get film safely through.

If you are shooting 120 film on plastic spools, just conceal it under your 
clothes, and walk through the metal detector.  Be sure to wear very simple 
clothes.  My wife had on a multi-pocketed, hooded outer coat, and they made 
her remove it and send it through the x-ray machine.  My 20 rolls of Tri X 
under a windbreaker never saw the x-rays.

Here is an example of how strict they are at Heathrow:  I had three cassettes 
of exposed 35mm Velvia and casually dropped them in the change basket before 
I entered the metal detector.  They immediately demanded to know whose they 
were, and then picked them out of the basket and passed them through the 
x-rays.

Here is an example of how irrational they are at Heathrow:  they considered 
the three film cassettes more of a threat than my large, multi-bladed Swiss 
Army Knife.  (All you hijackers out there please ignore the preceding 
statement and continue to arm yourselves with film cassettes.  It drives the 
English crazy.)

All US airports must hand check items, if requested.  I have always carried 
film in large plastic zip lock bags for this purpose and have never been 
requested to open the plastic bag, let alone a box of film.

I just read a British photo magazine (Amateur Photographer) which reported on 
a survey of European film prices.  The prices in the UK were the highest, but 
were still lower than in the US (even for Kodak film).  IR film can be hard 
to find, but for other film, you are probably better off to buy and process 
it in Europe.  (My good friend in York buys process-paid Fuji Sensia II 100, 
36 exp., for less than ten dollars, for example.  It's even cheaper on the 
continent.)

Bob



 
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