For those going to Italy...my experience at Milan and Naples airports was that I was denied a handcheck, twice going and coming back. When the lead bag went through, they simply upped the xray power to see through the bag (I was watching this on the machine screen) and then "hey, that's just film and a camera"....so be warned.

If you happen to be near Buonconvento (past siena, before montalcino) they have the BEST photo developing shops in town. They have a world renowed photography school on outsjirts of the town, and this is where the professionals go.

Took 9 rolls of 36 exp on 2 wk trip to Italy this past April. Friend recommended 800 ASA. Did what I normally do w/200 and 400 film on trips, and put them in *checked luggage. Developed them here at home, and only about 30 picts came out normal quality. Rest were dark, hazy, and some had an obvious white streak/smudge in the center of picture. That's called "learnin' the hard way!" <BR><BR>Only good thing is: get to go again next May. should I just take 400asa in leaded bag, or risk 800 again but in a leaded camera bag? (Was told they'll probably be coming out with better leaded camera bags between now and then.)

The WORST thing you can do is put film (exposed or not) in your checked baggage -- every bag doesn't get X-rayed, but those that do get a really high dosage that is VERY likely to ruin film.<BR>The BEST thing you can do is get your film hand inspected. Accept the fact that your request will not always work out, but always be totally polite, not in a hurry, and willing to empty your bag or X-ray your shoes without complaint. <BR>In between these, you can improve your chances of not ruining your film by:<BR>1 - Using the slowest speed film you can deal with. If you're primarily shooting outdoors, use 100 or 200 speed and don't worry about X-rays much at all. Note that every doubling in ASA/ISO number is a doubling of sensitivity, so an X-ray of 800 speed film is 8 times as bad as an X-ray of 100 speed film.<BR>2 - Avoid multiple X-rays. Film exposure is cumulative, so multiple passes through X-ray machines add up. It all depends on film speed and machine power, but one or two passes is not likely to cause trouble, but several, 5, 10, or more is probably bad news. Buying your film once you're there and/or developing it there is a sure way to cut down on additive X-ray exposure. Processed negatives can't be harmed by X-rays.<BR>For lots of information, check out this section of Kodak's web site:<BR>http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/tib/tib5201.shtml<BR>

I just came back from Europe. They refused to hand-check my film in San Francisco at departure time even though I had printed out the Kodak warnings (I anticipated a minimum of four checks for the entire trip). In Europe that is a hopeless request. But in Chicago, there is a prominent sign (at least at the AA area) saying that one may request a hand-check of film. I had my film in a separate bag, and they hand-checked it with no problem.