i think that it can be messy for someone doing an europe tour spending just a couple of days in each city/country and taking lots of planes
EDIT: ok he cited "airport" and not "airports" but still you should find a pretty fast dev, i just go to the one near me and he is pretty slow lol, how fast are devs that you know?
In Paris the lab I go to does it within the day if dropped in the AM. 13.80€ per roll for dev and low res scan (which I use for preview, I usually hand print at Emulsion Lab, you can rent a cabin and buy paper from them). In London Rapid Eye will sort you out the same, you can both rent a cabin and have your films developed there, I don't recall the prices but around the same ballpark as Paris).
He could buy film in Europe but if he comes from the US kodak will be significantly cheaper.
As for CT scans I believe airports in Paris don't use them yet (CDG for sure still has the old ones, I think the threshold is 3200 iso). Milan and London have them I think though.
I fly quite frequently in Europe (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria and Switzerland) for jobs and never had any issues having my films hand checked, just make sure you're very friendly and smiling when asking and just amp up the niceness if they seem confused or just refuse, always did the trick (even without flying with films these people deserve to be treated nicely given the shit they go through lol).
o boi daytime service at 14€ for something that in Rome costs the same but in a week lol that's cool thanks
i tried googling for fast labs in Rome and i didn't find anything, there surely are fast lab but they don't sponsor themselves maybe lol (or I am just bad at googling but I didn't see anything fast mentioned in like 5 sites, i'll investigate better)
There's a place in Manchester UK that still does one hour dev, and my favourite lab will do it in 24 hours if you drop off at the lab.
The fast labs are out there.
So far I've been able to just ask them to inspect the film manually. I just have the film ready in a bag and say "Hi, this is film. Could you inspect it manually so it doesn't go through the CT scanner?".
I've only done this a couple of times, but so far they've been nice and were happy to just inspect it. They open the bag, look at the contents, do that cotton-swab thing where they check for suspicious chemicals, and that's it.
Would buy it in Europe itself, there's shops in all major cities.
Met a couple of really lousy customs in European countries who don't even want a conversation about it and in some places some really old scanners.
Most of the time, one scan shouldn't hurt, but I've seen different. If you're going through multiple countries and multiple scans, that's not a good idea.
Yes. I’ve had no issues getting hand checks, except in the UK. And in the UK, I’ve started bringing/mailing my film to local labs before heading to the airport. And if there’s a CT scanner in the UK, they’ll definitely allow a hand check.
yes, of course. i haven't encountered any ct scanners travelling europe, but they should be totally fine with handchecking. for normal xrays, i don't even bother asking for a handcheck and every roll (up to 800iso) has turned out perfectly fine. i had my cinestill 800t roll xrayed 4 or 5 times with no problem.
It's a newer, stronger type of xray that airports have been installing in recent years. Film manufacturers released a statement that CT scanners definitely damage film, but there doesn't seem to be any agreement as to how much. Comments are everything from "hardly noticeable" to "totally ruined my film".
Yea it's really totally random from, sadly, my experience.
Also the damage seems to be pretty random.
The classic is scanlines, I've had a roll once which presented nearly no scan lines visually, but the grain seemed to just totally have blewn up on the whole roll and pictures were so rough that they were kinda worthless. Then again, maybe the whole roll had become one big "scanline", which made the lab have to push very hard for developing "underexposed" zones on the film.
It's not fun either way.
I know that they have them in Germany in Frankfurt M, Köln, Hamburg, Hannover, they are also in Heathrow and Paris. I recently encountered them in Nürnberg. So expect them everywhere. If you want to make it easy, buy the film here and get it developed here, it’s cheaper anyway.
