Re: Airport Xrays

[thinhle@xxxxxxx (Thinh Le)]

<<<Oh, and if you thought maybe using one of those lead bags would
help--get this.  These new X-ray machines are  programmed to
respond to anything mysterious by re-scanning just that area with a
high-power narrow beam CAT scan which will penetrate anything -- so
the lead bag GUARANTEES your film is ruined.  The FAA will not give
out the list of the airports with these new X-rayers for security
reasons but InVision has a web site which posts the domestic list
-- no help for the foreign ones, tho.
So hang on to your film bags, folks.>>>

I don't see how using the lead bag "guarantees" the film will be ruined as
claimed. Rolls of film stored in the lead bags will still show up as rolls
of film and do not look mysterious so I don't think they will be rescanned
(I don't think a machine operator will have any problem identifying film). I
flew in and out from San Francisco airport, which is one of the first
airports using this machine, on international flights recently and had about
200 rolls of 400ISO film stored in the FilmShield bags in both check-in and
carry-on luggage and nothing happened to the film. I don't claim that the
machine will never ruin film in lead bags because I don't know enough about
it but I am not convinced that lead bags will guarantees the death of film.
TL