Traveling with Film: Surviving Airport Scanners in 2026
For years, the conventional wisdom among film photographers came down to one simple rule: keep your film in carry-on, never check it, and if you're shooting under ISO 800 you're basically fine. That was solid advice. It's not really true anymore.
What changed is the widespread rollout of CT (computed tomography) scanners at airports. They're not new technology, but since 2021-2022 they've been deployed at scale across US airports, and by now they're standard in most major European hubs. Amsterdam Schiphol has 25 of them. Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris CDG, and Montreal Trudeau all have them across multiple lanes. The EU had set a target of full deployment by 2025. These machines work nothing like the old X-ray units: they rotate around your bag and build a full three-dimensional image using multiple passes at significantly higher power. For film, that difference is enormous.
What these scanners actually do to your film
A conventional X-ray scanner fires a single beam. The dose is low, and below ISO 800, damage is usually invisible after one or two passes. That's why the ISO 800 rule held up for so long.
A CT scanner rotates around the bag and stacks multiple exposure angles to construct a volumetric image. The cumulative dose is in a completely different league. Kodak ran their own tests at JFK in collaboration with the TSA, putting Portra 400 through the new CT scanners between one and ten times. The initial results were not good. Fujifilm, Kodak, and ILFORD have all issued official warnings about the damage these new CT units can cause to unprocessed film. ILFORD went so far as to state that the new CT scanners would be "likely to be harmful to all our ILFORD and KENTMERE films, regardless of ISO."
In practice, the damage looks like this: a uniform fog across the image, loss of detail in highlights or shadows, and in severe cases banding or streaking across the entire roll. Exposed but unprocessed film is just as vulnerable as unexposed stock, and possibly more so.
Photographer Lina Bessonova documented visible damage starting at ISO 50 after a single CT pass, minimal at low sensitivity but present. By ISO 400, the effects are pronounced from the first pass, even with a protective bag. At ISO 800 and above, the damage is often unrecoverable after a single scan.
Lead bags: useful, but not a real solution
A lead-lined bag (lead bag) is still a worthwhile tool, but you need to understand its limits. Independent tests published by SilverGrain Classics after multiple passes at Schiphol show protection somewhere in the range of 30 to 50%, occasionally a bit more, but never complete against a CT scanner.
For film under ISO 800 with one or two passes, a good-quality lead bag can keep your film in usable territory. Beyond two CT passes, or with any film at ISO 200 or higher, visible damage becomes serious even with protection. There's another problem too: when a scanner can't clearly read the contents of a bag because of the lead lining, agents tend to request an additional scan, which can end up meaning more passes, not fewer.
Hand inspection: the only real safety net
The only way to be certain your film doesn't go through a scanner is to ask for a hand inspection. The TSA has an official policy allowing hand inspection of photographic film and cameras containing a partial roll. Agents are, in theory, trained for this. In practice it varies a lot depending on the airport and the individual agent.
The approach that works best:
- Build in an extra 15 to 20 minutes at security.
- Pull all your film out and put it in a clear bag (a Ziploc works perfectly) before you reach the checkpoint.
- Talk to the agent directly, before you put anything on the belt: "Excuse me, I have photographic film here. Could I please have a hand inspection?"
- Be patient. Polite. Calm. Not defensive.
If an agent refuses, ask to speak with a supervisor. Explain that TSA policy permits hand inspection of photographic film. Most supervisors know the policy and will accommodate you.
Outside the US it's more variable. Rules differ by country and even by individual airport. Some agents in France or Germany are happy to oblige. Others aren't. Canadian airports tend to be accommodating, though nothing is guaranteed. It's worth having your request ready in English when you're traveling abroad; security staff at major international hubs often respond better to English than to other languages.
Format and speed: what's actually at risk
Here's a realistic picture of the situation, by ISO:
ISO 100 and below (Kodak Portra 160, Ektar 100, ILFORD Pan F+, Adox CMS 20): with conventional scanners, the risk over one to five passes is very low. With a CT, damage stays light for one or two passes but can accumulate over a trip with multiple connections. A lead bag is a reasonable precaution; hand inspection is still preferable.