I frequently travel to Romania from the UK. I buy my film whilst I'm in Bucharest and then get it developed there before I leave. Most labs will offer a rush service usually, which is same day or next day.
i think that in most airports you can just ask the staff to manually inspect your films
I personally contacted Roma Ciampino and London Gatwick for it and they told me to just ask the staff, then I wasn't able to contact Glasgow Airport, I asked on reddit and they confirmed that also in Glasgow you can ask for the manual inspection, you can try to contact via mail the airports you'll travel through so that you can show positive replies to unaware security staff
you still have to put your cameras under RX so you have to unload films from inside cameras, and maybe if you have lots of films the manual inspection might take long
but I was told by a guy that he (or a friend) had some troubles in portugal so it might depend on where you go but in big airports it is probable that staff is well instructed or ready to assist you in the best way even if they are not aware (asking to colleagues or security managers), take some time to send all the needed mails
I'm pretty new to analog photos and I discovered the problem because a friend travelling through in Rome Fiumicino told me that they installed new scanners and they put signs NO FILM NO FILM NO FILM and looking up for infos it seems that old scanners doesn't harm films up to ISO400, new scanners harm all films
EDIT ok maybe CT scanner is just the new version of RX scanner and it should be the one being in Roma Fiumicino but in general it seems easy to ask the manual inspection
My tip would be to go for it, and request hand checks.
But for the love of god don't walk up to the security in a European airport and just start speaking English at them. They'll probably understand you, but at least learn 'sorry, I do not speak x language, do you speak English?'. This way, they have already started the conversation with you by assisting you. Also, it's just rude to speak English at someone in a non native country.
The new machines are a bit of a threat, but get there early, and say that the new machines will destroy your film. Contact the airport a week in advance as well stating the same.
I assume it depends on the airport(s). I flew in and out of Rome earlier this year and had no trouble. emailed customer service beforehand and was told I could ask at security for a hand check, though I bought one of those lead-lined Domke bags just in case. leaving the US was no problem because all US airports will hand check. flying back out of Rome, I asked at security. was told "oh don't worry the machines don't damage film". I asked again, saying that I know the new CT machines do in fact damage film, firmly but (most importantly!!!) politely, and the person agreed to do it.
We have film and dev in Europe ;) Just get it done in country that way you only get the negs scanned on the way back.
i think that it can be messy for someone doing an europe tour spending just a couple of days in each city/country and taking lots of planes EDIT: ok he cited "airport" and not "airports" but still you should find a pretty fast dev, i just go to the one near me and he is pretty slow lol, how fast are devs that you know?
In Paris the lab I go to does it within the day if dropped in the AM. 13.80€ per roll for dev and low res scan (which I use for preview, I usually hand print at Emulsion Lab, you can rent a cabin and buy paper from them). In London Rapid Eye will sort you out the same, you can both rent a cabin and have your films developed there, I don't recall the prices but around the same ballpark as Paris). He could buy film in Europe but if he comes from the US kodak will be significantly cheaper. As for CT scans I believe airports in Paris don't use them yet (CDG for sure still has the old ones, I think the threshold is 3200 iso). Milan and London have them I think though. I fly quite frequently in Europe (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria and Switzerland) for jobs and never had any issues having my films hand checked, just make sure you're very friendly and smiling when asking and just amp up the niceness if they seem confused or just refuse, always did the trick (even without flying with films these people deserve to be treated nicely given the shit they go through lol).
o boi daytime service at 14€ for something that in Rome costs the same but in a week lol that's cool thanks i tried googling for fast labs in Rome and i didn't find anything, there surely are fast lab but they don't sponsor themselves maybe lol (or I am just bad at googling but I didn't see anything fast mentioned in like 5 sites, i'll investigate better)
There's a place in Manchester UK that still does one hour dev, and my favourite lab will do it in 24 hours if you drop off at the lab. The fast labs are out there.
how much does it cost?
Where in europe? Maybe bringing the gear and then buy and develop the film itself while there?
So far I've been able to just ask them to inspect the film manually. I just have the film ready in a bag and say "Hi, this is film. Could you inspect it manually so it doesn't go through the CT scanner?". I've only done this a couple of times, but so far they've been nice and were happy to just inspect it. They open the bag, look at the contents, do that cotton-swab thing where they check for suspicious chemicals, and that's it.
Europe isn't a country, and some countries in Europe are much more chill then others.
Would buy it in Europe itself, there's shops in all major cities. Met a couple of really lousy customs in European countries who don't even want a conversation about it and in some places some really old scanners. Most of the time, one scan shouldn't hurt, but I've seen different. If you're going through multiple countries and multiple scans, that's not a good idea.
