Airport X-Ray Machines and Videotape

George Ellis · September 22nd, 2005, 03:39 PM

Two summers of hopping on planes about every other weekend with no issues here.

Brett Bevelacqua · September 22nd, 2005, 04:42 PM

thank you for your replies

Quoc Peyrot · September 22nd, 2005, 07:08 PM

As far as I know, X-rays are fine, but metal detectors are not.

September 22nd, 2005, 10:17 PM

You don't have to worry about xrays. You have to worry about altitude. You could get a nose bleed up here. :)

By the way... the Aspen Glow (trees turning yellow) has started. You should get some awesome footage over the next couple of weeks. Don't forget your UV filter.

Gints Klimanis · October 25th, 2005, 02:18 PM

> As far as I know, X-rays are fine, but metal detectors are not.

Should I worry about shipping videotapes via Federal Express or US Postal Service (USPS) ? The USPS offers a cheap "media mail" service and assured me that videotapes would not be harmed. But that takes so darn long - one week from San Jose to San Francisco, which is typically one day using 1st class.

Kevin Calumpit · October 26th, 2005, 01:40 PM

Yeah i have even gone as far as asking the Xray person, will this thing mess up my tapes/camera and they were like nope dont worry so sure enough everything is fine.

Gints Klimanis · October 26th, 2005, 05:29 PM

When we're told that media isn't messed up, what does that mean ? I'd rather read a report from a media manufacturer.

Also, which metal detectors should I worry about ?

Dean Young · December 24th, 2005, 06:00 AM

I recently (6Dec05-21Dec05) cruised around the Caribbean on my holidays filling 7 camcorder dv60 tapes. After each day I would review the film recorded that day, all tapes appeared fine before commencing my return journey.
At Barbados airport (which is presently being rebuilt/improved and currently in pretty poor condition) the tapes were within the checked luggage main suitcases.
Upon returning to the UK I was very dissapointed to find the tapes now appear to be corrupted. All the tapes sound is now intermitent and the video itself has vertical lines of corrupt images. Footage taken before the holiday (a year earlier) also has this problem although any new footage on the tapes does not.

Does anyone have an idea if these tapes could be fixed?

The kodak website now specifies a warning for 'motion pictures' when entering/exiting the US.
I believe the x-rays/scanning between Barbados and the UK has corrupted the tapes
(unless anyone has any other snippets of information with regard to this?)

The kodak warning can be found at:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/su..._airport.jhtml

Andy Graham · December 26th, 2005, 01:21 PM

Hi Dean, You could try a head cleaning tape. A simmilar thing happens to my xl1s although the corrupt bars are horizontal on mine, i run the head cleaner for 30 sec and it goes away (be carefull to only run the head cleaner for 30 sec each time and no more than twice in a row or it may damage the heads ) .Could be worth a go.

cheers Andy.

Stephan Cotton · September 3rd, 2009, 09:07 AM

Has anyone had experience with mini dv tapes being xrayed recently? I'm going to have to ship some from Berlin and Milan over the next couple weeks and notice all the posts on this thread are five years old. Any recent experience? Also, anything with shippers rather than with checked luggage? Thanks, SHC

Al Powell · September 28th, 2009, 04:24 PM

I've just come to MiniDV after 20+ years of production experience with VHS, 3/4", BetaCam and BetaSP. I've flown a number of times and checked tapes as needed, but nothing recently.

I've been reading this thread with some interest, and one of the most interesting parts to me is the comments that MiniDV tape is high enough coercivity that standard handheld tape erasers won't erase it. If true, there is NO way that airport scanners or their power supplies could cause a problem.

Consider this: every purse going past that scanner is full of credit cards. I can assure you that any magnetic field strong enough to erase a videotape would clear the data off every credit card (all of which have magnetic strips) passing near it.

As stated earlier in the thread, scanners are non-magnetic so they cannot affect videotape. Period. You could X-ray a videotape until it glowed in the dark (if such a thing were possible) without affecting the signal on the tape. If scanner power supplies - or the motors driving the scanner belt - were powerful enough to affect videotape, they would also be scrambling any other magnetic medium passing by, including credit cards. Also, they would probably damage watches in trays that passed by.

I'm not buying stories of negative effects on videotape from airport scanners.

September 22nd, 2005, 10:17 PM	#64
Guest Posts: n/a	Zap! You don't have to worry about xrays. You have to worry about altitude. You could get a nose bleed up here. :) By the way... the Aspen Glow (trees turning yellow) has started. You should get some awesome footage over the next couple of weeks. Don't forget your UV filter.