ISO 400 (HP5+, Tri-X, Portra 400): this is where things get genuinely dangerous with CT scanners. Conventional X-ray units aren't much of a problem at this speed, but current CT scanners will visibly damage these film stocks from the first pass. Hand inspection at this level isn't a luxury anymore.
ISO 800 and above (Delta 3200 pushed, HP5+ pushed, Cinestill 800T): high risk even with conventional scanners, critical with CT. These stocks absolutely need to go through hand inspection.
120 and large format: tests show 120 film is no more resistant than 35mm. The larger emulsion area doesn't provide any protection, and damage is sometimes even more visible. Same rules, same discipline.
| ISO range | Conventional X-ray | CT scanner (1 pass) | CT scanner (2+ passes) | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISO 100 and below | Very low risk (1–5 passes) | Light damage | Accumulates over connections | Lead bag + hand inspection preferred |
| ISO 400 | Low risk | Visible damage from first pass | Serious damage | Hand inspection required |
| ISO 800 and above | High risk | Often unrecoverable | Critical | Hand inspection mandatory |
| 120 / large format | Same as 35mm equivalent | Same as 35mm equivalent | Damage sometimes more visible | Same rules, same discipline |
Packing to make hand inspection easier
Hand inspection goes much more smoothly when your film is accessible and clearly separated from everything else. A few habits that help:
Put all your film in a single clear Ziploc bag. The agent can do a visual check easily, and it signals straightforwardly that you have nothing to hide. Don't mix film and cameras together in the same corner of your bag; it complicates the inspection and may push agents toward just running everything through anyway. If you're using a lead bag, some agents will want to open it. That's normal, let them. And always keep film in carry-on. If an airline asks you to gate-check your bag at the last minute (overhead bin overflow, small regional aircraft), pull your film out before handing the bag over.
When inspection is refused: what to do
It happens. Sometimes an agent won't budge. The sequence is straightforward: ask for a supervisor, calmly. In the vast majority of cases, that resolves it. If even the supervisor refuses, you have two options: go through the scanner and try to limit the damage (lead bag, and ideally just the one pass), or, if you're in the US, explicitly invoke your right to an alternative inspection for "photosensitive materials" under the TSA's official policy.
In airports outside North America, your rights are less clearly defined. Politeness and clarity are still your best tools.
In transit: the layover trap
A trip with one or two stopovers means two or three additional security checkpoints. Every CT pass adds up. Film that survives one CT scanner may not survive the second. This is especially true on transatlantic routes connecting through Newark, Atlanta, or Frankfurt, all of which have had CT scanners deployed at scale for a few years now.
Going further
The Domke FilmGuard lead bag remains one of the most thoroughly tested options out there, available in several sizes for both 35mm and 120. It doesn't replace hand inspection but works as a secondary safety net, particularly if you're traveling with film under ISO 400.
The site handcheckfilm.com, referenced by Lina Bessonova in her study, compiles reports from photographers by airport and offers practical resources on inspection policies across different countries.
The SilverGrain Classics article (silvergrainclassics.com, April 2024) documents real-world tests in Amsterdam with measured results broken down by ISO and number of passes, with and without a protective bag. Essential reading before any major trip.
Sources
- petapixel.com — What happens when film goes through an airport security scanner?
- silvergrainclassics.com — Are films safe from airport scanners?
- emulsive.org — Testing CT scanners: here's how badly they can damage your film
- linabessonova.photography — Airport scanners study
- diyphotography.net — Kodak advisory on traveling with film through CT scanners
- thedarkroom.com — Bringing film through airport security
- analoguewonderland.co.uk — How to travel with film
- kubusphoto.com — TSA X-ray: traveling with film
- analogpostal.com — How to fly with film: a comprehensive guide 2024
- airportsinternational.com — Airport security latest developments
- businesswire.com — Press release, May 2022
- photrio.com — The ultimate airport scanner hand-check list for travellers with film