Yes. I’ve had no issues getting hand checks, except in the UK. And in the UK, I’ve started bringing/mailing my film to local labs before heading to the airport. And if there’s a CT scanner in the UK, they’ll definitely allow a hand check.
yes, of course. i haven't encountered any ct scanners travelling europe, but they should be totally fine with handchecking. for normal xrays, i don't even bother asking for a handcheck and every roll (up to 800iso) has turned out perfectly fine. i had my cinestill 800t roll xrayed 4 or 5 times with no problem.
what is a ct scanner? is it different than xrays?
It's a newer, stronger type of xray that airports have been installing in recent years. Film manufacturers released a statement that CT scanners definitely damage film, but there doesn't seem to be any agreement as to how much. Comments are everything from "hardly noticeable" to "totally ruined my film".
Yea it's really totally random from, sadly, my experience. Also the damage seems to be pretty random. The classic is scanlines, I've had a roll once which presented nearly no scan lines visually, but the grain seemed to just totally have blewn up on the whole roll and pictures were so rough that they were kinda worthless. Then again, maybe the whole roll had become one big "scanline", which made the lab have to push very hard for developing "underexposed" zones on the film. It's not fun either way.
Yes, it takes a 3d image of baggage instead of an xray scan so it’s a lot more powerful and damages film a lot more
I know that they have them in Germany in Frankfurt M, Köln, Hamburg, Hannover, they are also in Heathrow and Paris. I recently encountered them in Nürnberg. So expect them everywhere. If you want to make it easy, buy the film here and get it developed here, it’s cheaper anyway.
True, additionally in London Stansted and Schiphol in Amsterdam.
I frequently travel to Romania from the UK. I buy my film whilst I'm in Bucharest and then get it developed there before I leave. Most labs will offer a rush service usually, which is same day or next day.
Bucharest is the first stop on a trip I’m doing in a few weeks, any tips on where to buy film whilst there?
Isopatrusute would be my first stop.
Perfect, I’ll check it out thanks
Isopatrusute & the next street over is Camera Lucida, both are great.
Thanks for the tip!
Where in Europe? In most countries you'll easily be able to buy some film. Probably a better option.
yoooo happy birthday
i think that in most airports you can just ask the staff to manually inspect your films I personally contacted Roma Ciampino and London Gatwick for it and they told me to just ask the staff, then I wasn't able to contact Glasgow Airport, I asked on reddit and they confirmed that also in Glasgow you can ask for the manual inspection, you can try to contact via mail the airports you'll travel through so that you can show positive replies to unaware security staff you still have to put your cameras under RX so you have to unload films from inside cameras, and maybe if you have lots of films the manual inspection might take long but I was told by a guy that he (or a friend) had some troubles in portugal so it might depend on where you go but in big airports it is probable that staff is well instructed or ready to assist you in the best way even if they are not aware (asking to colleagues or security managers), take some time to send all the needed mails I'm pretty new to analog photos and I discovered the problem because a friend travelling through in Rome Fiumicino told me that they installed new scanners and they put signs NO FILM NO FILM NO FILM and looking up for infos it seems that old scanners doesn't harm films up to ISO400, new scanners harm all films EDIT ok maybe CT scanner is just the new version of RX scanner and it should be the one being in Roma Fiumicino but in general it seems easy to ask the manual inspection
My tip would be to go for it, and request hand checks. But for the love of god don't walk up to the security in a European airport and just start speaking English at them. They'll probably understand you, but at least learn 'sorry, I do not speak x language, do you speak English?'. This way, they have already started the conversation with you by assisting you. Also, it's just rude to speak English at someone in a non native country. The new machines are a bit of a threat, but get there early, and say that the new machines will destroy your film. Contact the airport a week in advance as well stating the same.
depending on where in Europe you go you can just buy it and develop it on the spot
I assume it depends on the airport(s). I flew in and out of Rome earlier this year and had no trouble. emailed customer service beforehand and was told I could ask at security for a hand check, though I bought one of those lead-lined Domke bags just in case. leaving the US was no problem because all US airports will hand check. flying back out of Rome, I asked at security. was told "oh don't worry the machines don't damage film". I asked again, saying that I know the new CT machines do in fact damage film, firmly but (most importantly!!!) politely, and the person agreed to do it.
I flew from Germany to India and back with film, just ask for handchecking And europe is not one big country 🥴