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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-11-2008, 10:19 PM
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Film has what is called a threshold of exposure. This means that it can take a certain amount of exposure before it reacts.
It matters not if the exposure is light from a camera, or radiation from an X-Ray machine, or even just from getting hot in a car.
Once the exposure threshold has been reached, any additional exposure accumulates.
Now, X-Ray exposure is generally very minimal compared to what the film is exposed to in a camera, so film that has yet to be shot is less likely to show deleterious effects from being exposed to X-Rays than exposed film, which is already well and truly exposed past it's threshold.
Having said this, exposure is cumulative, so it is possible to X-Ray damage unexposed film if you give it several passes through X-Ray devices.
Unfortunately, in this modern age of paranoia, it is almost impossible to not have film X-Rayed when flying, and every time you step off one plane and onto another, your film gets dosed again.
Unexposed film is less easily damaged than exposed film, but all film is susceptible to X-Ray damage.
Unfortunately, photographers are an easy mark for security goons, so as a group, we can expect harassment from the nattering nabobs of paranoia that would have us live in fear of will'o'wisps, phantoms and shadows because it makes the masses easier to control.
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Forum: Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras
08-11-2008, 04:56 PM
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X-Ray damage is cumulative. Even slow speed films will be damaged if they get enough passes.
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