The airport X-ray effect…
A few years ago I bought Domke X-ray proof bag to carry my film through airports, but never really knew if it was effective. My films were always fine when the bag was used. Years ago on family holidays these bags were not a thing and the holiday snapshots seemed to come out ok.
After a trip to Morocco this year I had one film that was unexplainably bad! I shot two rolls of Kodak Gold 120, as well as a few 35mm - but one roll was unusable. This roll was accidentally left in the camera, and not in the Domke bag - could this explain it?
My Kodak 66 is well proven and I’ve shot many successful rolls with it - this first image is from the roll carried in the Domke bag…
Kodak 66 - Kodak Gold
The first roll justified why I took the Kodak 66 with me! It is so good for a lightweight folder.
This second image is from the film that was not in the Domke bag, and left in the camera…
Kodak 66 - Kodak Gold
My first thought was it must have been an error on my part, as every single one of the twelve frames were like this. All look out of focus - so surely it was me!
The check process went like this…
Check focus setting in case it had moved in the bag, but was at infinity
Check physical components for damage, but everything was fine and in place
Check the lens for dust from the desert or haze, but all was clean and clear
Check the last aperture setting used - f16 - so everything should be in focus anyway
Check focus with a piece of frosted plastic on the film plane and a magnifying loupe - all perfect
So basically no physical explanation!
The last test was to shoot another roll - this time an expired roll of Fuji NPH400 on a weekend away in the Peak District…
Kodak 66 - Fuji NPH400
Perfect! This surely has to conclude that the airport X-ray machine damaged the film. Whilst transiting through Marrakech Menara airport, your bags are scanned several times, so I definitely leant a lesson there then!
These Domke bags are obviously well worth their money. Quite often my bag does get thrown out the check side of the scanners, but I would rather that then ruin all my film. One guy on security at Bristol Airport was really interested in the bag - not for any other reason than he had never seen one before and curious about it’s construction. He still did swab it though!