October 25th, 2005, 02:18 PM	#65
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	Metal detectors ? > As far as I know, X-rays are fine, but metal detectors are not. Should I worry about shipping videotapes via Federal Express or US Postal Service (USPS) ? The USPS offers a cheap "media mail" service and assured me that videotapes would not be harmed. But that takes so darn long - one week from San Jose to San Francisco, which is typically one day using 1st class.

December 24th, 2005, 06:00 AM	#68
Dean Young Tourist Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 1	DV60 tapes corrupted after flying back to UK from Barbados I recently (6Dec05-21Dec05) cruised around the Caribbean on my holidays filling 7 camcorder dv60 tapes. After each day I would review the film recorded that day, all tapes appeared fine before commencing my return journey. At Barbados airport (which is presently being rebuilt/improved and currently in pretty poor condition) the tapes were within the checked luggage main suitcases. Upon returning to the UK I was very dissapointed to find the tapes now appear to be corrupted. All the tapes sound is now intermitent and the video itself has vertical lines of corrupt images. Footage taken before the holiday (a year earlier) also has this problem although any new footage on the tapes does not. Does anyone have an idea if these tapes could be fixed? The kodak website now specifies a warning for 'motion pictures' when entering/exiting the US. I believe the x-rays/scanning between Barbados and the UK has corrupted the tapes (unless anyone has any other snippets of information with regard to this?) The kodak warning can be found at: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/su..._airport.jhtml

September 3rd, 2009, 09:07 AM	#70
Stephan Cotton Tourist Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1	shipping mini dv tapes by Fed Ex Has anyone had experience with mini dv tapes being xrayed recently? I'm going to have to ship some from Berlin and Milan over the next couple weeks and notice all the posts on this thread are five years old. Any recent experience? Also, anything with shippers rather than with checked luggage? Thanks, SHC

September 22nd, 2005, 03:39 PM	#61
George Ellis Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Suwanee, GA Posts: 1,241	Two summers of hopping on planes about every other weekend with no issues here.

September 22nd, 2005, 04:42 PM	#62
Brett Bevelacqua New Boot Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Palisades, NY Posts: 15	thank you for your replies

September 22nd, 2005, 07:08 PM	#63
Quoc Peyrot Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 81	As far as I know, X-rays are fine, but metal detectors are not.

October 26th, 2005, 01:40 PM	#66
Kevin Calumpit Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: San Marcos, CALIFORNIA Posts: 103	Yeah i have even gone as far as asking the Xray person, will this thing mess up my tapes/camera and they were like nope dont worry so sure enough everything is fine.

October 26th, 2005, 05:29 PM	#67
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	When we're told that media isn't messed up, what does that mean ? I'd rather read a report from a media manufacturer. Also, which metal detectors should I worry about ?

December 26th, 2005, 01:21 PM	#69
Andy Graham Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lanark,Scotland Posts: 736	Hi Dean, You could try a head cleaning tape. A simmilar thing happens to my xl1s although the corrupt bars are horizontal on mine, i run the head cleaner for 30 sec and it goes away (be carefull to only run the head cleaner for 30 sec each time and no more than twice in a row or it may damage the heads ) .Could be worth a go. cheers Andy.

September 28th, 2009, 04:24 PM	#71
Al Powell Tourist Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Fort Collins CO Posts: 1	I've just come to MiniDV after 20+ years of production experience with VHS, 3/4", BetaCam and BetaSP. I've flown a number of times and checked tapes as needed, but nothing recently. I've been reading this thread with some interest, and one of the most interesting parts to me is the comments that MiniDV tape is high enough coercivity that standard handheld tape erasers won't erase it. If true, there is NO way that airport scanners or their power supplies could cause a problem. Consider this: every purse going past that scanner is full of credit cards. I can assure you that any magnetic field strong enough to erase a videotape would clear the data off every credit card (all of which have magnetic strips) passing near it. As stated earlier in the thread, scanners are non-magnetic so they cannot affect videotape. Period. You could X-ray a videotape until it glowed in the dark (if such a thing were possible) without affecting the signal on the tape. If scanner power supplies - or the motors driving the scanner belt - were powerful enough to affect videotape, they would also be scrambling any other magnetic medium passing by, including credit cards. Also, they would probably damage watches in trays that passed by. I'm not buying stories of negative effects on videotape from airport scanners.