I understand 800 speed is supposed to be hand checked, however, I was asked to leave them in the carry-on luguage while flying out of MCO twice. Recently, I have decided to have them developed before I come back.
Not all TSA screeners understand the relationship between film speed and x-ray exposure. I even had a screener take me to task once when I handed my film bag to him through the metal detector, because he thought the metal detector would ruin the film (it won't affect film at all). many of them think that only "high speed" film, or "professional" film will be damaged by the x-ray scanners; unfortunately, they all have different ideas of what constitutes "high speed" or "professional" film.
The key to getting your film hand inspected is to know the details of how x-ray affect film, and to explain it calmly and confidently to any screener who tries to tell you that the x-ray scanners won't harm your film.
ALL x-ray exposure damages ALL photographic film. However, the exposure is cumulative, and the higher the film's speed, the more sensitive it is to exposure. The same amount of x-rays that will cause minor fogging to 400ISO film will completely expose 800ISO and above.
Likewise, multiple passes through the scanner will fog even 100ISO film; it simply takes more x-ray exposure to do it, so the film has to pass through the scanner more times, or for a longer period of time, or some combination of the two. The lower the film speed, the more x-ray energy it takes to visibly damage it; the higher the film speed, the less x-ray energy it takes to visibly damage it. ISO800 film and above will be visibly damaged by even a single pass through the carry-on scanner.
The general consensus is that 400ISO film (the most common speed used by consumers today) takes about 4 to 5 passes through the average carry-on scanner before the damage becomes visible on it after developing. But that's only an average; it can be fogged by fewer trips, if the trips take more time and expose it to more x-ray energy.
Example: the TSA screeners will move the belt forward and backward several times to get a good view inside a bag with a lot of stuff in it. If your film happens to be in that bag - or in a bag on either side of it - then your film will get a double or even triple normal exposure. Two such trips through the machine, and you film will be fogged enough to ruin your pics.
Knowing all of this, and presenting it calmly and confidently to the TSA screeners, in a professional and inteligent manner, has always worked for me. It's also vital that any film or single-use cameras you travel with be packed properly, in a clear ziploc bag, so you can easily pull the bag out and hand it to the screeners to ask for hand inspection. I typically took my film canisters and single-use cameras out of the outer cardboard boxes, but I left the single-use cameras in the sealed celophane wrappers, before I put them into the ziploc. NOTE: Smile and be pleasant, polite, and friendly to the screeners; everybody responds better to a polite request than to an irate or grumpy demand.
You are entitled, by Federal law, to a hand inspection of your film is you ask for it.
Title 49, Subtitle B, Volume 7, Chapter XII, Subchapter C, Part 1544, Subpart C of the Code of Federal Regulations, i.e., 49CFR1544.2xx, states:
(4) If requested by individuals, their photographic equipment and film packages must be inspected without exposure to an X-ray system.
Of course, arguing or getting indignant or confrontational with a TSA screener is not a good idea, so keep calm and be as cooperative as you can when asking for hand inspection. The law is on your side, but not all screeners will know that, and causing an incident in an airport security line is a good way to get banned from flying, or even arrested.
