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At the risk of going completely against the grain here, I'll toss in
my two cents on how I get through airports quickly and efficiently,
without my film ever seeing an x-ray.
First, I empty all my cameras of film. Any partially exposed rolls
are rewound so the leader still sticks out and the last exposed frame
number is written in indelible ink on the leader (ah, the pleasures of
fully manual cameras you rewind with a crank!!) This lets my entire
camera bag with all four cameras in it go through the x-ray machine with
no fumbling or time-consuming check of every camera.
Second (here's where some of you will cringe in horror) I open all
50 or so boxes of film going with me and remove every roll from its
canister. I then place all the rolls into a large clear zip-lock freezer
bag. I can just hand the bag around the security check -- I've never had
a problem with this. Some security people will shake the bag to see the
rolls stuck in the middle, but it's pretty obvious that the entire bag
contains film.
Packing for the trip -- my camera bag contains four camera bodies
and ten lenses, plus a mini-tripod, my scanner and my camera mounted
flash. Maps and magazines are also in the camera bag for reading
material during the flight. My second acrry-on is a duffel bag
containing my Lumedyne flash gear, my photo vest (wrapped around said
Lumedyne for added cushioning) and my bag o' film on top for quick
removal and passing around at the security point. Batteries, lens
cleaner, etc., are in the pockets of the photo vest. If I'm packing
video, the camera goes in the duffel bag as well.
My large tripod is placed on top of the duffel bag between the
handles -- I've never been questioned about this being a third carry-on
piece. I've checked tripods twice, packed securely in my checked
baggage, and both times they didn't survive the flight.
With this arrangement, my bags get stopped for "further inspection"
about 50% of the time, and half of those are for the mini-tripod which
resembles three dynamite sticks. Back in the pre-Lumedyne days my duffel
bag was much larger and contained a Graflex flashgun and several dozen
No.11 flashbulbs. I was never stopped for these. If I needed No.2 bulbs
or a larger quantity, they were mailed to my first motel ahead of time.
My checked bags also contain my full-length mobile scanner antenna for
mounting to my rental car.
If my film is being FedExed back to my local camera shop (which has
24-hour turn-around on Kodachrome) from wherever I am, I pack any
canisters I will need in the checked bags, although (horrors) I often
just ignore the canisters completely and rely on bubble wrap to protect
the film. Pre-printed sticky address labels with my home address
attached to each roll of film will get the film back to me should the
package unexpectedly come apart during transit.
With this system, I have never had a problem at airports. The only
problem I encountered once was when an airline unexpectedly announced at
the gate that only one carry-on would be allowed. Fortunately, my
Lumedyne wasn't with me so I was able to compress everything into my
camera bag (including the duffel bag) and they didn't count the tripod
as a carry-on.
Keep on flyin'!
Steve Barry
Railfan & Railroad
Newton, NJ
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