I know this is pretty basic and has certainly been answered before but I haven't been able to run any searches on FT this afternoon. Not sure if it is my computer or the search feature is temporarily down. I am flying tomorrow and bringing my video camera for the first time. It is a Sony mini dv (tape). Should I take the tape out of the camera and just carry it on me or is it ok to go through the xray. Also, my understanding is that my DS, ipod, camera, leapfrog can stay in my carryon and just the camera has to come out. Is this correct?

Thanks for your help.

The tape is OK to go through the xray. And you should take the video camera out of the bag, though all the other things are OK to stay in.

Thanks for the info!

The camera has to come out only if it is tape-based. Otherwise, it can stay in your carry-on (don't ask me why -- looking for logic in what the TSA does is pointless).

X-rays won't harm digital equipment or digital media.

I had a DV tape damaged 2 years ago after sending it through the x-ray. The week before the flight, I took a brand new tape and recorded over the whole thing (because I've heard that ensures there are no gaps in the time code). This proves the tape worked initially. The tape was in my carry-on and went throught he x-ray. On arrival, the camera rejected the tape. That was my only tape. When I returned home, the camera consistently rejected this tape and accepted my other tapes. So, yes it can damage it, despite all the claims to the contrary. It is possible that it isn't the x-rays but a magnetic field in the machine that causes the damage.
On previous trips I had always had it hand inspected.
I suggest you get them to hand inspect it. If you think the baggage screener will give you trouble, then you may want to put some film in a ziploc bag with the tape, and tell them you are demanding a film inspection.

P.S. I have never removed my camera from my carry-on.

I would suspect it's due to a magnet in the machine.

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. X-rays cannot damage video recordings.

By the way, you don't need to strip DV tape. Striping used to be necessary for analog video, but there is no separate timecode for digital -- it's all encoded with the digitized video.

"Striping" doesn't prove anything, either. Magnetic tape consists of a ferric or chromium oxide emulsion that is fixed to a plastic binder. It is, essentially, glued on and can flake off. Your camera might have had a dirty tape path, the tape might have been defective, or it might simply have been cheap tape.

Digital video is stored magnetically. X-rays have no effect on magnetic tape -- this is simple physics. In the early days of x-ray scanners, there was concern over stray emf generated by the motors that drive the belts, but this hasn't been a concern for more than a decade.

If your camera "rejected" the tape, it's because the tape or the cassette was physically damaged -- possibly from moisture or from being banged around.

I've video-taped all over the world -- I've probably shot 300 to 400 tapes overseas. The tapes have been subjected to multiple x-ray scans and I've never lost a single one.

I would blame cheap tape, poor handling, or an inexpensive camcorder. It most definitely was not the x-ray scanner.

If a tape was demagnetized, it wouldn't be "rejected" by the camcorder, it simply would have a break in the data.

I actually sent a broadcast-grade video camera (Ikegami), ROLLING TAPE, through an airport (ORD) X-ray to see what would happen. The tape shows the camera going into the X-ray, you hear a lot of fans, there is no noise on the tape, and it comes out the other side. You then get a wonderful view of four on-duty TSA employees who are, instead of keeping us safe, complaining about how unfair their schedules are.

No, you should not have a problem with digital videotape going through X-ray.

--PP

YouTube link? Please?