Originally Posted by TSAMGR
X-Ray machines are actually rated not to harm up to 1200 ISO but 800 is used as a precaution.
That I did not know, but it makes me feel better about letting 400 and 800-speed film go through once or twice when there's not much time for a hand check. Thanks for the info! ^
As for the photographic paper, I'm a little confused
Standard photographic paper would seem to be low enough ISO to be OK in the x-ray (and if you've ever printed b/w pictures you know it can take quite a while of exposure to light to make a print), but still, I wonder why it wouldn't fall under the TSA rules for hand inspection of film. Photo paper is, after all, just a type of large format film:
http://www.tsa.gov/public/interapp/e...orial_1035.xml
If we're allowed to request hand inspection of 35-mm canisters (which could hide a small knife), and professional or large-format film, why not photo paper? I understand taking it out of the box to look for knives, but why not have the screener palpatate and ETD the internal light-tight bag in the same way they palpatate my <sarcasm>bulging pectoral muscles</sarcasm> during a secondary? A bag of paper feels a lot different than a bag of paper with a knife inside.
If that's really not allowed, I'm confused.
To the OP, my suggestion as a certified rule-bender
is to identify the material to the screener as film, not paper, and cite the above link. "Photo paper" may sound like something other than "film" to screeners, but I've found several checkpoints quite competent at hand-checking film.