Camera problems after flying??

[Zoomschwortz]

My Dad and his friend just got back from a trip to California.

When they went through security at SeaTac, to go to California, they both handed their camera's to security so they wouldn't go through the X-ray. As they were walking through the metal detector, the security guy put both cameras on the belt and into the machine the cameras went.

When they got to California, the cameras didn't work anymore. Both were dead.

Is this common?

I'm going to Germany at the end of the month and don't want anything to happen to my camera. What can I do to protect it?

By the way, both cameras were digital and so is mine.

Thanks
Ken

[rack04]

Originally Posted by Zoomschwortz

My Dad and his friend just got back from a trip to California.

When they went through security at SeaTac, to go to California, they both handed their camera's to security so they wouldn't go through the X-ray. As they were walking through the metal detector, the security guy put both cameras on the belt and into the machine the cameras went.

When they got to California, the cameras didn't work anymore. Both were dead.

Is this common?

I'm going to Germany at the end of the month and don't want anything to happen to my camera. What can I do to protect it?

By the way, both cameras were digital and so is mine.

Thanks
Ken

I've flown countless time with my camera checked as carry on. Never had any problems.

[White97Jimmy]

My camera and phone have never been affected by the X-Ray.

[ridmaster]

no, the only reason to not put the camera through the machine is that it can fog up high speed film. If it's 400 speed or lower, or it's digital, there shouldn't be a problem. The failure was probably caused by something else.

[madurofan]

You might want to ask Michelle. Seem to remember her having a similar problem.

[Old Sailor]

did it kill the batteries??

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by Old Sailor

did it kill the batteries??

I was wondering the same thing. I told my Dad that he should ask a camera shop if he could put his battery in one of their cameras.

It is strange that both cameras were checked out before leaving his house and were fine. Both went through the machine and when they got to California, both were dead.

The battery would be the cheapest thing to check.

Thanks
Ken

[Blueface]

Not common at all.
As said already, should only affect film, not the camera or flash cards for digital.

[macjoe53]

Originally Posted by Blueface

Not common at all.
As said already, should only affect film, not the camera or flash cards for digital.

Correct. The only way for a digital camera, flash card or batter to be affect would be if the machine used some type of magnetic resonance. It doesn't so going through the machine wouldn't have caused the problem. That being said, did the Security guys place the cameras on top of the machine before sending it through on the belt or did it perhaps come in close contact with the metal detector that you walked through? If they did then it may have come close to a magnet to cause the failure.

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by macjoe53

Correct. The only way for a digital camera, flash card or batter to be affect would be if the machine used some type of magnetic resonance. It doesn't so going through the machine wouldn't have caused the problem. That being said, did the Security guys place the cameras on top of the machine before sending it through on the belt or did it perhaps come in close contact with the metal detector that you walked through? If they did then it may have come close to a magnet to cause the failure.

I'm not really sure what happend since I wasn't there at the time.

My Dad said they both handed their cameras to the person at the metal detector, expecting to have them handed to them after they passed through. By the time they got through the detector, they saw the cameras going into the machine and my Dad picked them up when they came out.

When they got to California and tried to turn them on to take a picture, they wouldn't turn on. They took them to a camera shop in California to see if they could figure out what was wrong and the shop was only interested in selling them some new cameras. When they decided to just buy a couple disposable cameras, the sales person lost all interest in them.

They had both taken a couple pictures at my Dads house before leaving, to make sure they were working (they were) and when they found that they were no longer working in California, they put their batteries on their chargers, but they still would not turn on.

[Wolfgang8810]

were they digital cameras?

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang8810

were they digital cameras?

Yes